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Charles E. Vadnais is prominently connected with agricultural interests in Mooresville township, Livingston county, where he cultivates three hundred and sixty acres of land, one hundred and twenty of which he owns and two hundred and forty of which he rents from his father. He is a native son of Livingston county, where he was born on the same place on which he now makes his home, August 21, 1872, and is a son of Octave and Rebecca (Marts) Vadnais. Octave Vadnais is one of the pioneers of this section, having settled on the property, which he now rents to his son and where he now resides, in 1869. There he reared his family. Before that he volunteered for service in the Union army in the Civil war mid was assigned to duty as foreman and also after the war on the Hannibal & St. Joe Railroad, which was recently assimilated by the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy. During the time that he worked as railroad employe he saved his earnings and by his thrift and industry was enabled to buy the property that he now owns. The principles which induced him to offer his services to the Union cause decided him in his political later-day affiliations and he has ever since voted the republican ticket. Mrs. Vadnais passed away in July, 1903, at the age of fifty-three years, and found her last resting place in Utica cemetery. To them was born a family of four children: Charles E., of this review; Richard R., a partner of his older brother; Mary E., the wife 01 Harry H. Stone, a harness maker of Lanesboro, Iowa; and Florence D., the wife of Everett G. Battis, a contractor and builder of Kansas City, Missouri. The father of our subject is not only well beloved by his family, to whom he has always been a good father, but is generally highly esteemed in the community in which he has made his home for over forty years. Wherever known he is well liked and he is popular with many in the county.

Charles E. Vadnais was reared under the parental roof and in the acquirement of an education attended public school in Mooresville, laying aside his school books at the age of eighteen years. The summer months, however, were largely devoted to work around the farm and there he acquired the details of thorough methods of agriculture under the able direction of his father. He has followed farming all his life and engaged in it along general lines, making live stock an important branch of his endeavors. He raises yearly about thirty-three head of cattle, seventeen horses, one hundred hogs and a number of sheep, and derives from this branch of his establishment a substantial income. He has acquired one hundred and twenty acres of land and two hundred and forty be rents from his father.

Charles E. Vadnais was married in Mooresville, Missouri, January 1, 1902, to Miss Lucie E. Hudgins, a daughter of John and Susan Hudgins. Mr. Hudgins was a prominent farmer and stock-raiser and one of the early pioneers of this section. Both parents are deceased and buried in Mooresville cemetery. Mr. and Mrs. Vadnais have three children: Raymond R. and Charles C., attending school; and Gertrude I. E.

As his farm has increased in value and his lands have returned larger and larger financial results Mr. Vadnais has become interested in various other enterprises, among them the Mooresville Savings Bank, of which he serves as vice president. In politics he is independent, preferring to follow the dictates of his own judgment in matters of preference and giving his support to such men and measures as he deems best fitted to serve the better interests of the majority. His fraternal affiliations are confined to the Modern Woodmen of America. Mr. Vadnais' activities along agricultural lines have not only brought about his own success but he has been constructive in the development of agricultural methods in this section and in that way has contributed to general prosperity. The improvements on his farm, which were made by his father and by himself, and the well kept appearance of his property are indications which bespeak his industry and energy. He has made a success of his life work in the truest sense of the word and is highly esteemed and well liked wherever known.

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