Buena Vista County, IA
USGenWeb Project

George W. Dale started out in life as a farm hand, working for sixteen dollars per month.  Today he is the owner of a good property in Newell township from which he derives a substantial annual income.  He makes his home, however, in the city of Newell, where he has lived since the spring of l906.  The careful conduct of his farming interests proves the basis of his prosperity and in the course of years brought him a competence that was most gratifying.

Mr. Dale was born in Jones county, Iowa, March 17, l858, and is a son of Harvey Alexander and Matilda (Baum) Dale, the former a native of Kentucky and the latter of Ohio.  The father was a son of Harvey Dale, who was born in Ireland and on coming to the new world settled in Kentucky, casting his lot among its pioneer residents.  He there followed the occupation of farming and in that state reared his family.  He was eighty-six or eighty-seven years of age at the time of his death but his wife was in early womanhood when she was called away.  They were the parents of three sons:  Robert, who was killed in the Civil war; James, a minister of the Christian church; and Harvey.  The last named became a millwright and also operated a sawmill.  In 1846 he removed westward in Iowa, settling in Jones county where he purchased a brush farm of one hundred and twenty acres which he cleared and improved.  There he lived for twenty years, bringing his farm under a high state of cultivation, and on the expiration of that period he removed to Tama county, where he also followed farming for a few years.  In 1876 he disposed of his property there and went to the Indian reservation in Nebraska, where he spent one winter.  Later he went to Kansas where he conducted a ranch for two years and on the expiration of that period he came to Buena Vista county where he purchased a farm of one hundred and twenty acres, three miles south of Newell. For four years he cultivated the place and then removed to Arkansas, buying a fruit farm in Benton county.  His next removal took him to Texas county, Missouri. where he died on the 11th of October, 1906, at the age of eighty-two years and seven months.  His wife, who through her maternal ancestry, comes of German stock, still survives and lives with her daughter, Ida.  She is a member of the Christian church and is an estimable lady.  Mr. Dale had been previously married to a Miss Dougherty and they had three children of whom one is now living, Margaret, the wife of John Simpson, of Kentucky.  By the marriage of Henry A. and Matilda Dale, there were born:  William, of Lowell, Arkansas; George W.; Edward L., who died at Cripple Creek, Colorado, as the result of an accident; John, residing in Rogers, Arkansas; Robert, of the state of Washington; Albert, who is living at Lee Summit, Missouri; Emma, who is married and resides in Kentucky; Mary, who became the wife of Andrew Barr, and died in Washington; Ida, the wife of Robert Varnell, of Benton county, Arkansas; and Nellie, who died in Nebraska at the age of three years.

George W. Dale spent his boyhood days in his parents' home, the farm serving as a playground and his training school for life's practical and responsible duties.  He received his literary instruction in the district schools and when he started out in life on his own account he was employed as a farm hand at sixteen dollars per month, working in that way for sixteen or eighteen months.  He afterward purchased a team and began farming on his own account in Tama county, Iowa.  Since 1881 he has lived in Buena Vista county and after renting land for several years he purchased two hundred and forty acres in Newell township which he improved.  Upon that place he lived until the spring of 1906 when he removed to Newell.  He has since sold eighty acres of his farm but derives a good annual income from the remainder.

On the 3d of March, 1880, Mr. Dale was married to Miss Dora Leighton, who was born at Yates City, Illinois, a daughter of Silas and Adelia (Noble) Leighton, the former a native of Indiana and the latter of New York.  They were the parents of two children who reached adult age, the elder daughter being Nettie, the wife of the Rev. Al Emerson, a minister of the Christian church, now at Morrison, Oklahoma.  The paternal grandfather of Mrs. Dale was Job Noble who married Sarah Hamlin and their children were:  Adelia, Amanda and Mary.  Unto Mr. and Mrs. Dale have been born six children:  Clara, Ernest, Walter, Frank, Warren and Clyde.  Of this family, Frank married Myrtle Mitchell and they have two children:  Darrell and Robert.

In his political views Mr. Dale is an earnest democrat, never faltering in his allegiance to the party and its principles.  He served for two years as school director but has never sought political office.  His wife is a member of the Christian church and both are held in high esteem throughout the community.  The life of Mr. Dale has been one of untiring activity and enterprise in which he has depended upon his earnest labor to secure success.  Without any special advantages at the outset of his career he has worked steadily and persistently and has gained the confidence which follows indefatigable energy and determination.