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from Past and Present of Mahaska County, Iowa by Manoah Hedge The S. J. Clarke Publishing Co. 1906
Alonzo Mobley, president of the Oskaloosa Ice Company, was born in the western part of Mahaska county, on the 7th of September, 1860. His father, John B. Mobley, was a native of Belmont county, Ohio, and came to Henry county, Iowa, in 1852. In 1859 he purchased forty acres of land south of the Des Moines river and removed to Mahaska county. He settled in Centerville and there he engaged in carpentering and building, erecting the first house there and also a number of others, thus contributing to the early upbuilding and development of the town. He erected many houses in the western part of the county. Later in life he purchased a farm of one hundred and four acres and devoted his remaining days to general agricultural pursuits, there dying on the 6th of November, 1899. He was twice married, his first wife being Lucy Pratt, by whom he had three sons, Chester, Seth and George, all of whom served in the Seventh Iowa Cavalry during the Civil war. After losing his first wife he wedded Elizabeth Dana, a native of Washington county, Iowa, now living in St. Louis, Missouri. The sons and daughters of this marriage are James, Richard, Owen, William, Fred, Max, J. Brice, Alonzo; Mrs. May De Van; Mrs. Grace Moore, de ceased; and Mrs. Carrie Snorf, who has also passed away. Alonzo Mobley pursued his education in the district schools and for some time worked in mines. He afterward engaged in the conduct of a fruit farm, devoting his time and energies to horticultural pursuits until 1890, when he turned his attention to the ice business, with which he had been connected. In 1904 he began the manufacture of artificial ice and is today the president of the Oskaloosa Ice Company, which has a large trade, supplying many patrons. The plant is a well equipped establishment, supplied with the latest improved machinery in that line and the business has been carefully developed and is now one of the leading productive industries and profitable enterprises of Oskaloosa. Mr. Mobley was married to Miss Elizabeth Henry, of Beacon, and to them were born two children, Byers and Roy. For his second wife he chose Belle Ruby, a daughter of Morton C. and Ella (Downs) Ruby, of Beacon. The children of the second marriage are Edward and Harold. The family reside in a beautiful home at No. 403 A avenue East in Oskaloosa, and its social functions are among the most attractive features in the social life of the city. Mr. Mobley is a member of the Modern Woodmen camp. He has made for himself a creditable position and honored sine in business circles and although he started out in life empty-handed, he is today one of the prosperous residents of his native county.
Past and Present of Mahaska County, Iowa
Mahaska County, Iowa Genealogy