Page 630

 

WILLIAM L. DORR

 

William L. Dorr, living on section 24, Ross township, owns and operates a farm of two hundred acres which is well improved.  The fields are carefully cultivated and as the soil is rich and productive substantial harvests are annually gathered.  Mr. Dorr is also well known as a breeder of and dealer in Duroc Jersey hogs and Aberdeen Angus cattle.  Moreover, he is numbered among the old settlers of the county, dating his residence here from 1874, and is a native son of Iowa, his birth having occurred in Cedar county, June 19, 1869.  He comes of Teutonic ancestry.  His father, Leonard Door, was a native of Germany and when a young man sailed for the new world, settling first in Warren county, Illinois.  He was afterward married there to Amelia Ann Osborn, a native of Warren county, and they began their domestic life upon a farm in that locality.  Two children were born unto them ere their removal to Iowa.  On coming to this state they took up their abode in Cedar county, where they lived for a few years, and where three more children were added to the family, namely: W. L., J. W. and C. A.  About 1876 they removed to Taylor county and Mr. Dorr purchased land in Ross township and there developed a farm upon which he reared his family and made his home for a number of years.  His wife died upon this farm in 1896 and Mr. Dorr has since spent his time among his children, being now with a son in Oklahoma.

 

William L. Dorr was reared on the home farm in this county, his youthful days being spent in the usual manner of farm lads who divided their time between the work of the schoolroom, the pleasures of the playground and the duties of the fields. He acquired his education in the district schools and also in the public schools of Bedford, and when he started out in life on his own account he chose the occupation to which he had been reared.  He rented land and thus engaged in farming for several years, after which he removed to Kansas, where he carried on farming for two years.  Subsequently he went to Oklahoma and later he returned to Taylor county.  He has always carried on general farming and is now the owner of two hundred acres of rich and productive land on (page 631) section 24, Ross township.  Mr. Dorr purchased eighty acres of his present place soon after his marriage and as his financial resources have increased has extended the boundaries of the farm.  He has also rebuilt and remodeled the house, has put up two new barns and has added many other modern equipments.  He has fenced and cross-fenced the farm, has planted a good apple and peach orchard and in connection with the cultivation of cereals best adapted to the soil and climate he is extensively and successfully engaged in raising Duroc Jersey hogs.  He also has a herd of fifteen head of Aberdeen Angus cattle which are high-grade stock.

 

In Ross township in January, 1898, Mr. Dorr was united in marriage to Miss Laura Jones, who was born in Bedford and is a daughter of Taylor Jones.  They now have two children: Carrie and Carl.  Politically Mr. Dorr is a stanch democrat where national issues are involved but locally he casts an independent ballot.  He was elected township clerk and served for three years, after which he was elected township trustee and filled that position for two years.  He was next chosen assessor and has remained in public office altogether for ten years.  He holds membership in the Christian Church, while his wife is a member of the Methodist Episcopal church, and both are consistent Christian people, whose well-spent lives have won for them the high esteem, confidence and regard of all who know them.  Mr. Dorr is widely recognized as a man of tried integrity and worth.