USA > Iowa > Boone County > History of Boone County, Iowa, Volume II > Part 41
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Hugh A. Chambers, an only child, pursued a high-school course in Des Moines and also spent two years as a student in the Iowa State College of Agriculture and
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Mechanical Arts at Ames, where he received his training as a civil engineer. In 1895 he was graduated from the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor and then was connected with government work on Lake Superior for a short time. Later he was in the service of the King Bridge Company at Cleveland, Ohio, and afterward went to Cripple Creek, Colorado, where he remained for a year and a half. Subsequently he spent about a year as civil engineer with the Denver & Rio Grande Railway and other roads until 1900. In that year he came to Boone and entered the service of the Chicago & Northwestern Railway. Several years ago he was elected county surveyor and in that capacity he is now ably serving, discharging his important duties in a highly commendable and efficient manner. His fraternal relations are with the Masons, the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks and the Knights of Pythias. He is an energetic, useful and worthy resident of the county, and in all the relations of life he has been true to high and honorable standards.
CHARLES E. MUENCH.
After a long life devoted to agricultural labors Charles E. Muench now lives in Pilot Mound in the enjoyment of a comfortable competence. He was born in Dauphin county, Pennsylvania, December 29, 1844, and is a son of Jacob D. and Solma (Myers) Muench, natives of Dauphin county. Although the father was a shoemaker by trade, he gave his attention mostly to farming and followed that occupation in Pennsylvania until his death in 1845. His widow survived him until 1884.
Charles E. Muench was reared and educated in Dauphin county and remained with his mother on the home farm until he reached his majority. He then engaged independently in agricultural pursuits, remaining in Pennsylvania for six years. However, he did not attain the desired success and, perceiving the opportunities of the middle west, decided to remove there. When he left he had just enough means to take him to Illinois. There he arrived in 1871 and farmed for eight years. He then came to Boone county, Iowa, where he rented the John L. Good farm for one year and then bought eighty acres in Grant township, applying himself to the cultivation of this tract. Prosperity was the outcome of his close application here. He subsequently was able to acquire an. adjoining one hundred and twenty acres and later added forty acres, so that his. farm comprised two hundred and forty acres. He always followed the most modern and improved methods and brought his land to a high state of cultiva- tion. His buildings were kept in good repair, and the latest equipment and machinery could be found upon his farm. As time passed on his fortune increased,. and in 1902 he was able to retire and moved to Pilot Mound, where he bought a handsome home on two acres of land. He has recently acquired another resi- dence adjoining the one which is his home and which also is surrounded by two acres of ground.
On the 13th of March, 1864, Mr. Muench was united in marriage to Miss Elizabeth Schreffler, a daughter of Harry and Catherine (Saltzer) Schreffler, who were born in Dauphin county, Pennsylvania. The father followed farming
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in his native state, where he died in 1854, his widow surviving him until 1864. Mrs. Muench was born in Dauphin county, April 3, 1845. She bore her husband ten children, as follows: Ida, Harry, Mary, Catherine; Charles, who died in 1901 ; George, Garfield, Edna, Della and Rose. Mr. Muench served for fifteen years as trustee of Grant township and always gave his support to progressive measures while a resident thereof. . After coming to Pilot Mound he was elected mayor of the town and served as executive for two years. He also served as a member of the city council for seven years. He is a stockholder in the Farmers Elevator Company of Pilot Mound and fraternally is connected with the Inde- pendent Order of Odd Fellows, of which he has been a member for forty-six years. His religious faith is that of the German Reformed church, and politically . he is a republican. He stands high in the respect and esteem of his fellow citizens and well merits the confidence which is placed in him.
CHARLES H. SEILING.
Charles H. Seiling, who is to be numbered among the substantial business men of Boone, is engaged in this city in the wholesale liquor business and also is the special representative for the Pabst Brewing Company of Milwaukee. In the discharge of his business affairs he has acquired a reputation for honesty and fair dealing which is enviable and has built up an extensive business because of these qualities.
