USA > Iowa > Pottawattamie County > History of Pottawattamie County, Iowa, from the earliest historic times to 1907, Vol. I > Part 31
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On the 11th of August, 1872, Mr. Sehoentgen was married in Council Bluffs to Miss Mary Kintz, a native of Iowa City, Iowa, and a daughter of Charles Joseph and Anna Mary (German) Kintz, who were born in Bavaria, Germany, and came to the United States at an early day. