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biography from Portrait & Biographical Album of Mahaska Co., Iowa, 1887
A. J. LYTLE, of Garfield Township, is a native of Ohio, where he was born in 1848. He is a son of Andrew and Helen (Steele) Lytle, who came to this county in the spring of 1856. The father died Jan. 7, 1877, and his widow is still living in Marshalltown, Iowa, with a daughter. The subject of this sketch was married, Dec. 31, 1881, to Sarah Dice, a native of Pennsylvania, and daughter of Andrew Dice, of Monroe County, Iowa. Our subject and wife are the parents of three children: Harry, born Oct. 19, 1882; Walter, Dec. 24, 1884, and Blanche, April 30, 1886. A. J. Lytle was reared on a farm, and has in his present homestead 135 acres of well-improved land. He began the breeding of Poland-China hogs in a small way, in 1868, purchasing his first pair of swine of H. T. Cunningham, of Knoxville, Iowa, and since that date the business has grown rapidly, and as a breeder of pure Poland-China hogs Mr. Lytle has made a grand success. At the head of his herd, for a long time, was the matchless male hog, "Balance All," which was bred in Butler County, Ohio, was registered in the Ohio Poland-China Record, also in the American Record, and by good judges said to possess more good points than any other hog living. Mr. Lytle seems to have fully comprehended the responsibility of the work before him, and always took great pains in the selection of his stock, and breeding with the strictest regard to the purity of the blood. No breeder has used better judgment, possesses a more critical and thoroughly trained eye, or has bred more closely to a well defined standard. The standard of excellence with him is the intrinsic merit of the stock. During the last five years his sales have been very large, the fame of his breed of hogs having extended over a large area of territory. All of his old animals are recorded, and all pigs are eligible to record. He has been for years an exhibitor at the Mahaska County Fair, always capturing a fine line of premiums, and has had numerous honors at the Iowa State Fair and at the State Fair at Lincoln, Neb. To him the swine breeders of Mahaska County owe more than to any other man for the improvement of the breed of hogs in this county. As a man Mr. Lytle is generous, liberal and honest. The petty jealousies and narrow visions that limit and cripple many men do not annoy him. His frankness every one admires, and his honesty is worthy of imitation.
Portrait & Biographical Album of Mahaska Co., Iowa, 1887
Mahaska County, Iowa Genealogy