History of Sac County 
by William H. Hart - 1914

COX, CLARK -----The Union soldier during the great war between the states wiser than he knew. Through four years of suffering and wasting hardships, through the horrors of prison pens and amid the shadows of death, he laid the superstructure of the greatest temple ever erected and dedicated to human freedom. The world looked on and called those soldiers sublime, for it was theirs to reach out the mighty arm of power and strike the chains from off the slave, preserve the country from dissolution, and to keep furled to the breeze the only flag that ever made tyrants tremble and whose majestic stripes and scintillating stars are still waving universal liberty to all the earth. For all the unmeasured deeds the living present will never repay them. Pension and political power may be thrown at their feet; art and sculpture may preserve upon canvas and in granite and bronze their unselfish deeds; history may commit to books and cold type may give to the future the tale of their sufferings and triumphs, but to the children of the generations yet unborn will it remain to accord the full measure of appreciation and undying remembrance of the immortal character carved out by the American soldiers in the dark days of the early sixties, numbered among whom is the gentleman whose name appears at the head of this sketch. 

Clark Cox, a gallant veteran of the Civil War, and now a retired farmer living in Sac City, Iowa, was born July 25, 1839, in Jackson county, Indiana.  He is the son of Abner and Sarah ( Shoemaker) Cox, natives of Kentucky and Indiana, respectively. In 1843 Abner Cox and family came to Iowa and spent the first winter in Henry county, and in the spring of 1844 moved to Mahaska county, this state, where they lived until 1851, when they moved to Polk county, seven miles north of Des Moines, and here they bought a farm, but later sold it and moved to a place northwest of Polk City, where Ahner Cox and his wife spent the remainder of their days. They were the parents of ten children four of whom are now living: Clark, with whom this narrative deals; James, of Polk county; Mrs. Sarah Elerfits. who lives near Granger, Iowa, and Anna Jane, whose home is in Algona, Iowa. 

Clark Cox received his elementary education in the various counties in which his parents lived while he was of school age, and at the opening of the Civil War he was seized with the same fervor which stirred the hearts of millions of other men in the North and enlisted in the Union army and fought through the long bloody struggle from start to finish. He enlisted August 1, 1861, in Company A. Tenth Regiment Iowa Volunteer Infantry, and was in actual service for four years and fifteen days. Among the many battles and skirmishes in which he took part, he was in the battles of Vicksburg, Corinth, Belmont, Iuka, Missionary Ridge, Chattanooga, Lookout Mountain, Resaca, Dallas, Atlanta and the various battles and skirmishes which General Sherman had to meet on his march to the sea and his subsequent march through the Carolinas to Goldsboro in North Carolina. Mr.  Cox was in the forefront with his company during his whole career, was never wounded, never seriously sick, never captured and has the distinguished honor of participating in the Grand Review at Washington in the summer of 1865.

Immediately after the close of the war Mr. Cox returned to Iowa and began farming in Polk county. A year later he married and he and his wife continued to reside in Polk county until 1885, when they moved to Sac county, where he bought a farm of one hundred and twenty acres in Coon Valley township, on which they lived until 1903, at which time they bought a farm adjoining Sac City, on which they lived until 1906 when they moved to Sac City where they are now living.

Mr. Cox was married October 11, 1866, to Mary C. Howard, of Polk county Iowa, and to this union have been born three children : Elmer, a farmer of this county; Samuel, a farmer of Calhoun county, this state, and Mrs. Sarah Naomi Ringgenberg, whose husband is a farmer of Calhoun county.

Politically Mr. Cox is an independent voter and he prefers to cast his ballot for men rather than for measures. He represents the large class of citizens who exercise the franchise in an intelligent manner and are not bound by partisan politics. If all citizens would use the same good judgment many of the evils of this country would disappear. Fraternally, Mr.  Cox is a loyal member of the Grand Army of the Republic post at Sac City, and is proud of the fact that this post is named after the famous commander who marched to the sea. Although a quiet and unassuming man, Mr. Cox has contributed much to the material advancement of the community by his admirable qualities of head and heart, and the straight-forward, upright course of his life has tended greatly to uplift the moral standing of the circles in which he moves. He is a man of liberal views, believes in progress and improvement, therefore he does what he can to further these ends, taking a live interest in whatever makes for the material advancement of the county and the social, intellectual and moral good of its people.

