1914 Delaware County History pgs. 5-6
A. B. Holbert
A. B. Holbert, of Elk township,
is perhaps the most extensive importer, breeder and seller of registered horses
in the United States and has a reputation which is
international in its scope. The signal success which he has attained in this
line is all the more remarkable when we consider that he started out in life
for himself not only without any capital, but sixteen and a half dollars in
debt. He was born in Luzerne county, Pennsylvania, September
29, 1853, a
son of Joseph and Margaret (Foster) Holbert. The
father was a mechanical engineer by profession and helped build the first lines
into the coal region of Pennsylvania. In 1854 he removed to Colesburg, Iowa, and purchased timber land and also
one hundred and sixty acres of government prairie land near Petersburg, this county. In 1858 he moved upon
this farm and turned his attention to agriculture until 1879, when he retired.
He sold this farm for eighty-five dollars per acre and received twenty-five
dollars per acre for his timber land in the year 1879. In that year he removed
to Hopkinton as he desired to give his children better educational advantages
than could be secured upon the farm.
He passed away in 1890, but his widow survives and makes her home with a
daughter in California at the advanced age of eighty-eight
years. To their union were born six children: Warren F., deceased; Adeline, the
wife of Wesley Carpenter, of Fayette county; A. B., of this review; Thomas R., deceased;
Mary C., the wife of Charles C. Sawyer, of Pomona, California; and Margaret L.,
the wife of Dr. H. A. Dittmer, of Manchester, this state.
A. B. Holbert received his educational training
in a log schoolhouse and later attended school at Hopkinton and Epworth. In the
winter of 1875-76 he was a student at Lenox College at Hopkinton and at the close of
the June
term found that he owed Mrs. Amos Smith sixteen dollars for board. Upon writing
his father of his difficulty he received just sixteen dollars, which left him
no money for car fare home. As he lived twenty-five miles from Hopkinton and as
he had a trunk which he must take with him walking was altogether out of the
question and as he knew that his father could not afford to send him any more
money he decided to find some way of earning the needed amount. A fellow
student was agent for an Iowa state map which cost fifty cents wholesale and
retailed for one dollar and a quarter each. The other student had failed to
make a success of the agency and was very much pleased when Mr. Holbert desired to become the firm's representative. However,
he did not even have the fifty cents necessary to purchase from the former
agent a prospectus and so the arrangement was made that in case he succeeded he
should then pay him the fifty cents and if he did not he should return the
prospectus. He also arranged with Mrs. Smith to keep the sixteen dollars which
was due as board in order to pay the company for the maps which he sold. He
then started upon his first independent business venture with a debt of sixteen
and one-half dollars. At the end of four or five days he had sold fifty maps
and of course made sufficient profit to pay his obligations. The resourcefulness
and energy which manifested themselves in this
incident early in his life have characterized him in all of the intervening
years and are largely responsible for his noteworthy success.
After returning home Mr. Holbert engaged in
general farming for some time but in 1878 began the business of horse breeding and
selling upon a small scale. He found this undertaking both remunerative and
congenial and gradually devoted more and more of his time and energy thereto
until he now concentrates his activities upon that business. He imports animals
from England, France, Belgium and Germany, handling all of the important
breeds and shipping all over the United States and Canada and even into Mexico. During the last two years he has
imported twice as many horses as any other one firm in the business in the United States. Since 1884 he has crossed the Atlantic many times, doing personally a great
deal of the buying of the horses which he imports. He also is a breeder of note
and has raised many registered animals. He also owns twenty thousand acres of
land in the United States and Canada and is one of the most prosperous
business men of Iowa and has done much to make known the advantages which
this state offers to those dealing in high grade horses.
On the 2d of February, 1881, Mr. Holbert
was united in marriage with Miss Elma D. Baker, a daughter of Jerome and Sarah
(Witter) Baker. Mrs. Holbert is a woman of much
refinement and culture, the painter of many pictures of horse life and designer
of the pedigree certificate of the German Coach Horse Association of America, a
work notable for its dignity and beauty. Her affectionate companionship and
intelligent counsel have been invaluable to her husband. By her marriage she
has become the mother of six children, namely: Thomas R., a graduate of the
Harvard law school; Fred B.; Benjamin, Jr.; Charmion;
Warren Louis; and Marjorie Madeline.Mr. Holbert is a republican and in November, 1914, was elected
to the thirty-sixth general assembly by an overwhelming majority. He has in the
fullest measure the confidence and respect of the community and all who know
him are proud that one who has spent the greater part of his life in this
county should have such noteworthy success and are especially gratified because
his prosperity has been attained without recourse to questionable methods and
solely by the exercise of sound judgment and by means of great enterprise and
industry.
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