USA > Iowa > Linn County > History of Linn County Iowa : from its earliest settlement to the present time, Volume II > Part 84
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JOSEPH SINDELAR
Joseph Sindelar, a representative of one of the old Bohemian families of Cedar Rapids, his native city, was born December 13, 1876, and is a son of Ignatz and Anna (Krejei) Sindelar, who were natives of Bohemia, where they were reared and married. In 1869 they erossed the Atlantic to the United States, landing at New York city, but did not tarry on the eastern coast. They made their way at once into the interior of the country, with Cedar Rapids as their desination. Mr. Sindelar was a tailor by trade but as there was no work to be seeured in that line at the time, he accepted any employment which would give him an honest livelihood, being engaged in various kinds of labor. For some months he was employed on the section and he also sawed wood and worked on the construction of the Burlington, Cedar Rapids & Northern Railway. When two years had passed he found employment at his trade and for thirty-five years worked at the tailor's beneh in Cedar Rapids. He then established a saloon, which he conducted for eight years, when in 1901 he turned over the business to his two sons, Frank and Joseph. with Charles Rubek as a partner. This business was conducted under the firm style of Sindelar Brothers & Rubek.
In 1902 Joseph Sindelar became sole proprietor of the business, which he has since conducted independently. He was reared at home and attended the public sehools of this city until about seventeen years of age, when he began serving an apprenticeship to the tailor's trade under his father, following that pursuit for
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four years. He continued as his father's assistant when the latter retired from tailoring and entered the saloon business. The son was associated therewith until 1898, at which time he enlisted for service in the Spanish-American war and was with the army for three years, becoming a member of the band of the Fifth Ohio Volunteer Infantry. He enlisted from Cleveland, Ohio, whither he had gone about the time of the outbreak of the war between the United States and Spain. He was with that command for about a year and after the elose of hos- tilities was honorably discharged. He then reenlisted in the Thirty-second Unit- ed States Infantry for service in the Philippines, in which field he continued for two years. On his return to the United States in 1901 he became associated with his brother Frank and with Mr. Rubek in purchasing the father's saloon business, and one year later Joseph Sindelar became sole proprietor.
In his political views Mr. Sindelar is a republican, always giving his allegiance to the party. He belongs to the Fraternal Order of Eagles; to the Foresters of America ; to the Catholic Turners Society ; to Rad Mladocech, Z. C. B. J .; Dram Kluh Ceska Lipa ; and the Kadets of St. George, Z. C. K. J. He is also a member of the Bohemian Catholic church and is serving on its board of trustees.
JOIN BEATTY
For over fifty-five years John Beatty has now been a resident of Fayette township and is numbered among the most substantial farmers of the community. His early home, however, was on the other side of the Atlantie, for he was born in Ireland, July 12, 1836, a son of Walter and Ann (Armstrong) Beatty, also natives of the Emerald isle, who brought their family to the United States in 1850 and lived for four years in Morgan county, Ohio. In 1854 they came to Linn county. Iowa, and located in Fayette township on the farm where our subjeet now resides. Here the father died in 1877. He was a very industrious, energetic man, and his labors were crowned with sueeess so that at the time of his death he owned about two hundred and fifty acres of good farming land.
Being only fourteen years of age when the family crossed the Atlantic, John Beatty has spent the greater part of his life in this country and is indebted to the publie schools for the educational privileges he enjoyed. He grew to manhood in Linn county and throughout his business eareer has carried on farming. In 1863 he went to Kansas, where he remained until 1877, when he returned to Linn county and bought land in Franklin and Montgomery counties, but after the death of his father he returned to the old homestead, the farm having passed into the possession of himself and sister who has since died. Besides this farm he owns other property to the amount of about six hundred acres and in its cultivation has met with marked success, being today regarded as one of the most successful farmers and substantial citizens of the township. By his ballot he usually sup- ports the men and measures of the democratic party but has taken no active part in politics aside from voting, preferring to give his undivided attention to his agricultural interests.
