Samuel W. Benshoof & Clara Etta Kellogg Benshoof in the 1911 book Past and Present of Hardin County Iowa, pages 920-921:

The subject of this review is one of the sturdy spirits who has contributed largely to the material welfare of the community where he resides, being a farmer and stock raiser, and as a citizen he is public-spirited and progressive in all that the terms imply. For a number of years Mr. Benshoof has been actively identified with the agricultural interests of Hardin county, and he is the owner of a very desirable landed estate in Buckeye township.

Samuel W. Benshoof was born in Scott county, Iowa, on March 21, 1864, and is the son of Samuel and Nancy Jane (Steele) Benshoof, both of Johnstown, Pennsylvania. There they grew to maturity, were educated and married. In 1853 the father of the subject went to Scott county, Iowa. He was a blacksmith by trade, which he followed there. Remaining in Scott county but a short time, he came on to Hardin county in 1868 and settled in Ellis township, where he bought land, and started life with the pioneers there, this country then being practically unimproved. In 1883 he located in Buckeye township, securing one hundred and sixty acres of wild land which he improved into an excellent farm on which he spent the rest of his life, dying there in 1885, his widow surviving until 1895. Politically, he was a Republican and held several of the minor offices in Ellis township, and he was at one time treasurer of the school board; he and his wife were members of the Congregational church. The reared their family here, six children having been born to them, namely: Albert J. lives in Iowa Falls, this county; Charles L. is farming at Herdsfield, North Dakota; Experience, who married Benjamin Ridout, of Ellis township, is deceased; Catherine married Albert Riley, of Madilla, Minnesota; Samuel W., of this review; Oliver S. is a grain dealer at Alden, Iowa.

Samuel W. Benshoof received a fairly good education in the common schools and he lived at home, assisting with the general work on the farm, until his marriage, on September 4, 1892, to Clara Etta Kellogg, of Buckeye township, this county. She is the daughter of A. P. Kellogg, a highly respected citizen, who was born in Troy, Ohio, November 2, 1843. When twelve years of age he moved with his parents to Hardin county, Iowa, and located in Buckeye township, where the son, A. P., grew to manhood and received his education in the common schools. He is a strong Republican and was trustee of his township for several years, also school director. On April 18, 1869, he married Harriet M. Smith, who was born in 1850 on the banks of the St. Lawrence river, in the state of New York. When four years of age she came with her parents to Walworth county, Wisconsin, and in 1864 to Wright county, Iowa. She attended an academy in Wisconsin for two years and Elkhorn Academy, at Elkhorn, Iowa, one year, after which she taught school one term. The following children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Kellogg: Ossan A.; Clara E., wife of Mr. Senshoof; Marcie A. and Almone P. Mr. and Mrs. Kellogg have devoted their lives to farming, but now live retired at Alden, Iowa.

Five children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Benshoof, namely: Elba W., born in 1893, died in 1894; Alvin L., born in 1895, is living at home; Experience E., born in 1897, died in 1898; Gladys and Donald.

After their marriage the subject and wife lived on his father's old place until 1895, then bought where they now live, a splendid farm in section 11, Buckeye township, the old W. W. Farwell place. They have prospered by reason of hard work, economy and good management, and now own a farm of two hundred and sixty-six acres, in a high state of improvement and cultivation, -- in fact, it is regarded as one of the finest stock farms in Hardin county. Besides general agricultural pursuits, Mr. Benshoof devoted a great deal of attention to stock raising, making a specialty of Durham cattle, Norman horses and is an extensive breeder of Duroc-Jersey Red hogs, keeping some of the finest in the state, and, owing to the superior quality of his live stock, he experiences no trouble in securing a ready market for them. No better judge of all kinds of live stock is to be found in this vicinity than he, and his thoroughbred herds are admired by all.

Politically, Mr. Benshoof is a Republican and is interested in party affairs. He was trustee of his township for fourteen years, and was president and secretary of the school board for many years, filling all these offices in a manner that reflected much credit upon himself and to the satisfaction of the public. He and his wife belong to the Congregational church at Buckeye. Fraternally, he is a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows of Buckeye and of the Modern Woodmen of America at Alden, Iowa. He and his family are highly respected wherever they are known.