ALBERT W. WESTON.
One of the enterprising and successful young farmers of this county is Albert W. Weston, the proprietor of the "Hillside Stock Farm," comprising two hundred and eighty acres of land, located in section 5 of Melville township. Although Mr. Weston is not yet thirty years of age, he has made a remarkable success of his chosen vocation. He is enterprising in his methods, a careful student of the details of farm operation, and in consequence has prospered in his calling; not so much because he has confined himself to raising grain, though he has won distinction as a grower of pure Reid's Yellow Dent corn, but because he has devoted a considerable portion of his attention to stockraising. He is well known in Melville township, and is highly respected by all the people of that township. Mr. Weston makes a specialty of Clydesdale horses and Shorthorn cattle, and has taken numerous prizes on some of the splendid animals on his farm. As a corn grower, Mr. Weston also has attained an unusual distinction in this county, having won the sweepstakes prize on corn at the Audubon county fair five times in six years. In 1914 he won seventeen ribbons, including sweepstakes prize, at the Audubon county fair, and a silver loving cup at the "Big Four" county farmers institute, inclusive of the counties of Audubon, Adair, Cass and Guthrie; also the second prize for single ear at the state corn show at Ames, and the fifth prize for bushel at the same show.
Albert W. Weston was born in Melville township, this county, on June 1, 18S7. a son of Walter W. and Isophene (Benson) Weston, the former of whom was born in Wisconsin on April 11, 1853, and the latter in Illinois in July, 1855. Walter W. Weston came from Wisconsin to Audubon county in 1877, and was married here shortly after arriving from his native state. Soon after their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Weston moved on the old Benson farm, where they lived for a number of years. During the early eighties they started in to build up the farm, which at that time was little more than raw prairie land, and remained there until 1911, when they retired and moved to Audubon. To Walter W. and Isophene (Benson) Weston eight children were born, namely: Mrs. Edith Willard, of Lansing, Iowa; Mrs. May Finch, of Goshen, Utah; Mrs. Minnie Edwards, of Lake City, California; Albert, with whom this narrative deals; Frank, of Melville township; Mrs. Nina Patefield, of Edgar, Wisconsin; Louis, a farmer of this township; Margaret, living at home, and Charles, deceased.
Albert W. Weston was educated in the public schools of Melville township, and also took a course at the State Agricultural College at Madison, Wisconsin. At the latter institution he received a thorough scientific training for his chosen vocation, and since leaving college has applied himself diligently to the problems of the farm and to their solution. Mr. Weston has always lived on the home farm. He took sole charge of it upon his father's retirement in the spring of 1911, and since that time has operated it quite successfully. Mr. Weston is an extensive breeder of Clydesdale horses, and has exhibited several horses at the Iowa state fair, winning the state championship on mares. In 1914 he won three second premiums and two third premiums on four animals. He keeps fifteen head of purebred Clydesdale horses at the present time. Mr. Weston also makes a specialty of Shorthorn cattle, and has a number of purebreds. He always has from sixty to one hundred head of cattle, and is one of the extensive cattle feeders of the county. Likewise, Mr. Weston specializes in purebred Poland China hogs, having now about on[e] hundred head on the farm, keeping practically this number all the time, all of these hogs being either registered or eligible to registry.
On April 5, 1911, Albert W. Weston was married to Arvilla Bates, who was born in Story county, Iowa, on February 21, 1885, a daughter of Sylvester F. and Betty (Harrison) Bates, natives of Michigan and Iowa, respectively, who are now residing in Cambridge, Story county. Iowa. To Albert W. and Arvilla (Bates) Weston two children have been born, Helen Pauline, born on November 4, 1912, and Albert, August 24, 1914.
Mr. Weston is a Republican, but with the exception of having served on the election board, has never held office. Mr. and Mrs. Weston are members of the Methodist Episcopal church. Mr. Weston is not a member of any lodge, his business and his large farming interests having been too various and exacting to permit him to spend any time in lodge work. He and Mrs. Weston are held in high regard throughout that part of the county and enjoy the fullest esteem of all their neighbors.
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Transcribed 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. 595-597.
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