USA > Iowa > Butler County > History of Butler County, Iowa, a record of settlement, organization, progress and achievement, Volume II > Part 18
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DICK VOOGD.
Dick Voogd, mayor of Aplington since 1903, postmaster since 1910 and connected with important professional interests through his control of a large and growing law practice, was born in Grundy county, this state, June 3, 1877. He is a son of Abe and Bena (Rykena) Voogd, natives of Germany, the latter born in 1849. The father came to Illinois in the early '60s and after about six years moved to Grundy county, where he followed farming un- til his death in 1882. His wife survives him and makes her home in Aplington. Four children were born to their union. Oltman, editor of the Aplington News, married Miss Clara Paul and they have four children, Abe, William, Margaret and Paul. Rich. A., manager of Voogd & Company's general store in Aplington, mar- ried Miss Bena Weiss and they have three children, Fred, Edward and Beulah. Abe, a general merchant in Aplington, married Miss Thina Hooker. Dick is the youngest member of the family.
Dick Voogd acquired his education in the public schools of Aplington, attending until he was fifteen years of age. He was afterward for three years clerk in a drug store, after which he:
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went to Highland Park College in Des Moines, where he studied pharmacy. He was graduated as a registered pharmacist in 1895 and for three years thereafter continued his connection with the drug business. At the end of that time he joined his brother Olt- man in the conduct of the Aplington News but three years later entered Iowa State University, graduating from the law depart- ment in 1903. In the same year he was admitted to practice be- fore the state and federal courts and opened his present office in Aplington. He has had a very successful professional career and controls a large and representative patronage, connecting him with a great deal of important litigation.
In Cedar Falls, on the 25th of December, 1912, Mr. Voogd was united in marriage to Miss Lila Austin, a daughter of William Austin, a pioneer settler of Butler county. Mr. Voogd belongs to the Masonic lodge, attends the Presbyterian church and gives his political allegiance to the republican party. His interests have extended to many fields lying always along lines of progress and advancement, and he is numbered today among the men of ability and worth in the community.
JAMES P. BANNON.
Among Butler county's most progressive and successful na- tive sons is numbered James P. Bannon, who owns and operates two farms in Madison township, one of one hundred and sixty acres and the other of eighty. He was born on the farm whereon he now resides July 31, 1871, his parents being James and Kath- erine (Coyle) Bannon, the former a native of County Carlow, Ireland, and the latter born in County Monaghan in 1831. The father came to America in his childhood, locating with his parents in Albany, New York, where he grew to manhood. He learned the bricklayer's trade and followed this in early life in Chicago, where his marriage occurred in 1856. Ten years later he came to Iowa, locating in Butler county. He purchased land in Madison town- ship and erected thereon a good stone house, in which his son now resides and which is one of the two stone residences in the town- ship. James Bannon worked at the bricklayer's trade and also engaged in general farming for the remainder of his life, dying upon his property in Butler county, October 4, 1911.
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James P. Bannon was reared upon his father's farm in Madi- son township and remained at home until his marriage, which occurred in 1891. He then settled upon the farm on which he still resides and since that time has steadily carried forward the work of improvement and development. He has remodeled the stone house which his father erected; has built a new barn, a granary and corn cribs, and set out also a grove of fruit and ornamental trees. In addition to the home place of one hundred and sixty acres Mr. Bannon owns also a tract of eighty acres in the vicinity. He is a stockholder in the Butler County Telephone Company and in the Farmers Cooperative Telephone Company, and is recog- nized in business circles as a man of capacity, sound judgment and keen discrimination.
On the 18th of February, 1891, Mr. Bannon was united in marriage to Miss Mary E. Kirby, a native of Iowa and a daughter of William Kirby, one of the early settlers in Butler county. Mr. and Mrs. Bannon are the parents of two children, Alice Katherine and James Francis, students in the public schools.
The parents are member of the Roman Catholic church and Mr. Bannon gives his political allegiance to the democratic party. He is very prominent in public affairs and has served in various posi- tions of trust and responsibility. For eight years he was township assessor and has also been prominently connected with educational interests, besides serving as a delegate to numerous county conventions. A residence in Butler county dating from his birth to the present time has made him well and favorably known, and he is justly regarded as one of the leading agricul- turists and representative citizens of his locality.
