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William Lewis Ketcham
Born February 18, 1851 |
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| William Lewis Ketcham, whose demise occurred on the 23d of July, 1906, was for many years actively and successfully identified with the farming and stock-raising interests of Jones county, gaining an enviable reputation as a dealer in shorthorn cattle and Clydesdale horses. His birth occurred in Delaware county, Ohio, on the 18th of February, 1851, his parents being John and Martha (Wheaton) Ketcham. He was about sixteen years of age when he left his native state in company with his parents and took up his abode in Iowa and here he made his home throughout the remainder of his life, winning a gratifying measure of prosperity in his undertakings as a farmer and stockman. His standard of conduct was high, his word absolute and unquestioned truth and his counsel and advice were much sought. A man of unfailing courtesy and unfeigned cordiality, he was a worthy exemplar of the Golden Rule and a splendid type of the true Christian gentleman.
On the 1st of January 1877, Mr. Ketcham was united in marriage to Miss Ruby Stone, a daughter of Curtis and Mary (Burton) Stone, who were natives of New Hampshire and Vermont respectively. The year 1853 witnessed their arrival at Bowen Prairie, Jones county, Iowa, and here they continued to reside until called to their final rest. Mr. and Mrs. Ketcham were the parents of five daughters, as follows: Mary Lulu, who died in 1884 when but an infant; Ruby Stone, who is a student in the American Medical Missionary College of Battle Creek, Michigan; Mattie Emily, who on the 1st of September 1909, gave her hand in marriage to A. Ray Fairbanks, with whom she resides on the old farm home, they having recently purchased the place from the heirs; Clara Antoinette, a student in the fine arts department of Drake University at Des Moines, Iowa; and Wilhelmina H., who is a sophomore in a high school of Battle Creek, Michigan.
Source: History of Jones County, Iowa, Past and Present, R. M. Corbitt, S. J. Clarke Publishing Co., Chicago, 1910, p. 389. |
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© Copyright 1997-2013, The Art Department, © Copyright 2014-2020, Richard Harrison.
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