Sedgwick County KSGenWeb

Portrait And Biographical Album of Sedgwick County, Kan.

Chapman Brothers 1888

Page 750 

PETER ZARING, a prominent representative of the farming and stock-raising interests of Valley Center Township, possesses one of its model homesteads, embracing 160 acres of land. He has devoted quite an area to fruit-growing, having a fine apple orchard, containing over sixty trees, besides a peach orchard and a cherry grove, the latter embracing 500 trees. These he planted mostly with his own hands, and his fruit-growing is one of the most attractive features of his homestead. His live stock consists mostly of good grades of horses and cattle, and in this latter industry he takes commendable pride, and exhibits some of the finest animals in the township.

            The Zaring homestead is pleasantly located on section 8, and the residence, which was put up at a cost of $1,200, compares favorably with anything of the kind in the neighborhood. Our subject first located on his brother's place, which comprises a part of section 21, and subsequently purchased the well-known Frip farm, comprising 160 acres, and which he still occupies. He has been familiar with the various employments of farm life since a boy, having been reared in the agricultural districts of Clinton County, Ind., where he was born Jan. 8, 1852. His parents, Eli and Catharine (Fry) Zaring, were natives of Ohio, and a sketch of them will found elsewhere in this ALBUM.

            Our subject continued a member of his father's household until twenty-two years of age, assisting his father on the farm, and receiving an excellent education. One of the most important steps of his early manhood was his marriage, which occurred on the 3d of June, 1875, when he was a little over twenty-three years old. His wife was Miss Margaret Lipp, a native of Indiana, and the daughter of Andrew and Margaret (Douglas) Lipp, natives of the same State as their daughter, the father born March 14, 1823, and the mother Nov. 7, 1829. They are both living, having now arrived at an advanced age, and are residents of the Buckeye State.

            Mrs. Zaring was the third child of her parents, whose family included six sons and four daughters. She was reared in the doctrines of the United Brethren Church, in which her aged parents still retain their membership. Her father, politically, in former years a Whig, has voted with the Republican party since its organization.

            Mr. and Mrs. Zaring became the parents of six children, namely: Winnie, Harvey O., Mabel, Bessie, John and Bertha Inez, the latter of whom died on the 6th of September, 1879, when an interesting child of nine years; her remains were laid to rest in the cemetery near their old home, in Clinton County, Ind. Our subject, politically, votes the straight Republican ticket, and is the Clerk of School District No. 131. He and his estimable wife are members in good standing of the United Brethren Church, and Mr. Z. is a member of the Parsonage Board.

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