USA > Iowa > Buchanan County > History of Buchanan County, Iowa, and its people, Volume II > Part 39
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Mr. Trask was united in marriage to Miss Ida May Krebs, who was born in Black Hawk county. Iowa. a daughter of Martin and Katherine (Reichert) Krebs, both of whom are living in La Porte City at the age of seventy-six years. The paternal grandfather was a physician of Milwaukee and practiced there successfully for a number of years. In the '50s he came to Iowa and purchased farms for his son and practiced medicine in this state, and such was his person- ality that he was generally beloved. His wife was in her maidenhood Miss Barbara Fry. Martin Krebs came to this state in 1859 from Milwaukee by way of the lake and was married at Waterloo at the old Central Hotel. He and his wife removed immediately to their farm in Black Hawk county, where their children were all born. For thirty years they resided upon that place and were known as prominent residents of their locality. They are now living retired in La Porte City. The father has taken a most helpful interest in church, civic and social affairs and has long been a devoted member of the German Lutheran
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church. Mrs. Trask, who was the fourth in order of birth in a family of ten children, has become the mother of four sons: two who died in infancy; Archi- bald Hugh, who is employed in the hardware establishment of L. C. Simons of Independence ; and Judd Marvin, who is attending school in Independence. Mr. Trask is an Odd Fellow and has held all of the offices in the lodge. He is broad- minded in his views concerning political and civic conditions. He votes with the republican party and stands for progress and improvement at all times, seek- ing ever the welfare and upbuilding of the district in which he lives.
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JOHN G. HUSCHKE.
Although John G. Huschke, a resident of Westburg township, started out to earn his own living as a farm hand working for a meager wage, he is today one of the successful agriculturists of Buchanan county, owning three hundred and eighty acres of rich and arable land valued at one hundred and seventy-five dollars per acre. All this represents his own earnings and his place is well improved with all the equipments and accessories of a model farm of the twen- tieth century. His land is situated on section 4, Westburg township, and the neat and thrifty appearance of the place is indicative of his careful supervision, practical methods and sound judgment.
Mr. Huschke was born in Scott county, Iowa, December 28, 1861, and is a son of Bernard and Barbara ( Wachter) Huschke. The father was a native of Prussia, born in 1830, and when twenty-two years of age made the voyage across the Atlantic to the new world and into the interior of the country. In 1852 or 1853 he took up his abode in Scott county, Iowa, where he was employed as a farm hand until 1858, during which period he carefully saved his earnings until he felt justified in purchasing property. He then invested in eighty acres in Scott county and lived upon that farm for nine years. He next removed to ยท Pleasant Valley township, in the same county, purchasing one hundred and sixty acres which he owned and cultivated for thirty-five years. His last days were spent in well earned and honorable retirement in Davenport, where he passed away in 1912. His wife was a native of Switzerland and was but four years of age when brought to America by her parents, Mr. and Mrs. Frank Wachter, who were also natives of the land of the Alps. They, too, settled in Scott county, Iowa, where her father purchased eighty acres. There she lived at home until her marriage, becoming to her husband a faithful companion and helpmate on life's journey.
John G. Huschke was comparatively young when he started out to earn his living as a farm hand, working by the month. Ile also followed threshing until twenty-nine years of age and then purchased a farm of one hundred and four acres situated in Poweshiek county, near Brooklyn. That farm soon gave evi- dence of the care and labor he bestowed upon the fields and after operating the place for thirteen years he sold out for ninety dollars per aere. He then came to Buchanan county and purchased two hundred and twenty aeres in Westburg township for sixty-five dollars per acre. Upon this place, which is situated on section 4, he has since made his home and his farm is now a valuable and pro-
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ductive property, constituting one of the attractive features of the landscape. He has prospered as the years have gone by and the farm has advanced in value through the work he has put upon the fields. He practices the rotation of crops and other modern methods of farming and he also conducts a dairy business and raises stoek. In 1912 he added to his property holdings by purchasing one hun- dred and sixty acres of land in Perry township for ninety-two and a half dollars per acre.
