handles farm implements, being the only implement-dealer of the village.
Henry D. Holmes, farmer and stock-raiser, Collins, Iowa. Among the number of men prominently identified with the growth and prosperity of the county, there are none more deserving of notice than Henry D. Holmes. He was born in Yorkshire, England, January 12, 1832, and remained in his native country until twenty years of age. In 1852 he came to the States, located first in Maryland, and four years later moved to Illinois, where for two years he resided on a farm in Woodford County. In 1858 he returned to England, spent a year and a half there, and was there married in the fall of 1859 to Miss Mary Carken, a native of England. Mr. Holmes emigrated to the United States in 1860, located first in Wayne County, Ill., where he was engaged in farming for seven years, and then moved to Iowa. He settled on a slightly-improved farm in Story County, and he now has 100 acres of land, all well improved and well cultivated. In the management of everything connected with his farm he displays excellent taste and judgment, and a glance over his well-kept place will indicate to the beholder the quality of farmer that he is. He started with nothing, and has made all he has by hard work and perseverance. He lost his first wife in the fall of 1885. The following children were born to this union: Rose (wife of Charles McCriston), Sarah Ann (wife of A. Bates), William, David, George, John, Flora J. and Walter Fred. Mr. Holmes married here again, in the fall of 1887, Mrs. Lucinda Neal, widow of Rev. William Neal. She was born, reared and married in Ohio, and is the mother of three children by her former marriage: Josie (now a widow, of this county), Oliver (who died in Oklahoma) and Charles Neal (attending school in Des Moines). Mr. Holmes is a member of the Methodist, and his wife a member of the Christian Church. His parents, George and Mary (Dobson) Holmes, were natives of England, where they passed their last days.
Peter W. Hopkins is engaged in the banking business at Colo, Iowa. He was born in County Mayo, Ireland, in 1840, and is the eldest of six children born to Richard and Ann (Hunt) Hopkins, also natives of the " Emerald Isle," the former's birth occurring in County Mayo in 1806. They were married there, and in 1847 came to seek their fortune in America, locating first in New Jersey. About a year later they settled in Tippecanoe County, Ind., where they remained until 1854, at which time they took up their abode in Story County, Iowa, and here have since made their home. They gave the following names to their children: Peter W., David, John, Michael J., James R., and Mary A. (wife of W. G. Hopkins, of Ukiah, Cal.). They were all brought up to a farm life in Story County, Iowa, and received the advantages of the common schools near their home. Peter W. Hopkins started out to fight his own way in the world at the age of eighteen years, and being a young man of intelligence, enterprise and energy he had no trouble in finding employment and retaining his situations. In 1864 he espoused Miss Elmira Hopkins, a daughter of William B. Hopkins, a native of Missouri. To them a family of four children have been born: John W., Elmira, Herbert R. and Peter F. In May, 1864, Mr. Hopkins enlisted in the Union army in Company H, Forty-fourth Iowa Infantry, and was attached to the Sixteenth Army Corps under Gen. Washburn, and was on duty in Tennessee the most of the time. At the close of the war he returned to Story County and was successfully engaged in farming for a period of nine years, after which he began dealing in lumber, agricultural implements and buggies. He continued in