HENRY TORPY.
Another native-born citizen of the great Hawkeye state, of Irish parentage, is Henry Torpy, the owner of Sun Slope stock farm, of two hundred and sixty acres, in Lincoln township.
Henry Torpy was born at Stanwood, Iowa, March 17, 1867. His parents, Thomas and Mary (Constentine) Torpy, both came from Ireland. The former was a farmer, who followed that occupation in the Emerald isle until he was twenty years old, when he came to America. He located in Pennsylvania and worked for a time in the coal mines of that state. Eventually he came to Iowa and farmed in this state for a few years, settling first in Cedar, then later, in Crawford county. In 1874 he purchased a hundred and sixty acres of land in Shelby county, and five years later purchased land in Audubon county. Mr. Torpy first purchased two hundred and forty acres, one-half at sixteen and a half dollars an acre and the other half at twelve dollars an acre. He farmed here until 1901, when he moved to Omaha. His death occurred on February 24, 1905, and his wife died on January 15, 1902. They had ten children, eight of whom are living. Henry is the only one living in Audubon county.
Henry Torpy received his education in Crawford and Audubon counties, and after leaving school farmed with his father until he was of age. He then rented a hundred acres of land and began farming for himself. The first year he rented land and then purchased the farm for twenty-two dollars and a half an acre. It is the same farm upon which he is now living. During the past twenty-five years Mr. Torpy has invested ten thousand dollars in various kinds of improvements, and now has one of the best-kept and most highly profitable farms in Lincoln township. He raises pure-bred Belgian horses, Hereford cattle and Duroc Jersey hogs.
Henry Torpy was married May 15, 1889, to Mary Coates, daughter of William and Mary (Maloney) Coates, the former a native of England and the latter, of Ireland. Two children, Thomas W. and Olive M., have been born to this marriage. Mrs. Torpy was born at Denison, Crawford county, Iowa. William Coates was a farmer in England, where he was married, and after staying there three years they came to America in 1870, and located at Denison, Iowa, where he worked for the railroad company for a few years. He then purchased a farm a few miles from Vail, Iowa, and farmed there until his retirement. He moved to Vail in 1900, and died on April 17, 1906. Mrs. Coates is still living at Vail. They had four children, all of whom are living.
Mr. and Mrs. Torpy are members of the Catholic church. Fraternally, Mr. Torpy is a member of the Modern Woodmen of America, while, in politics, he is identified with the Democratic party.
During recent years Henry Torpy has gained an enviable reputation in Audubon county as a breeder of pure-bred Belgian horses, and has built up a large and extensive market for this breed. Mr. Torpy's standing in Lincoin township, however, does not rest entirely upon his reputation as a farmer. He is a good citizen and popular in his neighborhood, since he is a man of genial and agreeable personality. Few men are better known or better liked in Lincoln township than he.
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Transcribed by Cheryl Siebrass, September, 2019 from History of Audubon County, Iowa Its People, Industries and Institutions With Biographical Sketches of Representative Citizens and Genealogical Records of Many of the Old Families, by H. F. Andrews, editor, Indianapolis: B. F. Bowen & Company, 1915, pp. 706-708.
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