John Fletcher Ankeny

John Fletcher Ankeny (1824-1886) is best known as the founder of Ankeny, Iowa. He was the oldest child of Joseph and Harriet Giese Ankeny. He was born in Somerset County, Pennsylvania on May 6, 1824 on the farm owned by his father and his grandfather, Peter Ankeny. Peter was one of the founders of Somerset, Pennsylvania. When Ankeny was seven years old, his father moved the family from Somerset, Pennsylvania to Millersburg, Ohio.

Biography Ankeny studied medicine with Dr. Jacob Voorhees and attended medical college in Cincinnati. He started his medical practice with Dr. McNeal at Canal Dover, Ohio. He later practiced his profession in Kenton, Ohio and also served as postmaster there.

Ankeny was a promoter and stockholder of the Minnesota Narrow Gauge Railroad. He and his wife Sarah purchased 80-acres of land north of Des Moines where the railroad was to traverse. The land was platted and officially became the town of Ankeny on April 19, 1875. On that land he built a rooming house and hotel and the town’s first store. He also built a house. The Ankeny family never lived in the town named after him. They continued to live in the city of Des Moines.

When the narrow gauge railroad became extinct, Ankeny looked to Florida for land development.

In 1886, Ankeny died while in Florida.