USA > Iowa > Howard County > History of Chickasaw and Howard counties, Iowa, Volume II > Part 2
USA > Iowa > Chickasaw County > History of Chickasaw and Howard counties, Iowa, Volume II > Part 2
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TIMOTHY T. DONOVAN
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been most judiciously placed. His real estate interests include one of the finest homes in New Hampton.
Mr. Donovan is a member of St. Joseph's Catholic church, is a member of the assembly of the Knights of Columbus and of the council of that organization. He likewise belongs to Charles City Lodge, B. P. O. E. He has always been a stalwart advocate of democratic principles and in 1895 was chosen a delegate to the demo- cratic national convention in Chicago and was again elected a delegate to the democratic national convention in St. Louis in 1917. He served on the democratic state central committee for the fourth Iowa district for twelve years and was a member of the city council of New Hampton for ten years, exercising his official preroga- tives in support of many well defined plans and measures for the general good. He is now the president of the New Hampton library board and there is no phase of the city's welfare in which he is not vitally interested. He is a charitable man and yet his philanthropy is of a most unostentatious character. He is always courteous, kindly and affable and those who know him personally have for him a warm regard. A man of natural ability, his success in business from the beginning of his connec- tion with banking has been uniform and rapid. As has been truly remarked, after all that may be done for a man in the way of giving him early opportunities for obtaining the requirements which are sought in the schools and in books, he must essentially formulate, determine and give shape to his own character and this is what Mr. Donovan has done. He has persevered in the pursuit of a persistent pur- pose and gained a most satisfactory reward. His life is exemplary in all respects and he has ever supported those interests which are calculated to uplift humanity, while his own high moral worth is deserving of the highest commendation.
JOHN A. DOSTAL.
John A. Dostal, cashier of the Bohemian Savings Bank of Protivin, Howard county, was born in Spillville, Winneshiek county, Iowa, on the 15th of July, 1871, a son of John and Mary (Rihe) Dostal, both of whom were also of Bohemian birth. The father came to the United States in his boyhood days-a lad of twelve years-in company with his parents, the voyage across the Atlantic being made in 1854. The family home was established in Davenport, Iowa, but after two years a removal was made to Spillville, Winneshiek county, where John Dostal learned the wagon making trade. He developed considerable efficiency in this connection and for many years conducted a wagon shop in Spillville. He still survives and now resides with a daughter in Minneapolis, Minnesota. His wife came to the United States in young womanhood, her parents remaining in Bo- hemia. Mrs. Dostal has passed away, her death occurring in February, 1917.
Jolin A. Dostal whose name introduces this review was reared under the parental roof and is indebted to the schools of Spillville for his educational opportunities. He passed through consecutive grades until he became a student in the high school and when nineteen years of age entered upon an apprenticeship to the creamery business and thoroughly learned the art of butter making, serving as apprentice in Manly, Worth county, where he remained for a period of four years. He next became con- nected with the Spillville Creamery, where he was employed as butter maker for six years, and in 1899 he removed to Protivin and for ten years was butter maker in the creamery at this place. In 1910 he became one of the active factors in the organization of the Bohemian Savings Bank of Protivin and was made secretary on its organization. The company owns a modern bank building, in which the doors were opened for busi- ness on the 19th of September, 1910. Mr. Dostal was made cashier of the institution and in that important position has since most efficiently served. He has thoroughly acquainted himself with every phase of the banking business and the institution of which he is now an active official has had a remarkably successful growth, its deposits at the present time amounting to two hundred and twenty-five thousand dollars. He is most sytematic, careful and reliable in the conduct of the business of the bank and is a popular official by reason of his courtesy and obliging disposition.
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In 1893 Mr. Dostal was married to Miss Mary Kuchar, of Worth county, Iowa, and to them have been born five children, three of whom are yet living: William C., who is assistant cashier of the Bohemian Savings Bank of Protivin; and Anna and Celia, both at home.
