CLARKSON GODFREY. Among the many successful citizens of Pottawattamie County, Iowa we find the above named gentleman, who by his own exertions has risen to a position of wealth and influence. Mr. Godfrey was born ten miles west of La Fayette in Tippecanoe County, Indiana July 17, 1836. Elijah Godfrey, his father, was born in Maryland, a son of Joseph Godfrey, who was of English ancestry.

Elijah Godfrey was married in Ross County, Ohio to Eleanor Davison a native of that county and a daughter of Frederick Davison. They subsequently moved to Tippecanoe County, Indiana making the trip on horseback and carrying some household goods and two children on pack horses. They were among the early pioneers of that part of Indiana. Of the two sons and seven daughters born to them, the subject of this sketch was the fifth child. When he was fourteen years old his mother died. The father afterward moved to Warren County, Illinois, where he died at the age of eighty-two years. His whole life was spent on a farm. He was an honored and esteemed citizen, a member of the Republican Party, and a believer in the Gospel.

Clarkson Godfrey spent his youth on a frontier farm in Tippecanoe County where he learned to clear land and do all kinds of farm work, and where he was educated in the common schools of the period. At the age of nineteen he went to Warren County, Illinois, where he engaged in farming until 1873. In that year he came to Waveland Township, Pottawattamie County, Iowa. During the war Mr. Godfrey entered the service of his country, enlisting in the spring of 1865 in the Forty-Seventh Illinois Volunteer Infantry. He was in the battles of Spanish Fort and Fort Blakely. At the close of the war he was honorably discharged and returned to Illinois.

Mr. Godfrey was married in Warren County, Illinois March 14, 1868 to Miss Ellen E. De Hart a lady of education and culture and a successful and popular teacher. She was born in Brown County, Indiana but was reared in Warren County, Illinois.

In 1873, as already stated, Mr. Godfrey came to his present location. He first bought 160 acres of wild land in Section 19, Waveland Township and became one of the early settlers of the neighborhood. His efforts have been rewarded with prosperity. More land has been added to his first purchase, and he now owns 565 acres of well-improved land. Four hundred and forty acres are in a body in Waveland Township and 125 acres are in Grove Township. He has three good tenant houses on his land and his own house is a comfortable story-and-a-half frame cottage, pleasantly located on a natural building site. His home is surrounded by a grove and orchard of five acres. Other improvements on his farm are a good barn, 26 x 48 feet, cattle sheds, feed lots, modern wind pump, etc. Mr. Godfrey is engaged in stock-raisins, and is one of the most extensive farmers in the township and it would be difficult to find a better large tract of land in the township than his.

Mr. and Mrs. Godfrey have seven children: Maud, Isabelle, Franklin, Albert, Nellie, Ernest and Emma. They have lost three by death: their first born an infant son; Charlotte Jane at the age of six months; and a baby girl. Mr. Godfrey is a Republican and has served the public as township trustee. He is a man in the prime of life, is well posted on the topics of the day, is out spoken and affable in manner, and is regarded as one of the popular citizens of Waveland Township. Mrs. Godfrey is an active member of the Evangelical Church of which her husband is one of the most liberal supporters.

Contributed by: Darlene Vergamini