USA > Iowa > Franklin County > History of Franklin County, Iowa, a record of settlement, organization, progress and achievement, Volume II > Part 25
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While still in Illinois, Mr. Rust was united in marriage to Miss Elizabeth Froning, her father being Fred Froning, an early settler of Franklin county. They are the parents of eight children, namely: Allie, who is the wife of Walter Nolte, of Hampton, Iowa; Anna, who gave her hand in marriage to Harry Baxter, of Richland township; Christine, a milliner residing at Latimer, Iowa; Lillie, the wife of Luther Fleener, of Indiana; Maud, the wife of
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Arthur Holmes, a farmer of Richland township; and Clara, George W. and Edna, who are still under the parental roof.
Mr. Rust gives his political allegiance to the democracy and has served as secretary of the school board. His religious faith is indicated by his membership in the Baptist church at Sheffield, to which his wife and children also belong. He stands high in business and social circles of this community, and his progressive spirit and the sterling qualities of his character have won him the confidence and respect of all who know him.
JOHN MOORE.
For a period of thirty-six years John Moore was connected with agricultural interests of Franklin county and during that time con- tributed substantially to agricultural development and growth while winning an individual success which placed him among the repre- sentative and substantial farmers of his locality. . His death, there- fore, which occurred November 7, 1913, when he was sixty-three years of age, was widely and deeply regretted, being considered a distinct loss to agricultural interests. Mr. Moore was born in Eng- land, November 8, 1850, and was a son of John and Sarah (Hospital) Moore, also natives of England, where the father engaged in farm- ing during his entire active life, dying in March, 1872. He had sur- vived his wife several years, her death occurring in 1864. Sixteen children were born to their union, of whom two are still living : Eliza, the wife of Robert Cobble, of Dows, Wright county, Iowa; and Den- nis, who resides in England.
John Moore acquired his education in the public schools of his native country and there remained until 1872. In that year he came to America and settled in Jo Daviess county, Illinois, where he engaged in farming on rented land for five years. In 1877 he came to Franklin county, this state, and located on section 2, Hamilton township, where he resided until his death. He bought first eighty acres of land and to this added from time to time, accumulating finally two hundred and eighty-five acres. He carried forward the work of improvement and development along practical lines and made the property at length a well equipped and highly cultivated farm. General farming and stock-raising commanded his attention, and he was especially interested in raising blooded cattle and hogs.
JOHN MOORE
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On the 29th of March, 1880, Mr. Moore was united in marriage to Miss Cyrene Justus, a native of St. Clair county, Missouri, and a daughter of Isaac Justus, who was born in Pennsylvania, July 13, 1821. He came to Franklin county, lowa, in 1857 but after a few months moved to Missouri, where he remained for about two years. At the end of that time he returned to Franklin county and located in Hampton, remaining until he enlisted in Company H, Thirty-sec- ond Iowa Volunteer Infantry, for service in the Civil war. He was at the front for twenty-four months and was then discharged on account of disability. Following this he returned to Franklin county and engaged in farming and carpentering until his death, which occurred July 16, 1905. He and his wife became the parents of four children: Cyrene, who married John Moore, of this review; Mary, the wife of William Meyers, of Galena, Illinois; Mercy, deceased ; and Hayes, of Seattle, Washington.
Mr. and Mrs. Moore became the parents of four children : Sarah, deceased; Della, the wife of John Brandt, of Hamilton township; Guy, of Lee township; and Opha Claire, at home. Mr. Moore was a member of the Methodist church and gave his political allegiance to the republican party. He held a number of township offices and took a great interest in the advancement and growth of the commu- nity, where he was long numbered among the public-spirited and representative citizens. During his life he enjoyed an excellent rep- utation throughout the county for industry, honesty and good judg- ment, qualities which gained him the esteem and confidence of an extensive circle of friends.
FRED VAHLSING.
