JAMES KILLOUGH

James Killough, one of the old and honored citizens and successful farmers of Yellow Springs township, is known as a reliable business man, industrious, ambitious, and progressive. He was born in Preble county, Ohio, Aug. 15, 1832, his parents being William and Jane (Nicol) Killough. The father died in Ohio at the age of forty-eight years, and the mother afterward came to Iowa with her son, James, her death occurring in this State when she was fifty-nine years of age. William Killough was a native of South Carolina, and his wife of the Buckeye State. They were the parents of five children: Sarah Jane, who acts as housekeeper for her brother James; Mary Ann, the deceased wife of William Reid; Rebecca, the wife of W. W. Stetson, State superintendent of schools, and resides at Auburn, Me.; William, who died at the age of five years; and James, the eldest of the family. In the early subscription and public schools of his native county James Killough pursued his education, and in the periods of vacation he worked upon the home farm. He took his place in the fields almost as soon as old enough to handle the plow, and gradually more and more of the work of the farm was entrusted to him, so that he gained broad, practical experience in the best methods of caring for the land and producing crops. He came to Iowa in the fall of 1851, locating first in Louisa county, where he lived for a brief period. About 1854 he purchased eighty acres of farm and ten acres of timber land in Des Moines county. He put all of the improvements upon that property, erecting a modern brick house, good barns, and other buildings, and the land was brought to its present condition of high cultivation through his efforts. Mr. Killough is also engaged in raising cattle to some extent, and keeps about sixty head of hogs each year. He has at two different times taken stock in threshing machines which have operated throughout the neighborhood. In all of the farm work he is practical and progressive, and his carefully directed labor, sound business judgment, and unfaltering perseverance have been the strong elements in his success. Mr. Killough is a member of the Reformed Presbyterian church, and is true to its teachings and faith. He has never married, and his sister acts as his housekeeper. They have adopted and reared several children; Alfred Killough, who was born in Boston, Mass., Dec. 5, 1864, and is now an enterprising agriculturist, operating the old home farm; Eva, a native of Allegheny City, Pa., born Jan. 4, 1879, and is a trained nurse in the city of Burlington, but still makes her home at the farm; William, born in Allegheny City, Pa., Feb. 28, 1881, and now in Logan and Graig’s wholesale hardware store in Allegheny City, Pa. Harry, Sadie, and Charles were also adopted into the home of Mr. and Miss Killough. The last named is now deceased, and after several years the others returned to their people in Allegheny City, where Sadie is now engaged in dressmaking. Harry at this time is a member of the regular army, stationed at Fort Worth, Kans. William was a volunteer of the Spanish-American war, enlisting June 25, 1898, as a member of Company C, Fiftieth Iowa Infantry. He was taken ill in camp at Jacksonville and returning home, he afterward entered Elliott’s business college, of Burlington, and was thus prepared for the practical duties of a business life.