Lewis A. Hatswell is one of the large resident landowners of Grove Township and a business man whose enterprise an executive ability have been a strong element in agricultural and commercial development in this section of Pottawattamie County, contributing at the same time to his individual prosperity. For twelve years he has resided upon his present farm on section 34, Grove Township, having here two hundred and sixty acres, constituting one of the best improved properties of the district. Throughout his entire life he has brooked no obstacles that could be overcome by determined and honest effort, and the careful utilization of his opportunities has gained him rank among the foremost residents of Grove Township.

His birth occurred near Mineral Point, Iowa County, Wisconsin, June 28, 1856, his parents being John and Mary (Collard) Hatswell, who were natives of Devonshire, England, the former born in 1812 and the latter September 29, 1821. They were reared and married in their native country and came to the Unites States in April, 1851, with three children, settling in Iowa County, Wisconsin. The father continued a resident of that state until his death in October, 1898, having always followed the occupation of farming as a life work. His widow still survives and is now living with a son in Red Oak, Iowa. Their children, eight in number, were: John, a retired farmer of Red Oak; Mary, who became the wife of G. W. Fairchild and died in 1904; Elizabeth, the wife of the Rev. W. H. Newman, of Holt, Nebraska; Martha, who became the wife of Robert Turney and died in 1878; Selena, the wife of W. M. Tindall, of York County, Nebraska; Lewis A.; William T., of Red Oak, Iowa, where he is engaged in the real-estate business; and Royal C., a retired farmer of Red Oak.

Upon the home farm in Wisconsin Lewis A. Hatswell was reared, early becoming familiar with all the duties and labors that fall to the lot of the agriculturist. He left home in the fall of 1870, and removed to Red Oak, Iowa, with his older brother and two sisters. The brothers lived there together for several years engaged in farming. Mr. Hatswell began renting land and hiring men to cultivate it. He had had practical experience in farm work, for from the time that he was twenty-one years of age he had been employed as a farm hand. He worked by the month for one year for Judge Tubbs and also for one year for Andrew Davis, of Illinois. At length, as stated, he began renting land and raising crops, and gradually he developed his business into the cattle industry, which he followed until he came to Pottawattamie County in the spring of 1881. His first purchase of land here made him owner of eighty acres on section 26, Grove Township. He afterward went to Oakland, where he leased three hundred and twenty acres, residing there for two years. He then returned to Grove Township, where he has since made his home, and for twelve years has resided on his present farm of two hundred and sixty acres on section 34. Here he has erected a good dwelling and new barns. There are three dwellings on the farm, two of which are tenant houses. Mr. Hatswell now owns five hundred and eighty acres in Grove Township comprised within three farms, has two hundred acres adjoining the village of Macedonia and two hundred and forty acres in Harlan County, Nebraska, together with six hundred and forty acres in Saskatchewan, Canada. He has been extensively engaged in raising, feeding and shipping stock, shipping from fifteen to twenty carloads of cattle and hogs per year. He raises and ships hogs on a very extensive scale, and as the years have passed he has made investments until he is today one of the large landowners of Grove Township and one of the most extensive stockmen of this section, his undivided attention being given to general agricultural pursuits and the raising of stock. Aside from his farm property he owns a business house in Macedonia in partnership with William Lewis, and he is a stockholder in the Macedonia State Bank.

In 1894 Mr. Hatswell was married to Miss Maude Atteberry, who was born in Monroe County, Indiana, but was reared in Logan County, Illinois, where her parents, William and Fannie (Rodgers) Atteberry, still live. They were natives of Illinois and Indiana respectively. Mr. and Mrs. Hatswell have become the parents of a son and daughter: Carl and Lois Marie.

Mr. Hatswell is an exemplary Mason, belonging to Ruby Lodge, No. 415, A. F. & A. M., of Macedonia. In politics he has been a life-long Republican and has served as chairman of the school board of Grove Township. Community affairs are always of interest to him and his active cooperation has been given to many measures for the benefit of the township and county. In matters relating to the public good as well as in business life he is practical and his success is well merited, for he started out on attaining his majority as a farm hand and has made advancements through the opportunities that he has utilized, carving out his own fortune, and upon the safe foundation of industry and perseverance building his success.