Biography

Martha Darnold Linn was born in 1937 in the town of Villisca, Iowa. She graduated as class salutorian from Villisca High School in 1955 and worked in a factory office in Red Oak for two years. She married a local farmer, Darwin Linn, in 1957, and they moved to a rented farm near Villisca. After hearing about the National Farmers’ Organization (NFO), they attended meetings together, monitored collection points, organized sausage feeds, and talked about the NFO to neighbors. Living near the national NFO headquarters in Corning, Iowa, made it easy for Darwin Linn to accept a paid position in the headquarters. Martha Linn became active on local and national committees, attending conventions with other women while her husband did farm chores (“Someone had to.”) In 1975, Darwin Linn left the NFO position and Martha Linn began working for Adams County in the county courthouse. Recently, the Linns opened a museum in Villisca dedicated to the unsolved 1912 “axe murders” and restored the house in which the killings took place. She continues to operate and expand the enterprise with her husband while working for Adams County.

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