History of Davenport and Scott County Iowa, Volume II, Part 64

Author: Downer, Harry E
Publication date: 1910
Publisher: Chicago : S.J. Clarke
Number of Pages: 1166


USA > Iowa > Scott County > Davenport > History of Davenport and Scott County Iowa, Volume II > Part 64


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CHRISTIAN ROCK, SR.


The life of Christian Rock, Sr., is a graphic illustration of the possibilities existing for the poor boy who is equipped with plenty of dauntless energy, in- tegrity and intelligence in lieu of more material capital. He was born in Prus- sia, Germany, January 15, 1829, his parents being Christian and Wilhelmina (Klauschmidt) Rock. The parental roof sheltered the following large family of children : Wilhelmina Frazier, deceased; Christian, the subject of the sketch; Ludwig of Dixon, Iowa; Henry; Fredericka; Louise Brockman, who died in this country; Wilhelm, of Clinton county; and Frederick, of Walcott. The death of the father occurred in Germany, but the mother came to Dixon and made her home with her son Ludwig.


Early in life young Christian Rock fixed his hopes on America, and in 1853 he crossed the seas with his cousin William Rock. Coming to Iowa, he for sev- eral years earned his livelihood as a farm hand and from that time he climbed steadily up the ladder of fortune. Concluding to put into practice the experi- ence gained upon the farms of others, he rented a farm near Walcott and oper- ated it for a time. By the exercise of thrift, which was a natural characteristic, he soon found himself in a position to buy a farm of one hundred and fifty-three acres on section 4, Hickory Grove township, and there resided from 1861 until he took possession of his present valuable property, a farm of two hundred acres on sections 32 and 29, that township, where he has lived for about twenty years. Prior to dividing it among his children Mr. Rock owned seven hundred acres of land, all of it fertile and in a high state of improvement, for he is thoroughly progressive and believes in the application of science to agriculture.


In 1857 Mr. Rock was united in marriage to a lady of the same name as his own, Miss Wilhelmina Rock, born in Prussia March 6, 1830, who came to America in the year of her marriage, and died February 17, 1910. Their union was blessed by the birth of the following six children: Christian, Jr., of Hickory Grove township; Louise, the wife of William H. Rock, whose career is treated elsewhere in this volume; Caroline, the wife of Christian Rock, of Avoca, Iowa;


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Wilhelmina, the wife of Henry Meints of Allens Grove township; Fritz, de- ceased; and Fredericka, the wife of Gus Greve of Allens Grove township,


Mr. Rock is highly regarded and a loyal citizen of the county in which he and his children have enjoyed prosperity and many of Heaven's best gifts. He rejoices in the possession of many friends whose companionship his present well earned leisure permits him to cultivate.


Christian Rock, Jr., son of the above, was born April 18, 1858, in Blue Grass township, Scott county. When about three years of age he removed with his parents to the farm which he at present occupies, his father having taken pos- session of another homestead some years ago. The subject of the sketch has resided there from that day to this and has enjoyed great success as a farmer. This tract is especially well improved, much of the credit being due to the father, and the place is adorned by a fine eight room residence. Mr. Rock owns an additional two hundred and ten acres on sections 32 and 29, and one hundred and fifty-three in section 4, Hickory Grove township. He enjoys a wide reputa- tion as a breeder of shorthorn cattle and owns thirty head of registered cattle. He is also a stockholder in the Dixon Savings Bank.


In 1890 Mr. Rock was united in marriage to Miss Theresa Quistorf. She was born in Scott county, March 17, 1868, her parents being Henry and Louisa Quistorf, both of them natives of Germany, who settled in Scott county and resided here until their deaths. Mr. and Mrs. Rock have a fine family of six children; namely: Albert William, Sadie Leonora, Edwin Christian, Eleanor Theresa, Walter Sylvester and Elmer Henry. The Rock family is one of the largest and most prominent in this part of country and Christian Rock, Jr., and his household are worthy representatives.