COX, ELMER -----The history of him whose name heads this biographical sketch is closely identified with the history of Sac county, Iowa, which has long been his home He began his career in this locality and throughout the subsequent years he has been closely allied with its interests and upbuilding. His life has been one of untiring activity and has been crowned with a degree of success commensurate with his efforts. He is of the highest type of progressive citizens and none more than he deserves a fitting recognition among those whose enterprises and ability have achieved results that have awakened the admiration of those who knew them. The cause of humanity never had a truer friend than Elmer Cox, and in all the relations of life-family, church, state and society-he has displayed that consistent Christian spirit that natural worth, that has endeared him to all classes. His integrity and fidelity have been manifested in every relation of life, an example which has been an inspiration to others, and his influence has been felt in the community honored by his citizenship.

Elmer Cox, a prosperous farmer near Sac City, Cedar township, Iowa, was born July 22, 1867, in Missouri. His parents are Clark and Mary (Howard) Cox, both of whom are now living in Sac City.  Mr. Cox was educated in the country schools of Polk County, Iowa, to which county his parents moved the year after his birth.

After receiving a good common school education, he continued to work on his father's farm in Polk county until 1885, when he came to Sac county and began farming for himself. He first rented land in Coon Valley township and later bought one hundred and sixty-four acres in Calhoun county, giving his first payment of four hundred dollars and giving a mortgage for the rest of it. An indication of his success as a farmer is shown by the fact that in nine years he had earned enough off his farm to entirely liquidate the debt which was accrued in the purchase of the farm. He continued to live on this farm of one hundred and sixty-four acres until 1898, when he rented it until March, 1910. Then he sold it for ninety-five dollars an acre. In 1898 he rented his farm near Sac City until 1910 in which year, immediately after selling his Calhoun county farm, he bought his present farm of ninety acres, near Sac City, for which he paid one hundred and thirty-three dollars and thirty-three cents an acre. His farm is well improved in every way, with fine buildings, excellent woven wire fencing and a fine system of underground drainage.  Here Mr. Cox raises all of the crops peculiar to this latitude and also raises a considerable amount of small fruit.

Mr. Cox was married in 1906 to Minnie Young, the daughter of Mr.  and Mrs. J. S. Young. Politically, Mr. Cox is a Democrat and is a firm believer in the principles enunciated by President Wilson. Although he takes an active interest in politics, he has never been a candidate for any public office. He has always felt that his agricultural duties were such as to demand his entire attention. He has always tried to measure up to the standard of correct manhood, and this locality is proud to number him among its progressive and representative residents.

CRISS, HON. EUGENE ------The name of Judge Eugene Criss figures closely within the pages devoted to the history of Sac county, and he is best remembered as "the father of Sac City." He, in fact, founded the city and assisted in its future development.  He was the friend and adviser of scores of settlers, to whom his words of counsel were guiding stones in their pathway of redemption of the prairie lands and their emergence from the embryo state into a landscape of smiling meadows and substantial homes. His value to the county as a citizen and official during the pioneer days cannot be properly estimated. He was a man among men in the old days when men of integrity and iron resolution were needed.

