IAGenWeb Project - Allamakee co.

William H. Sebastian

 

One of the most prominent and progressive young farmers of Allamakee county is William H. Sebastian, who owns and operates a fine property of one hundred and ten acres in Franklin township, constituting the farm upon which he was born on the 18th of July, 1886. He is a son of Frank and Maggie (Meyer) Sebastian, the former a native of Germany and the latter of Springfield, Clayton, Iowa. The father crossed the Atlantic when he was a young man and settle in Clayton county, where he resided for a number of years becoming well know as a progressive and successful farmer. About 1882 he moved to Allamakee county and settled on the farm where on the subject of this review now resides. Later he moved to a smaller property just south of Postville, and after three years took up his residence upon another track of land just west of Postville, in Winneshiek county. Upon this he continued to reside until 1908 or 1909 he moved to the city and retire from active business life. He is still an extensive landowner, managing valuable holdings in Allamakee and Winneshiek counties. He and his wife became the parents of seven children. Of whom the subject of this review is the fourth in order of birth.

In the acquirement of an education William H. Sebastian attended district school in Winneshiek county and was a student in the public schools of Hardin for one term. In his childhood he assisted his father with the work of the farm and before he had attained his majority was a progressive and able agriculturist. At the age of twenty-one he hired out as a farm hand, working in the employ of others for three years and then taking up his residence upon the family homestead in Franklin township, upon which he has since resided. His holdings comprise one hundred and ten acres and he here engages in general farming, success steadily attending his well direct efforts. He has made many substantial improvement in buildings and equipment and, following always the most practical and progressive methods, has made his farm one of the finest in this part of the state.

Mr. Sebastian married, on the 26th of January, 1910, Miss Amanda Gericke, who was born in 1890 and is a sister of John Gericke, of further mention was made elsewhere in this work. Mr. and Mrs. Sebastian are the parents of a son, Harold, who was born May 19, 1912.

Mr. Sebastian is a stockholder in the Farmers Cooperative Store in Postville and his ability is widely recognized in business circles of that city. In the community where he was born and where his entire life has been spent he is well known and highly respected his genuine personal worth commanding the confidence and regard of all who come in contact with him.

-source: Past & Present of Allamakee County; by Ellery M. Hancock; S. J. Clarke Pub. Co.; 1913
-transcribed by Diana Diedrich

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