LEMUEL M. BABB is one of the representative farmers and stock-raisers of this county and is one of the most extensive landholders. He has been a conspicuous figure in the development and extension of the great agricultural interests of this part of the county and no man has done more than he to promote the material welfare of Cotton Hill Township, of which he has been a resident for thirty-five years. He comes of good old New England family and was himself bon in that part of the country, his birth-place being in Belknap County, N.H., ad the date thereof December 3, 1828.
Solomon Babb, the father of our subject, was born in the town of Strafford, in the county of the same name, in New Hampshire, but died in Belknap County when his son Lemuel was sixteen years old. He had married in early life Abigail Meader, a native of Rochester, N.H., who survives him at the advanced age of ninety-two years. The paternal grandfather of our subject, Moses Babb, was a soldier in the Continental Army, and his brother John served in the British Army under Wolfe and was also a soldier in the Continental Army during the Revolution.
Our subject was the eldest of four children and he lived in his native State till he was twenty-sis years old. He was bred to the life of a farmer and has made that his chief business since. Immediately after his marriage he brought his bride to this State, arriving here on June 8th, 1855, and they began their wedded life on section 33, Cotton Hill Township, where they have since built up an elegant and well-appointed home. Mr. Babb has nine hundred and fifty acres of land in Cotton Hill and Pawnee Townships, and three hundred and fifty acres in Christian County. He has devoted himself to the improvement of his estate, and there is no better equipped or more desirable farm in this section of the county than his. He has erected an ample and commodious set of farm buildings on his homestead, and has a large and handsome residence, in which he and his family have a happy life, surrounded by every comfort and luxury that heart could wish. Mr. Babb rents much of his land and from that source derives a handsome income.
Mr. Babb and Miss Helen Boardman were married in Belknap County, N.H., May 26, 1855. Mrs. Babb is a daughter of Alfred and Louisa (Aldrich) Boardman. Her father was born in Stratham, N.H., and died in Meredith, that State. Her mother was born in Franconia, N.H., and died in Cotton Hill Township. Mrs. Babb was the eldest of seven children - two sons and five daughters - and was born in Meredith, N.H., February 19, 1839. She was carefully trained in her early home and learned the arts of the housewife which have contributed to maker her own home so pleasant. She is a woman of fine disposition and character, is a consistent member of the Methodist Episcopal Church and is looked up to by all who know her. Mr. and Mrs. Babb are the parents of five children, as follows: Abbie L., wife of M. W. Colean; Albert, who married Miss Mary M. Nuckolls; Arabel, who is the wife of W. T. Barker; Addie H. and Francena.
Mr. Babb has done good service for his Township as Highway Commissioner and as School Director, though the cares of his extensive property have not allowed him much time to mingle in public life. In politics he is a thorough Republican. He is a man of sound nature and of financial talents of a high order, and his standing in social and monetary circles is among our best men whose push and energy have placed this section of the country in the front rank as a great agricultural center.