USA > Iowa > Clayton County > History of Clayton County, Iowa : from the earliest historical times down to the present : including a genealogical and biographical record of many representative families, prepared from data obtained from original sources of information, Volume I > Part 89
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78 | Part 79 | Part 80 | Part 81 | Part 82 | Part 83 | Part 84 | Part 85 | Part 86 | Part 87 | Part 88 | Part 89 | Part 90 | Part 91 | Part 92 | Part 93 | Part 94 | Part 95 | Part 96
353
BIOGRAPHICAL
he is affiliated with the camp of Woodmen of the World at McGregor. On the 21st of January, 1889, Mr. Robbins wedded Miss Nellie Lamph, daughter of Myron and Emily (Murdock) Lamph, of Volga, this county, and she was summoned to the life eternal on the 4th of March, 1910. The four children of this union are: Harold, who is now a resident of McGregor ; Zelma, who lives at Elkader, the county seat; and Ruth and Wyman, who remain at the paternal home. In November, 1911, was solemnized the mar- riage of Mr. Robbins to Mrs. Bell (Mckellar) Smith, a daughter of Archibald Mckellar, of McGregor. Mrs. Robbins had two children by her first marriage-Muriel, who now resides at Fayette, in the Iowa county of the same name, and Bessie, who is wife of Harold Robbins, eldest of the children of the subject of this review.
James M. Robinson has been a resident of Clayton county from boyhood and is now one of the representative farmers and promi- nent and honored citizens of Lodomillo township. He was born in Huron county, Ohio, on the 16th of November, 1844, and is a son of Charles and Hannah (Hare) Robinson, both of whom likewise were natives of the old Buckeye state, where the respective families were founded in the pioneer days. Charles Robinson continued his identification with farm enterprise in his native commonwealth until about the year 1866, when he came to Clayton county, Iowa, and purchased a farm in Lodomillo township, where he reclaimed his land to effective cultivation and where he achieved success of worthy and substantial order. Here he continued to reside during the remainder of his life, and his age at the time of his death, on the 30th of April, 1882, was sixty-three years, one month and six days. His widow attained to the age of sixty-nine years and was summoned to the life eternal on the 29th of September, 1890, both having been earnest members of the Methodist Episcopal church. Of their children the firstborn, Sarah M., is deceased; Keziah F. is the wife of Osian Crandall, of Butler county, this state; James M., of this review, was the next in order of nativity ; Sherwood is deceased ; Cynthia is the widow of Holly Alger and resides in Delaware county ; Ella is deceased; and the youngest child, a daughter, died in infancy. James M. Robinson gained his rudimentary education in the schools of Ohio and was a lad of about twelve years at the time of the family removal to Clayton county, where he was afforded the advantages of the district schools of Lodomillo town- ship and where he continued his association with the work of his father's farm until he was twenty-two years of age. He then took unto himself a wife and initiated an independent career by pur- chasing forty acres of land from his father, this tract having been the nucleus around which he had developed his present splendidly improved landed estate of three hundred acres, in Lodomillo town- strip, where he is successfully carrying forward his operations as a progressive agriculturist and stock-grower. He is loyal in con- tributing to the support of those measures and enterprises that tend to advance the social and material welfare of the community, has served effectively in the office of township trustee, is a Republi- can in his political proclivities, and both he and his wife hold mem-
355
BIOGRAPHICAL
his death he lived virtually retired, and he was one of the substan- tial and honored citizens of the county when he was summoned to eternal rest, on the 22d of November, 1914, his widow still remaining with her son, John, in whose home she is accorded the deepest filial solicitude, her birth having occurred November 19, 1839. She is a devout communicant of the German Lutheran church, as was also her husband, and Mr. Rodenberg was a loyal supporter of the cause of the Democratic party, his loyal interest in local affairs of a public order having been shown by his service as township trustee, as township assessor for ten years and as constable for one term. Concerning the children the following brief record is con- sistently entered at this juncture: August is a resident of Gutten- berg, this county; Catherine is the wife of John Hill, of Honey Creek, Wis .; Mrs. Annie Hendrickson resides in Minnesota, where her husband is a prosperous farmer; Caroline is the wife of Henry Friedlein, of Guttenberg; William is a progressive farmer of Jeffer- son township; Emma is the wife of John Schorg, of Spencer, South Dakota; John, of this sketch, was the next in order of birth ; Minnie is the wife of Henry Morarend, of Jefferson township; Bessie is the wife of John Brandtman, of Crown Point, Ind .; and Sophia died in childhood. John Rodenberg is indebted to the schools of his native township for his early educational discipline and he con- tinued his active association with the work and management of the old homestead farm until he was properly fortified for the purchas- ing of the property, which comprised two hundred and sixteen acres. He has since added one hundred and twenty acres to his valuable landed estate, and upon the place he has made many excellent improvements, including the erection of modern buildings. His attention is given energetically and with marked success to well ordered agriculture and to the raising of high-grade cattle and swine, with preference given to the Hereford type of cattle. His political allegiance is given to the Democratic party, and he is serving as school director of his district. Both he and his wife are com- municants of the Lutheran church at Guttenberg, which village is their postoffice address. On the 23d of August, 1900, Mr. Rodenberg wedded Miss Dora Lindemann, who was born and reared in this county and who is a daughter of William and Mary Lindemann, now residing at Elkader, the county seat. Mr. and Mrs. Rodenberg have five children-Minnie, Albert, Henry and Clara and Elmer.