Judge Eugene Criss was born in West Virginia and reared in the state of Maryland the son of Michael N. Criss. His birth occurred July 21, 1822, on a farm. After his marriage he and his wife resided on the parental farm until their removal to Illinois, in October of 1844. They rented a farm in northwestern Illinois, Jo Daviess county, for a period of two years. In the meantime, Mr. Criss worked in the lead mines of the vicinity for a period of three years while conducting his farming operations. He then engaged in the mercantile business in the town of Shullsburg, Wisconsin, for a period of eleven years. In the spring of 1855 he loaded his stock of merchandise on a covered wagon and commenced the long overland journey to Sac county, Iowa. He varied the monotony of the journey by trading with the farmers on the way, replenishing his stock of goods from time to time. His ostensible purpose in leaving Wisconsin was to hunt for a location wherein he intended to establish himself with his business permanently. On the way he heard of the rich lands to the westward awaiting the magic touch of the settler's ax and the industry of the husbandman. He decided upon Sac county and arrived on the banks of the Raccoon in the month of October, 1855. He at once began the erection of a log building of a story and one-half to house his store of goods, and built a log cabin, which was pointed out for years as the first cabin built in Sac City. Judge Criss had a natural liking and an inborn aptitude for agriculture, and as soon as possible he became possessed of four hundred acres of excellent farm land, which he cultivated up to the time of his death. Seeing the possibilities of the development of the lumbering industry, he erected a saw mill, which he operated for a number of years, the output of the mill finding a ready sale among the incoming settlers. He erected the first flouring mill in Sac City and built the famous old mill dam, which is known as a noted landmark in Sac City to this day. In turn he was a miller, lumberman, successful merchant and farmer, filling these diversified and very necessary occupations with credit to himself, large personal benefit and for the convenience of his fellow citizens. Judge Criss naturally became the owner of a very large acreage of Sac county land, and was one of the largest land owners of western Iowa previous to his death. He was the first postmaster of Sac City, and was likewise the first county judge, upon the initial organization of the county, in which he took an active part. He served several terms as county judge and performed duties very similar to those now devolving upon the county supervisors. In 1868 further honors were conferred upon him by his fellow citizens, who sent him to represent the district in the state Legislature. Later he was a candidate for state senator. During the Civil War he served as provost marshal of the district, with his headquarters at Fort Dodge. His territory during the war embraced practically all of western Iowa. Judge Criss was a prominent member of the Freemasons and a worshiper in the Methodist Episcopal faith.

Judge Eugene Criss was married July 27, 1843, to Frances Hall, daughter of Jesse and Sarah Hall, who removed from their ancestral home to a farm in Preston county, West Virginia, in 1825. To this union were born the following children : Mary Jane Wine, who was born in February, 1844, and resides in Sac City; James L., born in November, 1846, and now a resident of Omaha, Nebraska ; Helen V. Davis, deceased, born in the state of Illinois in 1848; William H. Criss, of Sac City; Lola M. Beimer, deceased. Three grandchildren, Miss Neva Beimer, Eugene and Clifford Beimer, make their home with their grandmother.

Frances Hall Criss was born on a farm in Monongahela county, West Virginia, May 16, 1823. It is not given to many women to have lived to an extreme age and to have seen the development of a rich and prosperous section of country, and to have been the first resident of a beautiful and wealthy city and watched with loving gaze its expansion during the course of half a century of progress. We revere the pioneers and cherish them on account of their sterling qualities and long associations with the body politic. Frances Criss has been a resident of Sac City for upward of fifty years. She has attained the great age of ninety-one years and is yet in possession of all her faculties and in sound bodily health. She has seen the unfolding of a landscape of wilderness and prairie into a thriving and populous community enjoying all the luxuries and conveniences of modern-day civilization. She has resided in Sac City since the inception of the town, and has taken an active part, in conjunction with her distinguished and able husband, in assisting in its settlement and development. "Grandma Criss," as she is affectionately called by her intimates and friends, is a living embodiment of all that is best and noblest of womankind. She cherishes the memories of bygone, halcyon days, when her stalwart husband was taking such an important and energetic part in the building up of his adopted community.  One of the most notable occurrences in the history of Sac county occurred July 27, 1902, the occasion being the eightieth birthday anniversary of the honorable gentleman whom this biography chronicles. A great barbecue was held in honor of the Judge's birthday, to which he invited the people of the surrounding country. The scene of the immense gathering was in the beautiful Fair Grounds park, just east of the city. It was a gathering notable for the number of friends and pioneers who assembled to do honor to the aged citizen whose days on earth were even then numbered. The entire day was given over to partaking of the hospitality of the Judge, and it was long remembered as a gala occasion throughout the countryside. Several oxen were roasted whole, and other viands were supplied by the donor in profusion.  The people of the entire section for many miles around were invited whole-heartedly to come to Sac City, and three thousand five hundred assisted the Judge in celebrating his notable anniversary. He did not long survive the happy occasion, however. On March 11, 1903, was closed a most eventful and useful life, and the kindly old gentleman was mourned by thousands who would miss his benign presence for long years to come.

