USA > Iowa > Dubuque County > History of Dubuque County, Iowa; being a general survey of Dubuque County history, including a history of the city of Dubuque and special account of districts throughout the county, from the earliest settlement to the present time > Part 58
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CHARLES DUNN BALDWIN, son of Isaac W. Baldwin, whose biography immediately precedes this, was born at Elk Grove, La Fayette county, Wisconsin, October 2. 1867, and came to Cascade with his parents in 1868. He attended the public schools of this village until the fall of 1883, when he entered the office of the Cascade Pioneer and worked in every department of the trade and business. In June, 1894, he purchased the newspaper from his father and has conducted the same up to the present time as editor and proprietor. On May 24, 1899, he was united in marriage with Miss Frances Fagan, daughter of James F. Fagan, of Cascade. They have two children: Helen Gertrude, born September 21, 1900, and Howard Charles, born August 1, 1904. Mr. Baldwin was recorder of the town of Cascade from 1892 to 1895, and the first public measure advocated by the paper in his hands was the construction of the waterworks system, helping to inaugurate the movement in 1894, in the fall of which year the election for the same was carried. In political views Mr. Baldwin, like his father before him, is a Democrat.
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RICHARD KOLCK, proprietor of the wholesale notion concern at 779-783 Iowa street, is a native of Germany, his birth occurring April 26, 1849, at Dülmen, Province of Westphalia. His parents, Carl and Philippine Kolck, were also born in that country, and there died, the father in 1867, and the mother in 1892 at the age of eighty-seven. After attending the public and high schools of Dülmen, Richard Kolck spent two years and a half as bookkeeper for a local concern and then emigrated to America with a view to making this country his future home. He came to Dubuque in 1870 and became a salesman for the firm of Glover & Sinnock, now the H. B. Glover Company, which position he held until embarking in business on his own account at the corner of Seventh and Main streets. His business prospered and he was eventually forced to seek larger quarters at 776 Main street, and there remained until 1892, adding also the wholesale department. In March, 1897, he was again obliged to change, and four years later removed to his present address. Aside from the above mentioned business interests he is a director of the Citizens' State Bank and of the Dubuque Casket Company, and director and one of the owners of the Du- buque Sharpshooters' Park. In religion he is an adherent of the Roman Catholic faith. April 23, 1874, at Dubuque, he was united in marriage with Miss Mary Kley, and to them two sons and one daughter have been born, named, Martha B., a graduate of the Dominican Convent Academy of Wisconsin, William R., traveling for his father, and Richard, Jr., office man of the firm. Mrs. Kolck is the daughter of William and Elizabeth Kley, her father having been one of the founders of the old furniture company which occupied the quarters now used by the Dubuque Casket Com- pany. He and his wife were of German nativity and after coming to this country first located at Haverstraw, New York, where they engaged in the furniture business. In 1857 they came to Dubuque, and here the father died in 1888, aged fifty-three years, and now lies at rest in Linwood cemetery. The mother still survives and makes her home with the subject of this sketch.
HENRY L. DEHNER, president of the Cascade State Bank, was born February 24, 1855. He is a son of Henry and Mary E. (Kirner) Dehner, who were natives of Hohenzollern and Baden, Germany, respectively. Henry Dehner, the father, was a son of John Dehner, his mother's maiden name being Kanontz, and he was one of seven children. He received his education in his native country and came with his parents to America, first locating in Ohio, where he married. Subsequently he moved to Carroll county, Indiana, and there followed farming until his removal to Cascade, Iowa, in 1855. He was hard working and frugal, and eventually became the owner of a large tract of land which he brought up to a high state of cultivation. He was a Democrat in politics but
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never aspired to office holding. Aside from his love of home and the improving of his property, his chief pride and consolation was his affiliation with the Roman Catholic church, of which he was a devout member. He died in 1883, when seventy years old, fol- lowed by his widow in 1894. They were the parents of six chil- dren, of whom the subject of this sketch, Mrs. Sophia H. Glynn and Miss Mary A. Dehner, survive. Henry L. Dehner was reared on his father's farm, attended the local schools and finished his education by being graduated at Notre Dame University, South Bend, Indiana, in 1876. He started out in life for himself as a farmer on the old homestead, but finally purchased a tract of 200 acres, which he farmed, and on which he engaged in stock raising. In 1886 he became an official of the Cascade bank, and upon its reorganization as the Cascade State Bank in 1906, he was elected its president and has since served as such. In 1889 he married Miss Mary Candy, who was born in November, 1860, the daughter of Nicholas and Elizabeth ( Less) Candy. Mr. and Mrs. Dehner are members of the Roman Catholic church.
