BIOGRAPHIES:  John Quincy WERTS, Sumner Township, Barron Co., WI

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Submitted by:  Vic Gulickson <vic@indy.net>  4 June 2004
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John Quincy Werts, joint-owner with his son of the well-known Moose Ear
Ranch of 800 acres in Sumner Township, was born in Ohio June 2, 1855,
oldest of the ten children of J. J. and Esther (Wymer) Werts, natives of
Ohio, and pioneers of Iowa. The subject of this sketch was brought to Iowa
by his parents in 1864 and was reared in Lucas County, attending the public
schools and learning farming from his father. He also took courses at
Parsons' College, Fairfield, Iowa. With this preparation he taught school
for a while. Then for many a long year he was a leading farmer in Benton
Township, Lucas County, farming large tracts of land and specializing in
raising beef and dairy cattle. He was a man of influence and weight, and
served in numerous offices in town and school district. After winning a
good measure of success in Iowa, he determined to try his fortunes in a
newer country. He had heard much of Barron County, and accordingly fixed
upon this region as a suitable location for his future activities. He came
here in 1913 and purchased a tract of 800 acres in sections 23 and 24. This
is now one of the best farms in this county. The modern home is equipped
with comforts and conveniences, including an electric light plant. In
addition to the principal residence, there are also two other dwelling
houses on the place. There are also numerous barns and outbuildings, almost
a village in themselves. The equipment in the way of machinery, implements
and tools is unusual, and includes facilities for cutting and finishing
lumber, grinding feed, repairing and sharpening, and general carpenter
work. About 500 acres are cleared and under cultivation, and the remaining
three hundred acres are timber, stump, brush and pasture land. Here the
general farming, dairying and stock raising are conducted on an extensive
scale. Mr. Werts is at the head of all the vast activities which the
operation of this farm entail. With all his busy life, however, he has
found the time to take the same interest in Barron County affairs that he
took in the affairs of his community in Iowa. Since coming here he has
served as a member of the town board, and has been a member of various
delegations and committees. He favors actively every move which means
progress for the county and township, and is always willing to give of his
influence and personal aid to every cause which he believes to be for the
betterment of the community. He is an excellent type of the modern
extensive farmer, thoroughly versed in agriculture and all phases of its
development, a good judge of marketing conditions, a keen business man, and
possessed of a faculty of securing the best of results from the men whom he
employs. Mr. Werts was married April 2, 1878, in Lucas County, Iowa, to
Melvina Davis, who was born in that county Nov. 15, 1855, the daughter of
John and Sarah Davis, who were respectively natives of North Carolina and
Indiana. This union was blessed with three children, Orval G., Stella and
Pearley. Orval G. is now his father's partner. Stella is the wife of Dr.
Frank Cowgill, of Nevada, Iowa. Pearley, who married Grover Farber, died in
1915. Mrs. Melvina Werts died in Lucas County, Iowa, April 8, 1906, at the
age of fifty years. On July 24, 1907, Mr. Werts was married at Edinburg,
Penn., to Mary McCleland, who was born in Edinburg, Va., on Nov. 15, 1857,
the daughter of Joseph and Mary McCleland, of Mt. Jackson, Penn.

--Transcribed from: History of Barron Co., Wisconsin, H. C. Cooper,
Jr., & Co., 1922, pg. 812.

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