CRISS, JOHN WALTER -----Citizens are called to perform various duties which lie within their capabilities. Usually, the individual himself selects that line of duty for which he possesses a natural aptitude and in which calling he is more certain of success. He who is called to fulfill the exactions and demands of public office has a two-fold mission in life; he must conduct himself in an exemplary manner as a member of the citizen body and so perform his official duties as to merit the approval and esteem of his fellow men to whom he is responsible. A fitting representative of the official body in Sac county is he to whom this brief review is devoted. Sheriff J. Walter Criss is a faithful county official who has ably applied his abilities to the proper conduct of the duties of his high office.

Mr. Criss was born March 17, 1878, in the state of West Virginia. He is the grandson of Isaac Criss, who was born in 1827, and died in October, 1902, in Sac City. He was joined in wedlock in West Virginia with Sarah Jane Means (Marquess). He served as a soldier in the Union army, enlisting in the spring of 1862 in Company H, Fourteenth West Virginia Regiment of Volunteers. He served until the close of the Rebellion and was engaged in many hard-fought battles and skirmishes. In 1883 he removed his family to Sac county and settled on a farm in Jackson township, about two and one-half miles west of Sac City. In June, 1883, he moved on a farm owned by his cousin Judge Eugene Criss, but not long afterward he purchased a farm of his own in Jackson township on which he resided until 1899, when he retired to a residence in Sac City. He was a member of the Grand Army of the Republic. Isaac Criss was the father of nine children, namely: Rebecca, Sarah, William, John, Elmer, James, Luther, Bertha and J. W.  Luther came to Sac county with his parents and is now a farmer at Nemaha. Bertha is the wife of R. E. Williams, of Staples, Minnesota, and with whom the mother makes her residence. The father of Sheriff Criss was William H. Criss, still a resident of West Virginia. His mother died when he was an infant and his grandparents reared him. 

J. W. Criss was educated in the district schools and did farm work on his grandfather's farm during his boyhood days. When still a youth, he learned the trade of granite and marble cutter and was employed in the shops for a period of ten years. He was appointed to fill the vacancy in the sheriff's office in Sac county, June 5, 1911. He was elected to the office on the Republican ticket in the fall election of the year 1912. He and his family are attendants of the Methodist church, and he is fraternally connected with the Modern Woodmen, Knights of Pythias and the Ancient Free and Accepted Masons. He values highly a membership in the Sac City commandery of Knights Templar, and the Abu Bekr Shrine of Sioux City. 

Mr. Criss was married in 1904 to Susan J. Young, of Buena Vista county, who has borne him one child. Fern Irene, aged seven years. We know of no young citizen of Sac county who is more deserving of this review as a true representative man of the county than Mr. Criss. He has many friends and well wishers who take a just pride in the able manner in which he has conducted the duties of his high office.