Mr. Huschke was married in 1895 to Miss Mary M. Schmidt, a daughter of Charles Schmidt, who was born in Germany in 1827. After coming to the United States he remained in New York for a short time and then continued on his westward way until he reached Davenport, Iowa. He was a carpenter by trade and followed that pursuit in Davenport until he reached the age of sixty-two years, when, having acquired a handsome competence, he retired from active life, although he is still living in that city at the age of eighty-seven years. His wife was born in Germany in 1825, was there reared and in that country became the wife of John Beck. After crossing the Atlantic and settling in New York, Mr. Beck died and there his widow married Charles Schmidt. Mrs. Huschke was reared in Davenport, acquired her education in the schools of that city and was married there, and she has become the mother of six children : Ann, the wife of Theodore Schmidt; Theresa, who married Philip Schmidt; Bernard; Marie; Mildred ; and Clara.
The parents are members of the Catholic church, and politically Mr. Huschke is a democrat. His interest in community affairs is that of a public-spirited citi- zen and not of an office seeker. He is a self-made man who as the architect of his fortunes has builded wisely and well. An analyzation of his life work shows that diligence, determination and fair dealing have been the salient points in his business career.
FARMERS SAVINGS BANK.
The Farmers Savings Bank at Lamont, Iowa, in the four years of its existence, has gained the confidence of the business houses and also of the private individuals of the town and its deposits have steadily increased. Its policy has been one of progression, tempered, however, with enough conservatism to adequately safeguard the interests of stockholders and depositors. It was chartered on the 3d of March, 1910, under Iowa laws with authority to transact general banking business. The first officers were: D. J. Kenna, president ; W. C. Falck, vice president ; and M. J. Nolan, cashier. The board of directors included Messrs. D. J. Kenna, W. C. Falck, Fred Retz, J. H. Brown, Thomas Vanek. A. K. Anderson and A. L. Seeber. At the present time the administra- tive officers are W. C. Falck, president; Fred Retz, vice president; and O. C. Gladwin, cashier. Mr. Gladwin has held the office of cashier sinee April 1, 1911, and the active management of the institution is left largely to him. The directorate comprises, in addition to the above mentioned officers, J. H. Brown, Thomas Vanek, Frank Dozark and A. K. Anderson. The institution is capitalized at fifteen thousand dollars, the present surplus is one thousand and the deposits
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average about ninety-eight thousand dollars. The bank owns the building in which it is situated and which was erected in the fall of 1910, and is one of the best business bloeks in Lamont. It is twenty-two by fifty-six feet in dimen- sions, is of pleasing design and of excellent material, and the upper floor is given over to office rooms. The affairs of the bank are in good condition and, although its first consideration is the safety of the funds intrusted to it upon deposit, it is so judiciously managed that it earns a good dividend for its stock- holders.
WARREN F. MILLER.
Warren F. Miller, editor of the Independence Conservative, is a native of Buchanan county and has passed most of his life here. He is the youngest son of Mr. and Mrs. Samuel Miller, pioneer settlers, and was born on a farm in Perry township, November 13, 1866. He was fortunate in parents who indulged his wish for a better education than the county schools afforded, and he entered Lenox College at the age of thirteen, graduating from there with the degree of Bachelor of Sciences in 1884, when a little past seventeen years of age. That fall he began his first term as a teacher in a Delaware county rural school, having to get a special permit from the state superintendent because of being under the required age. He followed teaching for several years succeeding, in the mean- time taking a course in the Cedar Rapids Business College during a summer vacation.