Mr. Seiling was born in Boone, August 3, 1870, and is a son of Frederick and Minnie (Granson) Seiling, natives of Germany, the former born in Hanover. He was a tailor by trade and followed that occupation in his native land and after coming to the United States. His education was meager and after arriving in this country as a young man he made his way to Rochelle, Illinois, where he worked at tailoring, and thence to Wheatland, Iowa. Twice he endeavored to enlist for service in the Civil war but broke his leg upon one occasion and met with a serious accident at the next time before reaching his place of destination. He came to Boone in the fall of 1866 and conducted a tailor shop until his deatlı on November 14, 1893. His political allegiance was given to the demo- cratic party, and he was a member of the German Lutheran church. His widow, who also holds membership in that church, still resides in Boone, making her home with her son Otto. Her father, Christopher Granson, participated in the Civil war and died in Boone at the age of ninety years. Mr. and Mrs. Seiling, Sr., were the parents of the following children: Louis A., who is married and resides in Schaller, Iowa ; Henry, of Boone, who married Miss Margaret Curtis, of Kansas : Frederick, deceased : Edward H., who died in Spokane, Washington, March 9, 1909, and who was the founder of the business now owned by our subject ; Charles H., of this review ; Otto, of Boone; John H., who died in Boone in February, 1912: and Kate, who died at the age of four years. Edward H. Seiling was twice married and had one daughter, Marie, by his first wife, a Miss Reese. The daughter, a resident of Spokane, received an excellent education, being a graduate of Vassar College.
CHARLES H. SEILING
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Charles H. Seiling of this review attended the Boone public schools until fourteen years of age, working for the following nine years as a tinner and coppersmith in the shops of the Northwestern Railway. He then removed with his brother, Louis A., to Oklahoma, where they took up a claim of one hundred and sixty acres of land, building a store there which they operated from the spring of 1893 until the fall of 1895. At the end of that period Mr. Seiling of this review returned to Boone, entering the employ of his brother, Edward H., in the business which our subject now owns. The firm is located at Ninth and Keeler streets. Mr. Seiling took over his brother's interest in February, 1912, after the latter's death. He has since been very successful in the conduct of his business and is numbered among the substantial residents of Boone.
On October 10, 1899, Mr. Seiling married in Ogden, Iowa, Miss Anna Matz, of that city, a daughter of Hans and Margaret Matz. They have one son, Fred- erick Otto, who was born in Boone, November 11, 1902. Mr. Seiling was baptized in the Lutheran church and has ever since been loyal to its tenets. He is a stanch democrat, thoroughly in accord with the aims of that party, whose candidates he supports at the polls. Fraternally he is a member of Central Lodge, No. 73, Knights of Pythias. In a quiet way he has contributed much toward the progress of Boone and in all his relations of life has ever shown himself trustworthy, faithful and dependable.
CHARLES M. VAN GORDER.
Charles M. Van Gorder has since 1884 been continuously a resident of Boone and for the past twenty years has been a regular passenger conductor on the Chicago & Northwestern Railroad. He was born in Elmira, Chemung county, New York, in 1855, a son of Henry and Harriet ( Murray) Van Gorder. The paternal grandfather, John Van Gorder, was the founder of the family in America, coming to the new world from his native land of Holland. The father, a native of Chemung county, followed farming throughout his active life, save for the period in which he put aside all business and personal considerations to serve as a soldier in the Civil war, becoming a member of the One Hundred and Forty- first New York Regiment, with which he was on active duty on many a hotly contested battlefield. He died in December, 1910, at the ripe old age of eighty- four years. His wife was born and reared in Elmira, New York, and was of Scotch lineage. She was a member of the Baptist church and had many excel- lent qualities. In the family of Mr. and Mrs. Henry Van Gorder were three daughters and four sons, and with the exception of one son all are yet living.
Charles M. Van Gorder spent his youthful days in his native county and attended the public schools. At twenty years of age he made his way westward to Boone, where he followed farming for several years, or until 1882. He then went upon the railroad as a brakeman and in 1884 was advanced to the position of freight conductor, in which capacity he continued until 1893, when he was made a passenger conductor on the western division of the Chicago & North- western Railroad. He has since acted in that capacity and the record is a credit-
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able one as is indicated by the fact that for almost a third of a century he has been retained in the employ of this corporation.
Mr. Van Gorder has been married twice. In Audubon county, lowa, he wedded Miss Alice Frederick, and they became parents of one child. On the 22d of August, 1911, in Urbana, Illinois, Mr. Van Gorder married Mrs. Evalyn Gustafson, nee Pike, who was born in Warren county, New York, as were her parents and grandparents. Her father, Richard Pike, is still living in New York. The family, of English and Scotch descent, have always been Episcopalians in religious faith. By her former marriage Mrs. Van Gorder had a son, C. Le Roy Gustafson, who is a graduate of the Illinois State University and now an architect of Urbana, Illinois. The mother came to Boone in 1879. Her first husband was also with the Chicago & Northwestern as a trainman and was killed in 1905.