Charles Roggman, the efficient and popular cashier of the Garnavillo Savings Bank has been the incumbent of this important executive position from the time of the organization of the institu- tion, in 1904, and his careful and progressive administration has been potent in the upbuilding of its substantial and representative busi- ness. He is another of the native sons of Clayton county who have here found ample scope and opportunity for effective and productive enterprise along normal lines of business enterprise and that his is inviolable vantage-ground in popular confidence and esteem is vouchsafed by his having been called upon to serve in various offices of public trust. One of the four survivors in a family of five chil- dren, Mr. Roggman was born on the old homestead farm of his
357
BIOGRAPHICAL
in the vicinity of the historic old city of Munich, Bavaria, Germany, and the latter of whom was born in Grant county, Wisconsin, where her parents were pioneer settlers. John Roth came to the United States in 1853 and in the same year he established his residence in Jefferson township, Clayton county. There he was engaged in ag- ricultural pursuits for a number of years and finally he removed to Guttenberg, where he established a brewery. He developed a pros- perous business in this line and continued his residence at Gutten- berg until his death, which occurred February 22, 1883, the year of his nativity having been 1841. His widow survived him by more than thirty years and was one of the revered pioneer women of Guttenberg at the time of her death, which occurred October 26, 1915, both she and her husband having been earnest communicants of the Catholic church. Of their children the eldest is Elizabeth, who is the wife of Louis Frommelt, of Guttenberg ; Benjamin resides in the city of Dubuque; Andrew, of this review, and his twin sister, Mary, were the next in order of birth, and Mary died at the age of twelve years; Leonard is a resident of Guttenberg; Christina is the wife of Henry Sangling, of this place; Lena likewise remains at the old home in Guttenberg; and Annie died in infancy. Andrew Roth is indebted to the public and parochial schools of Guttenberg for his early educational discipline, and as a youth he was employed for some time in a saw mill. For six years thereafter he was engaged in the manufacturing of buttons, from shells obtained in the Mis- sissippi river, and in 1907 he established his present thriving general merchandise business in South Guttenberg. He owns the store building, which he has remodeled and otherwise improved, and he erected his attractive and modern residence building, which is one of the fine homes of South Guttenberg. In politics Mr. Roth holds himself aloof from strict partisanship and exercises his franchise in support of the men and measures meeting the approval of his judg- ment. He and his wife are communicants of the Catholic church, and he is affiliated with the organization of the Knights of Columbus in the city of Dubuque, besides which he holds membership in the Royal Union and the Iowa Mutual Protective Association. On the 15th of May, 1906, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Roth to Miss Mary Link, daughter of John and Mary (Rolwas) Link, of Gutten- berg, and they have three daughters-Mabel, Anita and Olive.