CAPT. THOMAS LEVENS died in July, 1883. He was early engaged in lead mining, but about 1843 located in Dubuque and became the owner of some of the best mines of this region. His lode of 1851 on the first day of hoisting yielded 127,000 pounds of ore and was then worth $26 per thousand pounds. He was interested in the old ferry company when the boats were Peosta and A. L. Gregoire. He was for a time captain of the steamer Franklin No. 2. He left a widow, two sons and a daughter.
COL. JOSEPH B. DORR was born in Erie county, New York, in 1825. He was educated at the Hamburg Academy and the West- field Seminary. In 1847 he came west to Jackson county, Iowa, and the following year became editor of the Jackson County Democrat. In 1852 he came to Dubuque and secured an interest in the Herald and thus continued, associated with D. A. Mahony, until 1860, when he sold out, and upon the outbreak of the rebellion took an active stand in the support of the administration of Mr. Lincoln. He was quartermaster in the Twelfth Iowa Regiment, was captured at Shiloh, confined at Montgomery, Alabama, but escaped and reached the Union lines. He then became colonel of the Eighth Iowa Cav- alry and was again captured near Atlanta. On May 28, 1865, he died at Macon, Georgia. He was a war Democrat of pronounced type. He was brought to Dubuque and buried with great honor by the Masons and soldiers.
JOSEPH ANDREW RHOMBERG, deceased, than whom, perhaps, no man ever did more toward the growth and development of the city of Dubuque, was a native of Austria, his birth occurring January
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12, 1833, at Dornbirn, Province of Vorarlberg. Early in life, real- izing the advantages to be had in America, Mr. Rhomberg immi- grated to this country with a view to making it his future home, and in 1854 first came to the city of Dubuque. Here he became widely known as a builder of railroads and various other large con- cerns. He, with J. K. Graves and others, built the Chicago, Du- buque & Minnesota, and the Chicago, Clinton & Dubuque lines, these two now being known as the Dubuque division of the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railroad, and also constructed the Austin & Northwestern line, in Texas, now part of the Houston & Texas Central system. He was one of the builders, and for twenty-two years half owner and ten years sole owner (1867-1899), of the Dubuque Street Railway, but later sold to Messrs. Linehan and Molo, who in turn disposed of it to the Union Electric Company. Mr. Rhomberg and Mr. J. K. Graves erected the Chicago, Milwau- kee & St. Paul shops in Dubuque, and on the avenue now bearing his name Mr. Rhomberg planted the trees leading to Eagle Point. In 1866 he built the Dubuque distillery, which in 1873 was con- verted into the Iowa Pacific Flour Mill, and which property is now occupied by the Dubuque Star Brewery. Mr. Rhomberg, during his residence here, was more or less prominently identified with various other enterprises, but from the above brief review of his achievements it may readily be determined that he was one of the most prominent of the pioneer business men and an important factor in the advancement and progress of the city of his adoption. On May 17, 1897, death halted his career, but he achieved much, and with his passing, the city of Dubuque lost a true and loyal citizen. His wife, Catherine, who was born May 31, 1831, still survives, and is happy at the great age of eighty years.
JAMES W. BEVAN, retired farmer and stock raiser, now residing in the village of Cascade, is the only member of his father's family living in the United States. He was born in Monmouthshire, Eng- land, and is one of ten children born to Thomas and Eliza (Wil- liams) Bevan, who were English farmers. His early life was passed after the manner of the average boy, and being of an enterprising turn of mind he concluded that his opportunities for success in life would be greatly enhanced in a new country. When twenty-one years old he decided to go to New Zealand, but was persuaded by a friend to come to America instead. In company with five others he first located in Wisconsin and for twenty-one years was engaged in mining in the vicinity of Hazel Green. In 1863 he married Nancy Agnes Glascoe, a native of Virginia, and the daughter of William and Mary (Ford) Glascoe, who were of revolutionary parentage. In 1878 Mr. Bevan and family moved to Hazel Valley, in White Water township, Dubuque county, Iowa, and established a home upon a farm in section 7, known as the Burr Oak farm. This
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property, by judicious management, he brought to a high state of cultivation and improvement. Tiring of the active work of the farm, he moved to Cascade in 1908, where he has since resided. Mr. Bevan is highly regarded by his neighbors as an honest man and citizen. Nine children have been born to him and wife, as follows: John Williams, died in 1901, aged thirty-seven years; Francis, farming in Iowa; Mary Ann, married, and lives in Iowa ; Virgil Milton, whose home is at Farley, Iowa; Lula, the widow of John Higgs, resides in Cascade; Agnes May, the wife of William Severns, of Farley: James T., living at home: Pearl Vivian, now Mrs. Frank Inganella; and Leon Odell, who married Mrs. J. C. Myers, and resides in Pennsylvania. Mrs. Bevan is a member of long standing of the Presbyterian church.