In his political views Mr. Dostal is a democrat and is the present mayor of Protivin, having filled that position for six years. His long continuance in the office is certainly an indication of his marked capability and progressiveness in all municipal affairs. He has introduced various needed reforms and improvements and exercises his official pre- rogatives at all times on the side of order, progress and improvement. He and his family are consistent members of the Catholic church and he belongs to the Catholic Order of Foresters and to the Catholic Workmen and he is one of the leading and rep- resentative men of Howard county whose activities have constituted an important ele- ment in the business development and public progress of the northern section of the state.
EUGENE JULIUS FEULING.
Eugene Julius Feuling, who since February 7, 1910, has been the publisher of the New Hampton Tribune, was born in Ionia, Chickasaw county, October 8, 1881, a son of Julius and Magdelena (Zimmer) Feuling, who are natives of Ionia, where the father is engaged in the harness making business. He was born in Germany and came to America in 1868, while his wife, a native of Luxemburg, crossed the Atlantic in the same year. They established their home in Ionia in 1871 and have there since remained.
In the public schools of his native city Eugene J. Feuling acquired his early edu- cation, which was supplemented by a course of study in the Iowa State Teachers' Col- lege at Cedar Falls, from which he was graduated. He has since taken post graduate work in Chicago University. He was reared to farm life but early turned his attention to the educational field and taught school at Bassett, Iowa, for a half year. He was later superintendent of the city schools of Marathon, Iowa, for three years and was superin- tendent of the city schools of Lawler, Iowa, for a year and a half. On the 1st of Janu- ary, 1909, he was called to the office of county superintendent of schools of Chickasaw county and occupied that position four years, doing much to further the interests of public education during that period, introducing many improved methods and advanc- ing the general standard of the schools in the county. On the 7th of February, 1910, he became the publisher of the New Hampton Tribune, of which he has since been owner.
On the 31st of July, 1907, Mr. Feuling was married to Miss Edna Pearl Miller, a daughter of Mr. and Mrs. W. J. Miller, auditor of the De Wolfe Grain Company and residing at Marathon, Iowa. Mr. and Mrs. Feuling have two daughters and a son: Lucile, Louise and John. The parents are members of the Roman Catholic church of New Hampton.
Mr. Feuling's military experience covers three years' training in the battalion at the Iowa State Teachers' College. His political endorsement is given to the demo- cratic party and fraternally he is connected with the Modern Woodmen of America and with the Knights of Columbus. He also belongs to the New Hampton Club. He is widely known in his section of the state, where his influence and efforts have ever been of a character that have contributed to public progress and improvement.
A. J. CRAY.
A. J. Cray, president of the Exchange State Bank of Lime Springs, was born in Howard county on the 1st of August, 1864, a son of Joseph and Matilda (Coombs) Cray, of whom mention is made elsewhere in this work in connection with the sketch of their son, John A. Cray. Upon the old home farm A. J. Cray was reared and in the district
1
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schools acquired his education, supplemented by a short term at the Brekenridge school in Decorah, Iowa, and also by study in the State Normal School at Cedar Falls. Following the completion of his studies he taught for three terms in the district schools and in September, 1886, accepted a position in the freight and passenger offices of the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad at Beardstown, Illinois. There he continued in office work for the road for eight years, leaving that employ in September, 1894. He then returned to Lime Springs and purchased the lumberyards of G. G. Thomas and for the following thirteen years was identified with the lumber business at Lime Springs and in Bonair, Iowa. In 1905 he entered into partnership with F. M. Clark, his father- in-law, and built the first modern elevator in Howard county, located at Lime Springs. In 1907 he disposed of his lumber interests and the same year became one of the incor- porators of the Exchange State Bank of Lime Springs and was made president of the institution, in which capacity he has since served. Later he sold the elevator to the Huntting Elevator Company and has since concentrated his entire attention and efforts upon the conduct of the bank, the business which has steadily grown in volume and in importance. He has thoroughly acquainted himself with every phase of the banking business and his progressiveness is tempered with a safe conservatism that wins the confidence of the general public. He has also acquired extensive land holdings in Howard county and is one of the prominent and representative business men of the district.
