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ALFRED BORDNER

 

One by one the veterans of the Civil war are answering to their last roll call and as the years go by the country is coming more and more to realize the debt of gratitude which she owes to those who were the preservers of the Union through the dark period of the Civil war.  Mr. Bordner is numbered among the men who wore the blue uniform and following the stars and stripes on (page 351) southern battlefields and he has always been loyal in his citizenship, as stanchly advocating the country's interests in days of peace as in days of war.  He is now classed with the leading and representative farmers and stock-raisers of Polk township, living on section 23, where he owns and cultivates a good farm of one hundred and twenty acres.  He has lived in Taylor county since 1881 and is numbered among the native sons of the Mississippi valley, his birth having occurred in Fulton county, Illinois, on the 20th of November, 1844.

 

His father, Jonathan Bordner, was a native of Pennsylvania and when a lad of twelve years went to Ohio with his father, Peter Bordner, who settled in Licking county, where his son, Jonathan, was reared and educated.  In early manhood he removed westward to Fulton county, Illinois, where he opened up a new farm which, at the time of his purchase, was heavily timbered land.  He had about two hundred and eighty acres and the task of clearing away the forest and developing the fields was no sinecure.  With characteristic energy, however, he pursued his work and upon the excellent farm which resulted from his labors he reared his family and spent his last years.  He was married in Illinois to Miss Lucinda Bearce, a native of Fulton county, Illinois, who survived her husband for about twenty years.  Their family numbered four sons and seven daughters who reached adult age and the eldest son Harvey, who was a soldier of the One Hundred and Third Illinois Infantry, was killed at the battle of Missionary Ridge.  The others are still living.

 

Alfred Bordner spent his youthful days on the old home farm in Illinois and to some extent attended the common schools but is largely self-educated, having learned many valuable lessons in the school of experience.  He was only about twenty years of age when he responded to the country's call for troops, enlisting in 1864 in the one hundred days' service as a member of Company D, One Hundred and Thirty-second Illinois Volunteer Infantry  The regiment went south to Kentucky, where he participated in numerous skirmishes with the guerrillas and bushwhackers.  He served out the time of his enlistment and was then honorably discharged at Chicago.

 

Mr. Bordner returned to the old home farm whereon he remained until the time of his marriage.  On the 16th of October, 1866, he wedded Miss Harriet G. Scrivner, a daughter of John Scrivner, one of the early settlers of Polk township, Taylor county, locating here about 1870.  Mrs. Bordner was born in Ohio and was reared in Fulton county, Illinois.  Following his marriage Mr. Bordner carried on general farming in Fulton county for several years but in 1881 came to Iowa, where he joined his wife's father and in 1882 he made purchase of eighty acres of the land on which he now resides.  He has since invested in forty acres so that he now has a good farm of one hundred and twenty acres.  The neat and well built two-story residence upon the place stands as a monument to his enterprise as do the two good barns and the various outbuildings which he has erected, making this a model property of Polk township.  There is also an orchard on the place of his own planting and many rods of fence have been built by him dividing the farm into fields of convenient size.  He annually harvests abundant crops for the land is rich and productive and he keeps it in good condition through rotation.  He likewise raises and feeds high grade stock, making a specialty of hogs and horses.  The various branches of his (page 352) business are carefully managed and his success is the legitimate and logical outcome of his earnest labor.

 

Mr. and Mrs. Bordner are now the parents of nine living children: Nellie, the wife of James Williams, now of Coldwater, Kansas; Emsy, the wife of M. J. Sheley, a resident farmer of Polk township; Anna, the wife of E. E. Orme, who also follows farming in Polk township; Lucy, the wife of J. H. Quigley, of Fulton county, Illinois; Bertha, the wife of L. J. Davidson, of Ross township; Mary, the wife of S. B. Webb, of Bedford; John, who assists in carrying on the home farm and is also cultivating other land; Harry, who is married and is a farmer of Ross township; and Frank, who also follows farming in Ross township.  They also lost one son, Harvey, who died at the age of two years.  Mr. and Mrs. Bordner are members of the Methodist Episcopal church, in the faith of which they were reared and Mr. Bordner belongs to the Grand Army Post at Hopkins, thus maintaining pleasant relations with his old army comrades among whom he loyally served.  He has been a stalwart republican since age conferred upon him the right of franchise but the honors and emoluments of office have had no attraction for him as he regards his business affairs as more important and gives to them his undivided time and attention.