USA > Iowa > Allamakee County > Past and present of Allamakee county, Iowa. A record of settlement, organization, progress and achievement, Vol. II > Part 1
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Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62
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NYPL RESEARCH LIBRARIES 3 3433 08192016 1
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IVO ( Allanalice C Hancock
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PAST AND PRESENT OF
Allamakee County IOWA
ILLUSTRATED
VOLUME II
CHICAGO THE S. J. CLARKE PUBLISHING COMPANY 1913
THE NEW YORK PUBLIC LIBRARY 638650 ASTOR, LENOX AND TILDEN FOUNDATIONS R 1914 L
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BIOGRAPHICAL
D. J. MURPHY.
One of the most able lawyers and business men of Waukon is D. J. Murphy, who during the twenty years of his residence here has actively identified him- self with the city's professional, financial and public life, winning each year in- creasing prominence in each field. He is today a leader at the bar and well known as an organizer and a force in local democratic politics, his name standing as a synonym for progress, growth and advancement.
Mr. Murphy has been a resident of Iowa since 1889. He was born in New Diggings, Wisconsin, November 1, 1867, and grew to manhood in that state and was there educated, graduating from the State Normal School at Platte- ville with the class of 1886. He afterward engaged in teaching, winning prom- inence in his profession, rising to be principal of the Highland high school, a position which he held for three years. In 1889 he came to Iowa and joined his brother, D. D. Murphy, at Elkader, where he read law until 1891, when he was admitted to the bar. He formed a partnership with his brother and they prac- ticed in Elkader for two years, Mr. Murphy of this review coming in 1893 to Waukon, where he has since been in active practice before the district and supreme courts. His ability and worth have become widely recognized during the twenty years and his success in handling important and difficult litigation has placed him in a leading position at the Allamakee county bar.
It is not alone along professional lines, however, that Mr. Murphy has achieved success and prominence, for he is an able and far-sighted business man connected through investment or official service with various important enter- prises in the city. He built one of the finest business blocks in Waukon, the lower floors of which are occupied by a large department store, while the upper story is fitted up into fine offices. Mr. Murphy has his own suite of three rooms here, tastefully furnished and equipped with one of the finest law libraries in this section of the state. He was one of the organizers of the Peoples National Bank and is now a large stockholder and member of the board of directors. He is a stockholder and director in the Citizens State Bank and aided in form- ing the company which opened up and developed the iron mines in this vicinity. He was elected president of the concern and still holds the office. All of his business affairs are conducted in an able and discriminating way and the suc- cess to which he has attained is entirely the result of his own talents and powers which have been intelligently and worthily used.
In Milwaukee, Wisconsin, on November 8, 1894, Mr. Murphy was united in marriage to Miss Agnes Hay, who was born at Mineral Point, that state, and
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PAST AND PRESENT OF ALLAMAKEE COUNTY
who acquired her education in Platteville. For a time she was a teacher in the public schools of Milwaukee. Mr. and Mrs. Murphy have three children : Lorna, who is a student at Mount St. Joseph's College of Dubuque; Robert H., also a student in St. Joseph's College in the same city ; and James P.
Mr. Murphy has been affiliated with the democratic party since casting his first vote and is prominent in the party's councils. In 1912 he was a candidate for the office of district judge and, although not elected, was proud of the vote which he polled, carrying his home county by a majority of six hundred and eighteen, in the very center of a republican stronghold. Mr. Murphy is a mem- ber of the Roman Catholic church and his upright life and sterling qualities of character have gained him the respect and esteem of all who are in any way associated with him.
WILLIAM HARRIS.
Among the residents of Postville who were at one time closely associated with the agricultural interests of Allamakee county and are now enjoying the fruits of their former toil in honorable retirement is William Harris, who was born in Morgan county, Ohio, June 19, 1847, a son of Elisha and Margaret (Patterson) Harris, both natives of Morgan county, where the father followed farming until 1854, when he came to Iowa. He was one of the first settlers in Lybrand, Post township, where he located on a farm which he continued to develop and improve until his death, which occurred about the year 1896. He was born in 1819 and was seventy-seven years old when he died. His wife died August 2, 1885. In their family were fourteen children, of whom the subject of this review is the second in order of birth.