C. HENRY WITT.


C. Henry Witt, a prominent agriculturist of Rockingham township, Scott county, forms part of that great German element which, added to our native stock, helps to give it stamina. He was born in Holstein, Germany, June I, 1851, his parents being Frank and Cecelia (Hoch) Witt. When Mr. Witt was only two years of age his father died and in course of time the mother again married, the second husband being a Mr. Oelrick. His mother by her first mar- riage had three children : Dorothy, deceased; Christina, who is the wife of Ger- hart Busing of Nebraska; and the subject of the sketch. To the second mar- riage were born Herman, and 'Anna, who became the wife of Henry Melius, now deceased. In 1868 Mr. Oelrick resolved to bring his household to 'America and to prove or disprove for his own satisfaction the reports of wealth and oppor- tunity lying in wait for the thrifty immigrant. They landed in New York but went on at once to Chicago. There their hopes in the promised land were to suffer a severe blow for they were overcharged to a great extent by a dishonest hotelkeeper with whom they were unable to cope on account of their unfamiliarity with the language and customs of the country. They were without sufficient money to pay the exorbitant bill and Mr. Witt's sisters were compelled to stay


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and work it out. The rest of the family came on to Davenport, the subject of the sketch having in his pocket at the time of his arrival only the sum of fifty cents. Fortunately he secured work in a very short time as driver on an ice wagon, at which he continued for about nine years. At the end of that time he found himself, on account of his previous thrifty conduct, able to enter the ice business for himself, and he remained in this more independent capacity for about five years. In 1882 he made a radical change by becoming a landowner and agriculturist. He first purchased some eighty acres in Rockingham town- ship from Henry Puck. Upon taking possession of this he built a house and made numerous other improvements and, thus satisfactorily environed, lived there until 1906. In this year he purchased from Mr. Petersen his present valuable homestead, also in Rockingham township, and built a substantial and attractive residence in which his household is at present established. His farms, the first of which is rented, are well improved and in a high state of cultivation. He does not specialize but engages in general farming with much success.


Mr. Witt has been twice married. He first wedded Miss Mary Stuart, and to this union one child, a daughter, named Helen, was born. Both mother and daughter are deceased. His second marriage occurred in November, 1889, his wife, whose maiden name was Carrie Kern, being the daughter of Frank and Christina Kern of Germany. They lived and died in their native land, although the mother at one time visited her daughter in America. Four children came to bless this union : Charles, born December 28, 1890; Mary, June 4, 1892; Henry, December 8, 1894; and William, October 24, 1901. All four of them reside under the parental roof.


The survey of the life of C. Henry Witt from the time he arrived in Daven- port, a simple German boy with fifty cents in his pocket, to his present position of independence and respect is indeed inspiring and an eloquent testimony both as to Mr. Witt's native ability and the possibility of his adopted land.


SAMUEL W. KYLOR.


The life record of few men is marked by a greater success, a larger number of vicissitudes and a more persistent devotion to duty than has been that of Sam- uel W. Kylor, one of the more prosperous farmers of Le Claire township. He owns two hundred and fifty acres of fine arable land in this county, also con- siderable property in Kansas. A native of Williamsburg, Blair county, Penn- sylvania, he was born August 3, 1844, a son of Jacob and Mary (Sparr) Kylor. The family is of German descent as his paternal grandfather, Jacob Kylor, came over from the fatherland and after settling in this country found employment as a teacher of the German language at Huntingdon, Pennsylvania. There Jacob Kylor, our subject's father, was born in 1817. He was a farmer and lived only until 1847. His wife was born in Blair county, Pennsylvania, in 1822, and sur- vived him about ten years, her death occurring 1857. They were the parents of three children : Rebecca, who married Matthew Flogg, of Williamsburg, Penn- sylvania; Samuel W., of this sketch; and Jacob, who was killed at the battle of


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Spottsylvania, May 12, 1864. He had enlisted as a member of Company E, Eighty-fourth Pennsylvania Infantry from Williamsburg in 1863.


