John H. Welch, one of
Clayton County’s successful and influential
agriculturists was born at St. Johns in Lower Canada,
December 2, 1835. He is of Irish descent, his paternal
grandfather, Abraham Welch, having been a native of the
North of Ireland. His parents were Samuel and Elizabeth
(Waite) Welch, the former born in New Hampshire and the
latter in Duchess County, N.Y. J. H. was one of a family
of ten children; his father died when he was a mere child
and he afterward made his home with his grandfather. His
educational advantages were very limited, but by
observation he supplemented the information gained in
schools, and is now a well-informed man.
At the age of thirteen years Mr. Welch started out to
make his own way in the world. For a time he was employed
on a farm in the northern part of Vermont, and later
worked on the Vermont Central Railroad, which was then
being built. In the year 1858 he came westward, believing
that this part of the country offered better
opportunities than the overcrowded east. For about eight
months he sojourned in Dodge County, Wisconsin., where
one of his brothers resided. At the expiration this time
he went to Olmsted County, Minn., where he remained five
years. In the spring of 1860 he came to Iowa and
purchased a tract consisting of eighty acres situated in
Sperry Township, Clayton County.
Soon after coming to Iowa Mr. Welch established a home of
his own. October 2, 1862, he was united in marriage with
Mrs. Rachel A. (Nichols) Carlson, and they continue to
make their home upon the Sperry Township farm until 1877,
at which time they bought a farm in Lodomillo Township.
Spending some years upon that place, they sold it in 1891
and bought their present farm in Cass Township. The
estate consists of two hundred acres, upon which have
been placed first-class improvements, including a set of
substantial farm buildings. The soil is under a high
state of cultivation, and everything upon the place
indicates the thrift of the owner.
With the local affairs of the township Mr. Welch has been
closely identified since coming to his present place, and
he was also influential in the localities where he
previously resided. In 1884 he was elected one of the
three supervisors which composed the County Board of
Clayton County, and served for three years in that
capacity. In 1888 he was again chosen for this office and
again served for a period of three years. For more than
two years he was Chairman of the Board.
He is one of the stockholders in the Strawberry Point
Creamery and has other important interests. Socially he
is a Master Mason and is one of the charter members of
Mountain Shade Lodge No. 279, of Volga, of which he was
the first Master, having filled that office three terms.
He has also been Master of the Strawberry Point Lodge two
terms.
As above stated, Mr. Welch is one of ten children. His
oldest brother left home when young and has never been
heard of since. Another brother, Edward D., is a retired
farmer living at Volga; Samuel D. is engaged in the
mercantile business at Zumbro Falls, Minn., and is a
veteran of the late war; Benjamin. F., is an
agriculturist of Washington.
Mr. and Mrs. Welch have had six sons, as follows: Oscar,
who married Leonora Stonlaker, and is operating his
father’s farm; Rufus R., manager of a creamery near
Austin, Minn., who married Miss Jennie E., daughter of A.
O. Kingsley, of Strawberry Point; John M. who chose as
his wife Miss Myrtle Smith and is engaged in farming and
in the creamery business; Frederick A., a graduate of the
Dixon (IL) Normal School and a successful teacher; Arthur
D., who was educated in the schools of Strawberry Point
and is engaged in teaching; and William H., now attending
school at Strawberry Point. Mr. and Mrs. Welch also
adopted a child, Ethel Viola, who they took at the age of
three months, and who is now seven years old. The family
is one of high social standing and is highly respected
throughout this community.
~source: Portrait and Biographical Record
of Dubuque, Jones and Clayton Counties; Chicago: Chapman
Pub. Co., 1894; pg 457-458
~transcribed by Suzanne Terrell
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