member of the Grange and a communicant of the English Lutheran church.
Mr. and Mrs. Handsaker were the parents of eight children, of whom six are living, as follows : John Thomas, a resident of Sherman township ; William Henry, who lives in Milford township; David, deceased; Horace Greeley, living in Richland township ; Joshua Harvey, residing in New Albany township; Sabina Day; Mona, the wife of James Hines; and Mary Ellen, deceased.
Mr. and Mrs. Handsaker became residents of Nevada in 1903 and there she continues to live. She came to Story county when a girl and has spent the greater part of her life in Richland township, where she is highly esteemed and has many friends. She is one of the pioneers of the county and has been an interested observer of the development and progress of the community and can relate many entertaining incidents of the early days before the advent of the railroads.
SAMUEL RAY.
Samuel Ray, who is temporarily residing in Indianola, Iowa, was for many years identified with general agricultural pursuits in Story county and still owns four hundred and thirty-four and a half acres of land in Indian Creek and Nevada townships. He is numbered among the worthy native sons of this county, his birth occurring in Indian Creek township on the 1st of January, 1855. Extended mention of his father, Judiah Ray, who was one of the early pioneer settlers of Story county, may be found on another page of this work in connection with the sketch of Archibald Ray.
Samuel Ray was reared at home and is indebted to the public schools for the educational advantages which he received in his youth. He was married when twenty-three years of age and subsequently operated the home farm for two years. On the expiration of that period he took up his abode on a farm of his own across the road from the old home place, being busily engaged in its cultivation until 1908. In that year he removed to Indianola, Iowa, in order that his daughters might have the advantage of a course of study in Simpson College. His residence there is only temporary, however. His property holdings embrace four hundred and thirty-four and a half acres of land in Indian Creek and Nevada townships and he has long been numbered among the prosperous and representative citizens of the county.
On the loth of March, 1878, Mr. Ray was united in marriage to Miss Martha Kurtz, a daughter of Jacob Kurtz, who came to Story county from Missouri about 1872 and is still living in Iowa Center at the age of seventy-seven years. Mr. and Mrs. Ray are the parents of six children, namely: Bertha, at home; Frank, who follows farming in Indian Creek