Politically Mr. Van Gorder is a republican and, although he never seeks nor desires office, he is always interested in political questions and measures. He is well known in Masonic circles, having been initiated into the order in Carroll county, lowa, as a member of Mount Olive Lodge, No. 79, A. F. & A. M. He also belongs to the chapter of Boone, to the commandery of Jefferson, to the consistory of Clinton, Iowa, and the Mystic Shrine at Des Moines. Mrs. Van Gorder is a member of the Eastern Star chapter at Urbana and of the White Shrine of Champaign, and her son is a member of the blue lodge of Boone and the chapter and commandery of Champaign, Illinois. Mr. Van Gorder is likewise connected with the Order of Railway Conductors at Boone. Mrs. Van Gorder belongs to the Episcopal church and is a member of several ladies' auxiliary societies. In 1911 they erected an attractive home at No. 604 Linn street, Boone, of which Mrs. Van Gorder's son was the architect.
JAMES CHARLES JUDGE.
James Charles Judge is one of the most prosperous of Boone county's farmers, being the owner of four hundred and twenty acres of fertile land, his home being on section 23, Colfax township. He also holds title to an additional two hundred acres in this county, one hundred and twenty of which are in Des Moines township. He was born in Monroe county, Wisconsin, near the town of Albany, on the 24th of September, 1861, his parents being James and Bridget (Kelley) Judge, extended mention of whom is made in the sketch of Ralph Judge of Des Moines township. The Kelleys came to the United States at about the same time as James Judge and located for a time in New York. An uncle of our subject, John Kelley, went to New Orleans, where he engaged in business and where his death occurred about 1865. James Kelley, brother of John, lived for a time in Madison, Wisconsin, where he conducted a fuel business for several years, but later removed to Milwaukee, where he passed away in 1913.
James Charles Judge was but ten years of age when the family came to Boone county. His primary education had been acquired in Green county Wisconsin, and he became a pupil in the Colfax township schools of this county. At the age of eighteen his formal schooling was over and he devoted his time to the work of the farm. When twenty-one he left his father's home and began
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his independent career. He purchased eighty acres on section 23, Colfax town- ship, on which he built a small house on the site of his present commodious dwelling. He has successfully carried on general farming and stock-raising until he is now one of the large landowners of the county. His prosperity has not been due to chance but to his own foresight and wise management, and the competence which he enjoys affords added satisfaction because so well earned.
On the 17th of October, 1893, Mr. Judge was united in marriage to Miss Maggie Coleman, who was born March 24, 1862, at St. Louis, and received her education in Monroe county, Iowa, whither her father, Joseph Coleman, took his family when she was but three or four years of age. Mr. Coleman was a native of County Tipperary, Ireland. The children born to the union of Mr. and Mrs. Judge are: William H., whose birth occurred September 6, 1894; Charles L., born March 2, 1896; James E., August 16, 1898; Theresa L., June 17, 1900 ; Richard C., June 2, 1903 ; and Emmet C., March 25, 1907.
The parents are members of the St. Cecelia Roman Catholic church at Ames, Iowa. Mr. Judge gives his political allegiance to the democratic party and has held a number of township offices. He is a member of the Knights of Columbus. His life has been a distinct asset to Boone county and his just reward is the sincere esteem of all who know him.
THOMAS E. MEANS.
Twenty-five years have come and gone since Thomas E. Means took up his abode in Boone and for twenty-four years of that time he has been engaged in the real-estate, abstract, loan and insurance business. He joined his brother Wil- liam B. Means in the conduct of a business of that character, and they have since been associated under the firm name of Means Brothers. It is not difficult to determine the secret of their success, for close application and energy have ever guided them in all of their business relations.
