Copyright USGenNet Inc., 2013, All Rights Reserved U.S. Data Repository Please read U.S. Data Repository Copyright Statement on this page: Transcribed and submitted by Linda Talbott for the US Data Repository http://www.us-data.org/ ========================================================================= U.S. Data Repository NOTICE: These electronic pages may NOT be reproduced in any format for profit or presentation by any other organization. Non-commercial organizations desiring to use this material must obtain the consent of the transcriber prior to use. Individuals desiring to use this material in their own research may do so. ========================================================================= Formatted by U.S. Data Repository Chief Archivist, Linda Talbott All of the above information must remain when copied or downloaded. =========================================================================== Biographical History of Cherokee County, Iowa W. S. Dunbar & Co., Chigago - 1889 [page 475-476] FRANKLIN D. ARNOLD, a reliable member of the farming community of Amherst Township, has been a resident of Cherokee County since 1881. He was born in Defiance, then known as Williams County, Ohio, May 14, 1837, and is the son of JOHN and NANCY (GALBREATH) ARNOLD, natives of the State of Pennsylvania, and old settlers of Northwestern Iowa. The father is deceased, and the mother resides with her son, F. D., our subject. He spent most of his youth in his native county, and made the most of the opportunities offered him in the common schools of that day. When he had attained his twentieth year he began teach- ing, and followed that profession in connection with his farming for several years. He remained content in the State in which he was born until his twenty-seventh year when he migrated to Iowa; he stopped in Keokuk County, and taught school there for eight months. He then re- moved to Benton County and purchased a farm on which he spent ten years; he again took up teaching, which he pursued along with his other business dealings. In 1874 he went to Shelby County, and re- sided there for three years, farming and teaching; in 1877 he took a trip to Kansas with the intention of staying there, but after a two months' sojourn he returned to Iowa, settling in Benton County. In the spring of 1881 he came to Cherokee County and settled upon a tract of 160 acres which he had purchased the year before. His family came May 24, and moved into a rudely improvised shelter; by July 15 Mr. ARNOLD had 100 acres of land broken, forty acres in flax, and forty acres fenced, the first pasture fenced in the township, and his present residence well under way. He did the carpenter work him- self, and by October 1 moved into the new home. He now has a fine, large barn, which takes the place of one swept away in a tornado June, 1885. All his surroundings are snug and comfortable, and thrift and energy are the password on the ARNOLD farm. He has added eighty acres to the first tract he bought, but altogether farms 320 acres, renting eighty acres belonging to his mother. Besides the raising of grain Mr. ARNOLD takes an active interest in the propa- gation of better grades of live-stock, and has done much toward ad- vancing this industry in the county. He has planted a three and three-quarter acre grove, and has a fine, thrifty orchard of three acres, set in 1883, and which is beginning to bear. It scarcely need be said that the latter is a luxury which will be greatly appreciated. Since coming to the county Mr. ARNOLD has abandoned his school work, and has devoted himself exclusively to agricult- ural pursuits. Politically he affiliates with the Republican party, and has represented his township as clerk for four years, and as a member of the School for a number of years. He has been a zealous worker in the cause of education, and has made many successful efforts to arouse an interest in others, and to elevate the standard. He has been associated with most of the public affairs of this portion of the county. He was the first treasurer of the Marcus Shipping Association, and also the first treasurer of the Marcus and Amherst Cemetery Association. Mr. ARNOLD was united in marriage November 1, 1860, to Miss MARY LEHMAN, a daughter of JACOB and LENA (BAER) LEHMAN. She was born in Defiance County, Ohio, April 11, 1840. Twelve children have been born of this marriage: JOHN (deceased), MARY (deceased), NANCY E., wife of A. J. CUSHMAN; JACOB B., BENJAMIN F., the two latter being students at Iowa College; CALLIE L., JAMES Q., REUBEN H., DAVID M., GEORGE O., WILLIAM E., and an infant daughter (deceased). JACOB H., BENJAMIN F. and CALLIE L. have all been engaged in school work, and with marked success. The family have been associated with the German Baptist Church, but in later years Mrs. ARNOLD and her daughter CALLIE have been united with the church known as the Brethren Church, of Marcus. Mr. ARNOLD has been an active worker in the church and Sabbath-school, filling the office of deacon in the church, and that of Sunday-school superintendent for eleven consecutive years. Mr. ARNOLD'S farm to-day presents a very different appearance from that of a few years ago; when he first came to the county wolves were numerous, and prairie chickens were so thick that in mowing hay the horses would often trample them to death. But with the coming of civilization, and the disappearance of the red man, the wild game has also fled, but between the two conditions, who would hesitate to make a choice? ===========================================================================