PETER DOYE

DOYE

Posted By: Jake Tornholm (email)
Date: 4/22/2020 at 18:43:22

PETER DOYE, a resident of section 5, Mercer township, is a native of France, born May 3, 1843, and is a son of Peter and Mary Ann (Pruines) Doye, natives of the same country. In his youth he served an apprenticeship at the butcher’s trade in the city of Paris, and worked at the business until he was twenty-one years of age. He then entered the army and served six years; he fought in the Franco-Prussian war, and was severely wounded in battle; for several months he was unfit for active duty, and while home on a furlough he joined the
Communists, for which he would have been punished had he not deserted and sought freedom on our shores; he landed at New Orleans September 3, 1871, remaining in that city one year. At the end of that time he went to Indian Territory, and in August, 1872, he landed in Adams county, Iowa; he located with the French colony, in Prescott township, and resided there three years.

Mr. Doye was married March 23, 1873, to Miss Hortense Montaldo, who was born in Illinois, a daughter of Ignatius and Celine (Pigney) Montaldo. The father was a native of Spain, and the mother was born in France; they were united in marriage in Hancock county, Illinois, where Mrs. Doye was born. In 1853 Mr. Montaldo was sent as an agent of the Icarian colony to look up a suitable location for carrying on agriculture. He came to Iowa, and pre-empted a large tract of Government land in Adams county, and afterwards accepted the position of president of the colony. When Mrs. Doye was three years old her parents removed to Cincinnati, Ohio, and resided there for twelve years; she was educated in the public schools of that city, and at the age of sixteen years she began to teach, following that vocation for several years. Mr. Montaldo died December 21, 1871. His widow still survives him, and is now a resident of Adams county.

Mr. and Mrs. Doye settled in their present home in 1875; they have a fine farm of 280 acres in a high state of cultivation. They are the parents of five children: Ignatius is now being educated at the State Agricultural College at Ames, Iowa; George, Robert, Frederick and Charles.

Politically Mr. Doye affiliates with the Republican party and is a staunch advocate of its principles.