Being but three years of age when his father died, Samuel W. Kylor was reared on the farm belonging to his maternal grandfather, Samuel Sparr, which is still in possession of his descendants. Upon it he and his sister lived until 1861, attending the district school in the meantime. In July 25, 1861, Mr. Kylor joined Battery F, First Regiment Pennsylvania Light Artillery. He enlisted from Wil- liamsburg and was mustered in at Harrisburg, whence the regiment went into camp at Camp Curten. After about ten days spent there, they went to Washing- ton, D. C., where they received their supplies. Thence they went to Tinleytown, Maryland, where they were stationed until February, 1862, to guard the Potomac. At that date they went to Hancock, Maryland, where they helped keep Jack- son's forces from crossing the Potomac and then removed to Harpers Ferry, later proceeding to the Shenandoah valley in time to take part in the battle of Win- chester. They were in camp at several places and finally went to Culpeper, Vir- ginia, participating in Pope's retreat from that point to Washington. They were also present in the battle of Bull Run. After that engagement Mr. Kylor's bat- tery and the Pennsylvania Bucktails covered the retreat to Chantilly, Virginia, where Philip Carney was killed. Thence they crossed a chain bridge over the Potomac into Maryland, participating in the battle of South Mountain and later in the battle of Antietam. After that engagement they camped in the vicinity of the town for about thirty days, then returning to Virginia and entering winter quarters at Mountain Creek, Virginia. There after a thirty days' furlough Mr. Kylor reenlisted in the same regiment. They encountered Jackson in a number of skirmishes in the Shenandoah valley and then followed Lee back to Gettys- burg. In the famous battle at that place his regiment formed part of Ricketts battery, which was stationed on East Cemetery Hill. At the close of the fight- ing they followed Lee through Virginia, crossed the James river at City Point, sat in siege in front of Petersburg during the winter of 1864 and the spring of 1865. The position of the battery during that time was on Fort Hill. Next they followed Lee to Appomattox and after the surrender there, which virtually closed the war, they returned to City Point, loaded horses and equipment on a transport, went down the James river and up Chesapeake bay to Washington, D. C., where they marched in the grand review. Thereafter they turned over their small arms to the government and took a train to Harrisburg, Pennsyl- vania, where they were mustered out June 10, 1865.


At the conclusion of the war Mr. Kylor returned to Williamsburg, where he continued his agricultural labors until April, 1868, when he came to Daven- port, Iowa. There he bought from Mr. Lorton one acre of onions, which had been partly cultivated, situated near Camp Mcclellan on the middle road. He continued its cultivation, sold the product for one dollar and ten cents per bushel, and after that experience hired out to John Ehrhart, of Pleasant Valley. For one year he worked for him on the farm, receiving twenty dollars a month wages, and then went to Mrs. Henry Stone's place in Pleasant Valley township, which he operated on shares for one year. Then he rented eighty acres in Le Claire township but after one year's experience there went to Kansas City, Missouri, where he bought cattle, formed a partnership with Thomas Scott, of Davenport,


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and shipped the stock to him. At the end of a year he returned to Pleasant Valley township and bought hogs and cattle for John Zuchler and other packers. Later he married and bought forty acres of land from Mrs. Wicks, of Le Claire township. It was partly improved and adjoined the eighty acres which his wife owned. On it they lived for about fourteen years, buying in the meantime twenty acres from W. H. Jones and later one hundred acres from William Maddox. Later he removed to what was then known as Hopkins farm of one hundred and five acres, bought it and lived thereon four years, but then sold it and finally purchased from James Van Duzen the one hundred and eighty-five acres on which he now lives. Later he added to it the old Turner place of sixty-nine and a half acres. Having made a number of improvements in the way of barns, house, etc., his farm and residence are among the finest of Scott county. Here he pursues general farming with a success that entitles him to be known as one of the prominent farmers of his township.


It was while he was working for Mrs. Henry Stone that she became his wife. By her former marriage she had two sons, namely: J. F. Stone, of Waterloo, Iowa, and C. H. Stone, who lives at home. She is a daughter of William and Anna (Duff) Davidson, of Scott county, but was born in Blair county, Pennsyl- vania, May 9, 1842. In 1861 she came to Scott county, while her parents fol- lowed in 1869. They were both natives of Huntingdon county, Pennsylvania, the father having been born there in 1808, the mother in 1810. She died in 1870. but her husband lived until 1883. They had six children : Elizabeth, who married Jacob Tory; James, deceased; Abigail A., the deceased wife of Samuel Wood; Winifred, the wife of Mr. Kylor; Margaret, who married Horace Clarke, now deceased; and John W., deceased. The two sons, James and John, both served in the Union Army during the Civil war, the former as a member of the Eighty- fourth Pennsylvania Infantry, the latter in the One Hundred and Tenth Penn- sylvania Infantry. It was on the 19th of August, 1874, that Mr. Kylor and Mrs. Stone were united in marriage and in the succeeding years became the parents of two children. Nellie, who was born October 4, 1875, married John Barber, of Dewitt, Iowa, and they have one daughter, Nellie. Samuel, who was born December 16, 1880, lives at home.


