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E.V. ODEKIRK

It is well once in awhile to stop and think how absolutely humanity is dependent on the farmer. All of our food must come from the farm; it can come form no other place, for all animal life must live on organic matter, and no chemist has as yet been able to originate life, nor even to combine elements in such a way as to make a food which will sustain life. That is reserved for living plants and animals to do, and we are all dependent for food on the farmer, whose business it is to take care of these plants and animals, to cause them to live and grow until suitable for food purposes.

E. V. Odekirk was born in Wisconsin, December 30, 1856, the son of E. P. and Adelia (Helmer) Odekirk, both natives of New York, who came as pioneer farmers to Fond du Lac county, Wisconsin. E. P. Odekirk was born March 30, 1829, and was married on August 13, 1854. His wife was born October 17, 1838. The following children were born to their union: E. V., the oldest, December 30, 1856; Hattie M., born July 30, 1859; Dora N., July 18, 1868; Mattie L., October 4, 1871; Stella Pearl, January 12, 1878. Mr. Odekirk enlisted in Company B, Thirty-first Wisconsin, on February 23, 1864, and served faithfully for two years. In 1868 he came to Iowa, locating on the farm which his son now owns. Here he first had eighty acres, then later had forty in another location. He lived on this farm until his death, February 15, 1881. He was a Baptist and a strong Republican. He was a man tried and true, one who could be relied upon at any time.

E. V. Odekirk was educated in the early schools. He has always lived on the old farm, has now one hundred and fifty acres, and gives his attention to general stock raising. On February 24, 1881, he was married to Estella Proctor, daughter of J. M. and Sarah Ann (Armstrong) Proctor, he was born June 27, 1832, in Ohio, and she born in Ireland on March 14, 1842. They were married March 19, 1857, and were the parents of the following children: Adam E., born March 21, 1858; Estella M., March 28, 1862; William R., May 31, 1866; Elizabeth E., April 7, 1872. J. M. Proctor came with his father and sister, in 1854, to Centre township, this county, from Ohio, and is living in Kansas at present. His wife died in June, 1885. Mr. and Mrs. E. V. Odekirk are the parents of the following three children: Sarah A., born April 6, 1884; Beaulah V., born November 16, 1887; Milton P., born January 16, 1892. E. V. Odekirk was made vice-president of the Randalia Savings Bank at the time of its organization. In stock farming he is very proficient and has gained a name for the character of the stock produced on his farm. He is a man well worth knowing on account of his many good traits.

~transcribed for the Fayette County IAGenWeb Project by Tom and Sharon Dorland