Fred Vahlsing has been connected with agricultural interests of Franklin county since 1889 and now owns eighty acres of land on section 10, Marion township, and also eighty on section 16. He was born in Germany, November 29, 1862, and is a son of Henry and Louisa (Meyers) Vahlsing, also natives of Germany. They came to America in 1866 and located in Cedar county, Iowa, where they spent six years. At the end of that time they removed to Butler county, where the mother died October 29, 1885, and where the father now resides. During the entire period of his active life he followed agricultural pursuits but for the last twenty years has lived retired. In his family were eight children: Minnie, the wife of Vol. II-17
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A. H. Dohrmann; Henry, of Seaside, Oregon; Fred, of this review ; Dick, a resident of Butler county; Louis, whose home is in Oregon; Louisa, the wife of F. D. Dohrmann, of Marion township; Annie, who married William Debbin, of Floyd county, this state; and Lena, the wife of A. W. Ashworth, of Astoria, Oregon.
Fred Vahlsing remained at home until he was twenty-one years of age and then began farming independently in Butler county. At the end of one year he went west, settling in Lander, Wyoming, where he engaged in the cattle business in 1887 and 1888, during which period he made the acquaintance of Theodore Roosevelt. In the latter year he returned to Iowa and in 1889 took up farming in Franklin county, renting land for two years. At the end of that time he bought eighty acres of land but sold this after one year, purchas- ing another tract similar in extent on section 10, Marion township. He now has one hundred and sixty acres in the same township and has since engaged in general farming. He has improved the prop- erty in every respect, erecting substantial buildings and installing modern equipment.
On the 20th of December, 1892, Mr. Vahlsing married Miss Louisa Bruns and they have become the parents of six children : Matilda, born April 5, 1894; William, deceased; a son who died in infancy; Louisa, born December 14, 1899; Fred, born May 13, 1902; and another son who died in infancy.
Mr. Vahlsing is a member of the Evangelical church and is independent in his political views. His long residence here has made him widely known and his upright and honorable life has commended him to the esteem and confidence of his fellow citizens.
JOHN LEHMANN.
Germany has given to America many industrious, energetic and enterprising citizens whose excellent characteristics have been im- portant elements in the upbuilding and progress of the communities in which they have lived. Of this class is John Lehmann, a well known farmer and stock-raiser of Franklin county, owning a fine property of one hundred and sixty acres on section 11, Grant town- ship. He was born in Germany, December 27, 1878, and is a son of Andrew and Christina (Meyer) Lehmann, also natives of Germany, where the father still resides and where the mother passed away in 1884. To their union were born seven children, four of whom came
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to America, as follows: Barbara, the wife of Andrew Weigold of Minnesota; Andrew, also of Minnesota; John, of this review; and Christ, deceased. After the death of his first wife the father married her sister, Mary Meyer, and they became the parents of six children, all of whom reside in Germany with the exception of Rose, who is the wife of J. Mittlestadt of Minnesota.
John Lehmann remained in his native country until he was four- teen years of age and then emigrated to America, coming direct to Franklin county, where he followed farming. Later he moved to Minnesota but at the end of four years returned to Franklin county and has since remained a resident of this part of Iowa. In 1910 he bought one hundred and sixty acres of excellent land on section II, Grant township, and by his industry and careful management has made this one of the most productive and valuable properties in the locality. He has extensive farming and stock-raising interests and has met with most gratifying success in the conduct of his affairs.
On the 31st of May, 1906, Mr. Lehmann was united in marriage to Miss Louisa Henrietta Thies, and they have three children: John Christ Andrew, born March 19, 1907; Lena Rosa, born August 10, 1908; and Hilda Marie, whose birth occurred December 20, 1910. Mr. Lehmann is a member of the Evangelical Lutheran church and gives his political allegiance to the republican party. His life has been active, useful and upright and his many excellent qualities of mind and character have gained him a wide circle of friends.
WILLIAM F. THIELKE.
William F. Thielke, engaged in general farming and stock-rais- ing on one hundred and sixty acres of land on section 33, Osceola township, was born in Freeport, Illinois, October 2, 1861. He is a son of August and Dorothy (Richtsmeier) Thielke, natives of Ger- many, the latter born in Lippe Detmold. The parents came to America about the year 1852 and located in Freeport, Illinois, where they made their home for seventeen years thereafter. At the end of that time, in 1869, they moved to Ackley, Iowa, and the father purchased one hundred and sixty acres of land on section 33, Osce- ola township. He died May 29, 1887, when almost seventy-eight years of age, and his wife passed away September 15, 1878, when she was fifty-eight years of age. They were members of the Ger- man Evangelical church. In their family were nine children:
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August, residing in Hardin county; Henry, of Ackley, Hardin county; Herman, deceased; Amelia, the wife of Louis Hirth, of Franklin county; Mary, who married George Rudolph, of Osceola township; Carolina, the wife of H. C. Richtsmeier, of Hardin county; Minnie and Elizabeth, at home; and William F., of this review. The three oldest children were born in the city of Polle, Kreis Hameln, Hanover, Germany, and the others were all born in Freeport, Illinois.
