ELMER OSHEL HISTORY Elmer Jesse Oshel was born in a log cabin ten miles south of Creston (Iowa) on the 26th day of September 1864. He was the third child of John and Virginia Beam Oshel, one of the early pioneer families of southern Iowa. After attending the public schools in Union County, he was employed on farms near his home and at Lenox, where he worked for the James Reeds.
He was married to Emma Reed on March 4 1886. After farming in Taylor County for about four years, he moved with his family to a prairie farm near Orient, in Richland Township where he broke the virgin soil and became one of the agricultural pioneers. In the fall of 1888 he built a small house on the farm located 4 miles west and one mile south of Orient so he would have a place for his family when they moved in the spring of 1890. The Oshels acquired a total of 500 acres of land and were one of the first families to raise soybeans in this county.
After a successful farming career, Mr. and Mrs. Oshel built a home for their retirement in Orient where they moved in 1917. Here he carried on his social usefulness by acting as mayor of the town for a period of nearly a decade and for many years was a director and president of the Nevinville Bank. Mr. Oshel was a 30 year member of the Cypress Lodge No. 589, A.F. and A.M, also of the Des Moines Consistory and ZI Ga Zig Shrine of Des Moines. His only son, Floyd Elmer, carried on farming until his accidental death July 4, 1952. The family farm is still owned by his widow and daughter.
There were ten children born in the Oshel home, nine of whom reached maturity: Hallie Mary (Williams), Edith Pearl (McCrackin), Belva Emma (Evans), Clara Demaris (Richards), Floyd Elmer,Gladys Anne (Lent), Bernice (Farquhar), Ralph Reed who died in childhood, Helen May (Conger) and Doris Irene (McClain). Mr. Oshel passed away March 25, 1939, and Mrs. Oshel passed away November 21, 1943. Transcribed from Adair County History 1976 . |