George J. Rothmeyer .- In sections 28 and 29, Boardman town- ship, is situated the well improved farm of one hundred and sixty acres that is owned and operated by Mr. Rothmeyer, and as one of the popular native sons and progressive agriculturists of Clayton county, he is entitled to specific recognition in this history of the county and its people. He was born in Boardman township, this county, on the fifth of April, 1872, and is a son of Matthias and Josephine (Thein) Rothmeyer, the former of whom was born in Germany and the latter in Wisconsin, in which state her parents settled in the pioneer days. Matthias Rothmeyer was reared to manhood in his native land, where his father was a substantial farmer, and he was twenty-nine years of age when he severed the ties that bound him to home and fatherland and set forth to seek
359
BIOGRAPHICAL
names and respective dates of birth are here noted: Josephine Catherine, September 17, 1901; Mary Frances, December 31, 1904; and Karl Finton, October 12, 1906.
John Q. Rupp has been one of the successful exponents of agri- cultural industry in his native county and though he has now relegated to others much of the active work and management of the place, he still resides upon his fine homestead farm, which is situated in Monona township, on rural mail route No. 1 from the village of Monona. John Quintain Rupp was born on a farm in Girard township, and the date of his nativity was September 18, 1858, the family name having been identified with the annals of Clayton county for more than sixty years. Mr. Rupp is the only child of John Sebastian Rupp and Elizabeth (Sutter) Rupp, the former of whom was born in Germany, on the 24th of March, 1834, and the latter of whom was born at Milan, Ripley county, Indiana. John S. Rupp was about four years of age at the time of his parents' immigration to America and the family home was established in Indiana. In the old Hoosier state he was reared and educated and there he gained his early experience in connection with the prac- tical responsibilities of a workaday world. He was for some time employed in a distillery at Lawrenceburg, Indiana, and in 1855, shortly after reaching his legal majority, he came to Iowa and num- bered himself among the pioneer settlers of Clayton county. After having been in the employ of others for a period of about three years he purchased a farm in Girard township, the land having been wild and having been reclaimed and brought under effective culti- vation through his well-directed efforts. He became one of the prosperous farmers and highly esteemed citizens of Giard township and continued his residence on his homestead farm until his retire- ment to Monona, where he died August 3, 1891, his widow having passed to eternal rest on the 9th of December, 1915, and having remained with her only child, the subject of this review, on the home place that had been endeared to her by the associations of many years. Both she and her husband held membership in the Methodist Episcopal church, and in politics he was staunchly aligned in the ranks of the Democratic party. John Q. Rupp con- tinued his studies in the public schools of his native county until he had duly availed himself of the advantages of the Monona high school, and his independent career was initiated when he left the home farm and found employment on a neighboring farm. He did not, however, remain long in the employ of others, but rented a farm in Monona township, where his energy and ambition brought to him a more satisfactory and profitable field of enterprise. Later he came into possession of his father's old homestead, which com- prises eight acres of fertile and well improved land, and which is devoted to diversified agriculture and stock growing. He has added materially to the permanent improvements on the place and has made it one of the valuable farms of his native county. A Demo- crat in his political allegiance, Mr. Rupp has shown a loyal interest in community affairs and has served in the offices of township trustee and township assessor. He has a secure place in the con-
361
BIOGRAPHICAL
took up a homestead claim and initiated the development of a pioneer farm. On this claim he lived several years, his habitation having been a primitive log cabin, and he finally came to Iowa and established his residence in Clayton county. Here his marriage was solemnized in 1865, and he then purchased the nucleus of the exten- sive landed estate that is still held by the family and upon which his widow still resides, the old home being endeared to her by the hallowed memories and associations of the past. At the time of his demise, Mr. Schaefers was the owner not only of seven hundred and ninety-four acres of valuable Iowa land but also of three hun- dred and twenty acres in the Canadian northwest and a residence and block of buildings in the village of Garnavillo. His civic loyalty and liberality were ever of insistent order, his political support was given to the Democratic party and he was an earnest communicant of the Catholic church, as is also his widow. On the 21st of Febru- ary, 1865, Mr. Schaefers wedded Miss Anna Mary Berns, who was born in Germany and who was but six months old at the time of the family immigration to America. She is a daughter of Henry and Anna M. (Knuber) Berns, who came to this country in 1847 and who were numbered among the very early settlers of Clayton county. The father obtained a tract of wild land in Jefferson town- ship, and the original family domicile was a rude log house, the first barns on the place being mere sheds with straw roofs, though clapboard roofs were supplied as soon as possible. Mr. Berns be- came one of the prosperous farmers and valued citizens of the county and here both he and his wife passed the residue of their lives, both having been devout communicants of the Catholic church. Of their eight children four are now living. Mr. and Mrs. Schaefers became the parents of a fine family of fourteen children, of whom nine are living. The eldest of the number is Henry T., of Emery, S. D .; Mary H. is the wife of Henry Berns, a resident of Clayton county; Mary A. is the wife of Henry Hagermann, and they now reside in California; Xavier H. remains in his native county ; Herman is deceased ; Matilda R. is deceased ; Theodore P., Joseph H., and Wilhelmina are now residents of the state of South Dakota; George F. and Louis are deceased; Guido has established his home in the state of Montana; Jacob and Regina C. are de- ceased; and Regina H. remains with her widowed mother. Mrs. Schaefers retains the finest mental and physical vigor and with much circumspection and ability, gives her general supervision to the affairs of the home farm and to her other large and important financial interests. She is active and liberal in the supporting of the various features of work in the Catholic church at Garnavillo, has a host of friends in the county that has been her home from childhood and has the distinction not only of having carefully reared her large family of children, all of whom accord to her the deepest filial solicitude, but also of having twenty-six grandchil- dren and one great-grandchild at the time of this writing, in 1916- a truly remarkable record and one in which this veritable "mother in Israel" takes great pride.