Mr. Kylor has served most efficiently as township trustee for a period of six years, as road supervisor and as school director. At the present time he is a member of the soldiers' relief commission, a body appointed by the county su- pervisors. In his public life as in his private concerns he has won the admira- tion of those who have come in contact with him for he has proved himself a man of high character and sterling integrity.


ADAM S. BLACK.


Adam S. Black is now living retired in Lincoln township, but for many years was actively engaged in general farming and is still the owner of one hundred and sixty acres of good land on sections 32 and 33, where he yet lives. The place is neat and thrifty in appearance and indicates the labor that for many years he


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bestowed upon it. Mr. Black has now reached the seventy-eighth milestone on life's journey, his birth having occurred in Blair county, Pennsylvania, near Altoona, on the 7th of May, 1832. He is a son of Jacob and Mary Black, both of whom were also natives of the Keystone state, where the father followed the occupation of farming.


Adam S. Black acquired his education in the district schools of his native county but his opportunities in that direction were somewhat limited, as it was necessary that he go to work when very young, owing to the limited financial resources of the family. He worked on the farm with his parents until about twenty years of age, after which he secured employment in a flour mill and spent six years in that way. Believing that he would have better opportunities in the middle west, he came to Iowa in 1857, establishing his home in Scott county, where he had some friends living. He settled in Lincoln township and for a time was employed as a farm hand, after which he engaged in threshing. Purchasing a threshing machine, he operated it in the service of others for thirty-three years and was one of the best known threshers of this part of the state, always being busy during the harvest seasons.


In 1862 Mr. Black came to his present farm to board with Daniel Stewart, who at that time owned the place, and here Mr. Black has lived continuously since. In 1872 he bought eighty acres of the farm and in 1875 purchased the remaining eighty acres, so that he now has an excellent property of one hundred and sixty acres. He has tiled the land and made all of the improvements upon the farm, which is now an excellent and valuable property. He has never engaged in tilling the soil to any great extent himself but has rented the land and to it has given his general supervision. He is now living retired, for his activity and energy in former years brought to him a fair measure of success. He holds membership in the Lutheran church and is widely and favorably known in the community where he has now lived for more than a half century.


FRITZ MEIER.


Prominent among Sheridan township's substantial citizens is Fritz Meier, who like so many of his neighbors, is of German origin, his birth having occurred in Hanover, December 22, 1844. His parents were Carl and Mary Meier, who in 1854 deemed it advisable to sever home associations and to seek to better their fortunes in a newer country. In November, after an eight weeks' voyage on a sailing vessel, they landed in New York and came direct to Scott county, Iowa, relatives having previously located at Mount Joy, and the Meier family resided with them until the following spring. From there they went to the home of a friend, Henry Hinze, remaining there through the summer and assisting in the harvest. In the following fall, almost a year after their arrival upon American soil, they removed to Davenport and spent the winter months. In the spring their wander- ings were temporarily terminated by their removal to a forty acre farm situated about three miles southwest of Eldridge. A year later they took up their residence upon a farm owned by Mr. Meier's aunt, Mrs. Schrader. This the family cul-


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MR. AND MRS. FRITZ METER


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tivated for four years with no small degree of success for at the end of that time the father was in a position to buy one hundred acres of prairie land on section 4, Sheridan township, at about fifteen dollars an acre. This became the permanent home, the father building a house and barns thereon and improving the property in many ways. He lived there until his death, which occurred in 1904 at the age of ninety-four years. His wife preceded him by nine years, she being seventy- nine years of age at the time of her demise. These good people were the parents of five children : Henry and Charles, both deceased; Fritz; William, who is living on the old homestead; and Lena, now the wife of Peter Jenner and a resident of South Dakota.


Fritz Meier had little in the way of educational advantages. What schooling he did receive was in Germany, and the fact that he left there at the age of ten tells its own story. His father found the battle merely to gain a living too strenu- ous to admit of any such luxury as education for his sons, and in addition he needed their services in bringing into condition the wild prairie. Mr. Meier has demonstrated the fact that education is not of necessity merely a matter of books and schoolrooms, but that a man may acquire culture, at least, without the aid of the latter. At the time of his marriage in 1870 he began to farm for himself and has been very successful in his vocation.