JOHN H. BICKER.
John H. Bicker is the owner of a well improved farm of forty acres, located on section 31, Albion township, Butler county. He was born in Germany, on the 13th of February, 1856, a son of John H. and Anna K. (Kuhlman) Bicker, who were likewise natives of the fatherland, the former born in 1834, and the latter in 1839. The father was a linen weaver in his native country but he is now deceased, his death having occurred in 1905, while his wife died in 1903. They were the parents of nine children.
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John H. Bicker acquired his education in the schools of Ger- many, attending to the age of fourteen years. He was then em- ployed at farm labor until 1886, in which year he emigrated to the new world in the hope that he might better his financial condition. He first located in Illinois, there spending twelve years, or until 1898, when he came to Butler county and purchased ninety acres of land in Albion township. He cultivated this tract until 1910, when he disposed of it and purchased forty acres, his present farm, located on section 31, Albion township. He raises the vari- ous grains adapted to Iowa soil and is meeting with success in his work. Besides the horses necessary for carrying on his farm labor, he also keeps ten head of cattle and twenty head of hogs of good grade.
Mr. Bicker has been married twice. His first wife bore the maiden name of Dena Blohm and by her marriage became the mother of one daughter, Anna. The wife and mother departed this life in 1887, and on the 16th of February, 1900, in Parkers- burg, Iowa, Mr. Bicker wedded Mrs. Anna Johnson, a widow, who had a daughter, Anna, who is still at home. Mr. Bicker's daughter is now the wife of Raymond Church, who is proprietor of a garage in Parkersburg.
In politics Mr. Bicker is a republican, while in religious faith he is a Baptist. He is much interested in the church and the work in its various departments, especially the Sunday-school depart- ment, of which he is the superintendent. He is a man of many sterling characteristics, respected and esteemed by all with whom he is brought in contact, either in a business or social way.
ORLOW F. BLASIER.
During a period of residence in Butler county, covering thirty- nine years, Orlow F. Blasier has made valuable contributions to the advancement and growth of this part of Iowa, and as a resident of Greene, has since 1882, borne an active and honorable part in municipal development. His interests have been thoroughly identified with those of the city and have extended to many fields, but his most important work has been done in connection with the Shell Rock Valley Telephone Company, of which he has been president and manager since its organization.
ORLOW F. BLASIER
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Mr. Blasier is a native of New York, born in Oneida county, November 14, 1853. He was reared there, acquiring his primary education in the country school and supplementing this by a course at Casnovia college, from which he was graduated. He afterward engaged in teaching in Oneida county for two years, but in 1874, moved west to Iowa, locating in Butler county, where he pur- chased land. He bought one hundred and fifteen acres in Cold- water township and operated this for a number of years, adding to his holdings from time to time until he finally owned one hundred and seventy acres. In 1882, he rented this property and moved into Greene, where he has since resided. In the year of his arrival here he was elected justice of the peace and was reelected for twelve consecutive years. During this time he also engaged in promoting telephone companies in Greene, Marble Rock and Rock- ford, and he became very well known in these fields. In 1897 he purchased a telephone concern in Greene and organized the Shell Rock Valley Telephone Company, of which he has since served as president and manager. The company purchased a business house on the main street of the town and has established per- manent offices on the second floor and it has direct connection with other lines for long or short distance and operates a complete ex- change, where courteous, prompt and intelligent service can always be secured. Mr. Blasier has worked earnestly and persist- ently for the success of the concern and its growth and develop- ment is due largely to his energy and enterprise.
On the 6th of April, 1906, Mr. Blasier was united in marriage to Mrs. Elizabeth Reeve, who was born and reared in Greene. She has three children by her former marriage: Alice, the wife of N. E. Kester, of Greene; Elva, a trained nurse in Cedar Rapids; and Roger, an electrician. Mr. Blasier has a daughter by a former marriage; Celia, the wife of David Cates, of Marble Rock.
