Representative Matt Ball Riddle View All Years

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Matt Ball Riddle

Monona County

Ute. Representative of Monona county, and a native thereof, born April 26, 1877, on the farm he now owns. Father, I. U. Riddle, native of Ohio, veteran of the Civil war, third Iowa infantry, pioneered in Soldier township, Monona county, March, 1865. Mother, Mary D. Koontz, native of Pennsylvania, four of whose brothers also fought in the Civil war, one of them giving up his life. The family lived in a dugout, on the farm purchased from the government, where their four children, all sons, were born, of which Matt B. was the second. He attended country school, later Southwestern Normal of Shenandoah, Iowa, and after its destruction by fire he attended Highland Park College, at Des Moines. He was married to Martha H. Hanssen of Charter Oak, Iowa, April 24, 1899, and is the father of two children; Mrs. Bernice E. Kowalke, R. N., and Richard H., who attended the University of Iowa. He has farmed on the place where he was born all his life, with the exception of seven years, 1899-1906, when he operated a harness shop at Ute, Iowa, during which time he served as city councilman. He is a live stock raiser, also has a small herd of buffalo and his hobby is seed corn. His farm is known as "Colonial Place." Since the organization of the Farmer's Savings Bank, August 1, 1916, he has served as one of its directors. Later he was elected president, and has served in that capacity continually since, and through its reorganization as Ute State Bank. Serving his second term in the legislature. A democrat.

House District 57