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P. E. Strong
Born March 28, 1852
Among the progressive farmers for which Madison township is distinguished is P. E. Strong, who was born in Scotland, March 28, 1852, and is the only son of Peter and Margaret (Smith) Strong. His father dying shortly after his birth, his mother joined her parents and brothers and sisters when, in 1855, they set out to make a home for themselves in the United States. They settled first in Columbiana county, Ohio, and then, three years later, came to this county, locating near Center junction. There Mrs. Strong met and married Andrew McDonald, and P. E. Strong was taken by an uncle, Peter Strong, by whom he was reared to manhood.
The education P. E. Strong received in the district schools was amply supplemented by careful training in the cultivation of the soil to which his uncle subjected him, so that when, at the age of twenty-three, he was anxious to embark in business for himself he was fully equipped to meet the problems that would confront him and to attain a marked success in his chosen line of work. Until 1897 he farmed as a renter and then purchased his present farm of one hundred and sixty acres, a fine tract of land, known in earlier years as the Sommerby homestead. On it he pursues a general line of agriculture and has been very successful in his operations, for he has proceeded along scientific lines, has made a study of the soil and the principle of the rotation of crops and has spared no labor nor expense which would contribute to the improvement of his fields and the increase in the value of his crops.
On the 15th of December, 1876, were pronounced the words that made P. E. Strong and Miss Amanda Letze man and wife. At the time of their marriage Mrs. Strong was living in Scotch Grove, this county, but she was a native of Pennsylvania, which was the home of her parents until after the close of the Civil war when they came to Iowa. To Mr. and Mrs. Strong have been born five children: Mary Ellen, who lives at home; William E., who is a farmer of Madison township; John D., also a farmer of that township; and Edna May and Hattie Ruth, who are at home. Mr. Strong, his wife and eldest daughter are members of the Presbyterian Church and are active in its work. Fraternally he is connected with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and with the Modern Woodmen of America, being a member of the Wyoming Camp, No. 183, of the latter organization. His sympathies in political matters are with the Republican Party, and he is ever stanch in his support of its candidates, but he is not an office seeker. He is one of the leading and representative citizens of his township, whose life, filled with earnest endeavor, has won the respect of his fellowman, while his success, the result of his own efforts, has gained for him their admiration. Frugal, industrious and progressive, he stands for the best type of agriculturist of today.

Source: History of Jones County, Iowa, Past and Present, R. M. Corbitt, S. J. Clarke Publishing Co., Chicago, 1910, p. 526.

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