My Genealogy Hound

C. M. DEWEY.
Iowa has justly won her reputation as one of the greatest agricultural states of the Union. Its development has been so rapid and the results achieved so marvelous as to seem almost magical and yet it has all come about as a result of the individual labors of men of enterprise and determination who have subdued the wild prairie and converted it into the uses of civilization. To this class of men in Union county belongs C. M. Dewey, an active and progressive farmer living on section 35, Sand Creek township. He has well tilled fields and rich pasture lands, on which browse horses and cattle, and he also raises Duroc Jersey hogs. His farm of two hundred and eighty acres is nearly all under cultivation and constitutes a valuable property, which he has owned and operated since January, 1902.

Mr. Dewey is a native of Piatt county, Illinois, born June 8, 1873, and there he was reared to manhood upon the home farm, spending his boyhood days in the home of his parents, E. A. and Delphina Dewey, natives of Vermont and New Jersey respectively. The father was born in 1836 and was a son of Captain Dewey, a resident of New England, who served in the war of 1812 with the rank of captain. About 1840 he removed westward to Illinois, establishing his home in Fulton county, where he entered from the government a tract of wild prairie land, which he developed into a productive farm. Upon that farm E. A. Dewey was reared and, having attained adult age, he married Delphina Lantz, a native of New Jersey. In 1869 they removed to Piatt county, where Mr. Dewey purchased land until his possessions aggregated six hundred and forty acres. He also owned other farm lands elsewhere in Illinois and in Iowa and became very prosperous as well as a progressive agriculturist.

C. M. Dewey was one of a family of three sons and three daughters all of whom reached adult age. No event of special importance occurred to vary the routine of farm life for him in his boyhood, which was devoted to such work as he could perform in carrying on the home farm and also to the acquirement of an education, which he obtained through the medium of the common schools, supplemented by study in Bushnell (Illinois) Normal School for two winters. He perfected his arrangements for having a home of his own by his marriage in Franklin county, Illinois, on the 3d of February, 1895, to Miss Mary Hewett, who was born and reared in that state. Her father, Thomas Hewett, a native of Ohio, became an early settler of Piatt county, Illinois, and now resides in Union county, Iowa, following farming in Sand Creek township.

Following his marriage Mr. Dewey engaged in operating the old homestead farm in Illinois until 1902. The previous year he made a visit to Iowa and purchased the place which he now owns, taking up his abode thereon in the following January. He has divided the place into fields of convenient size by well kept fences and has made many substantial improvements, using the latest improved machinery in carrying on the work of the fields, wherein he annually harvests rich crops of corn and other cereals. In 1903 he began breeding Duroc Jersey hogs and has since made exhibits at numerous district and state fairs, where he has carried off many premiums. He has become widely known as a breeder of fine hogs and has made extensive sales, shipping largely to different states. He holds an annual sale of brood sows and at the sale in 1907 the animals brought an average of one hundred and forty-five dollars per head. He also raises and feeds stock for the market, selling from one to three carloads of cattle each year, together with many hogs.

Mr. and Mrs. Dewey have three children, Lulu Fern, Ella Viola and Darrell Edward. They also lost two children, Murrel Clifford, who died at the age of six weeks; and Edith Odell, who died in her second year. The parents hold membership in the Methodist Episcopal church and Mr. Dewey is a member of the Knights of Pythias lodge, the Modern Woodmen camp and the Fraternal Insurance Order. When he became a voter he gave his political allegiance to the republican party and has never faltered in his support thereof. He has never sought nor wanted office but has done effective work in support of the schools and is now president of the school board. He withholds his aid and cooperation from no movement calculated to prove of general good but on the contrary stands as a stalwart champion of orderly progression and advancement. He is not only one of the active and successful farmers and stockraisers but also one of the public-spirited and highly respected citizens of Sand Creek township.