ALPHONS L. RHOMBERG, president of the Dubuque Star Brew- ing Company, and a man whose career has been intimately inter- woven with the commercial interests of Dubuque, is a native of this city, his birth occurring November 2, 1857, and the eldest of four sons born to the old pioneer, Joseph A. Rhomberg, and wife, Cath- erina, appropriate mention of whom is made elsewhere in this pub- lication. Alphons Rhomberg received his early education in the public and parochial schools of Dubuque, and later entered the Christian Brothers' College, now known as the Sacred Heart Col- lege, at Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin. He then went abroad and pursued his studies in the institution known as Stella Matutina, at Feldkirch, Austria, after which he returned to America and for a year had charge of a silver mine in Park county, Colorado. He then came back to Dubuque and established himself in the wholesale wine business on Main street, manufacturing also an artificial cham- pagne, from 1879 to 1881. In 1884 he journeyed south to Texas and for three years occupied the position of general superintendent of the Austin & Northwestern railroad, built and partly owned by his father. In 1887 this road was sold to the Houston & Texas Central Railway Company, but Mr. Rhomberg remained in Texas until 1895, engaged in the buying and selling of Texas land. He platted Aspermont, from which the name Rhomberg is derived, and which town is the county seat of Stonewall county, and also laid out the village of Clairemont, the county seat of Kent county. Upon his subsequent return to Dubuque Mr. Rhomberg associated himself with his father in the management of the Dubuque Street Railway, remaining thus until it was sold by them. In 1900 he became one of the organizers of the Eagle Point bridge, which crosses the Mississippi river to Wisconsin, and until 1907 was president of same. In March, 1910, he became president of the Dubuque Star Brewing Company, and has since been thus con- nected. In religious views Mr. Rhomberg is of the Roman Cath- olic faith, being a member of St. Mary's church, and socially is
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identified with the Dubuque Club. He is residing with his mother in the old Rhomberg homestead on West Seventh street.
ALPHONSE J. RHOMBERG, vice-president of the wholesale liquor firm of Rhomberg Brothers Company, was born in the city of Dornbirn, Province of Vorarlberg, Austria, January, 1872, and is the youngest son of Jacob and Rosina Rhomberg, appropriate men- tion of whom appears elsewhere in this publication. Our subject received his education in the public and high schools of his native country, and in 1888. when but sixteen years old, came to America and joined his brother, Frank M., in Dubuque. For about three years he was connected with his uncle's furniture establishment in St. Paul, Minnesota, but then returned to Dubuque and in partner- ship with his brother embarked in the wholesale wine and liquor business on Main street. They started out in a small way, but by conscientious dealings with the people built up a large and profit- able business, and in time were forced, for want of capital, to form a company and issue stock. Their concern is now known as Rhom- berg Brothers Company, and its remarkable success is due to the . excellent business management of Messrs. Rhomberg. A goodly portion of Mr. Rhomberg's time is spent in traveling throughout Europe, as his health requires. He is an active member of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, and in religion is an adherent of the Roman Catholic faith. In1 1900, at Dubuque, he was united in marriage with Miss Gebhardina Kopf. daughter of John and Catherine Roesch, and to them one son, Armin, has been born, now in Europe.