363
BIOGRAPHICAL
Savings Bank, of which he was one of the organizers, and is presi- dent of the Live Stock Commission Company of Clayton county. His political allegiance is given loyally and intelligently to the Re- publican party and he is serving in 1916 as trustee of Garnavillo township, besides having served several years as a member of the school board. In the year 1882 was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Schlake to Miss Elizabeth Wilker, who was born in Garnavillo township, and who is a daughter of Clamer and Anna M. (Kurp- penberg) Wilker, the other two surviving children being Fred and John Wilker, both still residents of Clayton county. On coming from their German Fatherland to the United States, in 1849, the parents of Mrs. Schlake established their residence in Ohio, but about a year later they became pioneers of Clayton county, Iowa, where they passed the remainder of their lives and where the father was long numbered among the successful farmers of Garnavillo township. In conclusion is entered brief record concerning the children of Mr. and Mrs. Schlake: Ida is the wife of Henry D. Backhaus of Worth county, Iowa; and Anna the wife of Henry J. Schroeder, of this county; John J. of Guttenburg; Albert has the active management of the old homestead farm; Herman C. is a farmer of Farmersburg township; Alma is the wife of Arthur Hamann, of this county ; Ruth, Leroy, Nettie and Victor remain at the parental home; and Arthur died at the age of twenty-one years.
John C. Schmalfeld merits definite recognition in this history not only by reason of his prominence and influence as one of the extensive and substantial landholders and representative farmers of Clayton county, but also by reason of being a scion of one of the sterling pioneer families of the county. He is the only surviving member of a family of five children and there came to him as a gracious heritage the fine homestead farm upon which he has lived from the time of his birth to the present day. He is the owner of a finely improved landed estate of two hundred and ninety acres, sit- uated in Sections 16, 17 and 20, Farmersburg township, and he keeps his fine domain up to the most approved standard in all things per- taining to modern and scientific agriculture and stock-growing, with the result that he is essentially one of the representative yeomen of his native county and a leader in the sphere of industrial enter- prise in which his productive activities have always been centered. On the farm homestead which is his present place of residence Mr. Schmalfeld was born on the 10th of April, 1861, and, as before stated, he is the only survivor of a family of five children. He is a son of John and Mary (Wendt) Schmalfeld, both of whom were born and reared in Germany, where their marriage was solemnized and where they continued their residence until 1851, when they im- migrated to America and numbered themselves among the earliest settlers of Clayton county, Iowa. Here the father obtained a tract of wild land and set to himself the arduous task of reclaiming the same into a productive farm. He and his youthful wife lived up to the full tension of pioneer hardships and labors and the passing years rewarded their earnest endeavors with well merited success. Their first dwelling on the farm now owned by their son was a
365
BIOGRAPHICAL
of John and Lena (Gumtow) Schmidt, both natives of Germany and both of whom came to America when young folk, their mar- riage having been solemnized in Iowa. In the year 1859 John Schmidt came to Clayton county and established his residence in the village of Garnavillo. After having been here engaged in the employ of others for a period of seven years, he purchased a tract of eighty acres in Wagner township, where he instituted the devel- opment of a farm-a work in which he succeeded through energy and good management, so that he won definite independence and prosperity through his own well ordered efforts. He was a man of unassuming worth of character, straightforward and sincere in all of the relations of life, and he commanded the confidence and esteem of all who knew him. This honored pioneer passed the closing years of his life in the home of his son William J., of this review, and he was seventy-two years of age at the time of his death, which occurred in March, 1895, his devoted wife having been sixty-two years old when she was summoned to eternal rest, and both having been devout communicants of the Lutheran church. They became the parents of four children, of whom the subject of this sketch is the youngest; Mary, who maintains her home