William F. Thielke acquired his education in the public schools of Freeport, Illinois, and he came to Iowa with his parents in 1869. During his father's lifetime he aided in the operation of the home- stead and after his father's death inherited the farm, which he still operates. He gives his attention to general agricultural pursuits and also engages extensively in stock-raising and, being a progressive and farsighted business man, has met with gratifying success in the con- duct of his interests. He is a member of the Evangelical church and in politics votes independently, supporting men and measures rather than parties. He is a man of high character and is held in great esteem in his community.
DEWITT W. CLOCK.
Dewitt W. Clock, a well known and progressive agriculturist of Reeve township, is operating a farm near his birthplace, as he was born in Maysville, Franklin county, September 20, 1860, a son of E. L. Clock, of whom further mention is made elsewhere in this work. The subject of this review was reared upon his father's farm and acquired his education in the district schools. He has given his entire active life to agricultural pursuits and is now an extensive landholder, owning one hundred and sixty acres on section 23 and two hundred and forty acres on sections 21 and 22, Reeve town- ship. Upon this property he has made extensive improvements, erecting a good house and substantial barns and outbuildings, mak- ing his place second to none in the township.
Mr. Clock married Miss Nettie Green, who was born in Dodge county, Wisconsin, and who came to Franklin county in her girl- hood. Mr. and Mrs. Clock have a son, Merle John. Mr. Clock is a member of the Methodist church and gives his political allegiance to the republican party. He is now serving as township trustee and is interested in everything that pertains to community
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welfare. Having resided in this township during his entire life, he has become widely and favorably known here, and his personal characteristics have gained him the esteem and confidence of his neighbors and friends.
OLE HANSEN.
Ole Hansen, cashier of the Coulter Savings Bank and well known in financial circles of Franklin county, was born in Den- mark, May 4, 1857. He is a son of Hans and Mattie Christine Ole- sen, also natives of Denmark, who came to America in 1875 and located on a farm in Hamilton township, this county. The father died in 1907 and the mother has also passed away. To them were born three children: Carrie, the wife of Nels Peterson, of Coulter; Ole, of this review; and Hans P., of Hamilton township.
Ole Hansen came to America when he was a young man and at the age of twenty-three years established himself in mercantile business in Dows, Iowa. At the end of two years he located on a farm in Morgan township, Franklin county, and after operating this property for six years sold it and removed to Latimer, where he was engaged in the hardware and implement business. At the end of five years he bought a farm in Scott township, but sold this after one season and returned to Latimer, where he was for four years in the hardware business, later dealing in furniture and general merchandise. In 1902 a branch of the Citizens Bank of Hampton was established in Coulter and Mr. Hansen was connected with that institution for three years. At the end of that time the Coulter Savings Bank was organized and he was made cashier, a position he still holds. He has proven able and reliable and is regarded as an excellent financier, whose judgment is sound and whose sagacity is far-reaching.
On the 26th of June, 1879, Mr. Hansen was united in marriage to Miss Annie C. Johansen, a native of Denmark, and they have become the parents of seven children: Theodore, a general merchant in Rowan, Iowa; Hans O., assistant cashier in the Coulter Savings Bank; John, at home; Martha, the wife of J. H. Nume- lin, of Coulter, manager of the Interstate Lumber Company; Thomas C .; Walter; and Agnes.
Mr. Hansen is a member of the Lutheran church. He gives his political allegiance to the republican party and was for one
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term mayor of Coulter, giving to the city a progressive and straight- forward administration. His business affairs are carefully con- ducted and his substantial worth makes him a valued citizen as well as a progressive business man.
ISAAC WENGER MYERS.