JOSEPH J. KRIZ
A well improved farm of one hundred and sixty acres, located on seetion 19. College township, is the home of Joseph J. Kriz, who devotes his time to general farming and stoek-raising. Ile is a native of Bohemia. born August 2, 1868. and when three years of age was brought to America by his parents, Mr. and Mrs. Frank Kriz, who were born in that country in 1841. the year 1871 witness- ing their arrival in the new world. They established their home on a farm of
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eighty acres in College township, which is still their place of residence. With them are two daughters, Mary and Antony, and they also have a daughter, Mrs. Emma Kovar, living in Cedar Rapids.
Joseph J. Kriz spent the period of his boyhood and youth as most farm boys do, pursuing his studies in the public schools and indulging in the pleasures and sports of youth, while in the periods of vacation he was trained in the work of the fields. At the age of eighteen years he put aside his text-books and from that time until his twenty-fourth year he gave his father the benefit of his labor. He then began business on his own account by operating forty aeres of the home place and as the years have passed and he has prospered he has added to his holdings until his farm now embraces one hundred and sixty aeres of finely improved land, which is devoted to generel farming and stoek-raising. He raises draft horses and hogs for the market and in this work is meeting with success, while his fields annually yield rieh harvests. He has built to and re- modeled the old home, which was erected forty years ago, and it is now one of the most modern structures to be found in College township.
Mr. Kriz was married in 1893 to Miss Rose Cerveney, a daughter of Joseph and Katherine Cerveney, pioneer settlers and well known farming people of Linn county. Unto Mr. and Mrs. Kriz have been born four children : Tillie, now seventeen years of age; Julia, who is sixteen years old; Ludomir, whose birth occurred August 12, 1897 ; and Frank, who was born on the Sth of July, 1902.
Mr. Kriz is independent in polities, supporting the men whom he deems best fitted for publie office, regardless of party affiliation. A publie-spirited citizen, he has been called by his fellow townsmen to fill some offiees, having served as constable for one term, while for two terms he was school director. His religious faith is indicated by his membership in the Reformed Evangelical church. Although born across the water, practically his entire life has been passed in Linn county, so that he is deeply interested in its development and progress and has done not a little to further the progress of this section of Iowa, where he is now elassed with the representative farmers.
ELMER E. YOUNG
Elmer E. Young, now carrying on business in Palo as a dealer in automobiles, was born in Canton township, Benton county, Iowa, October 12, 1860, and is a son of Thomas and Charlotte A. (Hntehins) Yonng, of whom extended mention is made in the sketeh of Leslie B. Young on another page of this volume. He was reared to agricultural pursuits on the home farm and acquired a good practical edueation in the district schools of the neighborhood. At the age of twenty years he began his business career as a farmer and continued to engage in agri- cultural pursuits for sometime. At first he operated a portion of his father's land, but in the early '90s acquired a farm of his own in Clinton township, Linn county, on which he located and to the improvement and cultivation of which he devoted his entire time and attention until the fall of 1909, when he turned over the management of the place to his sons, Elmer G. and George J., and removed to Palo. There he built a garage and has since engaged in the automobile busi- ness in which he is now meeting with excellent success. IIe is a wide-awake, energetie business man and in his new undertaking has built up a large trade which is proving very profitable.
Mr. Young was married on March 9, 1880, the lady of his choice being Miss Emma B. Jones, of Shellsburg, Iowa. They became the parents of five children. namely : Thomas C., who is now engaged in farming in Clinton township, this county ; Dessie A., the wife of Everett Owens of Canton township, Benton county ;
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Elmer G., who married Miss Lizzie Farrell, of Linn eounty and is now operating the home farm in Clinton township, Linn county ; George J., who married Miss Florence Stark and is also on the home farm with his brother; and John Le Roy, who is with his father in the automobile business.
Mr. Young is a stanch supporter of the democratic party and its principles but has never been a politician in the sense of office seeking, preferring to devote his entire time to his business interests. Throughout life he has made his home in this section of the state and has become widely and favorably known, those who know him best being among his stanehest friends.
