George W. James was reared under the parental roof and obtained his edification in the district schools. On the 15th of August, 1862, when not yet eighteen years of age, he enlisted in defense of the Union, becoming a member of Company K. Twenty-fourth Iowa Volunteer Infantry, with which he served until the close of the hostilities. He was wounded at Winchester on the 19th of September, 1864, and was confined in a hospital at Philadelphia for about two months, at the end of which period he rejoined his regiment. He was honorably discharged at Davenport, Iowa, on the 15th of August, 1865, and returned home with a most creditable military record, having never faltered in the performance of any task assigned him. He was married in 1866 and established his home on his present farm in Madison township, though at that time it comprised but eighty acres. He had purchased this property a short time prior to his marriage and it has continued his place of residence to the present time. He has, however, extended the boundaries of the farm by additional purchase until it now embraces two hundred and eighty acres of valuable land, which annually yields bounteous harvests as a reward for the care and labor bestowed upon it. He feeds all of his grain to stock and raises shorthorn cattle on an extensive scale, being very successful in this line of activity. The prosperity which he now enjoys is but the merited reward of his untiring industry and capable management and he is well entitled to recognition among the substantial and representative citizens of the county.

Mr. James has been married twice. In 1866 he wedded Miss Phoebe Richardson, of Madison township, Jones county, by whom he had four children, two of whom still survive, as follows: Raleigh, who follows farming in Kossuth county, Iowa; and Walter, a commercial salesman of Chicago, Illinois. The mother of these children passed away in 1874 and subsequently Mr. James was again married, his second union being with Miss Carrie B. Burch, of Madison township, this county. Unto them have been born nine children, namely: Lee R., a commercial salesman residing in Cedar Rapids; Viola M., who married James C. Glenn; Florence E., a dressmaker of Wyoming; James, a resident of Cedar Rapids; and Cora B., Ethel M., George E., Raymond F. and Hazel B., all of whom are at home.

Since age conferred upon him the right of franchise Mr. James has cast his ballot in support of the men and measures of the republican party but has never sought office as a reward for his fealty. His religious faith is indicated by his membership in the Methodist Episcopal church. A resident of the county for more than a half century, he is widely known within its borders and the sterling qualities which he has displayed in his social and business relations have gained him a high place in the regard and good will of his fellow-townsmen.

From History of Jones County, Iowa, Past and Present, R. M. Corbitt, S. J. Clarke Publishing Co., Chicago, 1910, p. 274.

John Williams James was reared at home and acquired his education in the schools of his native place and upon the home farm under the guidance father. He was a young man when his parents came to Iowa and, for two years he participated in the rugged life of the pioneers. In 1857, however, he went to Maryland to wed the woman he had chosen for his wife. Until 1865 he remained in the east, working by the-month, for the most part in West Virginia, and then came west, reaching Jones county, Iowa, November 3 of that year. For about two years he worked for various men by the month and then purchased eighty acres in Madison township for ten dollars an acre. As he had only one hundred dollars with which to make the first payment, he rented the farm to another man, and shortly after traded the land for a piece of property adjoining. There he resided for about four years when he again traded, obtaining the farm on which his son Smith James lives today. It was his home until 1893, when, on the occasion of his son's marriage, he went to live on another farm about one mile west of the old place. In 1899 he relinquished the heavier of life's cares and retired to Wyoming, Iowa, which has since been his home.

On the 1st of March 1857, Mr. James was married to Miss Martha Ann Smith, a native of Sharpsburg, Maryland, where the battle of Antietam, one of the important engagements of the Civil war, was fought. Of this union there have been born five children, four of whom now survive. Eleanora, the eldest, became the wife of 0. H. Peck, a farmer and stockman of Madison township. Kate married George W. Mead, who lives near Anamosa, this county. Smith, is accorded extended mention in another part of this volume. John W. is a resident of Aurora county, South Dakota.

At one time Mr. James owned three hundred and thirty acres of some of the richest land in this locality and, well improved. He has disposed of all save a small piece of timber land, however, for he felt that to be the wiser policy since his active farming days were over. But he is still the successful agriculturist in the minds of his friends and neighbors, who say that he, more than any other man, had the skill to renew the fertility of the soil and to win from it the most bountiful harvests. Highly respected, he was one to whom the people would turn naturally for their leader in political and public affairs, but aside from filling the position of school director for a number of terms he constantly refused to accept any office tendered him. His political ideas accorded with the platform of the prohibition party, while he and his wife worshiped with the Methodist Episcopal church.

From History of Jones County, Iowa, Past and Present, R. M. Corbitt, S. J. Clarke Publishing Co., Chicago, 1910, p. 519.

Smith James was reared at home and after completing the course of study prescribed by the common schools continued his education in the Wyoming high school. His lessons over, he returned to the farm and for a number of years assisted his father in the cultivating of his fields, until, having married, he was desirous of establishing a home of his own. His father thereupon left the old homestead for another farm he owned in Madison township and rented to his son the place he now owns and occupies. In 1895 Smith James was able to purchase the land of his father, which brought his holdings up to two hundred and forty acres, for he had already bought eighty acres which adjoined the home place on the northeast corner. From the beginning he put his agricultural operations on a scientific basis, sparing no pains to obtain the best results from the soil that is his. The wealth of the harvests have justified all his labor and the fertility of the soil, which rather increases than diminishes under his system of cultivation, attests the wisdom of his science.

In 1893 Mr. James was united in marriage to Miss Maggie Crew, of Lineville, Iowa. Seven children have been born to the couple, six of whom survive: Cecil W., Hugh L., Edward R., Paul J., Wesley A. and Mary N. The family are members of the Free Methodist church, in which Mr. James is a trustee, and are diligent in their attendance at its services. Their lives, too, bear testimony to the practical value of its teachings. Politically Mr. James affiliates with the prohibitionists, being thoroughly in sympathy with the majority of the principles of their platform. It is by his work, however, that he is judged, and when it is remembered that he, feeds as many as two carloads of cattle each year and that his fields in every way are a model for those engaged in like pursuit, the inevitable inference is convincing-that though unremitting toil may accomplish many things and good management point the way to a substantial income, the greatest success comes from the union of these things and a mind which is progressive, determined to profit by the experience and knowledge of others and able to utilize scientific methods.

From History of Jones County, Iowa, Past and Present, R. M. Corbitt, S. J. Clarke Publishing Co., Chicago, 1910, p. 512.

From History of Jones County, Iowa, Western Historical Company, Chicago, 1879, page 648.