In the acquirement of an education William Harris attended district school at Lybrand and when not engaged with his books aided his father with the work of the farm. Until he was twenty-one years of age he remained upon the home- stead and he then began his independent career, buying land in Post township and turning his attention to its development. There he resided until 1904, trans- forming the property during that time into a rich and productive farm supplied with modern equipment and accessories. The place comprises five hundred and twenty acres and is neat and well ordered in every particular. Mr. Harris has the distinction of having brought the first Aberdeen Angus cattle to this vicinity and for about eighteen years he was one of the most extensive breeders of that breed of cattle in Allamakee county. He continued his personal supervision and practical work upon his property until 1905, when he moved into Postville, where he has since made his home.
In 1869, Mr. Harris was united in marriage to Miss Charity McDonald, who was born in Postville, January 1, 1849. She is a daughter of Duncan and Jane (Green) McDonald, the former of whom was born in Union county, Ohio, June 30, 1818, and the latter in Rensselaer county, New York, March 18, 1827. The father, who followed farming as an occupation, went to Wisconsin at a very early date and his marriage occurred in Monroe, that state. He and his wife came to Iowa in 1849, settling on the present townsite of Postville, where they
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PAST AND PRESENT OF ALLAMAKEE COUNTY
resided for many years before removing to the vicinity of Nevada, Missouri, whence they went to Lawrence county. In that section of the state both passed away. They were the parents of three children, of whom Mrs. Harris is the first in order of birth. Mr. and Mrs. Harris have six children. Herman How- ard, born October 7, 1869, married Miss Christina Willman, of Postville, and they have one child, Ossa, who was born February 20, 1896. Bertha, born January 12, 1871, married Darius Orr, a farmer in Post township, and they have become the parents of four children : Ethel, born October 29, 1891 ; Edith, born September 13, 1892; Esther, born February 27, 1896; and Eva, born November 14, 1899. Edith, born May 16, 1875, married Ernie Churchill, a plumber in Monroe, Wisconsin, and they have one child, Charlotte, born May 6, 1906. Edna, born March 18, 1879, married Fred Oehring, a jeweler in McGregor, and they have a daughter, Esther, born June 3, 1911. Glessner, born March 25, 1889, is the wife of Arthur Webster, an electrician in Postville. Adelaide, who completes the family, was born October 23, 1893, and resides with her parents.
Mr. Harris gives a general allegiance to the republican party but votes independently when he feels that the best interests of the community demand independent action. Although he has never sought nor desired public office he served for two terms on the Postville city council and discharged his duties in a most able and effective manner. He is a stockholder in the Bank of Postville and is well known in fraternal circles, holding membership in the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and the Ancient Order of United Workmen. His wife is a member of the Royal Neighbors. He is well known in this community as an industrious, far-sighted and capable man who enjoys the confidence and respect of his neighbors. He resides in a modern and attractive home in Postville, where he is spending his retired life in the enjoyment of rest, earned by his long season of honest and successful labor.
JOHN KRAMBEER.
Among the many sturdy, straightforward and reliable citizens whom Germany has given to America is numbered John Krambeer, now engaged in general farm- ing and stock-raising upon a fine tract of land in Post township. He was born in Mecklenburg-Schwerin, on the 2d of November, 1854, and is a son of John and Dora (Schultz) Krambeer, also natives of that part of Germany, the former born on the 6th of December, 1831, and the latter on the 2d of June of the same year. The father owned and operated a small farm in Germany, which he sold in 1866 and came to America, settling on a farm in Garnavillo township, Clayton county, Iowa, in the same year. Upon this he continued to reside for a number of years, disposing of it finally in order to buy another tract of land one and a half miles north of Clayton Center, a property which he continued to develop and improve until his death, which occurred about 1881. His wife survived him some time, making her home with her son until 1900, when she passed away. To them were born five children, of whom the subject of this review is the second in the order of birth.
