My Genealogy Hound

Harry W. Camp owns and occupies a farm pleasantly located within a mile and a quarter of Arispe, the place comprising one hundred and sixty acres of rich soil of Iowa, which in its cultivation has brought to the state its reputation as one of the great agricultural centers of the country. Almost his entire life has been spent in Union county, whither he was brought by his parents, Mr. and Mrs. Calvin P. Camp, in 1869. His birth had occurred in Lee county, Illinois, October 23, 1868.

His father was a native of Susquehanna county, Pennsylvania, born in February, 1837, and was a son of Levi Camp, also a native of the Keystone state, who removed to Illinois about 1850 and took up his abode in Lee county, where he developed and improved a farm. There Calvin P. Camp remained until after he attained his majority and was married there to Miss Sarah Knox, a native of Illinois, born and reared in Princeton, Bureau county. Following their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Camp resided upon a farm in Lee county, Illinois, for several years and three children were born unto them there. In 1869 with their family they came to Union county, Iowa, and for two years the father was identified with the business interests of Afton. Withdrawing from commercial pursuits, he turned his attention to farming and for two years lived upon a farm north of Creston. He then bought one hundred and sixty acres of land on section 8, Sand Creek township, where he opened up a farm upon which he resided for a number of years, making it his home while rearing his family. His business affairs were carefully conducted and brought him a goodly measure of success, so that he retired from active life with a handsome competence and is now living in Afton in the enjoyment of the fruits of his former toil. His family numbered two sons and two daughters, including William Camp, who is railroad station agent and telegraph operator at Corning, Iowa.

Harry W. Camp was reared as a farm boy and at the usual age entered the public schools, wherein he mastered the common branches of learning, afterward attending the Afton high school. His training at farm work was not meager and as his age and strength increased he aided more and more largely in the work of the fields, rendering valuable assistance to his father until twenty-eight years of age. He was then married in Sand Creek township, on the 25th of March, 1896, to Miss Kate B. De Lay. He afterward located upon the farm which is now his home and with characteristic energy began to cultivate and improve it. Many tangible evidences of his practical methods and progressive ideas are seen in his well kept place. A comfortable residence and substantial barns and outbuildings stand as monuments to his thrift and enterprise. The fields are divided by well kept fences, and he has planted an orchard and shade trees which add much to the pleasing appearance of the place, rendering it one of the attractive features of the landscape. In the pastures are found good grades of stock, and he makes a specialty of raising and feeding hogs, for which he finds a good sale annually, thereby materially increasing his yearly income.

The home of Mr. and Mrs. Camp has been blessed with five children: Russell L., Lawrence D., Verle D., Dorothea L. and Margaret L. The family home is a hospitable one and both Mr. and Mrs. Camp have many warm friends in the community. Mr. Camp belongs to the Knights of Pythias fraternity and is also identified with the Fraternal Insurance Order and the Modern Woodmen of America, while his wife is a member of the Methodist Episcopal church. Politically he is a democrat, interested in the growth and success of his party, which he has represented as a delegate in county conventions. The only office he has ever held, however, has been that of school director, in which position he served for a number of years.