In 1891 Mr. Miller resigned the principalship of the Fairbank schools to accept the position of deputy to L. F. Springer in the office of clerk of the district court. After two years he resigned this to enter the law school of the University of Iowa, from which he graduated in 1894. A few weeks later he and a class- mate, the late C. L. Everett. opened a law office in Independence, but this part- nership was dissolved with the beginning of the succeeding year, when Mr. Everett entered a partnership with Judge Ransier, and Mr. Miller with his former chief. L. F. Springer, under the firm name of Springer & Miller. He was elected city attorney of Independence the succeeding spring, serving two years, during which time it fell to him to prepare the ordinances. contracts, etc., for the new municipal lighting plant. In the fall of 1896 he gave up the practice of law to enter country newspaper work, he and his father purchasing an interest in the Conservative. He was associated with L. W. Goen for a little over six years in publishing the Conservative, the Millers then selling their interest back to Mr. Goen. It was during this time that Warren F. Miller was elected mayor of Independence, serving two terms and declining to be a candidate for a third. HIe then moved to Kansas, where he owned and published the Courier-Democrat for upward of six years. ITis next newspaper venture was at Le Mars, where he purchased the Le Mars semi-weekly Globe-Post, which he conducted till he sold it in December, 1913, and returned to Independence.
In March, 1914, Mr. Miller of this review, associated with S. Miller and Mattie E. Stevenson, purchased the Independence Conservative from the Goen estate and he became its editor and business manager. This brought him back to
WARREN F. MILLER
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his old field of labor. New equipment was added and new life put into the paper. now in its sixtieth year, and the effect was at once apparent in the tone of the paper and its steady increase in business. He feels that he is probably located for as many years of business life as may be spared him, with his one ambition to make the Independence Conservative one of the best of its class.
Mr. Miller is a member of the Masonic order and of the Benevolent and Pro- tective Order of Elks. He was reared in a Presbyterian family and united with that church in Independence under the pastorate of Rev. D. W. Fahs, in 1898. He was married in Independence, May 25, 1898, to Miss Nella E. Smale, one of the talented musicians of the city and the youngest daughter of George Smale, a pioneer druggist. They have a family of three children: Paul, aged fifteen, a student in the high school ; Leo, aged ten, and Marian, aged eight, both in the city grade schools.
As would be expected of the editor of a democratic paper, Mr. Miller is a consistent and persistent democrat. He has been a member of the county central committee, wherever located, every year but one since he was twenty-two, county chairman once in Iowa and twice in Kansas, and was a member of the state com- mittee in Kansas when he removed from that state. At forty-eight he is satisfied if the long hours and multifarious grind of country newspaper work affords him an occasional day to go fishing.
EZRA MACKENZIE.
Ezra Mackenzie is the owner of Brunswick Park, a fine farm of two hundred and eighty acres in Hazleton township, which is so called in honor of his birth- place-New Brunswick, Canada. His natal day was March 21, 1853, and his parents were Daniel and Phoebe (Brundage) Mackenzie, who were also natives of New Brunswick, the former of Scotch and the latter of English descent. As far back as is known the Mackenzies have followed agricultural pursuits. In the year 1800 the family was established in New Brunswick, and Daniel Mackenzie became one of the extensive landowners there. his possessions aggregating seven hundred acres. He was regarded as one of the substantial and valued citizens of the community in which he made his home and his life was ever in harmony with his professions as a member of the Freewill Baptist church. He died in 1890, at the age of seventy-six years.
Ezra Mackenzie pursued his education in the schools of New Brunswick and when twenty-four years of age came to the United States, since which time he has made his home in Buchanan county. He had previously owned a shingle mill and worked in the timber in the winter months, owning a big timber tract. After coming to this country he was employed as a farm hand for a time but as soon as possible made investment in land, to which he has since added until he now owns two hundred and eighty acres in Buchanan county which he calls Brunswick Park. His farm has been carefully developed and improved according to modern methods and all of the equipments and accessories of the model farm of the twentieth century are found upon his place. He is prominently known as a stock-raiser, handling Polled Durham cattle and Percheron horses, which he
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raises for sale and for exhibition purposes. He has won many prizes at the county fair on his horses and his stock is one of the attractive features of his farm. In business affairs his judgment is sound, his discrimination keen and his enterprise unfaltering. Aside from his interests as the owner of Brunswick Park he is a stockholder, director and the president of the creamery company, is president of the Corn Growers' Association, is president of the Cooper Valley Telephone Company, president of the Hazleton Fair Association and a stock- holder in the Buchanan County Fair Association.
