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JOHN HENRY GROSS

Among the enterprising and successful farmers of Dover township, Fayette county, Iowa, is John H. Gross, whose fine farm of one hundred and eighty-eight acres is well improved and highly cultivated, its owner ranking among the representative citizens of his township. Mr. Gross was born in 1841 in Schlierbach, Germany, and is a son of Henry and Anna Mary (Staeling) Gross, who also were natives of and lived their entire lives in the Fatherland. In his native land John H. Gross was reared to manhood and received a good education in the public schools. On reaching mature years he took up the vocations of farming and milling, in which lines he was engaged until 1887, when he came to the United States, locating at once at Eldorado, Fayette county, Iowa, where he has since resided. Imbued with the idea that prevails in the "old country" that everything that is done at all should be done well, he has devoted himself assiduously to his chosen calling and he has succeeded to a gratifying degree. His fine farm, which is most eligibly situated, is well improved, the attractive residence, commodious barn and other building, well-kept fences and highly cultivated fields presenting an unmistakable appearance of prosperity and the presence of a careful and painstaking husbandman. Mr. Gross raises all the crops usually produced in this section of the state and in connection gives a proper share of attention to the raising of livestock, which is so important and adjunct to the modern farm. In 1871 Mr. Gross was united in marriage with Katherine Schuetz, and they have become the parents of the following children: Conrad, Henry, Eliza, Mary, Bertha, Fritz, and Anna. Politically, Mr. Gross renders a stanch allegiance to the Democratic party, while his religious views are those of the Lutheran church, of which he is an earnest member. Because of the success which he has attained and the high personal qualities, Mr. Gross has won and retains to a marked degree the respect and good will of the community in which he lives.

~transcribed for the Fayette Co IAGenWeb Project by Mary Aldrich