The Iola register. [volume] (Iola, Allen County, Kansas) 1875-1902, 1895-04-19

Alonzo w. Rowland was born in
the little town Of saltwater, n. Y,
November "a, 1884. Two years later
his parents moved to Calhoun county,
Michigan. When the boy was 10
years of age he was thrown upon his
own resources, on account of the death
of his father, and family reverses, and
from that day to this he has "hoed
his own row." He worked on farm
mainly, but managed somehow to
pick up the trade of stone ason so
that he was able to make hand at
that business. When twenty four
years of age he moved to Kansas.
The greater part Of the long journey
was made by wagon, and the destina-
ton proved to be piece of rented
land near the village of Geneva. The
second year claim was taken, the
place now known as the Kelley farm,
but in four years it was sold and 24O
acres of the land which now makes
part of the homestead at Geneva was
bought, the price paid for the entire
24O acres being $3.50.
1t had been pretty hard Shedding
these first five years, for when Mr..
and Mrs. Rowland landed here every
| thing they owned in the world could
have been bought for $50. But after
paying for the new farm there was
500 left from the selling price of the
old one, and that money was invested
in cows. After that things went
smoother. The cows were fruitful.
Prices advanced. There was work
for a stone mason at wages that left
very fair margin after employing a
farm hand. And better than all there
was shrewd management, rigid econ
omy, and no end of hard work. There
was good luck, too, not to be left out
of the account. al never lost hog
by cholera" we heard Mr.. Rowland
say the other day. II never sold
bunch of cattle in my life that l lost
money on. And L used to sell herds
of horses for good deal more than
they cost me.n Such luck as that
could almost be said to be better than
license to steal.
And so with the luck and the man.
agement and the hard work and the
honest dealing, the $40 acres grew I'M
til there are now 100 acres or more in
the home farm, fully equipped with
commOdious and comfortable build
and horses, and in a splendid state of
cultivation. There are other bits of
property of sundry kinds stuck away
in various places but all available for
chance rainy day. Two or three
years ago Mr.. Rowland turned the
farm over to the boys, bought COM
Portable house in lola and moved
down here to live at ease and
to enjoy the comforts and luxuries
that have been so well earned. On
account of the death of the wife of his
son, Fred, he spent last year on the
farm again, but is now back in lola
and feels as if he were settled.
Mr.. Rowland was married when
but twenty years of age to Miss Evelyn
Gardner, at Coldwater, Mich. Six
children were bern of this union, of
whom but three,-Clarence, Fred,
and Ralph, all now settled on the
Geneva farms,-still survive. Mrs.
Rowland died in 1873, and about two
years later Mr.. Rowland was united
to Mrs. Harlowe who is still at his
side and has been devoted and much
beloved mother to his children.
at is not in our stars, but in our
selves that we are underlings." 1t
has always seemed to us that such a
record as that made by Mr.. Rowland
was most complete answer to the
calamity bowling" we have heard so
much of these past four or five years.
Here was mere boy, set down bare
handed on the Kansas prairies, with
family to support and with no out
side help of any kind. The "rObber
tariff was hard at work, the "plutO-
cracyn were sucking the life blood
of the people," the greedy corpora
tiOns" were grinding the faces of the
poor, the conspiracy of capital" was
gathering snares about its victims.
But somehow or other Lon Rowland
managed to keep alive and a little
more than alive every year, until in
thirty years there is comfortable for
tune to his credit. If "viciOus laws"
have kept other men back, what has
pushed him ahead
Mr.. Rowland doesn't take any
special credit to himself for his sue
cess. When asked about it he simply
answers that he "kept-things going"
He was on the farm most of the time
seeing that things did 60. He read
the newspapers and knew how the
debt unless he could see a sure way
out. And he kept his books so
that he knew just where every dollar
came from and where it went. "And
l want to say" he observed to US the
other day, "tbat in my judgment
there never was time in Kansas
when a farmer could save as much
as he can right now. Wages are
low. farm implements are cheap,
markets are right at our doors and all
kinds of produce are high compared
with the prices of the things farmer
has to buy. A farmer may not handle
as much money as he has in some
other years, but he ought to have
more left at the end of the year than
ever before. | would undertake TO go
back to the farm and make enough |
clear money to buy farm every year."
Such language as that from one who
has so good a right to speak, ought
certainly TO be most encouraging.
Personally Mr.. Rowland is one of
the most companionable and clever OF
men, and one whose honesty we have
never heard questioned. His neigh
bors all speak well of him, and those |
who know him best are his best
friends. In politics he has always
been a stalwart Republican, and while
he has never been a candidate for any |
Office and never held any Office except
that of county commissioner, yet those
who were candidates have always
been glad to have his support. !