CRISS, WILLIAM HENRY -----The history of Sac county, as an integral part of the great commonwealth of Iowa, reveals the handiwork of many a great and noble soul who wrought heroically and unselfishly. Her splendid homes, her fine institutions, her happy, prosperous people speak volumes of some one's steadfastness of purpose, of some one's strength of arm, courage of heart, activity of brain-of some one's sacrifice. But time, that grim obliterator, before whose destroying" fingers even the stubborn granite must, in the end, succumb, is ever at his work of disintegration. Beneath his blighting touch even memory fails, and too often a life of splendid achievement and good works is forgotten.  "Lest we forget." then, these words are written in tribute to the late Hon. Eugene Criss. distinguished father of William Henry Criss, whose name heads this sketch. Hardy pioneer, successful farmer, trusted public official, brave, kindly, generous man, it must be the desire of all who knew him that his deeds and his character be recorded for the benefit of those who follow after. He was rich in a thousand thronging memories of the early rugged days in Iowa, when hardy men stood shoulder to shoulder and fought for the best interests of their community. Those who survive him are blessed in the memory of this good man, whose long life in this community was a blessed benediction on those who came under its influence.  Hon. Eugene Criss was born in Preston county, West Virginia, July 27, 1822, and he was a son of Michael and Maria (Armstrong) Criss, the former a native of Virginia and the latter of Ireland. Michael Criss was a Methodist Episcopal minister. Maria Armstrong was reared in the city of Philadelphia, whither she had accompanied her parents from Ireland when she was three years of age.

Judge Eugene Criss was educated in the common schools of Maryland. He came west in 1844 and settled in Galena, Illinois, where he worked in the lead mines for five years. He then farmed for two years. He later opened a general merchandise store at Shullsburg, Wisconsin.  In August, 1855, he came to Sac City, Iowa, making the trip from Wisconsin in a wagon and traveling four months on the journey. He erected the first log building in Sac City, sixteen by twenty feet in size, hauling the doors and windows from Dubuque, a distance of two hundred and seventy miles.  He also built a sawmill and a flour mill. He pre-empted a claim of one hundred and sixty acres of land in Sac county, and by thrift and good management added to his holdings until his landed estate consisted of one thousand five hundred acres. He was one of five men who entered the land where Sac City now stands. He donated the land for the first cemetery in Sac City. In the early days he was an Indian trader, and was the first fur buyer north of Des Moines. He helped organize the First National Bank of Sac City, and for many years was its vice-president. Politically, he was first a Whig and later a Republican, and he took an active and influential part in the political affairs of his county and state. He served as provost marshal during the Civil War. and at different times served as county supervisor and sheriff of Sac County. He also served one term as county judge, and in 1868 represented the northwestern Iowa district in the Legislature. Judge Criss was identified with nearly every important movement of his day in Sac county-in fact, his life was so closely interwoven with all the vital forces of civic welfare that to lay stress upon any particular achievement would be but random acknowledgment of a career singularly fruitful of just and honorable deeds.

Judge Criss was married March 9, 1843, to Frances Hall, of Preston County, West Virginia, who was born May 16, 1823. in Monongahela county, West Virginia, the daughter of Jesse and Sarah Hall. Six children were the fruits of this marriage, named as follows : Mrs. Mary Jane Wine, born February, 1846, lives at Mason City, Iowa; James S. Criss, born November, 1846 lives at Omaha, Nebraska; Mrs. Helen B. Davis, born 1848 is deceased: Mrs. Nancy Emeline Lamoreux, of Houston, Texas; William H. Criss, of Sac City; Mrs. Lola M. Beimer died in December, 1897.  Judge Eugene Criss died March 11, 1903, in his eighty-first year. His eightieth birthday was celebrated by a big barbecue at the fair grounds, which he then owned. Thousands of people attended this gathering as a testimonial of their affection and esteem for their fellow townsman, full of honors and rich in the wealth of a legion of friends. Judge Criss fed this entire assembly, whose merriment during the day made him very happy. He died with his splendid individual powers matured to the point of large and worthy accomplishment, and to those who follow he left the priceless heritage of a good and honored name.

William Henry Criss, the son of Judge Eugene and Frances (Hall) Criss, was born in Sac City, Iowa, July 17, 1857. He received his education in the schools of Sac City, and when a young man he assisted his father in his farming operations and cattle raising. He was the only one of the children to remain at home. With a wisdom worthy of emulation, he has never caught the lure of wanderlust, but has been content to make the most of the opportunities that may always be found at home. For fifty-six years he has lived in Sac City, and during this long and eventful time he has not been out of the town but about six weeks. He is regarded as one of the best and most substantial citizens of the community. He has a farm of eighty acres near Sac City, well stocked and well improved, and was formerly an extensive stock raiser.