at Farmersburg, is the widow of Rudolph Engelhardt ; Reika is the wife of Henry En- gelhardt, a prosperous farmer in Wagner township: and Minnie died when about eight years of age. William J. Schmidt passed the period of his youth on the home farm, and in the meanwhile did ample justice to the advantages afforded him in the local schools. At the age of twenty-two years he purchased a farm of eighty acres, in Wagner township, and for five years thereafter he and his father were associated in the operation of the two farms, comprising a total of one hundred and sixty acres. They then sold the respective homesteads and William J. purchased his present farm of one hun- dred and seventy-eight acres, and later added forty-five acres to the farm, on which he has made substantial improvements and which he has brought to a high state of cultivation, his attention being given to diversified agriculture and the raising of excellent grades of live stock. Mr. Schmidt has been content to devote himself closely to his farming operations and incidental business affairs, and thus has had no inclination to enter the arena of practical poli- tics or to seek public office, though he gives a staunch allegiance to the Democratic party and is liberal and public-spirited as a citizen. Both he and his wife are communicants of the Clayton Center Lutheran church. On the 6th of January, 1889, Mr. Schmidt wedded Miss Sophie Carmine, and they became the parents of four children-Arthur, who resides in Wagner township and is engaged in farming ; John, who met a tragic death in the spring of 1915, a bridge breaking way when he was crossing the same with a team and his skull being so crushed as to cause practically instant death ; Bertha is the wife of Herman Schlager, of Farmersburg township; and Amanda remains at the parental home.
John H. Schmitt .- The summer of the year 1916 recorded a half century of continuous residence of Mr. Schmitt in Clayton county, and in both the paternal and maternal lines he is a repre-
367
BIOGRAPHICAL
the basic industry of agriculture, by purchasing a farm of seventy- four acres in Giard township. He later added a contiguous tract of fifty acres to his farm, which he has brought to a high state of productiveness and made one of the model places of the county, with improvements of the best modern type, and with the careful and effective management that betokens his spirit of thrift. He has achieved substantial financial success and has expanded his field of activities by becoming a leading stockholder in the cream- ery company at Monona, of which corporation he is president, be- sides which he is an interested principal and a director of the Farmers' Commission Company, in the same village. Mr. Schmitt is emphatically one of the leaders in community affairs in Giard township, where he is serving, in 1916, as township trustee and also as president of the school board of his district. At Monona he is affiliated with the organizations of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, the Masonic fraternity and the Woodmen of the World, the while both he and his wife are zealous members of the Methodist Episcopal Church in the same village. In politics he is found aligned as a staunch supporter of the principles and poli- cies of the Republican party and he keeps well informed concerning the questions and issues of the hour. His civic loyalty is of the same assured type as was that which prompted his honored father to go forth in defense of the Union when the Civil war was pre- cipitated, William M. Schmitt having enlisted, on the 15th of Au- gust, 1862, as a member of Company H, Thirty-eighth Iowa Vol- unteer Infantry, with which he served three years, or until the close of the war, with a record of faithful and gallant work as a participant in numerous engagements, and as one who lived up fully to the tension of the great struggle that perpetuated the national integrity. In later years he has shown his continued interest in his old comrades in arms by maintaining active and appreciative affiliation with the Grand Army of the Republic. On the 15th of March, 1893, was solemnized the marriage of John H. Schmitt to Miss Emma Gebhardt, daughter of John and Katherine (Young) Gebhardt, of McGregor, this county, and they have six children, all of whom remain members of the home circle, namely: Elsie G., Charlotte S., Marie M., William J., Irma G. and Helen H. The family is one of unqualified popularity in the social life of the com- munity and the attractive home is known for its generous hos- pitality.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.