Michael Pritchard Wolford (1845 - 1934)

Born 17 May 1845 in West Virginia

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Descendants

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Biography

Michael was born in 1845 in West Virginia. He is the son of Peter Wolford and Elizabeth Short. He died November 17, 1934. His occupation was in agriculture. He was a distinguished gentleman, who wore a beard or goatee. He was a great favorite with children and with those who loved stories and home spun yarns. It is not known when or how he got the name Polk. Those who spell it Poke maintain he was sooooo slow. Those who spell it Polk incline to the belief that he was called Polk for President James Polk.

One of Polk's favorites stories about a Illinois was the rich, fertile soil illustration. His neighbor had a small field of wheat that was so heavy they could not cut it. So his only solution to harvest it was to build a solid board fence four feet high around it an run horses around in the field to thrash grain out- and it filled up so full this fence could not hold it all.

Polk's son Fred Wolford wrote: .... Once my father took a girl to a dance and the girl went home with another fellow, so he waited several months and asked her to go with him to another dance and she consented to go. He waited until everyone else had gone home and went home. He left her there.

His stories bored his wife. Mary did not appreciate the repetition of Michael's stories.

At a very early age age he moved with his parents to Belleville, Hendricks County, ?? Ohio, moving one year later to Mooresville, Indiana, later moving to Delavan, Illinois where he lived until 1890, at which time he moved to Van Buren County, Iowa.

Polk is buried beside Mary in Center Chapel Cemetery, Vernon, Van Buren County, Iowa,

Sources

• Wolford-Short-Pritchard-Scott-Alexander-Grimm-Horn-Stolenberg-Schlichting Genealogical History.

Wolford-Short Scott-Alexander data complied by Audrey Wolford Fee -Stltenberg-Schlichting data compiled by Malinda Grimm Woldord, Marie Grimm Estes, Karl Niewerth and Sidney LeRoy Estes

Pritchard data compiled by Ruth Mitchell Pritchard

Descendants of William Wolford data compiled by Myrtle Wolford Eley and Mildred Wolford Teig.