WILLIAM L. WELLER
Many tangible evidences can be eited of the publie spirit of William L. Weller. whose labors on the whole were an element in material upbuilding and progress here. The steps in the orderly progression which marked his life work are easily discernible, and the story of his life is the story of honest integrity and thrift. Canada elaimed him as one of her native sons, his birth having ocenrred in Peter- borough, Ontario, September 5, 1846. His parents were Lorenzo R. and Corintha D. (Bettes) Weller, whose family numbered eight children.
The boyhood and youth of William h. Weller were passed in Coburg, Canada, and he was indebted to the publie school system of that place for the educational opportunities he enjoyed. Believing that business advantages were more quickly secured across the border, he went to Oswego, New York, when seventeen years of age and there spent two years as an employe in a drug store, during which time he gained a thorough knowledge of the business which he had determined to make his life work.
A review of trade conditions existing in different parts of the country led him to the resolution to seek a home in the middle west, and from Buffalo he sailed around the Great Lakes to Chicago, thenee coming to Iowa, visiting every town between Fulton and Cedar Rapids in search of a favorable location for a drug store. He had not a friend in this city when he arrived in March, 1866, and. utterly unknown, he began business in a small room, twelve by twenty-four feet. on First avenue, opening his doors on the 6th of March, 1866. Patronage soon came to him and was continued, for those who gave him their trade recognized his enterprise and his honesty in all dealings. Three years later he sought a new location, which he occupied for fifteen years and then erected the Weller block at the corner of Third avenue and Third street - a three-story briek structure forty by ninety feet. This was at the time the largest business block in this city. To its construction Mr. Weller gave his personal supervision and from the first oe- enpied the main floor as a drug store. For forty-four years, or until his death January 15, 1902, he was numbered among the druggists of Cedar Rapids and throughout this period maintained a prominent place among the leading mer- chants of the eity, developing his business to keep pace with the growth of the city and at all times maintaining the same honorable policy upon which he estab- lished his enterprise many years ago. For a long period he held membership with the State Pharmaceutical Association. It was not alone in the line of the drug business that he put forth effective effort. He was widely known for his opera- tions in the real-estate field and his holdings ineluded mueh valuable business and residence property. He also laid out two additions on the west side of the eity, known as Weller's first and second additions, and both of these brought him substantial and gratifying financial returns. He was also the owner of consider- able farm land and his judgment in realty values was notably safe and reliable.
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In his political views Mr. Weller was a republican, always giving his aid to the party. He became one of the charter members and organizers of the Occi- dental Club and was always popular in that organization and among the business men of the eity, his personal characteristics and social qualities being pronounced. so that he was an acceptable companion in any society in which intelligence is a necessary attribute to agreeableness.
DR. SOLON M. LANGWORTHY
Well equipped for the life work he has undertaken, Dr. Solon M. Langworthy has won substantial success in the active practice of his profession. A native of Iowa, he was born in Dubuque on the 23d of March. 1868. The Langworthy family is of English origin. The first American ancestor came from England in 1682 and settled at Newport, Rhode Island. He married Rachel, a daughter of Samuel and Lucy (Cooper) Hubbard, November 3, 1688. In a direct line of descent was his youngest son, James Langworthy, who married and became the father of five children, of whom the eldest, also named James, was born April 11. 1711. Ile and his wife Sarah became the parents of nine children. their second son being James Langworthy, who was born July 2, 1752, and was married April 13. 1775, to Anna Dean at Smithfield, Rhode Island. He served as a member of a Vermont regiment in the Revolutionary war. In February, 1776, he removed with his family to Windsor, Vermont, where he died June 15, 1800. It was at Windsor that his eldest son, Stephen, was born November 4, 1777, and on the 10th of November, 1798, he married Betsey Massey. Their children were twelve in number. Dr. Stephen Langworthy was a graduate of Yale University and prae- tieed for a time in New York and in 1818 removed westward. settling in Edwards- ville. Illinois, where his wife died in 1820. Soon afterward he removed to a farm near Jacksonville, Illinois. Later he practiced his profession for a time in St. Louis, where he married again and in 1834 came to Dubuque, Iowa. where his sons had engaged in mining ventures. Ile acted as presiding offieer of the day in the first Fourth of July celebration held in Dubnque in 1836. He was a sur- geon of the war of 1812.