JAMES L. CONLIN, mayor of the village of Cascade, a director in the Cascade bank, retired farmer, stock raiser and real estate dealer, was born at Lexington, Kentucky. John Conlin, his father, was a native of County Leitrim, Ireland, and came to the United States when a young man, making the passage across the ocean in a sailing vessel. At the time of his arrival the South was holding out inducements for the better class of deserving settlers and Mr. Conlin was attracted to the Blue Grass region of Kentucky. He located at Lexington and was there engaged in contracting many years. In 1843 he married Ellen Sherman, and died in 1847 when a comparatively young man. Three children were born to this mar- riage : Thomas, who died from the effects of gun shot wounds received in the Confederate service; James L., the subject of this sketch, and John, a resident of Dubuque county. Mrs. Conlin sub- sequently married James Lavin, who died in 1863, and they were the parents of Sarah, Ella, Margaret and Luke. In 1857 the family moved to this county and eventually established a permanent home on section 18, in White Water township. Here the mother passed away in 1905, at eighty-two years of age. James E. Conlin received
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his early schooling at Lexington, Kentucky, and when a young man learned the saddlery and harness business in Iowa, following this occupation in various localities of this state and in Kentucky and Tennessee. He then returned to Cascade, Iowa, and embarked in the drug trade, and later in general merchandizing. Eventually he retired from mercantile pursuits and engaged extensively in buying and selling land, at which he had been unusually successful. For half a century Mr. Conlin has been identified with the growth, development and prosperity of Cascade and has witnessed the prog- ress of the place from a small hamlet to its present proportions.
There have been few public enterprises tending toward the general good that have not had in him a warm supporter. He was one of the original six first directors of the Cascade bank, and since its organization has always been on the directory. In politics he is a Democrat, and in addition to holding various other positions of honor and trust, has served three terms as mayor of the village. Mr. Conlin married Miss Ann Finn, whose family is prominently mentioned elsewhere in this work, and to them have been born tliese children: Jenemine; John Thomas, cashier of the Farmers and Merchants' Bank, Cascade : Sabina, the wife of William J. O'Brien ; Gertrude, now Mrs. John Miller; and Bertha, who married Edward Foley, and resides in Jones county, Iowa. The family are of the Roman Catholic faith in religion.
TITUS E. RHOMBERG, secretary, treasurer, manager and director of the Iowa Coffin Company, was born in the city of Dubuque, March 18, 1865, the youngest son of Joseph Andrew and Catherina Rhomberg, who came to Dubuque in 1852 and did much toward its advancement and progress. Appropriate mention of the elder Rhomberg appears elsewhere in this work. His son, Titus E., the immediate subject of this memoir, was educated in the public and parochial schools of this city, also St. Joseph's College, which latter institution he left to attend Canisius College, at Buffalo, New York. He then went abroad and for five years studied in the Royal Saxon School of Mines, Freiburg. Saxony, but in 1891 returned to Du- buque and later went to Argentine, Kansas, as assayer and chemist for the Kansas City Smelting & Refining Company. There he remained but a short time because of ill health, and then came back to Dubuque, where after recuperating he became associated with the Dubuque Street Railway, controlled by his father, and remained thus until same was disposed of. This line has since made several changes, but is now being operated by the Union Electric Company. In 1899 Mr. Rhomberg acquired by purchase an interest in the Iowa Coffin Company and has since been identified with this con- cern, the largest of its kind in the state. He is also a director of the Citizens' State Bank. Although favoring the policies of the Republican party, his vote is usually independent and cast in favor
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of good men regardless of party affiliation. In religious views he is of the Roman Catholic faith, being a member of St. Mary's church; socially he is identified with the Catholic Order of For- esters and the Dubuque Club. January 9, 1899, in Dubuque, he was united in marriage with Miss Mamie E. Simones, daughter of Joseph and Victoria Simones, the father being the founder of the Iowa Coffin Company. Mr. Simones passed away November 17, 1893, at the age of forty-seven years, but his widow still survives, aged sixty-one, and resides in this city. To Mr. and Mrs. Rhom- berg the following named children have been born: Joseph Andrew, attending St. Mary's parochial school; Albin Anthony, attending same; Edward Bideaux; Ludmilla Athalia; Victoria Marie, and Louis Alphons. The family residence is on Prospect Hill and was erected by Mr. Rhomberg.