William H. Criss was married October 24, 1886, to Alice L. Bechler, who was born in 1864, daughter of George and Hannah Bechler, natives of Pennsylvania, who emigrated to Illinois in 1867, and eight years later, in 1875, came to Sac county, Iowa, and settled on a farm five miles north of Sac City. George Bechler died September l0, 1905, and Hannah Bechler, his wife, died September 3, 1913. These parents had eight children, two dying in infancy. The others are: Mrs. Emeline Emmett, who lives in Pennsylvania: Calvin Bechler, who resides in the north part of Sac City: Mrs. Sarah Staley who lives in Illinois; Robert Bechler. a farmer in Douglas township. Sac County; Mrs. Elizabeth Neitherworth of Sac City and Alice L., the wife of the subject of this sketch.

William H. Criss and wife have six children, as follows: Leon is at home: Mrs. Una Chapman, of Kearney, Nebraska; Eugene and Georgia are twins, and the former is at home and the latter lives at Kearney, Nebraska; Glen lives at home, as does also Verlyn.

Politically, Mr. Criss is a Republican, and he and his wife and children are members of the Presbyterian church. Mr. Criss also holds membership with the Mystic Workers. Measured by the true standard of worth. Mr.  Criss belongs to that praiseworthy class which has furnished much of the bone and sinew of the country. Personally, he is whole-souled and genial, a man who all are always glad to meet, and he is held in the highest regard in the community which has been honored by his residence for over half a century.

CUNNINGHAM, ABSALOM -----The office of biography is not to give more to a man's modest estimate of himself and his accomplishments, but rather to leave upon the record a concise account of his career from birth to the final rounding out of a life of usefulness such as has been enjoyed by the citizen whose name is inscribed at the head of this brief narrative. His character has been established through the estimation in which he is held by neighbors and friends. Like many successful men of the West, he is self made and from a modest and small beginning he has amassed a considerable competence through the exercise of industry and close application to the promotion of his agricultural operations.  Absalom Cunningham is one of the respected and substantial retired citizens of Sac City and during his time was one of the best known and most successful tillers of the soil within the confines of the county. His sterling worth and great personal integrity is beyond question in the land of his adoption.

A. Cunningham was born in 1860 on a farm in McLean county, Illinois.  His parents were J. M. and Eliza (Buxton) Cunningham, natives of the great state of Pennsylvania. J. M., the father, settled in McLean county on a farm of considerable area in the year 1858 and there reared his family and departed this life. His family numbered four sons and four daughters, as follows: Adeline, deceased: William, of DeWitt county; Mrs. Elizabeth Hubbell, of Illinois; Mrs. Hannah Carr of Illinois; Frank Cunningham, deceased ; Absalom; Cora, deceased.

He of whom we are narrating these facts was married in 1880 to Jennie Ellis, of DeWitt county. After a wedded season of twenty-five years, the wife died, in March, 1905, leaving eight children, namely: Clovis, now deceased; Mrs. Clotilda Pullen. of Sac county; Clem E., a resident of Sac City.  W. Ashley, also a resident of Sac City: Carl A.; Helen and Josephine.

After leaving DeWitt county, Mr. Cunningham resided on a farm upon which he removed in 1862. In 1898 he removed to Sac county and in the spring of that year he made a purchase of three hundred and twenty acres of fine land in Cook township, located four miles west of the town of Early. He used the skill and a natural aptitude for agriculture in its highest sense which is possessed by the greater number of the Illinois farmers who have located in Sac County of late years and brought his farm land up to a high state of cultivation. It is well improved with excellent buildings and is known favorably as one of the best crop-producing tracts of land in a county famous for its fine farms. In 1912 Mr. Cunningham decided to retire and he came to Sac City and purchased a fine residence in the west part of the city.

