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Kinyon Digital Library

History of Adair
County, Iowa, 1915.

Biographical.  Volume 2.

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A. E. Renner.

Those who know A. E. Renner---and he has a wide acquaintance---speak of him in terms of high regard.  He is a public-spirited and well know citizen of Summerset township, living on section 22, where he has a well improved farm.  He has always been a resident of the middle west and his life exemplifies the spirit of enterprise and progress which has dominated the upbuilding of this section of the country.  He was born in Tazewell county, Illinois, on the 18th of September, 1853, and is a son of David and Christine (Miller) Renner, natives of Maryland and Kentucky respectively.  In early life, however, they removed to Illinois, and were married in Tazewell county, there the father had gone as a young man, while the mother accompanied her parents on their removal to that section.  David Renner became a farmer of Tazewell county, where he continued to reside until after the death of his wife.  Later he removed to Woodford county, where he passed away a month later.

A. E. Renner was but a young lad at the time of his mother's death.  There was a large family of children and the father found a home for our subject with a cousin in northern Illinois, by whom A. E. Renner was reared from his seventh year.  There were no schools in the township in which he lived and he did not get to attend school until he was nine years of age.  Later he spent about four months each winter in pursuing his studies in the district schools and after he attained his twenty-second year he spent six months as a student in the high school at Lanark, Illinois.  The following three years he was employed at farm work.  His youth was a period of earnest and unremitting toil but it brought him a knowledge of the value of the industry and perseverance and it has been those qualities which have led to his later success in life.  While working as a farm hand he not only tilled the soil for the cultivation of crops but also aided in the strenuous task of clearing land and grubbing up the stumps.

On the 7th of February, 1878, Mr. Renner was united in marriage to Miss Caroline V. Clay, of Carroll county, Illinois, and in 1880 he came to Adair county, Iowa, spending the first year after his arrival in Casey, during which time he looked over the country for a favorable location.  In July of that year he purchased his present home farm to which he removed in April, 1881, so that he has now resided thereon for more than a third of a century.  He owns one hundred and fifteen acres, which he has brought under a high state of cultivation, adding many modern improvements to his place and annually gathering therefrom good crops as a result of the practical methods which he employs in tilling the fields.

To Mr. and Mrs. Renner have been born two children:  Roy A., who operates the home farm in connection with his father;  and Clara A., who assists her mother in the household tasks.  The family is widely and favorably known and they have a large circle of warm friends in their part of the county.  Mr. Renner is a member of the Church of God, while his wife holds membership in the Congregational church.  Politically he is a stanch republican, giving unswerving support to the principles of the party.  He has never held political office but has done excellent work as a school official, serving for twelve years on the school board, half of which time he was president.  From his boyhood advancement has been his watchword and he has steadily progressed both in a business way and in his identification with public interests.  He has ever displayed sterling traits of character and his many good qualities have brought him the friendship and kindly regard of all with whom he has been associated.

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