No tribute high enough can be paid to Isaac Wenger Myers, pioneer of Franklin county and one of its foremost citizens. A patriotic American and a true Christian gentleman, Mr. Myers has led a life that may well be called exemplary. His efforts have resulted in prosperity, and he has contributed toward progress and advancement in various walks of endeavor. Not only has he given much attention to the dairying industry, but he has been one of the foremost teachers of youth, has contributed toward the growth of Hampton by building operations and has done valuable and uplift- ing work in the spread of Christianity.
Isaac Wenger Myers, familiarly known as "I. W.," was born in Waterloo county, Ontario, Canada, November 20, 1839. His par- ents were Pennsylvanians. His father's genealogy, as given in the old German family Bible, begins with Christian Meyer, of Spring- field township, York county, Pennsylvania, who was born December 10, 1708, and died in 1779. He lies buried in the family cemetery on his own estate. His wife was Elizabeth Kauffman. The sketch given below is gleaned from the Myers family history, compiled by the Rev. A. J. Fretz, of Milton, New Jersey.
"Christian Meyer was a minister of the Gospel in the German Baptist Brethren church. Two of his sons, John and Andrew, became ministers of the same church, Andrew attaining to the office of bishop. Both were born on their father's estate, John in 1748, and Andrew in 1753. John was married to Barbara Kauffman and Andrew to Magdalena Keller. Each became owner of half the father's estate and both were buried in the family cemetery. The patent to John's part of the estate was made by the commonwealth of Pennsylvania in 1811. His name in that indenture was given as John Myers. From this time on, three forms of spelling the family name were used, viz., Meyer, Myers and Meyers. John's son, born on the estate in 1778, was John Myers, second. He married Bar- bara Negley. The oldest son of this union was John Myers, third, father of I. W. Myers. He was born August 21, 1808, on the same
MR. AND MRS. ISAAC W. MYERS
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estate. He left his father's home at the age of twenty-one and found work grading the railroad bed, then building from Baltimore to Ellicott's mill, the first railroad built in the United States. His next move was to Waterloo county, Ontario, Canada, arriving there in April, 1832. Here he was married to Mary Wenger, of Lancas- ter county, Pennsylvania, who had preceded him to the province with her widowed mother. In 1834, he purchased the north half of lot No. 22 (one hundred and eighty acres) of the German Company tract in the township of Woolwich. Four years later he moved into the log house of this forest-hidden home (which became the birth- place of "I. W."), one mile east of Heidelburg. He had been one of Her Majesty's magistrates for several years, when, in 1841, he was elected a member of the council of the district of Wellington. He represented Woolwich township and the entire "Queen's Bush" territory to Lake Huron. Later, when county authority was estab- lished, he represented Woolwich in the county council till 1863. He had six sons and seven daughters. At his death, which occurred in 1883, his estate was valued at $43,000. The stone residence which he built on his homestead, remains a monument to his rugged industry.
"On the mother's side of his ancestry, I. W. Myers appears, according to a history compiled by J. G. Wenger, of Rittman, Ohio, as one of the fifth generation of the descendants of Christian Wen- ger, who, when a young man, landed at Philadelphia in the ship Molley, on September 30, 1727, and located in Lancaster county, Pennsylvania. He married Eve Grabiel. Their son, John Wenger, born in 1731, who married Anna Sherk, was I. W. Myers' great- grandfather, and John's son, Joseph Wenger, born in 1769, who married Elizabeth Zimmerman, was his grandfather. Joseph's daughter, Mary Wenger, born in 1814, was Mr. Myers' mother.
"Christian was a descendant of the Wengers who occupied the scenic 'Wenger Alps' in Switzerland, and who moved from there to the Palatinate, then to Lancaster county, Pennsylvania, the cause of each move being religious persecution."