Thomas E. Means was born near Paris, Illinois, in April, 1865, and is a son of John C. and Margaret (Shelledy) Means. His father was a pioneer of Edgar county, Illinois, where he arrived in 1823, at the age of six years, in company with his parents, William arid Susan (Seal) Means, who removed from Ohio to Illinois. William Means, however, was a native of Staunton, Virginia, and lived in South Carolina for some time before going to Ohio. In the last named state he remained until 1823 and then went to Illinois when his son John C. was a little lad of six summers. The death of William Means occurred in 1848. Under the parental roof John C. Means spent his boyhood and youth. He was about eighty years of age ere death called him in 1897. He married Margeret Shelledy, who was born near West Union, Adams county, Ohio, a daughter of G. B. Shelledy, who was a pioneer lawyer and a contemporary of Abraham Lincoln. Some correspondence which passed between the two in- cludes a letter from Mr. Lincoln to Mr. Shelledy, which is now in the curator's department of the state capitol at Des Moines. Mr. Shelledy died about 1846, when a comparatively young man. His daughter Margaret reached the ripe old age of seventy years, passing away in March, 1897. She and all the members of
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the family were Presbyterians in religious faith, and her belief found expression in the beauty of her life and in the kindly spirit manifest toward those with whom she was associated.
Thomas E. Means was the ninth in order of birth in a family of ten children, of whom eight are yet living. There were also two cousins who were reared by his parents, and all the others of the household remained at or near the old Illinois home. Thomas E. Means spent his youthful days in Edgar county, Illinois, and in the acquirement of his education attended the high school at Paris, from which he was graduated. In early manhood he engaged in teaching for some months and then went to Boone, Iowa, since which time he has been engaged in abstract work and in his present business. He joined his brother William B. Means in 1893, and under the firm style of Means Brothers they have since conducted an abstract, loan, real-estate and insurance business.
In 1893 Mr. Means was united in marriage to Miss Agnes Kennedy, a native of Hendricks county, Indiana, and a daughter of Dr. L. H. Kennedy, who was a surgeon in Benjamin Harrison's regiment of Indiana troops and served throughout the Civil war. He lived and died in Indiana. Mrs. Means acquired a high-school education there and taught for some time before her marriage at Dan- ville, Indiana, proving very capable in imparting readily and clearly to others the knowledge that she had acquired. Mr. and Mrs. Means are now parents of two daughters, Margaret and Mary Frances, both of whom are attending high school. In politics Mr. Means is a republican, yet without ambition for office. He has membership relations with the Knights of Pythias and with the Royal Arcanum.
J. C. BERTON.
J. C. Berton is a factor in journalistic circles of Boone county as editor of the Pilot Mound Monitor, which he purchased in April, 1913, and in which connec- tion he has since developed an up-to-date and well equipped printing plant. His birth occurred in Vermont on the 6th of February, 1880, his parents being William and Ellen (Campbell) Berton, likewise natives of that state. The father served with the Union army throughout the entire period of the Civil war and was subsequently an officer for twenty years. The grandfather of our sub- ject likewise served as an army officer, and the military record of the family is a most creditable one.
J. C. Berton was reared and educated in the state of his nativity and when. fourteen years of age learned the printer's trade, with which he has been identi- fied continuously to the present time. In April, 1913, he came to Pilot Mound. Iowa, and purchased the Pilot Mound Monitor, which he has since published. The paper has five hundred subscribers and a large advertising patronage, and is a bright, newsy sheet devoted to the dissemination of information of general interest. Mr. Berton has installed a new plant, and has made it modern in every particular.
In January, 1908, Mr. Berton was united in marriage to Miss Edna F. Gerdom, her parents being Charles and Ophelia Gerdom, natives of Pennsylvania. Our
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subject and his wife have two children, Clifford and Ellwood, the former three years of age and the latter one year old. In his political views Mr. Berton is a republican. He is a young man of enterprise, ambition and energy, and in furthering his own prosperity is also contributing to the upbuilding of his com- munity in appreciable degree.
JAMES F. CONDON.
James F. Condon is an enterprising and progressive citizen of the village of Ridgeport, where since 1902 he has engaged in general merchandising. He has also held the office of postmaster there and at different times has filled other positions, in which he has proven his loyalty as a citizen and his devotion to the public welfare. He was born January 22, 1854, in Clark county, Illinois, his parents being Henry and Eliza (Dixon ) Condon. The father, a native of Ohio, was born January 25, 1822, and his life record covered seventy-one years, his death occurring in Boone county in 1893. His wife, who was born July 14, 1825. passed away in Boone county September 7. 1893. In their family were eleven children, of whom six sons are still living, all of whom are residents of Boone county with the exception of one who makes his home in Ottumwa, Iowa.