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PAST AND PRESENT OF ALLAMAKEE COUNTY
John Krambeer was twelve years of age when he accompanied his parents to America and his education was largely acquired in the public schools of Garna- villo township. Clayton county, and in the German school of that locality. From an early age he assisted with the work of the homestead and afterward worked at farm labor in the employ of others until he was twenty-six years of age, when he assumed management of his father's property. After one year, how- ever, he purchased a farm near Hardin, in Post township, Allamakee county, upon which he continued to reside for eight years, selling it in order to buy his present farm, which was then known as the old Jamison property. He resided here until 1903 and then retired from active life, moving into Postville. However, after four years he returned to his farm and has since continued to make his home upon it. At one time he owned three hundred acres of fine land, upon which he carried on general farming and stock-raising, but he has since disposed of the greater part of this property, his son buying the portion containing the residence and his son-in-law purchasing the greater part of the remainder. Mr. Krambeer is living practically retired, although he has important business interests in Postville, being a stockholder in the Farmers Cooperative Store and the canning factory.
On the 18th of March, 1881, Mr. Krambeer was united in marriage to Miss Ida Harnack, who was born on the 12th of December, 1862. To them have been born five children : Bertha, whose birth occurred on the 6th of December, 1881. and who is now the wife of H. C. Meyer, mentioned elsewhere in this work ; Matilda, who was born on the 10th of December, 1882, and married Rudolph Bugenhagen, residing on a portion of the Krambeer homestead: John H., who was born December 18, 1885, and who is now operating a portion of the home farm ; Emma, born July 3, 1890; and Hilma, born February 3, 1894.
Mr. Krambeer does not affiliate with any particular party, voting indepen- dently according to his personal convictions. He is interested in public affairs, especially in the cause of education, and did able work in its promotion during his two terms as director of the school board and his three terms as its secre- tary. He is well and favorably known in Post township, where he has so long resided, and is now enjoying the reward of many years of active and well directed labor in the promotion of the agricultural advancement of the county where he makes his home.
GEORGE W. SHERMAN.
George W. Sherman is numbered among the pioneers in Allamakee county, his residence here dating from 1857. From that time until his retirement he was a force in agricultural development, his individual prosperity constituting an element in the general advancement. He is honored as a veteran of the Civil war, having served three years in that conflict, and in all the relations of life has proved loyal, courageous and straightforward. Mr. Sherman is a native of Pennsylvania, born in Erie county, February 8, 1834. He grew to manhood on a farm in that section and acquired his primary education in the public schools, supplementing this by a course in Albion Academy. He fitted himself
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PAST AND PRESENT OF ALLAMAKEE COUNTY
for teaching and after laying aside his books followed that occupation for three terms before he was twenty-one years of age. In the spring of 1855 he left Pennsylvania and came west, settling first in Monroe county, Wisconsin, where he taught in the public schools for two years. He there married and came with his wife to Iowa, making a permanent location in Allamakee county in 1857. He was one of the pioneer teachers in this section of the state and for several years after his arrival followed his profession during the winter months, engaging in farming during the summers. He purchased forty acres of land near Rossville and this he improved and developed until August 11, 1862, when he enlisted in the Union army, joining Company A, Twenty-seventh Iowa Volunteer Infantry. His regiment was sent to Dubuque, where it drilled for two or three months, and at the end of that time was transferred to Fort Snelling to assist in driving off the Indians at that point. It was later ordered to Memphis, Tennessee, and took part in many skirmishes, battles and forced marches, participating in the Red River expedition and the battles at Pleasant Hill, Fair Oaks, Fort DeRussy, Little Rock and Nashville. During all of this time, however, Mr. Sherman never carried a gun, having been detailed to hospital duty, serving for the first two years as nurse and for the remainder of his term of enlistment as acting hospital steward. With the exception of a thirty-day furlough he was contin- uously in service from the time of his enlistment until his discharge at the close of the war, having never lost a day's time through sickness or from any other cause.