Mr. Blasier is well known in the Masonic fraternity, holding membership in the blue lodge at Greene, the Rockford chapter, the Waterloo commandery, the shrine at Cedar Rapids and the con- sistory at Davenport. He is also a member of the Modern Wood- men of America, and the Mystic Workers, and he and his wife are identified with the Eastern Star. Mrs. Blasier is also a member of the Rebekahs and has served through all the chairs of her lodge and is past grand. Mr. Blasier gives his political allegiance to the democratic party and is well known in its local ranks, having for the past four years served as a member of the town council and having always taken an active interest in public affairs. His resi-
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dence in Butler county has covered a period of almost forty years and during that time his public spirit has never been doubted nor his business or personal integrity questioned. In consequence he holds the esteem and high regard of a large circle of friends.
ALBERT WILLIAM JENNY.
For twenty-two years Albert William Jenny has resided on the farm on section 16, Jackson township which is now his home. He was early thrown upon his own resources and is a self-made man, his life record indicating the fact that it is only through the pressure of adversity and the stimulus of opposition that the best and strongest in man is brought out and developed. Ohio numbers him among her native sons, his birth having occurred in Monroe county, February 19, 1863. His parents, John and Barbara (Shaffer) Jenny, were also natives of the same county, and the former was a son of John and Elizabeth Jenny, natives of Canton Berne, Switzerland. Coming to the United States in 1830, they made their way westward by way of the Erie canal and their remaining days were spent in Monroe county, Ohio, where John Jenny, Sr., engaged in farming. He had followed school-teaching in his native country and also engaged in teaching after coming to the new world. He was, however, a weaver by trade and in the United States gave his attention to agricultural pursuits and upon his farm reared his family of twelve children. The maternal grandparents were Mr. and Mrs. George Shaffer, who came from Stuttgart. Germany. Both died in Monroe county.
The death of John Jenny, Jr., occurred when his son, Albert William, was but one year of age, and the mother now resides in Moundsville, West Virginia, with her daughter, Lena, who is the wife of William Litman. There were but two children in the family, the daughter being the younger. Albert W. Jenny was reared in his native county, where he remained until twenty years of age. The experiences of his youth were those which usually come to the farm lad who divides his time between the work of the fields and the acquirement of an education in the public schools. Leaving Ohio, he went to Green county, Wisconsin, where he remained for seven years. In 1891 he came to his pres- ent place, on section 16, Jackson township. From an early age he has earned his own living and soon learned the value of money
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and the forcefulness of industry and perseverance as factors in the attainment of success. His prosperity is attributable entire- ly to his own labors, and he is now the owner of a good farm of one hundred and twenty acres, which has been well developed by him. It was entirely destitute of improvements when he took possession, there being not even a fence, but he has erected good buildings and now has a property which forms one of the attrac- tive features of the landscape.
In 1891, in Wisconsin, Mr. Jenny was united in marriage to Miss Frances Carter, who was born in Green county, that state, in 1870, a daughter of John and Dorothy (Hickman) Carter. The two children of this marriage are Herbert Newton and Edith Enola. In politics Mr. Jenny is a democrat and for four years filled the office of trustee of his township but has never cared for nor desired political preferment. He holds membership with the Modern Woodmen of America and has many friends both within and without that order.
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H. B. AKIN.
Among the early settlers and the progressive and valued resi- dents of Butler county is numbered H. B. Akin, engaged in agri- cultural pursuits upon a fine tract of land adjoining the town of Dumont. For many years he was closely and prominently con- nected with educational interests of this section of the state and he was for two terms county superintendent of schools, a position which he filled with credit and ability. He was born in Colum- biana county, Ohio, December 15, 1857, and there remained until he was six years of age, when the family removed to Greene county, Indiana. Five years later they came to Iowa, locating in Clarksville, this county, in 1868. He supplemented a primary- school education by a course in the Epworth Seminary and by one year in the State Normal School, after which he turned his atten- tion to teaching. After teaching for ten years in the country schools he taught for two years in Dumont and then served for four years as county superintendent, being located in Allison and discharging the duties of that position in a manner which re- flected credit upon his ability, energy and public spirit. After his term of service as county superintendent Mr. Akin resumed his teaching in the Dumont school and for some years thereafter
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was closely connected with educational work as president of the Dumont school board. For a number of years past he has been engaged in agricultural pursuits and is now the owner of a small farm adjoining the city of Dumont.