WILLIAM BAIRD, well-known throughout southwestern Dubuque county, was born May 26, 1841, and is a son of William Baird, for whom he was named. The elder Baird was born in County Tyrone, Ireland, in the year 1800. He emigrated to Canada in 1828, and two years later went to Philadelphia, where for a period of thirty years he was engaged in cotton manufacturing. Owing to the finan- cial panic of 1857 he was compelled to give up that line of endeavor. and that year came to Dubuque county, Iowa, and bought a farm of 160 acres in section 30, White Water township. He was a man of superior intelligence and strong character. For fifty years he was a member of the United Presbyterian church, and he was one of the prime movers in the establishment of a church of that denom- ination in Cascade. He died in 1883. While in Philadelphia, on October 24, 1832, he married Jane Buchanan, a native of County Tyrone, Ireland, who died in 1882 at the age of seventy-six years. Their children were : Ann Jane, born September 4, 1833, died June 29, 1834 ; James, born November 3, 1834, noted for his great interest in the Masonic fraternity, having been secretary of the local lodge thirteen years, served during the Civil war as a member of Com- pany I, Twenty-first Iowa Volunteer Infantry, died at Freeport, Illinois, in 1904; Margaret, born on Christmas day, 1836, died November 4, 1839; William, the subject of this sketch; Robert, born January 6, 1843, died October 2, same year ; Mary Ann, born April 3, 1849, died November 21, 1853; Margaret (2), born Octo- ber 12, 1844, now living with her brother, William; Robert, born March 6, 1851, died February 2, the following year. William Baird, the one whose name heads this sketch, has never married, but resides with his sister, Margaret. He has always followed farming and stock raising as an occupation, but in 1909 moved into the vil- lage of Cascade, where he and his sister have since lived retired from the more active duties and cares of life. Fifteen years ago. when the old United Presbyterian church at Cascade was reorgan-
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ized as a Presbyterian church, Mr. Baird was one of its chief sup- porters. He is a Republican and for twenty-seven years served as secretary of the independent school district of East Cascade, and since the introduction of the Australian ballot system in this coun- try has been clerk of election.
HENRY KIENE, president of the C. A. & N. railroad, and secre- tary and treasurer of the Glasser Tobacco Company, was born in the city of Dubuque, January 21, 1859, a son of the old pioneer, Peter Kiene, appropriate mention of whom is made elsewhere in this work. After attending the public schools our subject entered and was duly graduated from the Bayless Business College, and succeeding this was, for a time connected with his father's loan and real estate establishment. Later he was associated in business with his brother, Peter Kiene. Jr., but in 1878 removed to Sioux City, Iowa, and for a period of eleven years successfully followed the live stock industry. In 1889, however, he disposed of his interests and went to Alta Vista, Iowa, where he established the Alta Vista Savings Bank. At that place he also operated a lumber yard, a mercantile establishment, and engaged in the raising of cattle, spending eleven years thus engaged. Mr. Kiene then returned to his native city and has ever since been prominently identified with the growth and development of Dubuque. Since 1900 he has been engaged in the handling of western land, principally throughout Minnesota and the Dakotas, in which states he is a heavy holder of real estate. Socially he is a member of the Masonic fraternity, being a Knight Templar Mason and a member of the Ancient Arabic Order Nobles of the Mystic Shrine, and is also identified with the Dubuque Men's and Dubuque Country Clubs. To his marriage with Miss Mary Mielke, daughter of Henry and Caroline, solemnized at Sioux City, July 17, 1884, two children were born; Frank, who died in 1900 at the age of twelve years, and Adeline, now the wife of Frank C. Keesecker, a druggist of Dubuque, who has one child, Francis, two years old. Mr. Kiene is one of the representative men of Dubuque, takes an active interest in local public affairs of importance, and, like his father before him, has made life a success. He resides at 118 Broadway.
GEORGE W. CRAFT, retired farmer and a director of the Farm- ers & Merchants' Bank at Cascade, is a native of Linn county, Iowa, and a son of Samuel and Elizabeth (Schaeffer) Craft. Samuel Craft was born in Pennsylvania and was reared, educated and married in Ohio. In company with his young wife and brother, John, who married Julia Schaeffer, he left Ohio for Iowa on the last day of April, 1852, and after innumerable hardships arrived in Cascade and established a home on the present site of the City hotel. Mr. Craft was a wagon maker and carpenter, an occupation he fol-
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lowed for a considerable length of time, but later he obtained a tract of land in Linn county on which he built a log cabin, the first in that locality. He lived there about five years, then moved to White Water township, this county, and eventually settled on land in section 25, at the junction of the West Liberty and Galena wagon roads, about one mile east of Fillmore. He died in 1894, and his wife in 1889, aged sixty-eight and sixty-one years, respectively. George W. Craft lived with his parents until twenty-two years old. during which time he attended the public schools and aided in the work of the home place. Having purchased land on section 25 adjoining that of his father, he continued to reside there, engaged in agricultural pursuits until 1899, when he moved to the village of Cascade. Here he and his sister, Julia, now make their home. In political views Mr. Craft is independent, believing that the best interests of the country can be conserved by voting for men and measures regardless of the name of party. He has served as justice of the peace, and for twenty-seven years has been a member of the Ancient Free and Accepted Masons at Cascade. He is a Baptist in religion, and his influence and support are always enlisted for the public good.
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