After the close of hostilities Mr. Sherman returned to his old home in Erie county, Pennsylvania, and spent a few months visiting his old friends and neighbors. However, in November of the same year he returned to Iowa and in 1866 resumed farming, engaging also in drilling and sinking wells. He has the reputation of having constructed the first drilled well in Allamiakee county. After a time he sold his farm near Rossville and purchased one hundred and sixty acres just adjoining the corporate limits of Waukon and this property he developed and improved for many years, his practical methods, his knowledge of farming, his industry, energy and success winning him a place among the substantial and representative agriculturists of the county. Eventually, how- ever, he sold his farm, disposing of it in five acre tracts, and retired from active life, moving into Waukon, where he purchased the home in which he and his daughter now reside.
In Monroe county, Wisconsin, Mr. Sherman married Miss Katherine Round, who was born and reared in that section. She was a daughter of Zina Round, a pioneer in Wisconsin, having come to that state in early times from Vermont. Mrs. Sherman passed away in 1873, leaving four children: J. D., who is engaged in farming near Waukon; Lida L., who makes her home with her father ; Mrs. Maggie E. Roberts, of Mason City, Iowa; and Lela, the wife of E. W. Goody- koontz, who is engaged in business in Waukon.
Mr. Sherman keeps in touch with his comrades of the Civil war through his membership in John J. Stillman Post, No. 194, G. A. R., of which he has served as quartermaster for eighteen years. During the period of his residence in Alla- makee county he has taken an active part in local politics, having served as assessor and tax collector, as census enumerator and in various other positions of public trust and honor. He and his daughter are members of the Baptist
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PAST AND PRESENT OF ALLAMAKEE COUNTY
church and the latter is active in church and Sunday school work. A resident of this section for fifty-six years and continuously identified with its growth and development, Mr. Sherman has become widely and favorably known in the locality as a man enterprising in business, progressive in citizenship and faithful to all the ties and obligations of life-one of Allamakee county's most honored pioneers.
O. J. HAGER.
O. J. Hager occupies a notable place in financial circles of Waukon as president of the First National Bank, while his connections with other leading institutions through investment or official service make him also one of the country's most conspicuously successful financiers. He is a native son of Iowa, born in Alla- makee county April 7, 1867, a son of Fred Hager, who was among the early settlers in Iowa and who came to this section of the state in 1849. He married here Miss Wilhelmina Helming and after the wedding took up a claim some six miles beyond Waukon which he cleared, broke and fenced and upon which he made many substantial improvements, replacing his original farm dwelling by a good brick residence and making his property one of the finest and most valuable in the section. When he left the farm he moved into Waukon and there spent the last years of his life, passing away November 4, 1909, having survived his wife since 1891.
O. J. Hager was reared upon his father's farm and acquired his primary edu- cation in the public schools, supplementing this by a three years' course in Decorah College. After laying aside his books he taught for four years but at the end of that time came to Waukon, where he aided in organizing the First National Bank with a capital stock of fifty thousand dollars. Mr. Hager was made cashier and he served in that capacity for five years, advancing afterward to the position of president, an office which he still holds. The bank purchased an old building which they tore down and replaced by the present modern and commodious structure which is complete in furnishings and equipment and a worthy com- petitor with the finest financial institutions in the state. The capital stock has been increased to one hundred thousand dollars and an extensive and growing patronage has been built up, much of the success of the concern being due to Mr. Hager's able and far-sighted management. He is connected in an important way with various other banks in this vicinity, being president of the Waterville Savings Bank ; vice president of the New Albin Savings Bank, and a stockholder and director in the Dorchester Savings Bank. He is connected in a similar way with the Brownsville State Bank of Brownsville, Minnesota, and has come to be known as one of the authorities on finance in this part of the country, his stand- ing being based on twenty years of able work along financial lines.
Extensive and important as are his banking interests, Mr. Hager has yet found time to devote to other lines of activity and during the period of his resi- dence here has been prominently connected with many profitable business enter- prises. He is a real-estate dealer on an extensive scale, buying and selling Iowa
O. J. HAGER
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PAST AND PRESENT OF ALLAMAKEE COUNTY
and Minnesota lands and specializing in improved and unimproved farm proper- ties, in which he has valuable holdings.