In December of the same year he was united in marriage with Mrs. Ida (Prentice) Willard the daughter of Hosea Prentice, a native of Vermont and a descendant of an old New England family which traces their ancestry back to colonial days. Hosea Prentice early migrated to southern Wisconsin, and thence to Illinois. He came to Iowa in the year 1874 and settled in Sac City where he became prominently identified with the upbuilding of the city. He was both farmer and merchant, succeeding well in both lines. He broke prairie land when he first located in the county and later engaged in mercantile pursuits in die city. In 1869 be made a trip to the county and purchased the land where the town of Early now stands-in fact, the town is located on the original Prentice farm.

Hosea was married to Diantha Surdam, of New York, who died in 1887. He again married and was the father of eight children four of whom were reared to maturity: Harlow Prentice, of Cleghorn, Iowa; George W.. of Bakersfield. California; Ann Eliza Stafford, now deceased, and Mrs. Cunningham. Mr. Prentice was the second mayor elected in Sac City and was a member of the town council for a number of years. He was a useful and influential citizen who is yet remembered as one of the best men who assisted in bringing the city to the high prestige which it now enjoys. He died December 5, 1910, at the age of ninety-one years. 

It is such men as Mr. Cunningham that have been instrumental in bringing the agricultural possibilities of Sac county to the front among the fertile counties of western Iowa and words fail in this instance to express the biographer's appreciation of his capable and useful life as exemplified by his accomplishments.

CURRIE, JOHN -----It is a fact indisputable that a man's standing in the community is determined by two factors: the measure of personal good which he has accomplished in behalf of his fellow men and the degree in which he has achieved personal success and fortune in his own behalf. There are other conditions which have a decided bearing upon the opinion which his acquaintances and friends have concerning him as a part of the body politic, such as his faculty of making friends and his neighborliness, his moral character, the weight of his personal influence when exerted for the right, and the care which he bestows upon his family. The man who measures fully up to these required standards is truly a man worth knowing, and of such is genuine history written which has a decided influence upon the rising generation. Tilling the soil gives but little opportunity for a man to become unduly famous or widely known, except within the borders of his own county, but of such men are the best communities created. The farmer measures up to the highest standards set for the gauging of manhood if he possesses to a certain extent the foregoing attribute.

John Currie, farmer of Clinton township, is a citizen whom it is a pleasure to know and who inspires respect on acquaintance and whose reputation is of the best. He is a pioneer settler of Sac county, one who commenced with little of this world's goods at the beginning of his career, and who has amassed a comfortable competence through diligence, indefatigable effort and honest and straightforward dealing with his associates.

John Currie settled in Clinton township in the year 1874, on the northwest quarter of section 20. The country was at that time a wide sweep of unbroken prairie, with not even a wagon track to mar its even continuity of surface. The waving grass, growing to a height of three feet, covered the land like a vast inland sea of verdure. He was the third settler in this township. Two others had preceded him, H. J. Martin and Mr. Sherwood having previously settled in the township. Mr. Currie paid five dollars and sixty cents an acre for his land on a time contract. During his first year he was able to erect a very small house, twelve by twenty feet in dimension, and raise a fine crop of sod corn and potatoes. His corn yielded sixty bushels to the acre and he raised two hundred bushels of potatoes in this first season.  He was enabled to dispose of the greater part of his corn and potatoes to good advantage. He traded some of the potatoes for two brood sows, which gave him his start in hog raising. He has ever been thankful for the smiles of Providence during this first year, as he had no money when he came to Sac county, and his good fortune came as a Godsend to him and his family.  Mr. Currie recalls that money was a minus commodity for several years, and there were times when the settlers became discouraged, he among them, for, in 1877, when the grasshoppers were devastating the land and driving the settlers eastward and westward by their ravages, even his optimistic attitude toward the world was changed, and, becoming thoroughly discouraged, he disposed of eighty acres of his land. Had a really good excuse been forthcoming at this time he would have left the county and remained away. Fortunately for him, there came a change in conditions, and prosperity gradually smiled once more on his efforts, and he was enabled to repurchase his former "eighty" in 1878. December 12, 1875, his son, Malcolm, the first white child born in Clinton township, first saw the light of day. In 1880 he bought eighty acres, containing improvements, for thirty dollars an acre. In 1883 he invested in one hundred acres and in 1886 he added sixty acres to his holdings. Since that time he has bought and sold several tracts of land. His home estate consists of four hundred acres of excellent land, on which is a good home, erected twenty-five years ago. He also owns one hundred acres in Wall Lake township. In 1912 he purchased six hundred and sixty-three acres of the Cook ranch, which is now in the possession of his sons, who are cultivating it.