I. W. Myers lived with his parents until eighteen years of age, working on the father's farm in the summer and attending district school during the winter. Early recognizing the value of an educa- tion, he began at the age of fourteen, a system of self culture as an evening pastime. Among the books used were Smith's Illustrated Astronomy, Kirkham's Grammar, Davie's Algebra and the Sacred Melodeon, which contributed largely to the beginning of his edu- cation. Mr. Myers organized and taught in his father's home even-
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ing classes, composed of his brothers and sisters and the youth of the neighborhood. Twice his father permitted him to attend for a term the Galt Collegiate Institute, to prepare himself for the posi- tion of a common-school teacher. This career began at the age of eighteen in his home district, where he spent two years. He then became principal of the St. Jacobs (Ontario) school. At the close of a three-year term he went to Lena, Jo Daviess county, Illinois, arriving there in January, 1864. In the fall of that year President Lincoln issued a call for three hundred thousand more volunteers and in many cases men of families enlisted to avoid the draft. It was at this time that I. W. Myers showed his true spirit by tearing up the papers which he brought from Canada and which proved him to be a British subject and hence would have exempted him from the draft. He enlisted from Jo Daviess county for one year, serving to the end of the war, as a private in Company G, One Hundred and Forty-seventh Illinois Volunteer Infantry, First Brigade, Second Division, the Army of the Cumberland, under General Thomas. The chief work of the regiment was to clear northern Georgia of its guerrilla bands.
At the close of the Civil war Mr. Myers was taken sick with typhoid fever. He was treated in the Brigade Hospital, in the brick courthouse, at Calhoun, Georgia, and in a series of hospi- tals until he reached the United States Marine Hospital, at Chi- cago, from which he was honorably discharged, on August 3, 1865. His service entitled him to immediate citizenship.
During the following year he taught school where Stockton, Illinois, is now located, and the next year was principal of the Lena school, and in the following year, of the Davis ( Illinois) school. While teaching at Lena he was married on October 28, 1866, to Miss Alice Francisco, a daughter of the late Charles Fran- cisco, of McHenry county, Illinois.
It was in the fall of 1868 that Mr. Myers moved to Franklin county, Iowa, purchasing and locating on the east half of section 24, in Hamilton township. He broke the tract and farmed it suc- cessfully for ten years, teaching school during the winter months. At various times he held the office of assessor, township clerk and justice of the peace. He was also elected county superintendent of schools, serving a two-year term in that office while living on his farm. Later he was again chosen to the office and moved to Hampton, where he has ever since made his home. At the close of his term, January 1. 1880, he began the development of the creamery interests of the county. He built and operated the Hamp-
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ton Creamery and at the urgent request of a leading Sheffield mer- chant, he built one in that town. Under similar conditions he built a creamery at Latimer and later another at Geneva. The scarcity of milk and cream often created hardships in the business. How- ever, on the whole, his enterprises proved successful and returns were satisfactory. When milk became more plentiful, the wave of co- operative creameries swept over the country and with it were swept away Mr. Myers' establishments, his health and his prosperity. He was then fifty-six years of age. In the hope of regaining his health and beginning life over again, he spent part of his time for many years as traveling agent for W. B. Lunn's Sons, of New York city, and during this period he built the Myers block in 1901, and to this he added the corner building in 1912, so that the entire build- ing now constitutes the corner block, occupying the entire front of lot 8, block 9, on North Reeve street, Hampton.
As soon as his health permitted, Mr. Myers returned to his favor- ite occupation. At the age of sixty-five he passed an examination and obtained a first-grade teacher's certificate, taking over a school in his old township. The following year he taught in Bradford and in the fall of 1908 was elected principal of the school at Earling, Iowa. After teaching for three years there the state granted him a life certificate, good anywhere in the state.
Mr. Myers is the possessor of the World's Fair medal, a diploma earned at the Chicago Columbian Exposition in 1893 by his exhibits of dairy products. He keeps in touch with his comrades who par- ticipated in the great struggle for the preservation of the Union as a member of the Grand Army, and is now adjutant and past com- mander of J. W. McKenzie Post, No. 81, department of Iowa. He is also an ex-staff officer of the department. He is a member of the Methodist Episcopal church at Hampton and takes a deep interest in all church affairs. Politically, he has ever been a republican but when the party rent itself in twain he followed the Roosevelt wing.
Alice (Francisco) Myers, the wife of I. W. Myers, was born July 30, 1845, at Woodstock, Illinois. Through her mother, Helen M. (Clark) Francisco, who was a great-granddaughter of Beau- mont Clark, a soldier of the Revolutionary war, she is eligible to membership in the D. A. R. Society. She is active in the Woman's Relief Corps work, in church and missionary work and in other equally laudable efforts. She has been a life-long Sunday-school teacher. In early life she taught school and was so engaged at Lena and Davis, Illinois, with her husband, and also in Franklin county during the pioneer days.
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