On September 20, 1900, Mr. Hager married Miss Ella Stevens, who was born, reared and educated in Waukon. She is a daughter of Peter Stevens, one of the original settlers in Allamakee county and for a number of years a prosperous farmer. He later moved to Waukon. Mr. and Mrs. Hager are the parents of two daughters, Helen and Anna. The family are members of the Presbyterian church and are well known in religious and social circles. They occupy a modern and beautiful residence in Waukon which Mr. Hager erected and which they have made a center of hospitality for their charming circle of friends. Fraternally Mr. Hager is connected with the Knights of Pythias and his political allegiance is given to the republican party. A man of high worth and sterling integrity, he is widely known throughout Allamakee county, a com- munity which has known him during his entire life.
HON. JOHN F. DAYTON.
There is scarcely a phase of legitimate activity in Allamakee county in which Hon. John F. Dayton is not successful and prominent and to the advancement of which he has not by his ability, industry and enterprise made substantial contributions. He is one of the county's political leaders, an able and success- ful member of the bar, a force in the development of the fruit growing industry and each year of his activity since he came to Waukon in 1873 has witnessed his growing prominence in all of these fields of endeavor.
Mr. Dayton was born in Saratoga county, New York, January 10, 1849, and is a son of Dr. Simon N. and Lydia ( Houghton) Dayton, natives of New York. Dr. Dayton spent his youth and early manhood in that state and afterward moved to Illinois, locating in Rockford, where he engaged in the general practice of medicine until 1890, when he returned to New York and located in Corinth, where he spent the last years of his life, dying there in the fall of 1899. His wife survived him only a few months, passing away in February, 1900.
John F. Dayton grew to manhood in Rockford, Illinois, and acquired his education in the public schools, graduating from the Rockford high school with the class of 1867. He was afterward a student in Beloit College for three years and when he left that institution read law in Rockford. In 1873 he came to Iowa and settled in Waukon, where he was admitted to the bar. In the same year he formed a partnership with his uncle, Hon. Henry Dayton, and their association has continued since that time, the firm being today one of the strongest in the county, connected through its patronage with much important litigation. Mr. Dayton served as county attorney for two years and in public life proved as ahle, far-sighted and progressive as he is in the private practice of his pro- fession.
Aside from his work in the general practice of law Mr. Dayton is also well known in Allamakee county as an extensive fruit grower. In 1878 he planted almost forty acres of land in grapes, strawberries and raspberries and later added a nursery, where he specializes in raising apple trees and others bearing
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PAST AND PRESENT OF ALLAMAKEE COUNTY
the hardy fruits. He issues an annual catalogue and does a large mail order business, shipping his products by express and freight. He owns a neat and well improved property of sixty acres, just outside the corporate limits of Waukon, and is numbered among the successful farmers and business men of the locality.
On the 14th of October, 1875, Mr. Dayton was united in marriage, in Rock- ford, Illinois, to Miss Laura Hewitt, born and reared in that city, a daughter of John Hewitt, a pioneer of Winnebago county, who settled in that section in 1833.
Eminently public-spirited and progressive in citizenship, Mr. Dayton has since taking up his residence in lowa been continuously identified with public life in the state and is an active and able politician. Ile was the first mayor of Waukon, giving to the city a constructive, efficient and businesslike adminis- tration, and he was afterward elected to the state legislature, serving in the twenty-second, twenty-third and twenty-fourth general assemblies. During his term of office he was connected with much constructive legislation, his vote and influence being always on the side of right, reform and progress. He was a member of a number of important committees, including the committee on rail- roads and commerce, and so efficient, far-sighted and businesslike was his work that he was named as the democratic candidate for speaker of the house in the twenty-fourth general assembly. His public career has been varied in service and faultless in honor and the work he has accomplished in the interests of the community is destined to find a place in its history. Fraternally he is connected with the Knights of Pythias and has served through all the chairs of that organ- ization, being now past chancellor. He is also a member of the Modern Wood- men of America and is one of the most popular men in Waukon, known to his personal friends as "Frank." In all respects his life has been exemplary and useful-the life of an upright, honorable and straightforward man and a pro- gressive and public-spirited citizen.
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