David Beller

BELLER

Posted By: Robert Woods (email)
Date: 11/5/2023 at 09:06:09

David Beller and his wife (Rachel Barton Beller) had 7 children and adapted one more. Only 4 (all boys) would grow to adulthood. By 1878 David's farm was 360 acres strong.

Archibald Montgomery Beller was born in 1858. He would marry Jennie Richardson on June 5, 1883. The couple would have 2 children together, but only one would live to be an adult. Jennie would die in 1907 during surgery for Appendicitis.

Robert E. M. Beller was born on December 16, 1860. Robert passed away at the age of 2 on September 2, 1863.

In 1860, David Beller's farm was between his older brother's and his father's. David had a 73 acre farm with only 3 acres “unimproved”. It had a cash value of $800.00. He also had $75.00 in farm implements. He had 5 horses, 3 milk cows, 3 other cattle and 26 pigs. The cash value of all his livestock was $380.00.

David's farm produced 260 bushels of wheat, 1000 bushels of corn, 160 bushels of oats. The farm produced only 1 bushel of beans, 8 bushels of potatoes but 400 pounds of butter (probably to sell) and 50 pounds of cheese, (again to sell), 18 tons of hay for the livestock, 21 gallons of molasses (again to sell). He produced $25.00 worth of home goods to sell. He slaughtered $60.00 worth of animals.

Albert S Beller was born in 1865 and would die the same year.

Egbert Austin Beller was born on September 2, 1866. He would marry Margret G Meakins on September 7, 1887. Margaret's parents owned a large farm adjacent to David Beller's farm. The couple would have 3 children together.

In 1870 David's farm had grown to 280 acres with only 6 unimproved. He paid $280.00 in wages. He had 6 horses, 5 milk cows, and 30 pigs. His farm produced 1500 bushels of spring wheat and 1400 bushels of corn. His farm also produced 70 bushels of potatoes, 300 pounds of butter and 15 tons of hay.

Osea Byron Beller was born on September 17, 1874. He would marry Elfreda Stoecker on December 26, 1902. The couple would have one child together and adapted the young child of his brother Archibald after his wife died.

Ida Belle Lee was born in 1875. When her parents died of Diphtheria, David and Rachel adapted the little girl. She to would die of Diphtheria in 1880.

Marshall Bennet Beller was on July 12, 1875. He would marry Fannie Mae Eggleston on December 7, 1898. She to was the daughter of a successful farmer in Benton County. They would have 4 children together but only 3 would live to be adults.

Alphena Beller was born in 1885. She shows up in the Iowa Census of that year, but she does not show up in the 1890 US Census.

Robert Beller was a very successful farmer, but at a time when Benton County was the frontier. After the Civil war the frontier moved west and more people were moving into Benton County. They wanted nice roads, schools, and churches. David donated the land and most of the material to build the 2nd Eden ME Church. Commonly (at the time) called the Beller Church. He donated the land for the No. 4 School. He made road improvements on roads in his area of the county. He was a founding member of the Eden Township Insurance Association.

Like his siblings before, his children moved away from Benton County.

In 1880, Archie and Charlie Smock, a son of a neighboring farmer left for Kansas to homestead and cut timber off the land they owned there. Each having half a section (160 acres). They were not gone long and by around 1882, Archie, moved to O'Brien County with another neighboring farmer's son, John Meakins, the brother of Egbert's wife. They bought land there for farming. By 1885 they had both returned to farm in Benton County but they brought back wifes. After the death of his 1st child, Archie and his wife would return to O'Brien County in 1886. He would eventually settle in Idaho.

In 1888, Egbert A Beller would move his wife of one year to O'Brien County where he would farm. He would eventually move to Mountain View, Ca.

Dr. Osea Beller was the last of the 4 boys to leave. Without his father's blessing or help, he worked his way through Tilford Academy and then Cedar Rapids Business College. With this background he applied and was accepted to attend Rush Medical College. He graduated in 1897 and performed his intern work at Presbyterian Hospital in Chicago. Once he completed his internship, he returned to Iowa and entered practice with an established doctor. In 1908 he moved to Nampa, Idaho to start a medical practice. He would eventually end up in Los Angles. Ca.

That left Marshall Beller to carry on the Beller name in Benton County.

Around 1900 David retires from farming since Marshall was running the farm. He and Rachel bought a house on East Market Street in Vinton, Iowa.

In 1905, David sells what is left of the farm to his youngest son, Marshall, to farm.

In March 1906, David becomes very ill and does not recover fully. David passes away on December 30, 1906.

The information is from various newspaper articles that can be found here: Benton County Community County Archive, http://bentoncounty.advantage-preservation.com/