Seth N. Stafford
Seth N. Stafford has been a resident of Allamakee county since
pioneer times and is today accounted one of the successful
agriculturists of Franklin township. He owns three hundred and
forty-six acres of valuable land on section 23 and success has
rewarded his well directed efforts in its cultivation so that it
is now a valuable and productive property. Mr. Stafford was born
in Virginia, on the Monongahela river, nears Morgantown, of the
1st of June 1848, and is a son of James Harrison and Christina
(Trisler) Stafford, also of the same state and locality. In early
life the father was a boatmaker and a river man in the Old
dominion, but in 1852 came to Iowa, making the journey by boat up
the Mississippi river and thence overland to Allamakee county. He
located next in Linton township and entered government land,
which he cleared of timber and continued to operate for a few
years. Eventually he bought a say and grist mill at Smithfield
and was active in its conduct for some time, although he still
gave a great deal of attention to the development of his farm.
About the years 1859, he sold his mill, and went to Pikes Peak in
Colorado, where he remained until the spring of 1860. He then
returned to Iowa but in the following years went again to
Colorado, this time taking his son, Seth N., with him. They
returned to Allamakee county on the 10th of June, 1862, and soon
afterward the father bought a caring mill, which was located on
what is now a portion of his son’s homestead. This he
operated for two or three years thereafter but at the end of that
time left this neighborhood, his death occurring some time
afterward. His wife died in 1887.
In the acquirement of an education Seth N. Stafford attended
public school in Smithfield and has spent practically his entire
life in Allamakee county with the exception of the one year which
he passed with his father in Colorado. At the age of nineteen he
assumed charge of the homestead and continued to develop it for a
number of years, residing thereon until his marriage. During this
time and for a long period thereafter he also operated a
threshing outfit and made this a profitable source of income to
him. When he left the homestead he purchased eighty acres of land
in Franklin township and this still forms a portion of his
present farm. To it he added from time to time until he acquired
a tract of over four hundred acres, one of the finest farms in
this vicinity. Eighty acres of this has been given to his son and
eighty acres he has sold, his holdings now comprising three
hundred and forty-six acres. This he operates with the aid of his
sons, carrying on general farming and also engaging extensively
in stock-raising, keeping at times as many as one hundred head of
cattle. Success has rewarded his well directed efforts and his
farm is today a valuable property, evidencing everywhere his
constant and careful supervision.
Mr. Stafford has been twice married. He wedded on the 25th of
February, 1873, Miss Mary White, who was born in Franklin
township in 1850, a daughter of John and Mary Ann White, natives
of Ireland. They came as very early settlers to Allamakee county
and the father became an extensive landowner, engaging the
remainder of his life in farming. Mrs. Stafford passed away in
1876, leaving two children: Edna May, the wife of Peter Hefner, a
farmer in Linton township; and David E., who is residing on the
home farm. On the 1st of January, 1879, Mr. Stafford was again
married, his second wife being Miss Betty C. Entwisle born in
this township in 1858, a daughter of William and Martha (Hancock)
Entwisle, the former a native of England and the latter of
Indiana; Ollie, the wife of William Nebaugh, who resides near
Monona, Clayton county; and Ernest Hampton, who makes his home
with his parents.
Mr. Stafford is a stockholder in the Monona Creamery and the
Farmers Shipping Association. He gives his political allegiance
to the democratic party and his is progressive and
public-spirited in matters of citizenship without being active as
an office seeker. His long residence in this township has made
him widely and favorably known throughout the community.
-source: Past & Present of Allamakee County; by
Ellery M. Hancock; S. J. Clarke Pub. Co.; 1913
-transcribed by Diana Diedrich
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