.On the 16th of November, 1898, Mr. Akin was united in mar- riage to Miss Anna Brown, a daughter of the Hon. H. C. Brown, of whom further mention is made elsewhere in this work. Mr. and Mrs. Akin are the parents of three children, Raymond B., Homer B. and Floy B.
Mr. Akin give his political allegiance to the republican party and has always been interested and active in public affairs, holding various positions of trust and responsibility. He served for four years as township clerk and has also been president of the repub- lican township committee and a member of the county committee. On numerous occasions he was a delegate to county and congres- sional conventions and is always to be found among the leaders in the promotion of any worthy public project. Fraternally he is connected with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, hav- ing served through all the chairs of the local lodge, which he has also represented in the grand lodge of the state. He served three years as district deputy. He is also connected with the Rebekahs. the Yeomen and the Mystic Workers. He is one of the best known men in his part of Butler county, where he has resided since his childhood and where his many excellent qualities of mind and character have gained him the respect and esteem of all who have been in any way associated with him.
FRED O. NEWCOMB.
When this county was largely an unsettled and undeveloped district, only a few courageous pioneers having penetrated into Butler county, the Newcomb store, of which Fred O. Newcomb is now proprietor, was founded. That was in the year 1855. The family name has since figured continuously and honorably in con- nection with the material development and business activity of the county. Fred O. Newcomb was born in Shell Rock, April 9, 1858, his parents being Orlando S. and Huldah Caroline (Carter) Newcomb, who were natives of Geauga county, Ohio, the former born May 20, 1830, and the latter April 29, 1832. The ancestry can be traced back to Governor William E. Bradford, first gov-
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ernor of Massachusetts, who came to America on the Mayflower. His daughter married a Newcomb from whom Fred O. Newcomb is descended, and thus he is entitled to membership in the society known as Descendants of the Mayflower. The father traveled over Indiana, Illinois and Iowa, selling notions from a wagon and arrived in Shell Rock on the 4th of July, 1855, when the first cele- bration held in the county was taking place. He enjoyed the hos- pitality of the people and was so well pleased with the indications and prospects of future development that he decided to locate here. He then returned to Ohio and on the 20th of September, 1855, was married. On the 8th of the following month, having returned to Shell Rock, he opened the Newcomb store, carrying a line of general merchandise. He was in business until his death, although he was not active in the management of the store during the latter part of his life. He at first had a small stock in a little room on the east side of the river and lived in a slab shanty. Dur- ing the first winter of his residence here he froze his feet, so poor were the accommodations for heating the house. Difficulties and obstacles did not discourage him, and with persistent energy he worked his way upward, becoming in time a prosperous merchant. His brother-in-law, J. H. Carter became a partner in the business, which he conducted for three years, while O. S. Newcomb was in the army.
He enlisted from Shell Rock in the summer of 1862, becoming a member of Company E, Thirty-second Iowa Volunteer Infan- try, with which he served for three years. For more than thirteen months he was held as a prisoner of war at Tyler, Texas. He was taken prisoner on General Banks' Red River Expedition on the 9th of April, 1864, and was incarcerated at Tyler until the close of the war. He was captured while assisting Fred Carter, his wife's youngest brother, from the field after he had been wounded. The commercial instinct was strong within him. He was a natural born trader and usually won success in all transac- tions. During the war while imprisoned he would sell tobacco to his army comrades, some of whom were unable to pay him until after they returned home following the close of hostilities. After the war was over Mr. Newcomb resumed business as a mer- chant of Shell Rock and was active in the store until 1904. The firm was Newcomb & Carter for some time. In 1884 their store was destroyed by fire, at which time Fred O. Newcomb became a partner in the reestablishment of the business, the store being opened where it is now. The business, however, has had a con-
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tinuous existence since 1855 and is today the oldest mercantile enterprise of the county.