November 14, 1870, is the date of the marriage of Mr. Meier to Miss Lena Klindt, a daughter of Hans and Lenke Klindt, of Scott county. Mrs. Meier was born in Germany, August 7, 1847, and came to 'America with her parents in 1868, locating with them in Scott county, Iowa. Nine children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Meier. Emil H. married Minnie Ast and lives in Oklahoma, their fam- ily consisting of three children, Irving, Elfrida and Byron. Elfrida, William, Fred and Edward reside under the parental roof. Meta, Amelia and Carl and one child, who died in infancy, are deceased.


Mr. Meier is a good citizen, being strengthened by the discipline of youthful privation. He is a public-spirited man, not believing in the infallibility either of men or party. He has served as road commissioner, school director and also as trustee, and in these capacities has given efficient service.


FRITZ C. A. ZABEL.


Fritz C. A. Zabel owns and occupies a fine farm of two hundred and thirty- three acres on section 16, Butler township, and also has a tract of forty-five acres of timber land in Clinton county. His property holdings are proof of his life of well directed thrift and enterprise. Whatever success he has enjoyed is attribu- table to his own efforts, for he started out in life without assistance and his earnest, persistent labor has been the means of bringing him substantial financial reward. He was born in Mecklenburg, Germany, June 15, 1856, and is a son of William and Sophia Zabel. His father was a blacksmith by trade and followed that pur- suit in Germany except for the period of his service in the army, covering six years. Believing that better business opportunities might be enjoyed in the new world, he left his native country in 1867 and with his family, consisting of wife


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and five children, landed at New York. He did not tarry on the Atlantic coast, however, but made his way at once into the interior of the country, coming direct to Scott county, where lived his brother-in-law, John Baushtam. He secured work at his trade in Davenport in the employ of Mr. Miller and there remained until he was able to save from his earnings a sufficient sum to make payment upon a farm. It was in 1870 that he purchased one hundred and sixty acres of land in Butler township. The place was improved and the family at once took up their abode thereon. Mr. Zabel with characteristic energy began the cul- tivation of the fields and continued to reside upon that property until 1886, when he removed to Davenport, where he is still living at the advanced age of seventy- seven years. He is a member of the Lutheran church and an earnest Christian gentleman, whose well spent life has won for him the esteem, confidence and honor of all who know him. In 1882 he was called upon to mourn the loss of his wife, Mrs. Sophia Zabel, who died at the age of forty-eight years and was laid to rest in P. J. Tiedge's cemetery in Butler township. In their family were eight children : William, now living in Winfield township; Fritz C. A .; Amelia, the wife of Andrew Schwartz, now living on the old- homestead; Theodore and Charles, who are resident farmers of Lincoln township; Meta, the wife of Henry Thoede, of Butler township; Albert, also of Lincoln township; and Alvina, who died at the age of eleven years and was laid to rest in the cemetery where her mother lies buried.


Fritz C. A. Zabel was educated in the schools of Germany and of Davenport and after putting aside his text-books learned the carpenter's trade, which he followed until twenty-seven years of age, working in all parts of Scott county. He went to Ida county, Iowa, with three other men in 1878 and they built a settlement there called Holstein. In 1883 Mr. Zabel married and turned his at- tention to farming, renting the place upon which he now resides, while later it came into possession of his wife through inheritance. Their original home was a log cabin, in which they lived for a number of years, after which Mr. Zabel erected a large, commodious and substantial frame residence, which they now occupy. He has made many other substantial improvements upon the farm and in its cultivation and development has met with excellent success. He raises various crops and makes a specialty of raising shorthorn cattle and Poland China hogs, selling a large number each year. He has likewise made investment in other lines of business and is now vice president and one of the directors of the McCausland Savings Bank and a stockholder in the American Security Company of Davenport.


On the 3d of March, 1883, was celebrated the marriage of Mr. Zabel and Miss Lena Miller, a daughter of Ernest and Christina (Kettlesen) Miller, who were among the first and most prominent settlers of Butler township, casting in their lot here during pioneer times. Unto Mr. and Mrs. Zabel have been born six chil- dren : Wilma, the wife of L. H. Henning, of Butler township, by whom she has three children-Milton, Grace and Loyd; Ernest, who is now in South Dakota, and Hilda, Fred, Hertha and Paula, all at home. Mr. Zabel was originally a democrat and upon that ticket was elected to the office of trustee of Butler town- ship. He had served in the position for three years when his study of the po- litical issues and questions of the day led him to give his support to the republican




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