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Past and
Present of Greene County, Iowa V Unless otherwise noted, biographies submitted by Dick Barton. George M. Vader, a resident farmer of Cedar
township, living on section 34, was born on the 30th of August, 1861, in Henry
county, Illinois. His father,
George B. Vader, was a native of the state of New York, born December 3, 1821.
He was reared to manhood upon the farm and continued a resident of the
Empire state until after his marriage to Miss Olive Brunson, who was born in New
York in 1829. In the year 1858 they removed westward to Illinois, settling in
Henry county, where the father purchased one hundred and twenty acres of land,
which he at once began to further develop and improve.
He continued the operation of the farm until 1868, when he sold out and
came to Greene county, Iowa, settling on section 30, Kendrick township.
Here he bought one hundred and sixty acres of raw land at four dollars
per acre and upon this place he made his home until 1888, transforming the wild
prairie into richly productive fields, while to the farm he added all modern
improvements and accessories. In
1888 he sold out and removed to Idaho, where he has engaged in general farming
and in the cultivation of fruit in the Snake river valley.
His life has been one of activity and enterprise and although he is now
eighty-five years of age he still gives supervision to his agricultural and
horticultural interests. In 1892 he
was called upon to mourn the loss of his wife.
In their family were five children, four of whom are living:
L. S., a resident of Hagerman, Idaho; George M., of this review; Mrs.
Maria F. Berry, also of Hagerman; and Mrs. Edith Otterson, of California. The boyhood days of George M. Vader were quietly
spent upon the home farm, where he early became familiar with the best methods
of tilling the soil and caring for the crops.
The public schools afforded him his educational privileges and he
remained with his parents until he had attained adult age, when he began farming
for himself. For some time he
rented land but when his financial resources had increased sufficiently to
enable him to make purchase, he invested, in 1887, in eighty acre of land, where
his residence now stands, on section 34, Cedar township.
To this he has added from time to time until his place now comprises two
hundred and forty acres of rich and well improved land.
A large part of the farm is fine grazing land, splendidly adapted for the
raising of shorthorn cattle, in which Mr. Vader is extensively engaged. He also raises Poland China hogs, keeping thoroughbred
registered stock, and each year he holds a sale of cattle and hogs
that is looked forward to with great interest by the farmers of the
country. He has in fact some of the
best stock raised in this part of the state and has gained a wide reputation in
this connection. In all his business methods he is practical and enterprising
and his labors constitute the basis of a desirable success. In 1881 Mr. Vader was united in marriage to Miss
Margaret Berry, a daughter of Thomas and Ellen Berry.
She died in the year 1895, leaving two sons, Herman and Roy, who are
living in Cedar township. After losing his first wife Mr. Vader wedded Miss
Jennie McBurney, who came to Greene county in 1868, settling in Cedar township,
where the father carried on general agricultural pursuits until his retirement
from business life in 1901, since which time he has made his home in Ames, Iowa.
His family numbered six children. By
the second marriage of Mr. Vader there are four children: Ruth, Ralph, George
and Jeannette, all yet under the parental roof. The family is well known in the community, the
members of the household occupying an enviable position in social circles in
which they move, while the Vader household is justly celebrated for its warm
hearted and gracious hospitality. Both
our subject and his wife have many warm friends and enjoy in large measure the
esteem and good will of all with whom they have come in contact.
Mr. Vader has always been a stalwart republican since age conferred upon
him the right of franchise but he has never sought or desired political office
nor emoluments for himself. He has
been a member of the Odd Fellows society since 1882, belonging to the lodge of
Scranton, and since 1902 he has affiliated with the Masonic lodge at Churdan,
being in hearty sympathy with the principles and purposes of these
organizations. His life has ever
been an honorable and upright one, bringing him the trust and high regard of
many friends. |