USA > Iowa > Jackson County > History of Jackson County, Iowa; Volume II > Part 44
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Through the careful conduct of his business interests and the success which has attended his efforts, Mr. Struve has been enabled to provide a comfortable home for his family and to secure for them not only the necessities but also some of the luxuries of life. He and his wife affiliate with the Methodist Epis- copal church and are people of kindly spirit who have won a large circle of friends in the community, while their home is justly celebrated for its gracious hospitality. Politically Mr. Struve is a republican and has served upon the school board. Fraternally he is connected with Camp No. 1026, M. W. A., at Miles, and with the local lodge of the Modern Brotherhood of America, and his wife is identified with the auxiliary bodies to these organizations.
DETLEF KIRCHHOFF.
Detlef Kirchhoff, who has recently joined the agricultural community of Maquoketa township, was born in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany, August 15, 1859. His parents, Jocum and Dora (Kath) Kirchhoff, were both natives of the same province of the fatherland and never came to America. Indeed, Det- lef Kirchhoff had already reached man's estate before he determined to try his fortunes in this country. In April, 1881, he crossed the ocean and after land-
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ing on our shores came to Iowa. In Davenport he located and lived for the next fifteen years, finding employment in a sawmill for the greater part of that period, while he also did teaming for U. N. Roberts Company. In 1896 he left the city and removed to Shelby county, Iowa, where he rented a farm. Six years later, in 1903, he came to Jackson county, assuming the management of the tract of land on which he now lives and which belongs to his wife. Here he pursues general farming and raises Hereford cattle of good grade. He has been industrious so that every year he reaps generous harvests and derives a gratifying income from his stock business.
Mr. Kirchhoff has been twice married. In Davenport, in 1883, he wedded Miss Mary Hansen. She died in Shelby county in 1897, leaving five children : Dora, who is the wife of Fred Kortum, of Manning, Iowa; William, who is en- gaged in farming in Perry township; and Annie, Edward and Paulina, who are living with their father. In 1902 Mr. Kirchhoff married a second time, his wife having been Mrs. Minnie Jepsen, the widow of Henry Jepsen. She was the mother of four children by her first marriage: Annie, who is the wife of Mar- tin Schmidt, of Clinton county; Mary, who is the wife of William Wiese, of Perry township; Minnie, who married Charles Hamilton and is living in Colo- rado; and Henry, who is a resident of Perry township.
On questions of national importance, Mr. Kirchhoff invariably votes the straight democratic ticket, but in local affairs his support is given to a man ir- respective of party allegiance. While he is interested in public matters he cannot be called an office seeker, although at present he is one of the directors of school district No. 8.
AZARIAH PRUSIA.
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Azariah Prusia, deceased, was a native of Michigan, his birth having occurred in 1821. His father, George Prusia, was a native of the state of New York, and a tanner by trade. When Mr. Prusia was only twelve years of age death bereft him of his mother and in course of time his father married again. In 1837 when he was sixteen years old he resolved to leave home and to go out in the world to seek his fortune. He must have been a plucky youth for he walked from Ann Arbor to Jackson county with his dog and gun. He settled first in Van Buren township, where he took up one hundred and sixty acres of land and proceded to break the prairie with ox teams. This was his first ex- perience at farming, for he had learned his father's trade, that of tanning, but he succeeded in mastering his new occupation, established a home and for many years engaged in general farming.
When Mr. Prusia was thirty years of age he was married November 4, 1851, to Miss Louisa Osburn. She is a daughter of Samuel Osburn, a native of New York state, who came to Iowa in 1849 and became a Van Buren county agriculturist. Three children blessed this union : George W., deceased; Charley O., who is married and living on the old homestead; and Ann Jeanette, who died in infancy. Charley married Miss Annie Pipke and has one child, Harry.
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At the time of this marriage in 1884, his parents bought a home in Preston and removed to town. Mrs. Prusia is still living here but Mr. Prusia passed on to his reward in April, 1894.
Mr. Prusia gave a life-long allegiance to the democratic party and took much interest in current affairs. Watching the growth of Iowa from pioneer days to the high rank she ultimately attained among the states, he also con- tributed in his own measure to her advancement. He was a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and is affectionately remembered by a host of friends.
