Inheriting the sterling characteristics of a long line of sturdy Scotch ancestry and endowed by nature with a good constitution, Charles Falconer early developed all the attributes which make the successful man. This is evidenced in the fact that he came to this country a poor man and today he is the owner of a valuable farm of two hundred and forty acres in Adams township, Delaware county. He is a native of Scotland, born October 14, 1826. His parents were James and Isabella (Cunningham) Falconer, who lived and died in Scotland. The father followed gardening in his native country, being employed by one man for sixty years. Their family numbered five sons and three daughters. Three of the family came to the United States and two settled in Brockton, Massachusetts, where they passed away.
     Charles Falconer was reared in the parental home to the age of sixteen years and acquired his education in the common schools of his native land. When a lad of sixteen years, foreseeing that there was no future in Scotland for him and having heard and read a great deal about the freedom and the opportunity for advancement in this country, he decided to leave home. In 1842 therefore he set sail for the United States and, landing in Boston, he lived there sixteen years. Having decided to try his fortune in the middle west, he then made his way to Dubuque, Iowa, and from there to Epworth, and some of the hardships which he underwent during this trip is indicated by the fact that he walked from Dubuque to Epworth on a very cold day, when the snow covered the ground, for he had not a cent in his pocket with which to travel otherwise. After three weeks spent in the latter city he came to Delaware county, and purchased one hundred and twenty acres of land on sections 17 and 20, Adams township. He at once undertook the arduous task of developing a farm in this new and unsettled region and as time passed and he prospered, he invested his savings in more land, so that today he is the owner of two hundred and forty acres of as fine land as is to be found in this section of the state. Throughout a long period he has been identified with agricultural pursuits here and although he is still making his home on the farm, his son Charles E. gives him able assistance in managing the place. In 1875 he purchased six hundred acres of land in Sac county, on which his sons, James and Frank, now reside.
     Mr. Falconer was united in marriage to Miss Rebecca Pierce, a daughter of Benjamin and Betsy (Obear) Pierce, of Massachusetts. To Mr. and Mrs. Falconer have been fourteen children, of whom eleven are living: James, who is married and resides at Early, Iowa; Bessie, who is the wife of Luke Scanlan and lives on a farm near Manchester; Charles E., who is mentioned at length below; Isabelle, the wife of T. J. Sisler, a resident of Paris, Iowa; Frank C. who lives near Odebolt, Iowa; Agnes, the wife of Frank Collenbaugh, residing near Sac City; B. P., who is married and is engaged in farming on section 23, Adams township; Asenath, the wife of Edgar McCloud, a resident farmer of section 10, Adams township; Eva, the wife of Alex Robinson, who lives on a tract of land on section 8, Adams township; Alice, the wife of John Wesley Robinson, who follows farming on section 7, the same township; and Douglas F., who lives on a farm near Coggon, Iowa. The mother of this family departed this life in 1906, and was buried in Silver Creek Cemetery.
    Mr. Falconer underwent many trials and hardships before he became firmly established in this country but now, at the age of eighty-eight years he can look back over his career and feel that he has not lived in vain, for in his declining years he can enjoy the comforts of life, surrounded by his large family of children, who are all well situated in homes of their own and are greatly devoted to his welfare. He enjoys too, the high regard and esteem of a large circle of friends and acquaintances, many of whom have been his associates throughout a long period. During the Civil war he manifested his loyalty to his adopted country by enlisting in the Union army. He was with Sherman on the march to the sea and was honorably discharged in 1865.