On the 5th of January, 1898, Mr. Cray was married to Miss Letitia Clark, a daughter of F. M. Clark, the founder of the first bank in Lime Springs and one of Howard county's most prominent and influential citizens. Mr. and Mrs. Cray have had no children of their own but have reared three girls: Margaret, who has been adopted; and Laura and Helen Palmquist, who still retain their parents' name. Margaret is attending Principia College of St. Louis, Missouri, and Laura, was graduated from that school in the class of 1917, and Helen in the class of 1919. Laura graduated from a kindergarten course in Miss Wood's School in Minneapolis in the class of 1919, and Helen is taking a course in domestic science at Bradley College, Peoria, Illinois.
In politics Mr. Cray is a republican and has served as town clerk and town treas- urer of Lime Springs and has also filled the position of mayor. He belongs to Howard Lodge, No. 214, A. F. & A. M., in which he has passed through all of the chairs and has occupied the position of treasurer since 1907. He is interested in all those forces which make for good in the community, which look to the betterment of civic conditions and which uphold the legal and moral status. His business career has been character- ized by a steady progression that has brought him from a humble place in the business world to a position of leadership in his community as the head of one of the strong banking institutions of Howard county.
HENRY T. REED.
Henry T. Reed, United States district judge for the northern district of Iowa, resides at Cresco, Howard county, and has been identified with the Iowa bar since 1872. He was born in the town of Alburgh, Grand Isle county, Vermont, in October, 1846, his parents being George and Jane Reed. The father was born near Belfast, Ireland, and was married to Miss Jane Sherry, also a native of that locality. They came to the United States about 1830, settling in Vermont, where Mr. Reed devoted his time and attention to the occupation of farming until 1855, when he brought his family to the middle west, establishing his home in Albion township. Howard county, Iowa, in 1856, hear what is now Cresco, where he built his home and lived until about 1880, when he moved to Cresco, where he died in 1897 at the advanced age of eighty-seven years, surviving his wife who died in 1871 at the age of sixty-six years.
Judge Reed spent his boyhood days in the vicinity of Cresco upon his father's farm, attending the public school and a private school; studied law and was admitted to practice in 1872, and thereafter followed its practice until March, 1904, when he was
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appointed United States district judge for the northern district of Iowa to succeed the late Oliver P. Shiras of Dubuque, who retired November 1st preceding.
In 1868 Judge Reed was married to Miss Laura J. Webster, daughter of Julius F. and Eliza J. Webster. Her father was a native of Laporte county, Indiana, and in 1857 removed westward to Howard county, Iowa, settling in Howard Center town- ship. He died in August, 1892, at the age of seventy-four years, while his widow died at the home of her daughter Mrs. Reed in Cresco, in February, 1916, at the ad- vanced age of ninety-two years.
Judge and Mrs. Reed have two children: Carl W., who is practicing law in Cresco; and Kate C., who is now the wife of Dr. W. T. Daly of Cresco. The family is one of prominence in the community. Carl W. Reed has carried forward the work begun by his father, assisting in the upbuilding and development of this section of the state, and is now a member of the Iowa senate for the Howard-Winneshiek district.
A. T. BROOKINS.
Perseverance and energy feature as salient factors in the business career of A. T. Brookins and have brought him to the responsible position of cashier of the First State Savings Bank of Ionia. He was born December 16, 1883, on a farm within three miles of his present home, his parents being Franklin W. and Mary (Chamberlin) Brookins, the former a native of the state of New York, whence he removed westward to Wisconsin in young manhood. He was there married, in the town of Necedah, to Miss Chamberlin and for some years thereafter he engaged in the lumber business and in farming in Juneau county, Wisconsin. Subsequently he came to Iowa and purchased a farm in Bradford township, Chickasaw county. About 1888 or 1889 he removed to Ionia, where he resided until 1901, when he became a resident of Charles City, Iowa, and later he and his wife took up their home with their daughter, Mrs. Charles Gray, of New Hampton. The mother's death there occurred about 1913. In subsequent years the father has made his home among his children.