Solon Massey Langworthy, a son of Dr. Stephen Langworthy and the father of Dr. Langworthy of this review, was born January 29, 1814, at Watertown, New York, and with his parents removed to Jacksonville, Illinois. He became a pion- eer of Dubuque, Iowa, locating there in 1833. During his early residence in Dubuque he was interested in mining but later engaged in business there as a general merehant and banker under the firm style of Langworthy Brothers. In his later years he was engaged in the lumber business and was still actively con- nected with that enterprise when called to his final rest in 1886. In early man- hood he married Miss Julia Patterson of Edwardsville. Illinois, who came up the Mississippi river on the same boat on which he traveled. the San Juan, at the time the first payment was made to the Indians after the Black Hawk war. On the present site of Davenport there were gathered three thousand Indians in full regalia, awaiting this payment. Mrs. Langworthy died in April, 1907.
Dr. Langworthy began his education in the publie schools of Dubuque and later attended Bayless Business College, after which he accepted a position in the office of R. G. Dum & Company at that city. From office boy he rose to the position of city reporter, serving as such for two years. He was then transferred to the Pacific coast department of the same company and opened their office at Tacoma, Washington, in 1888. Two years later he embarked in the retail shoe business at that place under the firm name of Watson & Langworthy. But it was not long before he bought out his partner and continued in business alone until
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1893. On disposing of his interests in the west at that time, he returned to Du- buque and for about seven years was employed as traveling salesman for a Cin- einnati shoe concern, but during the last few years he spent upon the road he made up his mind to take up the line of work which he now follows. For a time he traveled only twenty weeks during the year, devoting the remainder of the time to study in various schools relative to the drugless treatment of disease and in 1901 received his diploma from the American College of Manual Therapeuties of Kansas City, Missouri. During the same year he also finished a post-graduate course in the system known as chiropractic and opened an office in Cedar Rapids in July, 1901. He is the inventor of mechanical apparatus of note, to be used in his practice, and some of his inventions are now used in the gymnasium at Yale and the Sanitarium at Battle Creek, Michigan. He has also shipped a number of these devices to Bergen, Norway, and to other foreign countries. Dr. Lang- worthy inherits his inventive genius from his father, who invented and made the first horse hay rake while a youth employed on a farm. The Doetor has met with remarkable snecess in his ehosen calling and is today numbered among Cedar Rapids' prosperous and honored citizens.
On the 9th of June. 1890. Dr. Langworthy was married to Miss Ora Mitehell of Dubuque, a daughter of Charles W. Mitchell, who was secretary and treasurer of the Norwegian Plow Company. They now have three children : Solon Mitch- ell, who is nineteen years of age and is attending Coe College with the intention of following his father's profession ; Lois, who is seventeen years of age and is a student in the high school; and Ruth, aged seven years.
The family are prominent members of the Congregational ehureh and Dr. Langworthy is also identified with the Country Club. In his political views he is an ardent republican, is a great lover of musie and particularly admires grand opera. He is a popular. genial gentleman who makes many friends and wherever known is held in high regard.
WILLIAM B. KNICKERBOCKER
William B. Knickerbocker is now living retired in Cedar Rapids and his rest is well earned and well merited. For many years he was closely associated with agricultural and horticultural interests, and his energy and diligence brought to him the competence that now enables him to enjoy the eomforts of life. He was born near Canandaigua, New York, on the 12th of December, 1822, and is there- fore in the eighty-eighth year of his age - one of the revered and venerable patriarchs of the community. His parents were John and Theodosia (Bodman) Kniekerhocker. In their family were three children but William B. Knieker- boeker is the only one now living. On leaving the Empire state the family re- moved to Sandusky county, Ohio, where the mother died, and the father afterward continned on his westward way to Linn county, fowa, settling in Monroe township and later removing to Fairfax township, where his death occurred in 1865.
