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The Blue Book of Iowa Women A History of Contemporary Women

Compiled by Winona Evans Reeves, 1914.

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Mrs. Clara Perdew Sheldon

Mrs. Clara Idella Perdew Sheldon, was born in Keokuk, June 12, 1861, and that city has been her home all her life.  She is the daughter of John and Maria Vrooman Perdew, who came to Iowa in 1851.  Her mother was a direct descendant of the Vroomans who settled "behind Kinderhook" in 1670.  She received her early education in the Keokuk schools, being a graduate of the high school, which has been supplemented by courses in summer schools, by constant reading of the best literature, classical and current, and by travel.  June 17, 1886, she was married in Keokuk, to Claude Allen Sheldon, a native of New York state.  Two sons were born to them:  John Perdew Sheldon, 1887, and George Alyn Sheldon, in 1888.  Mrs. Sheldon is a member of the M. E. Church.  She is a member of the Keokuk Chapter, D. A. R., joining on the service of Samuel Vrooman.  She is one of the most faithful and efficient members of the chapter.  She has served as treasurer and vice-regent, declining the regency because of other duties.  For thirty-four years she has been an efficient teacher in the public schools of Keokuk, during nine years of which she was principal of the Carey School, and for the past eight years principal of the Tarrence building, which position she still holds.  One of the most interesting subscription lists to the bronze statue of Chief Keokuk, erected through the efforts of the D. A. R.'s, was made up of gifts sent Mrs. Sheldon by one hundred of her former pupils who wished to aid in this public enterprise, in which she was deeply interested.  Mrs. Sheldon stands very high in her profession, is a woman who loves her friends and society, but above all, loves her own fireside, and the companionship of her sons.

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