A. T. Brookins was educated in the town schools of Ionia and in the Charles City high school before entering the Charles City College. He was graduated from high school with the class of 1902 and following the completion of his studies he taught school for eight years, during which time he was principal of the schools of Floyd, Iowa, and also at Defiance, Iowa. He proved an able educator, having the happy faculty of interesting the children and imparting readily to them the knowledge that he had acquired. At length, however, he gave up his educational work in the spring of 1910 and went upon the farm. During the following six years he devoted his attention to agricultural pur- suits and in September, 1915, he received his initial training in the banking business by entering the First State Savings Bank of Ionia in the position of assistant cashier. He made good in this connection and in January, 1919, was advanced to the position of cashier in which capacity he is now serving, having charge of the financial policy of the bank.
In 1906 Mr. Brookins was united in marriage to Miss Ruth Alys Dodge, of Osage, Iowa, by whom he has a son, Paul Dodge. In politics Mr. Brookins is a republican and in the November election of 1914 was the nominee of his party for the position of county auditor, running against Peter McGinn. He was nominated in the republican convention but not through the primary, and the election board of the county, then controlled by the democrats, ruled his nomination irregular and his name was not placed on the ticket. Notwithstanding this fact there were enough who wrote his name on the ticket to almost defeat his opponent, a fact indicative of his personal popularity and the confidence reposed in him. He is now serving for the second term as justice of the peace in Chickasaw township and through his influence and his counsel to litigants he has succeeded in having all cases compromised and settled out of court, no cases ever having come to trial in his court. This is certainly a notable record and the influence of his work cannot be overestimated, as an amicable adjustment is far prefer- able to litigation, which is sure to leave behind it a trail of unpleasant feeling. Mr.
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Brookins belongs to Nashua Lodge, No. 110, K. P., also to the Masonic lodge of Nashua and has taken the Royal Arch degrees at New Hampton. He and his wife are con- sistent and faithful members of the Congregational church and they are keenly interested in everything that has to do with the uplift of the individual and the upbuilding of the county. Their circle of friends is almost coextensive with the circle of their acquaint- ances and throughout Chickasaw county Mr. Brookins is spoken of in terms of high regard as a representative business man and citizen.
FRANK TETZNER.
There was an old belief that the success of the farmer depended upon his industry and the weather, but it is a recognized fact today that there are other elements which enter into his success. He must possess the sound judgment that is essential in any undertaking and moreover, he must have an understanding of the scientific principles which are basic elements in the production of crops. Well qualified in all of these par- ticulars is Frank Tetzner, who is living on section 18, Howard township, Howard county. He was born in Traer, Iowa, October 30, 1888, a son of John and Margaret (Odson) Tetzner, both of whom were natives of Germany, where they were reared and married. About 1884 they came to the United States, settling in Tama county, Iowa, near Traer, where the father took up the work of cultivating rented land. He was thus engaged until 1910, when he purchased his present farm and removed to Howard county, where he has since lived. In 1915, however, he was called upon to mourn the loss of his wife, who passed away on the 20th of May of that year. They were the parents of twelve children, nine of whom survive, namely: Alvina, who is the wife of Claus Solto, of Reinbeck, Iowa; Lena, the wife of Frank Manlick, who follows farming in Oakdale township, Howard county; Minnie, the wife of Jacob Solto, of Bingham Lake, Minnesota; Anna, who gave her hand in marriage to Henry Jebens, of Daven- port, Iowa; John C., a farmer residing at Reinbeck, Iowa; Herman, a resident of Rein- beck, Iowa; Frank, of this review; Dora, who is the wife of Martin Shoemaker, of Waterloo, Iowa; and Albert, who for ten months served on the Alsace front in France as a member of Company F, Three Hundred and Fifty-second Infantry, in the Eighty- eighth Division, known as the Clover Leaf Division.
Frank Tetzner, whose name introduces this review, having acquired a fair edu- cation in the district schools of Tama county, concentrated his efforts and attention upon farm work on his father's place and thus gained the practical experience which has constituted the basis of his later successful effort. In October, 1915, he was united in marriage to Miss Ida Lambert, of Howard township, Howard county, and in the fol- lowing spring he took charge of the home farm and has since cultivated it. He carries on general agricultural pursuits and the progressive methods which he employs have gained him place among the successful farmers of Howard township.