Mr. MacKenzie was united in marriage to Miss Alice J. Miller, a native of Hazleton township and a daughter of George M. Miller. Her father was born in New York, in 1837, and was a son of Adam and Bachabee (Pettis) Miller, the former born in Connecticut in 1794 and the latter in Rhode Island in 1800. Adam Miller became a carpenter and builder in New York and in 1849 removed west- ward to the vicinity of Rockford, Illinois, where he worked at his trade and also became actively identified with the sheep industry, driving sheep overland, as there were then no railroads in that part of the country. On the 13th of Septem- ber, 1852, he came to Buchanan county and purchased land in Hazleton township, which his sons cultivated. They were pioneers in raising shorthorn cattle and Chester White hogs and were extensively engaged in shipping hogs which were used for breeding purposes. Adam Miller was a resident of Buchanan county at the time of his death. He served as a drum major in the War of 1812. going to the front from Washington county, New York.
George M. Miller attended the district schools near his home and when twelve years of age started ont in life on his own account. He went with a brother to Illinois and there worked on a farm and in a tavern, drove stage and also attended to various duties in the store of Benjamin Hoyt. of Boone county. Illinois, in the town of Newburg, which is now extinet. He came with his father to Buchanan county when a youth of about fifteen years and here worked as a rail splitter and also engaged in hauling merchandise into this county before the advent of rail- roads. In fact he worked at anything and everything that is necessary in con- nection with the early settlement and development of a frontier district. In 1853 he purchased land from the government, entering his elaim, and soon afterward became actively engaged in farming; in which occupation he continued year after year with exeellent success. As his financial resources increased he added to his holdings and when he removed to Hazleton was the owner of seven hundred and sixty acres of valuable farm land in Buchanan county, now in possession of his son and daughter. He was not only a leading farmer but also a representative citizen. He served as supervisor of his county for eight years and was a trustee of the College for the Blind at Vinton. He was active in the republican party and at all times cooperated in the movements for the benefit and upbuilding of this section of the state. IIe made the first shingles that covered the first church in Independence and helped cut the logs for the first bridge over the Wapsipini- con river. In Masonry he was well known as a member of the lodge, chapter and Eastern Star at Independence. The first meeting of the Baptists in this county was held in the home of his father, Adam Miller, while the first Presbyterian gathering was in the home of John Long in Hazleton township.
It was in 1857 that George M. Miller was united in marriage to Miss Margaret Spragg, who was born in New Brunswick, Canada, in 1835, a daughter of John
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and Amelia (Taylor) Spragg, who were also natives of Canada, born in 1805 and 1812 respectively. Becoming residents of the United States, they made their way to Iowa in 1855 and their last days were spent in Hazleton township, where they were identified with agricultural pursuits. Mr. Spragg became one of the substantial farmers and reliable citizens of the community and lived to the advanced age of ninety-four years. To Mr. and Mrs. Miller were born three children : Edgar F., who owns and occupies a farm west of Hazleton, where he is engaged in the raising of Galloway cattle; Alice J., now Mrs. Mackenzie; and Letta A., the wife of W. E. Curtis, a real-estate dealer of Cedar Rapids, by whom she has two children. By the marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Mackenzie there have been born five children : Ethel is the wife of W. H. Hatch, a representative of a pioneer family of this county living near Oelwein, and they have three children, Mackenzie, Willis Ezra and Robert; Inez became the wife of Simon G. Corcoran but has passed away. Donald M. is at home with his parents. Ross Daniel, a farmer of Buchanan county, married Grace Duke and has one son, Hugh. E. Bruce married Berdina Scott and lives upon the farm of his father-in-law in Fayette county.
