in office. For ten years he has filled the office of justice of the peace, in which connection his decisions are strictly fair and impartial. He has likewise served as township trustee for a number of years and is ever loyal and faithful to the confidence and trust reposed in him. His political allegiance has always been given to the republican party and fraternally he is connected with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, the Knights of Pythias and the Modern Woodmen of America, while his religious faith is indicated in his membership in the Congregational church of Ames. During thirty-six years' residence in Story county he has formed a wide acquaintance among the citizens of this part of the state and he is held in high esteem by those who have long known him as well as by his later acquaintances. In manner he is genial and social and wherever he goes wins the high regard of those with whom he is brought in contact.
PETER S. GRIFFITH.
Among the successful farmers and extensive landowners of Union township is Peter S. Griffith, who was born in McDonough county, Illinois, on the 9th of March, 1856, his parents being John M. and Biddy (Rice) Griffith. The father was a native of Virginia and the mother of Ireland, having come to America as a child with her parents, who settled in Highland county, Ohio. After he had reached manhood John M. Griffith, in company with his brother, went to Highland county and there he met and married the mother of our subject. The first ten years of their married life the young people spent in Ohio and then removed to McDonough county, Illinois, where they continued to live until 1867, when they again set their faces westward, Iowa being their destination. They first settled in Polk county, where they remained but a few months and then bought a farm in Story county, which adjoins their son's homestead on the east and which he now owns, there spending the remainder of their lives. The father passed away on the 19th of November, 1890, but the mother survived until the 24th of December, 1904. Mr. Griffith was a very successful man and owned between six and seven hundred acres of land at the time of his demise. They were both life-long members of the Methodist Episcopal church, in which they were always active workers.
Peter Griffith's early years differed but in detail from those of many farmer lads. He lived at home and attended the district school, assisted in the work of the farm, and indulged in such recreations as appeal to young people. When old enough to lay aside his text-books, he cooperated with his father in the cultivation of the farm, and at length purchased eighty acres of his own land, upon which in 1892 he took up his residence and has since continued to live. After his father's death he bought the old homestead, containing one hundred and sixty acres, and he also owns one hun-