While at the front as a prisoner of war Orlando Newcomb was converted and joined the Christian church. He was after- ward an active Christian man, and as there was no church of his denomination in his neighborhood he united with and was an earnest worker in the Methodist Episcopal church. He wore the grand army button and greatly enjoyed meeting with his former comrades-the boys in blue. He died in Shell Rock, March 2, 1904. His wife was a great union league worker during the war and afterward became very active in the Woman's Christian Tem- perance Union, remaining president at Shell Rock for twenty years, or from the organization of the local union until her death, August 10, 1913. All this indicates how closely the Newcombs have been associated with the moral development, the substantial upbuilding and the progress of town and county.
Unto Mr. and Mrs. Orlando Newcomb were born three chil- dren : Fred O .; Minnie, the wife of T. S. Kenyon of Peoria, Illi- nois; and Mabel E., the wife of Frank T. Bement of Spokane, Washington, who is engaged in the wholesale lumber business.
Fred O. Newcomb attended the Cornell College at Mount Ver- non, Towa, and afterward entered the State University at Iowa City in 1878. He pursued a four years' course and was graduated in 1882 with the Bachelor of Arts degree. He remained there as business manager of the Iowa City Republican, a daily and weekly paper. in connection with which a bindery and publishing busi- ness was conducted. In 1884 when his father's store was de- stroved by fire, he returned home and entered actively into the management of the business, with which he has since been con- nected. In the great fire of 1889 the store burned again but Mr. Newcomb rebuilt it on the same ground. He has here a two-story brick structure twenty-four by one hundred and twenty feet with a tin roof. He carries a large and selected line of goods and con- ducts an extensive and profitable business. He is thoroughly familiar with every detail of the trade, and his progressive meth- ods, earnest desire to please his patrons and his fair dealing have constituted the basis of the success which has attended him since he became one of the owners of the establishment. He is likewise the owner of a farm in this county and another in Minnesota and is a stockholder in the Creamery Company of Shell Rock.
On the 9th of July, 1884. Mr. Newcomb was united in mar- riage to Miss Mary F. Kimball, who was born in Iowa City, and
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is a daughter of Dr. George E. Kimball, of that place. Mrs. New- comb was a school mate of her husband and a graduate of the uni- versity in the class of 1879. Unto Mr. and Mrs. Newcomb have been born three children: Gertrude, the wife of Dr. J. R. Thomp- son of Waterloo, Iowa; Francis H., who is associated with his father in business; and Martha, now a student in the State Normal school.
The elder daughter was graduated from the State University on the 25th anniversary of her father's graduation. She has three children. The son, Francis, married Miss Ona Emig of Santa Clara, California, and they have one child. It was in Janu- ary, 1913, that Francis became his father's partner in business, the store being thus continued to the third generation.
In his political views Mr. Newcomb has ever been an earnest republican and was continuously called to office as alderman and mayor until, tiring of the work, he refused to again become a can- didate. For twenty years he was a member of the school board but resigned that position when made a member of the board of regents of the Iowa State University by appointment of the state legislature, in which capacity he served until the board of regents was abolished in 1911. Fraternally he is connected with the Masons, the Odd Fellows, and the Knights of Pythias. His rec- ord adds new laurels to those connected with the name. His father came to Iowa as a pioneer settler, and the work which he instituted has been carried on by the son amid changing surround- ings and conditions. In all, Mr. Newcomb has manifested a spirit of enterprise that has been unfaltering and his progressiveness has been of untold value to the community as well as to himself.
CLAUS A. IBLINGS.
Since 1895 Claus A. Iblings has been closely connected with agricultural interests of Butler county and is today the proprietor of one of the finest farms in Monroe township. In addition to this he deals in real estate on an extensive scale and has acquired important interests along this line, standing among the men of marked ability and substantial worth in the community. He was born in Stephenson county, Illinois, February 20, 1871, and is a son of Ibling and Anna (Whilhelms) Iblings, natives of Germany, the former born in 1842 and the latter in 1846. The father came
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