Mr. Currie has long been a breeder of Aberdeen Angus cattle, and the size of his herd ranges from one hundred to three hundred head of this excellent stock. He is also a famous breeder of English Shire horses, and has twenty-five head of thoroughbred animals on the farm. He purchased his present home farm in 1892, at a cost of fifty dollars an acre, and has since resided thereon.

Biographically speaking, John Currie was born October 20, 1846, in Argyleshire, Scotland, and is the son of Duncan and Mary (Smith) Currie, who emigrated to America in 1873 and settled in Clinton county, Iowa. John had preceded his parents to Clinton county by three years and had sent them such glowing accounts of the new country that they were induced to leave the home of their fathers and come to America. They were the parents of nine children, as follows: Neil, who resides in Scotland; John, Malcolm died in Schaller, Iowa; Mrs. Betsey Patton, of Wright county, Iowa: Mrs.  Margaret Calhoun, who died in April, 1914, near Herring, Iowa; Hector, a farmer residing near Schaller: Duncan, formerly a farmer in Clinton township, now deceased; James, a citizen of Oregon; Mrs. Mary Fleming, deceased. 

When he had attained the age of twenty-four years, John Currie borrowed money from relatives in Scotland and set sail for America and arrived in the city of Quebec May 1, 1870. He managed to make his way southward to Whiteside county, Illinois, and obtained employment in the construction of a county drainage ditch at a wage of two dollars per day. In November of the same year he journeyed to Clinton county, Iowa, and worked in a saw mill, drawing wages of one dollar and seventy-five cents per day for his labor. He continued in this employment for three years, and at the time of his departure, in 1873, for Sac county, he was drawing two dollars and seventy-five cents per day. Being of a saving and thrifty disposition, he had managed to save one thousand dollars with which to begin his career in Sac county. Success has been his portion.

Politically, Mr. Currie is a progressive Republican, but he has never sought political preferment. However, he has lent his influence in behalf of good government and the selection of competent officials on every occasion where he could do so. He is a member of the Presbyterian church, and is fraternally affiliated with the Ancient Free and Accepted Masons. 

Mr. Currie was married March 2, 1873, in Clinton county, Iowa, to Jeannette McGeachey, and on March 4^th he and his bride started for their future home in Sac county. During this long period Mrs. Currie has been a true and faithful helpmeet and an excellent mother to her children. She is the daughter of Malcolm McGeachey, a native of Scotland, and was born February 14, 1849, in Scotland. This estimable couple have reared a family of eleven children, namely: Malcolm, county attorney, resides at Sac City, and of whom further mention is made in this volume; Duncan, a farmer in Richland township: Mrs. Mary Smith, also in Richland township; John, a farmer in Cook township; Jean, at home; Neil, a farmer in Cook township; Alexander, owner of one hundred and sixty acres in Cook township; Mrs.  Jessie Houchins, who resides in Wall Lake township: Margaret, a student at Ames College ; Dugald and Donald, at home.  Mr. Currie is recognized as a man of sterling worth, whose life is closely interwoven with the history of the community which he has taken such an active part in building up, and his efforts have always been put forth in behalf of the advancement of the neighborhood. The well-regulated and industrious life which he has led entitles him to representation in this work, thereby leaving an imperishable memoir for the future edification of his descendants and friends.

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