William B. Kniekerbocker spent his youthful days in his parents' home and received such educational advantages as the public schools of that day afforded. He was early trained to habits of industry, economy and perseverenee, and learned as the years passed to make the best of his opportunities. In the fall of 1854 he came to Linn county, where he invested in one hundred and twenty acres of land in Monroe township, and later bought a farm of two hundred and twenty aeres in Fairfax township, there carrying on farming for several years. He afterward confined his attention to horticultural pursuits, removing to Kenwood, where he purchased a fruit farm of twelve aeres, living thereon for seventeen years. He beeame recognized as one of the leading horticulturists of the community and
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such was his ability that his opinions eame to be recognized as authority upon the subjects of fruit culture in this part of the state. At length he disposed of his twelve-acre place and purchased a fine residence on First street and A avenue in Kenwood Park, where he is now living retired.
Mr. Knickerbocker was married in Seneca county, Ohio, in 1849 to Miss Sarah Hanford, who was born in Seneca county. They traveled life's journey hap- pily together until the 26th of August, 1867, when they were separated by the death of the wife. She left three children. Laura, the eldest, is now the widow of James Gibson, by whom she had six children: May, the wife of H. Jenkins, of Council Bluffs; O. W., living in Oklahoma; Louise, the wife of S. Walker, of Nebraska; and three sons who are deceased. E. H. Knickerbocker, the second of the family, is living in this county. Ida is the wife of R. B. Brown, of North Dakota. One son, J. W., has also passed away. On the 22d of January, 1868, Mr. Knickerbocker was again married, his second union being with Miss Augusta Gibson, a native of Pennsylvania, who died September 1, 1876. Unto this marriage have been born four children: Etta, the wife of Walter A. Ure, now living in Denver, Colorado; Bertha, the wife of II. Porter, of California ; Burton, of Chicago; and Mark, a traveling salesman living in Cedar Rapids.
Mr. Knickerbocker is a member of the Congregational church and his well spent life has won him the high regard and confidence of all who know him. He has served as justice of the peace and as trustee, discharging his public duties with promptness and fidelity. His life has ever been characterized by a spirit of pro- gress and improvement, which has been manifest in his business affairs and in all of his relations to the public. He has now reached a far stage on life's journey and his example is in many respects well worthy of emulation, for he has en- deavored to live peaceably with all men, guiding his life by the principles of Christian manhood, so that his name is honored wherever he is known.
WEBB C. WRIGHT
Prominent in publie affairs, Webb C. Wright is now most capably and satis- factorily serving as postmaster of Palo and also as mayor of the city. He is one of Iowa's native sons, his birth having occurred in Fort Dodge, on the 1st of Mareh, 1870. His parents, Luman F. and Emma (McVay) Wright, were na- tives of St. Lawrence county, New York, and Ohio respectively. Soon after the Civil war Luman F. Wright came to Iowa and in Fayette township, this county, was married in 1869 to Miss Emma McVay who had accompanied her parents on their removal to this locality during her girlhood. Soon after their marriage they located in Fort Dodge where Mr. Wright worked at the earpenter's trade for some time, but later turned his attention to farming. After a residence of nine years in Fort Dodge he returned to Fayette township, this county, and was identi- fied with its agricultural interests for several years but is now living retired and makes his home in Vinton, Iowa.
Under the parental roof Webb C. Wright spent the days of his boyhood and youth and was given good educational advantages, attending the public schools and later Tilford Academy at Vinton, after which he pursued a commercial course at the Cedar Rapids Business College. At the age of twenty years he began teaching and continued to follow that profession for seven terms, mainly during the winter months, while throughout the summer season he devoted his time and energies to farming. In 1894 he became identified with mercantile interests in Palo and continued to engage in that business until 1901 when he removed to Center Point and there conducted a store for two years. In 1896 Mr. Wright was appointed postmaster of Palo and served in that capacity until his removal
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to Center Point in 1901. On his return to Palo he was again appointed to this office and has since discharged its duties with credit to himself and to the entire satisfaction of all coneerned. He also writes insurance and deals in real estate to some extent, being the owner of two small farms in Fayette township.
On the 29th of June, 1898, Mr. Wright was united in marriage to Miss Dor- othy Rehder of Wheatland, Clinton county, Iowa, who was also a successful sehool teacher and taught for eleven terms prior to her marriage. They have become the parents of four children : Velma, Jessie, Engene R. and Nellie M.
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