EDWARD GRUBBS.

A life of indefatigable industry has brought to Edward Grubbs the competence which now classes him among the substantial citizens of Woodson county. He was born in Dearborn county, Indiana, on the 10th of December, 1832, and represents one of the old families of that state. His father, John M. Grubbs, was also born there, and the grandfather, Edward Grubbs, Sr., was a native of Virginia, whence he removed to the Hoosier state during the period of its primitive development. There he reared his family and after arriving at years of maturity, John M. Grubbs married Eliza Lunger, a native of New Jersey. In 1854 he removed to Iowa, but after a year returnd[sic] to Indiana. While upon the trip he was taken ill and died soon after reaching his old home, passing away in 1856, at the age of fifty-five years. His wife died in 1858. Eleven children, all sons, were born unto them, the subject of this review being the second in order of birth.

Edward Grubbs was reared in Indiana and acquired a common-school education. As a companion and helpmate for the journey of life he chose Miss Susan Brown, their marriage being celebrated September 10, 1851. She is a native of North Carolina. Her parents died when she was very small, so she never learned anything of the family history. She was taken to Ohio by a family named Tuttle and afterward went to live with a family by the name of Bonham with whom she remained until she attained to womanhood.

After their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Grubbs secured employment on a farm, the former working in the fields, the latter performing the duties of the household. After a year thus passed they went to live with his grandfather, Edward Grubbs, with whom they remained a year, when our subject rented a farm in Ohio, operating it for two years. In 1854 he removed to Iowa, and in 1859 went to Pike's Peak, Colorado, to engage in mining, but not finding that a profitable venture he returned to Iowa in July of the same year. Continuing to make the Hawkeye state the place of his abode until 1860. In that year he again went to Indiana and for a year worked as a farm hand, after which he leased and operated a farm for five years, but believing he could improve his financial condition in the west where lands were cheaper, he went to Bates county, Missouri, in 1868, working there by the month for a year and a half.

In the fall of 1869 Mr. Grubbs came to Woodson county and secured a homestead of eighty acres on Cherry creek. For fourteen years

he cultivated the fields and improved the place also engaged in stock-raising. He then traded that farm for some timber land on the Neosho river, one mile northwest of Neosho Falls, where he now owns a valuable tract of one hundred and twenty-five acres. The rich, alluvial soil produces excellent crops in return for his cultivation, and his wheat and cornfields form a most attractive feature in the landscape. He raises about thirty-five bushels of wheat to the acre. Upon the place is a good residence, substantial barn and other modern improvements, and everything about the place indicates thrift and progress. At one time he was in debt two thousand dollars, but he raised corn, cleared off the indebtedness through the sale of that product and is now in very comfortable circumstances.

Unto Mr. and Mrs. Grubbs have been born seven children, namely: Bailey G.. who is now living in Oklahoma territory; Eliza, wife of J. D. Newcomb, of Oklahoma; Ward Beecher, who is living in Cherokee county; Mrs. Pearl Jones, who resides in Neosho Falls; Emma Stovall, who died in Oklahoma, leaving five children; Lusetta and Laura, who died in infancy. If the parents both survive until September, 1901, they will celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of their marriage. They are people of genuine worth, of high moral character and are justly entitled to the esteem in which they are held. Years of earnest labor, eventually crowned with prosperity—such is the epitome of the life of Edward Grubbs, and in this respect his career is certainly worthy of emulation.

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