JOSEPH SCHAEFER.
For the greater part of four decades Joseph Schaefer has been a factor in the agricultural and stock-raising interests of Jackson county and now owns and operates a farm of two hundred and fifty-five acres on section 19, Washington township. He is one of the many sturdy sons Germany has contributed to the citizenship of this country, his birth having occurred in the village of Eltos, March 19, 1846. His father, Jacob Schaefer, was also a native of the same place and was there engaged in farming until his death, which occurred in the spring of 1874. His wife, who bore the maiden name of Eva Sahlin, was born in Neudorf, Germany, and spent her entire life in the old country. Her death occurred when she was fifty-seven years of age. Three of her sons sought homes in America, the others being Louis, who died in Marcus, Cherokee county, Iowa; and George, who is a resident of Clinton county, this state.
Reared in the country of his birth, Joseph Schaefer received a good educa- tion in its public schools and upon putting aside his text-books learned the trade of a blacksmith, which he followed for about six years. In the meantime, how- ever, reports of the opportunities of the new world had reached his ears, and at the age of twenty-two he decided to emigrate to the United States to avail him- self of them. After landing upon our shores he worked in Rochester, New York, for three months and then came west as far as Galena, Illinois, whence he crossed the river to Tete des Morts township, Jackson county, Iowa. There he worked for others until 1873, when he married and rented a farm of two hun- dred acres. cultivating it for three years. He then bought a place of one hun- dred and sixty acres, to which he devoted his time and energies until 1880, when he sold it and removed to Washington township, renting a farm of three hundred and forty acres for two years. He then purchased a house and lot in Spragueville, Van Buren township, and after residing there for eleven years bought four hundred and fifty-six acres on sections 19, 29 and 30, Washington township, a part of the property, however, lying in Jackson township. Later he gave one hundred and sixty acres to his oldest son, and some of the land was taken off by a road, so that he now has two hundred and fifty-five acres in the home farm. He erected all the new buildings which are upon the place and in 1905 built the house, the improvements indicating his progressive spirit and the careful supervision of his interests. In addition to raising grain Mr.
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Schaefer also raises and feeds Hereford cattle, Poland China hogs, a few colts and some sheep and has found this branch of his business a profitable one.
In Bellevue, September 23, 1873, was celebrated the marriage of Mr. Schaefer and Miss Margaret Krampe, a daughter of Albert and Mary (Ricestoper) Krampe, residents of Bellevue township, and unto them have been born nine children, as follows: John, a farmer of Washington township; Edith, who is the wife of August Kilburg, also a resident of that township; Louis, who is on the police force of St. Louis, Missouri; Elizabeth, the wife of Charles Kilburg, of Washington township; Joseph, who is twenty-five years of age and lives in Oklahoma; George, who is twenty-three and is still at home; and Katherine, Margaret and Mary A., who are twenty, eighteen and fifteen years of age, re- spectively, and are likewise at home.
The family are members of the Catholic church of New Spring Brook and actively and helpfully interested in its work. When he became a naturalized citizen, Mr. Schaefer found expression for his political views in the principles of the democratic party and has since given to it his unfaltering support. He is an interested and well informed spectator of events, but does not aspire to office, feeling that his private affairs demand his entire attention. He has man- aged these carefully and well, and the substantial return he has gained from his labors places him among the representative citizens of Jackson county.
FRED BALSTER.
Fred Balster is one of the worthy citizens that Germany has furnished to Jackson county, and he now owns a valuable farm consisting of two hundred and thirteen acres. His birth occurred in Hanover, on the 31st of August, 1852, his parents being Herman and Minnie (Wehaga) Balster, who were likewise natives of the fatherland, where the mother passed away. The father, however, came to the United States in 1873, after which he made his home in Baldwin, Iowa, until a short time prior to his demise, when he went to live with his son Fred and passed away in his home in 1897. In his family were six sons, namely : Herman, who died in Germany; Fred, of this review ; Louis, who is engaged in the furni- ture and undertaking business at Lost Nation, Iowa; August, who follows farm- ing in Brule county, South Dakota; and William and Henry, who also follow farming and make their home in Seward county, Nebraska.