In his political views Mr. Tetzner is a republican and keeps well informed on the questions and issues of the day, thus being able to support his position by intelligent argument. Both he and his wife are consistent members of the German Lutheran church and they are well known people of the district in which they reside, their sub. stantial traits of character gaining for them the warm regard of those with whom they have been associated.
FRANK E. HOWARD.
Frank E. Howard, editor and owner of the Elma New Era, one of the leading weekly publications of Howard county, was born in Howard Center, Iowa, January 17, 1875, a son of Daniel and Margaret (Creamer) Howard, the former a native of County Cork, Ireland, while the latter was born in Columbus, Ohio. The father came to the United States when a lad of fourteen or fifteen years in company with his father, his
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mother having previously died on the Emerald isle. They settled on a farm in Win- neshiek county, Iowa, where the grandfather of Frank E. Howard passed away. The marriage of Daniel Howard and Margaret Creamer was celebrated in Cresco, Iowa, about 1870. The mother's parents had come to Howard county from Columbus, Ohio, prior to the Civil war. Following their marriage the parents began their domestic life upon a farm in Winneshiek county five and a half miles from Cresco and there resided until 1893, when they removed to Howard county, establishing their home upon a farm in Vernon Springs township six and a half miles northwest of Cresco, where the mother passed away in 1900. The father is still living and now makes his home with his son William in Sidney, Montana.
Frank E. Howard of this review was educated in the country schools of Winneshiek and Howard counties and took up the profession of teaching in 1894, or prior to his eighteenth year. He was engaged in educational work for four years and remained upon the home farm until January, 1900, when he removed to Elma and became con- nected with newspaper publication in partnership with A. R. McCook. They purchased the Elma News Register, changing the name of the sheet to the Northern Iowa Demo- crat. Both were ardent democrats in political faith, and imbued with a desire to ad- vance the interests of the party, they applied themselves diligently to the task which now confronted them. They did active campaign work in behalf of democratic candi- dates, in addition to their earnest efforts in the publication of a democratic newspaper. After three or four years the partnership was dissolved and Mr. Howard changed the name of the paper to the Elma New Era, under which title it has since been published as an independent organ. As a free lance he supports any political principle or candi- date that he desires or seeks to advance the interests of any candidate whom he re- gards as best qualified for the duties of the position which he seeks. He is himself an able public speaker and has done very active campaign work in the interests of candidates throughout his district. He is quoted as one of the best orators of northern Iowa and also as one of Howard county's ablest writers.
On the 25th of June, 1901, Mr. Howard was married to Miss Maud O. Rowley, of Elma, a daughter of Charles W. and Amelia (Ronco) Rowley. Her father, now de- ceased, was a prominent stock and grain buyer of Howard county. The mother sur- vives and makes her home with Mr. and Mrs. Howard. In religious faith Mr. Howard is a Catholic, and he is identified with the Modern Woodmen of America. His business career and public work have brought him a wide acquaintance throughout his section of the state and while he has many political opponents, he has a very extensive circle of warm friends.
THOMAS HOOPER.
The experiences and activities in the life of Thomas Hooper have been most varied, bringing him wide knowledge of many things of intense interest. He has witnessed much of the development of the west and in many ways has been identi- fied with the work of progress and improvement, especially in connection with the utilization of the natural resources of the country. He now makes his home at Cresco, occupying an attractive residence at No. 434 North Elm street.
He was born at Chasewater, in Cornwall, England, March 1, 1842, and when seventeen years of age ran away from home, prompted by the spirit of adventure so often found in the youth, and came to the United States. He worked his way westward to Houghton county, Michigan, where he was employed in the old Quincy mine for about a year. He afterward worked in the old Minnesota and National copper mines at Rockland, Ontonagon county, Michigan, and subsequently he became superintendent of the old Union mine in that county. Later he took charge of a group of silver mines at Iron River but after a few years removed to Marquette county, Michigan, where he took charge of the Champion iron mine. All through the years he was making steady progress, assuming larger and larger responsibilities as his powers developed through experience and study. In 1873 he again took charge
FOUR GENERATIONS OF THE HOOPER FAMILY
Vol. II-2
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