James F. Condon spent his youthful days upon the home farm, with the usual experiences that fall to the lot of the farm lad. He was quite young when the parents came with their family to Boone county, so that he was here reared, and the public schools afforded him his educational privileges. After attaining his majority he took up the occupation to which he had been reared and which he followed continuously until 1902. He then turned his attention to general merchandising at Ridgeport, where he has a good business. He carries a well selected line of goods, and his reliable methods and earnest desire to please his patrons have been the chief features in his growing success.
Mr. Condon has been married twice. He first wedded Christina Anderson, who was born in Sweden in 1860 and died in Boone county in April, 1908. She was a daughter of Martin and Bretta Anderson. The father died in Sweden and the mother afterward brought her daughter Christina to the new world and passed away in September, 1913. Unto Mr. and Mrs. Condon were born seven children. Martin, born in 1880, was married in 1907 to Daisy York, by whom he has two children, Harry and Glidie. He is engaged in farming in Kossuth county. Zora, the second of the family, was born in 1883. Katherine, born in 1885, became the wife of Lewis Anderson, a miner of Des Moines, Iowa, in 1910, and they have one daughter, Annabel. The fourth member of the family. Annabel, was born in 1890 and became the wife of Archibald Jennings. Lloyd, born in 1893, Izivine, born in 1897, and Cuma, born in 1902, are all at home. Mr. Condon was married a second time in November, 1909, when Mrs. W. L. Kelly, nee Frances Redpath, became his wife.
Mr. Condon has always been interested in the political questions and issues of the day, giving his support to the democratic party where matters of national importance are involved but casting an independent local ballot. He held the office of postmaster at Ridgeport, has been township clerk and justice of the
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peace and for twelve years was school treasurer. He has made an excellent record in public office, being always loyal to the trust reposed in him. His has been an honorable, active and well spent life, and he has an extensive circle of friends in Ridgeport and throughout Boone county, where he has now long made his home and where he is widely and favorably known.
GEORGE LAFFERTY.
More than a half century has come and gone since the tocsin of war sounded and President Lincoln issued his first call for troops to defend the Union. Before the war had progressed to any great extent George Lafferty was among the number who offered their services at the front, joining the Fifth Wisconsin Battery, of which he was made first lieutenant. He was then a comparatively young man. Today he has almost reached the eightieth milestone on life's jour- ney. his birth having occurred at Danville, Illinois, November 20, 1834. His parents were James and Ann (Kinney) Lafferty and his paternal grandfather was Patrick Lafferty, who came from Ireland in early manhood. He was left an orphan and from that time forward was dependent upon his own resources. He first settled in Pennsylvania, where he followed farm work. He was mar- ried in that state or in New York and later removed to Danville, Illinois, where he followed farming until the latter portion of his life, his death occurring when he was eighty years of age. His children were James and Daniel.
James Lafferty was born in Dayton, Ohio, and there spent the period of his boyhood and youth. When twenty-one years of age he went to Danville, Illinois, with his father. He became a farmer and stone-cutter and followed those pur- suits as a life work. Following his marriage he came to Iowa and his last days were passed in Woodward. Dallas county, where he died in December, 1893, at the age of eighty-seven years, his birth having occurred in 1806. His children were as follows: J. Russell, now deceased; George: Sarah, who died in child- hood: Emma, the wife of A. C. Smith, of Woodward. Iowa; Mary; Ellen, who has passed away; and William, deceased.
George Lafferty spent the first nine years of his life in Danville, at the end of which time the father went with his family to Monroe, Green county, Wis- consin. His educational privileges were very meager and he had opportunity to attend school for only six months altogether and that period spent in one of the old time log school houses. His father had forty acres of land in timber which had to be cleared away ere plowing could be done and George Lafferty assisted in the arduous task of cutting old trees, burning the brush and grubbing up the stumps. He was busily employed in assisting his father until after the outbreak of the Civil war, when, in August, 1861, he responded to the country's call for troops, enlisting in Green county. Wisconsin. He was mustered in the follow- ing October, went to the front and joined the command at New Madrid or Island No. 10, under General Pope. He assisted in manning the forts of New Madrid and was in that section of the country until after the evacuation of Corinth, following the siege. Later under General J. C. Davis he went to reen- force General Buell, commanding the army of the Cumberland. Later he par-
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