Fred Balster spent the period of his boyhood and youth in the home of his parents in Germany and attended school there to the age of fourteen years. He then worked on a farm and at the age of nineteen years, believing that he might enjoy better advantages in the new world, he came to the United States and for three years thereafter worked at farm labor near Baldwin. He then rented a tract of land, operating the same for three years, at the end of which time he found himself in possession of a sum of money that justified the purchase of land. He accordingly bought a farm in Jones county and after operating the same for five years, disposed of his holdings there and invested his money in his present farm of two hundred and thirteen acres, located on sections 6 and 7,
MR. AND MRS. FRED BALSTER
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Monmouth township, and a small portion in Brandon township, comprising twenty acres of timber land. Mr. Balster has always engaged in general farming and he also makes a specialty of raising Poland China hogs. His farm is im- proved with good buildings. He enlarged and remodeled the house and also built a good barn, and his farm is considered one of the valuable tracts of that section of Jackson county. He is also interested in the bank at Monmouth and likewise has stock in the telephone company at this place.
Mr. Balster established a home of his own in 1874 by his marriage to Miss Isabel Gibson, the wedding ceremony being performed in Millrock. Mrs. Balster was born in a log house on a farm in Monmouth township, her natal day being November 28, 1851. Her parents, Mathew and Susanna (Bickford) Gibson, were pioneer settlers of that township. The former was born in Ohio and coming to Iowa in the fall of 1849, located in Monmouth township, where he followed his trade of carpentering. He continued to make this his home until his death about fourteen years ago. The mother, who was born in Maine, was married in Ohio and became the mother of five children but the eldest died in infancy in Ohio, while the second and fourth members, Amanda and Elizabeth, have also passed away, leaving Mrs. Balster and an elder brother, C. W. Gibson, of Monmouth, as the only survivors. The mother is still living and makes her home with Mr. and Mrs. Balster.
The marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Balster has been blessed with three children. a daughter and two sons. Mary Etta is the wife of Henry Kriete and they reside in Monmouth township. Ernest and Delbert are still under the parental roof.
In politics Mr. Balster gives his support to the democratic party where national issues are involved but at local elections he casts an independent ballot. His religious faith is indicated by his membership in the Lutheran church, while his fraternal relations connect him with the Modern Woodmen and the Bankers Reserve at Monmouth. Mrs. Balster belongs to the Royal Neighbors. Coming to America in early manhood and having no financial assistance, Mr. Balster at once set to work to gain a start in the business world and through the improve- ment of every opportunity that has come to him he has steadily worked his way upward until today he deserves the place he now occupies among the well-to-do and substantial citizens of eastern Iowa.
ALFRED W. GIDDINGS.
Alfred W. Giddings, well known as a representative of the farming interests of Iowa township, is living on section 14, where he carries on general agricul- tural pursuits and also engages in stock raising. A native of London, England, he was born June 2, 1862, a son of Harold and Ann (Pope) Giddings. The parents, whose births also occurred on the merrie isle, emigrated to the United States in 1864 and coming west to Iowa almost immediately after disembarking settled in Jackson county, where the father secured land and engaged in farming with considerable success. He died in 1892, but his widow is still living at the advanced age of eighty years. In their family were seven children: Harold, of
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Iowa township; John G., also a resident of this township; Helen, deceased; Alfred W., the subject of this review; Rosy, deceased; Jessie, the wife of G. A. Hodges, of Jackson county; and William W., who has passed away.
Alfred W. Giddings was about two years of age when his parents established their home in Jackson county and was reared upon the farm in Iowa township. He became a pupil in the district school of his locality when of suitable age, that he might gain an acquaintance with the fundamental branches of English educa- tion, and while he pursued his lessons he assisted his father in the work in the fields. In this manner he was well equipped for the practical duties of life when, at the age of twenty-seven years, he decided to engage in agricultural pursuits on his own account. For three years he rented a farm in Ida county, Iowa, and then returned to Jackson county and bought the homestead. It consists of one hun- dred and seventy-nine acres on section 14, Iowa township, and he also has one hundred and eighty-two acres in Oklahoma. To the further cultivation of his farm Mr. Giddings has devoted himself with unwearying industry. He has also engaged extensively in raising and feeding stock, his enterprise and progressive methods being rewarded with generous returns so that he deserves a place among the representative stockmen of his locality.
