H. K. Stierwalt, who for many years has been engaged in farming in Nowata county, is now living in Nowata where he is active in the conduct of a grocery business. A native of Indiana, he was born on the 22d of August, 1862, a son of Mr. and Mrs. J. F. Stierwalt, both of whom are deceased. For many years the father was successfully engaged in farming in Neosho county, Kansas, and his demise, in 1907, came as a severe blow to his many friends in the community. Mrs. Stierwalt died when her son, H. K., was an infant.
When eight years of age H. K. Stierwalt removed to Neosho county with his father, and he resided in that county until 1890, when between Christmas and New Year’s day he came to Indian Territory and located on the Verdigris river, six and one-half miles east of Delaware. He engaged in farming there for thirty-two years and then moved, to his present home of six hundred acres, eight miles northeast of Delaware, where, until recently, he has engaged in farming on an extensive scale. He has, three hundred acres under cultivation, raising high grade cattle in addition to corn, wheat, barley, etc., and his modern country home and one-hundred-ton capacity barn are among the best in the county.
When he first came to Indian Territory Mr. Stierwalt leased land and afterward purchased in amounts of ten and twenty acres, until he owned six. hundred acres. He also, on locating here, had to pay fifty cents each month for the privilege of working.
Until recently he has resided on the farm, but deciding that he is now too old to undertake the proper cultivation of the land he has moved into Nowata and established a grocery business. He owns three dwellings in Nowata and makes his home on the east side of the town. Mr. Stierwalt has many friends in this community and the success of his business is assured.
On the 23d of November, 1884, was celebrated the marriage of Mr. Stierwalt to Miss Amanda Evans, a native of Indiana, and a daughter of Joseph and Sarah Ann (Moore) Evans. Her mother was born in Ohio and the father in North Carolina. To the union of Mr. and Mrs. Stierwalt eight children were born: The eldest child Laura, married John Driskill and they are both deceased. They are survived by three children, Johnnie, fourteen years of age, William, eleven, and Carl, five; “Charlie H., who is thirty-three years of age, married Miss Sada Mills of Missouri, and they are the parents of three children, Eva, Glenn and Mabel ; Minnie, who is deceased, married Otto H. Arning and became the mother of three children, Carrie, Alfred, and Elmer; Harry Lee, twenty-eight years of age, married Miss Mattie Bell Little and they have two children, Gertrude and Earl; Roy Vincent, twenty-six years of age, is married to Etta Turnbough, and is the father of two children, Mildred and Roy; Claude Arthur, aged twenty-four years, is married to Nina Sequichie, and has two children, Claude and Esther; Sarah Elizabeth is the wife of Frank Oder and has one son, Paul Emerson; the youngest member of the family, Lucy Bell, is the wife of Otto H. Arning, whose first wife was her sister Minnie.
Since age conferred upon Mr. Stierwalt the right of franchise he has been a stanch supporter of the democratic party, and the principles for which it stands. He is alive to the duties and responsibilities, as well as the privileges, of citizenship and his aid may always be counted upon in the furtherance of any movement he deems essential to public development and improvement.