Mr. Mackenzie took out his naturalization papers soon after coming to the United States and has been a student of the political questions and issues of the day. A zealous republican, he has served his party with the sincere desire to see its principles triumph-principles in which his faith is bound. He is a member of the Baptist church and served as superintendent of the Union Sunday school of the Presbyterian and Baptist churches for twenty years. His influence has always been against evil and on the side of right, justice and truth. He belongs to the Knights of Pythias and has taken an active interest in the work of the local lodge and in the state organization as well, filling all the chairs in both the sub- ordinate and grand lodges. He has held every office in the Modern Woodmen camp and his wife is active in the Pythian Sisters and in the Eastern Star. Of the Eastern Star she has been worthy matron for two years and for seven conseeu- tive years has represented the Pythian Sisters in the Grand Temple of Iowa. She is also president of the county organization of the Woman's Christian Temper- ance Union and also of the local Woman's Christian Temperance Union. Both Mr. and Mrs. Mackenzie rank high in the social circles of the city and their influence is widely felt for good. Mr. Mackenzie has always been foremost in support of and promotion of the most progressive ideas relating to the material development and civic progress of his community and is recognized as the leader in his township. His life is one of general worth and usefulness and on the pages of his history appears a clean record.
DAVID H. REVEL.
David H. Revel, dealer in agricultural implements at Brandon and also identified with financial interests as one of the organizers and stockholders of the Farmers Savings Bank, was born in Harrison township, Benton county, Towa. on the 2d of July, 1865, his parents being William and Amy (Davis: Revel. The father's birth occurred in Southampton county, Virginia, in 1818.
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He was a son of Hamilton Revel, who was born on a farm in the Old Dominion, the family having been established in Virginia at an early epoch in the history of that state.
William Revel was reared on the old home farm and at the age of seventeen years removed westward to Greensburg, Indiana, where he was employed as a farm hand until he reached the age of twenty-four years. He then married and rented land from the man by whom he had previously been employed by the month. For seven years he lived upon that place and then came to Iowa, set- tling in Benton county in 1849 about four miles south of Brandon. He was one of the pioneers of that district, for the work of progress and improvement seemed scarcely begun in that section of the state. Much of the land was still in the possession of the government and Mr. Revel entered a claim of one hun- dred and sixty acres. There were no railroads in the county and he had made the journey overland with a team of horses and a wagon. He experienced many of the hardships and privations of pioneer life, but as the years went on frontier conditions were replaced by those of modern civilization. He broke the soil, tilled the fields and in time brought his farm to a high state of cultivation. Moreover, he extended the boundaries of his property by additional purchases at various intervals until he was the owner of five hundred and twenty acres of rich and valuable land, upon which he lived to the time of his death in 1891. His widow survives and is now living with her daughter, Mrs. Lizzie Wallace, on a farm in Harrison township. Benton county, at the age of eighty-eight years.
Mr. Revel was a republican in his political views and was a consistent and earnest member of the Christian church. Mrs. Revel was born on a farm near Greensburg, Indiana, in 1826, and much of her life was spent amid pioneer sur- roundings before time and man wrought the changes which made this section of the state one of its prosperous and populous distriets. She was a represen- tative of one of the old New England families. Her father was born in Vermont and when a young man learned the cabinetmaker's trade in the east. He after- ward removed to Kingston, Indiana, where he married, and there worked at his trade for a time. He afterward purchased a farm of eighty acres, on which he took up his abode, and he supported his father and mother in their old age. His life was a busy, useful and honorable one and he continued his residence in Indiana until called to his final rest.
David H. Revel, whose name introduces this review, spent his youth upon the old homestead farm in Harrison township, Benton county, and after master- ing the branches of learning taught in the district schools became a student in Tilford Academy at Vinton, Iowa, in which he completed his course in 1889. He then returned to the old home place and devoted two years to its further cultivation. He then made arrangements for having a home of his own through his marriage to Miss Emma Yount. a daughter of Fred and Mary Yount. Pur- chasing a farm east of Brandon. Towa, he resided thereon for about five years and then sold that property and took up his abode in the town, where he pur- chased a store building and opened a stock of farm machinery and agricultural implements. From the beginning he has enjoyed a liberal patronage, which has steadily increased as his enterprise and thorough reliability have become recognized. IIe is a man of energy and of keen discrimination and carries for-
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ward to successful completion whatever he undertakes. He does everything pos- sible for the upbuilding and improvement of Brandon and was one of the organ- izers of the new Farmers Savings Bank, of which he became a large stockholder. He was one of those who championed the movement for the building of the electric railroad through Brandon, doing everything in his power to secure the execution of the project.
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