It was in 1888 that Mr. Giddings was united in- marriage to Miss Mina Hodges, who was born in Carroll county, Illinois, April 21, 1870, and is a daughter of Sidney and Sarah (Coates) Hodges. They were natives of New York state and Illinois, respectively, and the last years of their lives were spent in Jackson county, Iowa. Both are now deceased. Mrs. Giddings was one of a family of three children and through her marriage has become the mother of five, as follows: Elmer S., who was born November 7, 1888; Erma May, April 20, 1890; Mabel, November 28, 1892; Malfred W., May 29, 1900; and Harold W., November 10, 1902.
Mr. Giddings exercises his right of franchise in behalf of the interests of the republican party but does not aspire to office and fraternally enjoys pleasant rela- tions with lodge No. 29, I. O. O. F., and camp No. 122, M. W. A., at Sabula, while his wife belongs to the Yeomen lodge, No. 2051, also located at Sabula. Public-spirited and progressive, he takes an active interest in all that pertains to the welfare of the community, and in his business life he has conducted his affairs so energetically and honorably that he has gained success and also the respect of his fellowmen.
WILLIAM F. SCHIRMER.
William F. Schirmer, editor and publisher of the Bellevue Leader, which un- der his management is now enjoying the largest circulation which it has ever had, occupies a place of prominence in journalistic circles and public affairs in Belle- vite, his native city, where his entire life has been passed with the exception of a few months spent in Minnesota and in Muscatine, Iowa. Born on the 16th of June, 1873, he is a son of Frank and Bertha (Rechow) Schirmer, natives of Ger- many, who came to America with their parents in early childhood and were
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married in Jackson county. The father passed away in 1889 in Denver, Colo- rado, while there on a mining proposition. The mother still survives and makes her home in Bellevue.
Their only child, William F. Schirmer, at the usual age became a pupil in the public schools, completing his education by graduation from the Bellevue high school in 1889. After laying aside his text-books he was employed as a clerk in a store for about a year and then, in 1890, entered the office of the Bellevue Leader, with which he has been connected to the present day. The Leader was established in 1870 by Major W. O. Evans, who was recognized as one of the best newspaper men in the state, and under his direction Mr. Schirmer received thorough training along journalistic lines. He began his career in the newspaper office in the humble position of devil, but he was quick to learn and, being imbued with the determination to succeed in his chosen life work, he pushed his way steadily upward through various promotions until, upon the death of Major Evans in 1895, he became managing editor, handling the paper for the estate until February, 1907, when he purchased it from the heirs and has since concen- trated his energies upon its management. The local newspaper that amounts to anything expends the most of its energy in gathering and printing home news, but its manager knows that while home news is of the greatest importance, some- thing else is required. The people want to be kept informed in regard to what is going on throughout the state and the country. They may not care for lengthy reports of distant events, but they do want the important facts. Give them this news in condensed form and they are content. By reason of his recognition of these facts and his attempt to carry them out in every instance, Mr. Schirmer has been able to hold the attention of the general public through the columns of his paper, which is now recognized as one of the leading journals of the county. Fair and unbiased in his treatment of all subjects, progressive and up-to-date in his methods and honorable and upright in his dealings, he has every reason to be proud of the success which he has attained, for, under his careful and wise man- agement, the Leader has flourished and is now enjoying the greatest prosperity which it has had since its inception.
It was on the 12th of June, 1901, that Mr. Schirmer was united in marriage to Miss Antoinette Wickie, who was born on a farm near Bellevue on the 19th of April, 1878. She is a daughter of Henry and Rosena (Tackman) Wickie, the former deceased and the latter a resident of Bellevue. One child has been born unto them, Allan Faber, whose birth occurred on the 10th of August, 1902. A most precocious little lad, he is the light and life of the household.
