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W. M. Walton
Born May 29, 1858 |
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| W. M. Walton, one of the older farmers of Rome township, was born in Indiana, May 29, 1858, and is the son of Samuel L. and Diana (Whitesell) Walton, the former a native of New Jersey, the latter of Indiana. In 1871, they came to Iowa, locating in Hale township, Jones county, but are now living in Madison township where Samuel L. Walton follows farming. Six children were born to the couple and are all living lives of usefulness and activity.
W. M. Walton received his early training for life in the common schools of his native county, and at the age of seventeen, when his parents came to this state, he began earning his living as a farm hand. For eight or nine years he obtained employment by the month, and then as the result of his industry and economy was able to rent a piece of land, which made it possible for him to derive the entire benefits of his toil. By dint of hard work and frugality he was able in 1884 to buy part of the farm on which he lives today. As his operations have prospered he has added to the original tract until he now owns two hundred and forty-eight acres in Rome township, which is under a high state of cultivation, bespeaking the good husbandry of the man who tills the fields.
On the 15th of November 1883, Mr. Walton was united in marriage to Mrs. House who born in New York state in 1850. Her parents, George F. and Elizabeth House, were natives of New York and Connecticut, respectively, but came to Iowa in 1854 when its rich prairies of the state were being given by the government to those who would make their homes here. They located in Jones county, and upon the claim he entered Mr. House put up a shanty, without doors or windows which was to shelter his family from the elements. Jones county remained their home until death, though they had retired to the town of Olin to spend the last days of their lives. One of the four children born to her parents, Mrs. Walton has become the mother of six children and is the grandmother of an equal number. By her first marriage she had a son Franklin H., of Cedar county, Iowa, and a daughter, Gertrude A., who is the wife of S. W. Clymer, of Rome township. Of her marriage to Mr. Walton there have been four children born: Elsie May, wife. of G. F. Garden, of this county; Leo E., of Rome township: Lexie W. and Albert N., who live at home.
Mr. Walton and his wife are members of the Methodist Episcopal church and are consistent in maintaining the tenets of their faith. When called upon to exercise his franchise as a citizen of this republic Mr. Walton gives his support to the candidate of the Republican Party, believing firmly in the principles laid down in its platform. He is a member of the Fraternal Brothers of the World and also of the Mystic Workers, and in both organizations has made firm friends, he possessing those qualities that appeal to all mankind, awakening confidence and regard in every land and clime.
Source: History of Jones County, Iowa, Past and Present, R. M. Corbitt, S. J. Clarke Publishing Co., Chicago, 1910, p. 624. |
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© Copyright 1997-2013, The Art Department, © Copyright 2014-2020, Richard Harrison.
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