Representative Willis Logan Defore View All Years
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Willis Logan Defore
Boone County
Born in Indiana July 26, 1826, and in 1849 came to Iowa, settling in Polk County, where he first engaged in splitting rails. He afterward returned to Clay County, Indiana, and in 1851, brought his family to this state, having previously been united in marriage to Rachael C. Freedly. On his second trip Mr. DeFore settled in Dodge Township, Boone County, where he engaged in farming and stock raising for a number of years. He owned a tract of 580 acres of land, having become the owner of swamp land at an early day, which through ditching he converted into a very arable, rich and valuable farm. He owned land in Boone, Hamilton, Story, Webster, Greene, Kossuth, Wright and Hancock counties. In the work of securing swamp land and improving it he was associated with J F Alexander of Ennis, Texas. He was one of the prime movers in the establishment of the Grange and was very active and earnest in advancing agricultural interests. He was called to represent his district in the fifteenth general assembly of Iowa and at the time of the civil war manifested his loyalty to the government by enlisting in 1862 in the Thirty-second Iowa Volunteer Infantry, serving during the greater part of the time as a wagon master under General A J Smith. Mr. DeFore was a Mason and a member of the Baptist Church.
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