The religious faith of Mr. Schirmer is indicated by his membership in the Presbyterian church, in which he is serving as an elder and superintendent of the Sunday school while fraternally he is connected with Bellevue Lodge, No. 51,. A. F. & A. M. A lifelong republican in politics, he has been an active and influ- ential worker in local party ranks, while he is well known in the business circles of the town as secretary of the Commercial Club. Not only has he prospered in business, but he has also been a factor in the public life of the community, sup- porting many public movements and taking a commendable interest in all those things which are a matter of civic virtue and civic pride. Choosing journalism as a life work, he has made such progress in his chosen calling that. although he
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began in the most humble capacity, he is now accorded a high position among those who direct their efforts in the same field of activity. Success has come to him as the legitimate and logical result of intelligence and well directed effort, and he stands as a splendid example of the power and force of honorable man- hood, of earnest purpose and of high principle.
WILLIAM GRAHAM.
William Graham, the third son of William and Hannah Houston Graham, was born at Montgomery, Orange county, New York, March 2, 1831. His father was a farmer and a man of influence in the community where he lived, and his mother was a graduate of Miss Pierce's famous school at Litchfield, Connecticut, and both were descended from the Scotch-Irish race, who were the early settlers of that region. The elder Graham represented his county in the New York legislature in 1850, and the next year he received, unsolicited, a unanimous nomination of his party for the state senate, which he declined al- though his election was a certainty, and the next year he refused to allow the mention of his name as a candidate for congress.
The subject of this sketch prepared for college at Montgomery Academy and, on applying for admission to Union College at the age of eighteen, was found on examination prepared to enter the junior class. His class number on enter- ing was seventy, but he graduated two years afterward third in his class, which maintained a higher average of scholarship than any class previously graduated, and was elected a member of the Phi Beta Kappa society. The next year he spent in teaching in the Poughkeepsie Collegiate Institute at College Hill, Pough- keepsie, and then entered the office of Hon. John J. Monell, in Newburgh, New York, and spent the following three years in the study of the law, and was admitted to practice in the supreme court at Brooklyn, January 8, 1856.
While a law student he was a successful manager of the Newburgh Gas Light Company, but soon after his admission to the bar he came to Iowa and located at Bellevue in August, 1856. He was admitted to the bar in Jackson county, September 8, 1856, and immediately entered into partnership with Hon. John B. Booth, who had been a prominent lawyer and politician in New York and who had shortly before retired from the district bench of Iowa. The firm of Booth & Graham continued until dissolved by the death of Judge Booth in February, 1869, although Mr. Graham had before that time removed to Dubuque. This firm enjoyed a large and lucrative practice, and Mr. Graham still attends every term of court in Jackson county and has not missed a half dozen terms since coming to the state, and he has never held any position nor engaged in any business that would interrupt his practice for even a day, mak- ing nearly fifty-four years of continuous and uninterrupted practice, a record such as very few lawyers in Iowa can exhibit.
In June, 1858, Mr. Graham married Miss Harriet Watson, of Catskill, New York. She was a daughter of Hon. Malbone Watson, who was one of the
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judges of the supreme court of that state. For some reason Mrs. Graham's health was not good all the time they resided in Bellevue, and on that account in 1867, they removed to Dubuque. Mrs. Graham died suddenly in March, 1894. Of their many children four, three sons and a daughter, still survive. One, Rev, Malbone W. Graham, D. D., after fourteen years service as a mis- sionary in South America is now pastor of the Presbyterian church at Williams, Iowa. The other three with their families are citizens of western South Dakota.
While residing in Jackson county, Mr. Graham took an active part in politics and was influential in the councils of the democratic party of this county. In 1861 he was elected mayor of Bellevue. At the time of his election the town was so deeply in debt that the town warrants could not be sold for more than fifteen cents on the dollar. The council put the matter in his hands and at the close of his term every outstanding obligation of the town had been re- tired, and this was done although there was at no time during the year a single dollar in the treasury. This was accomplished by a vigorous and syste- matic collection of delinquent taxes and other resources of the town, all of which could be paid by turning in town warrants at their face.
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