| Other People | Frank J. Bradley | Olive Rambo Cook | Jerry Litton | | |||
|
Past and Present of Livingston County Volume 2. Biographies by Major A. J. Roof. 1913 |
|||
Pages 273-275
The success of Edwin A. Kessler along agricultural lines must largely be attributed to his aggressiveness and energy, which he has applied to the development of his farm, transforming the same into a prosperous property from a wild tract of land. He now owns a valuable farm of three hundred acres on sections 7 and 8, Jackson township, Livingston county, and is recognized as one of the substantial men in the locality. A descendant of a worthy pioneer family, he is a son of Daniel and Sarah A. (Faulk) Kessler and a grandson of Daniel Y. Kessler, who settled in Livingston county in 1839, one mile east of where the present Kessler homestead is located, on which J. F. Kessler, a brother of our subject, now makes his home. After a long and successful career as agriculturist the father passed away on April 12, 1910, his wife dying only a half year later -- on the 16th, of November. Both Mr. and Mrs. Daniel Kessler were highly regarded not only for the substantial attainments they had achieved but also for their many high traits of character, which made them beloved by all who knew them. Both found their last resting place in Jamesport cemetery. In their family were, beside our subject: Ida M., the wife of J. W. Thompson, a farmer of Daviess county, Missouri; D. W., a civil engineer by profession, who makes his home in Washington, D. C.; and J. F. Kessler, the owner of a valuable farm of two hundred and eighty acres in Jackson township.
Being born on the home farm on the 1st of December, 1869, Edwin A. Kessler received his early education in the district schools, subsequently attending Avalon College, which latter institution he left at the age of nineteen years. During vacation times he had already as a boy assisted in the minor duties on the home farm but after leaving school gave his entire attention to the property and ably assisted his father in the management of the same until he had reached the age of twenty-five years. In consideration of his good services his father then gave him a tract of two hundred acres and on this land he has since pursued successfully mixed methods of farming, his efforts having been attended with such gratifying results that he has been enabled to add to his holdings, his farm now comprising three hundred acres of fertile and valuable land, all in a high state of cultivation. He also largely gives his attention to stock-raising, breeding cattle, swine and sheep and also giving some time to raising horses. As the years have passed he has developed from land which was in its natural state a highly valuable property, equipped with all the improvements modern agriculture demands, a residence which is handsome and comfortable -- in short a farm home that is equal to the best of the district.
In Jamesport, Missouri, Mr. Kessler was united in marriage on May 19, 1895, to Miss Lilly Ramsey, a native of Jackson township and a daughter of James and Linnie (Wingo) Ramsey, the former a native of Livingston county and a son of one of the highly honored pioneer farmers of this section. The father of Mrs. Kessler was a public-spirited man and prominent in his locality, where his worth was recognized in his election to the office of assessor of Jackson township. Both the parents have passed away and are buried in the Ramsey family graveyard, Mr. and Mrs. Kessler are the parents of three children: Ruth E. and Ida M., attending district school; and Mary E.
In his political affiliations Mr. Kessler is a stanch democrat, giving his unqualified support to the measures and candidates of that organization. His fraternal relations consist of memberships in the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, in which he passed through all chairs, and the Modern Woodmen of America. The religious faith of the family is that of the Methodist Episcopal church, in the work which they take active and helpful interest. Consistently devoting his energies and attention to one purpose, Mr. Kessler has by hard work, energy and progressive methods become one of the substantial agriculturists of Jackson township, but modestly ascribes a great part of his success to the able assistance given by his faithful wife. It is generally conceded that his labors, which have brought about his own success, have done more than that, as through them he has contributed in a large measure to the settlement, development and the utilization of resources in Livingston county.