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1907 Past and Present Biographies
Edmund OxenfordHe was born on the 10th of August, 1861, in the fatherland, his parents being John and Elizabeth (Haas) Oxenford, who were likewise natives of that country, the former born in 1833 and the latter in 1836. They were married in Germany and remained residents of that land until 1879, when, hoping to have better opportunities in the new world for providing a good living for his family, Mr. Oxenford came to America, accompanied by his wife and children. He did not tarry on the eastern coast but made his way into the interior of the country, settling first in Henry county, Illinois. Soon afterward he continued his journey to Greene county, Iowa, and purchased eighty acres of improved land in Franklin township. To this farm the family removed in 1880 and here the father and mother spent their remaining days, the latter passing away on the old homestead. The father’s time and energies were given to its further development and improvement and he was known as an energetic business man of keen discernment and unfaltering industry. His wife died in 1883 but he long survived, passing away at our subject’s home in 1906. Their three children are: Edmund, whose name introduces this record; John, who is living in North Dakota; and Mrs. Rosa Leber, whose home is in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania. Edmund Oxenford spent the first eighteen years of his life in the land of his birth and pursued his education in the public schools there. He accompanied his parents as they crossed the briny deep to the new world and later on their removal to Greene county, Iowa. In fact he always lived with his father until 1892, and was actively engaged in the work of the home farm. In the year mentioned, however, he bought one hundred and twenty acres of land in Bristol township, where he began farming on his own account, bringing the fields under a high state of cultivation and continuing the work of improvement there until 1902, when he sold that property and purchased his present place of one hundred and ninety acres on section 3, Kendrick township. This is an excellent farm, being considered one of the model properties of the district,'and Mr. Oxenford is classed with the leading and representative agriculturists. At one time he owned three hundred and fifty acres of fine land but has since sold a part of it. His preseht possessions are valuable and his fields return him excellent harvests, for which he finds a ready sale on the market. On the 16th of June, 1885, Mr. Oxenford was united in marriage to Miss Kate Ulrich, who was born in New York in 1864, and was therefore twenty-one years of age at the time of her marriage. She is one of the six children of George and Ann (Heinson) Ulrich and by her marriage she has become the mother of five children, four daughters and a son, namely: Elsie, Mabel, Lillie, Nellie and Benjamin, all at home. The family attend and support the Friends church, in which they hold membership. Mr. Oxenford votes with the republican party and has served as township trustee for one term but has never been a politician in the sense of office seeking, preferring to give his time and energies to his business affairs, in which he is meeting with signal success. He has continuously been a resident of the county for more than a quarter of a century and has therefore witnessed much of its growth and progress, while in the work of its agricultural development he has borne his full share. |
Transcribed from "Past and Present of Greene County, Iowa Together With Biographical Sketches of Many of Its Prominent and Leading Citizens and Illustrious Dead," by E. B. Stillman assisted by an Advisory Board consisting of Paul E. Stillman, Gillum S. Toliver, Benjamin F. Osborn, Mahlon Head, P. A. Smith and Lee B. Kinsey, Chicago: The S. J. Clarke Publishing Company, 1907.  Site Terms, Conditions & Disclaimer |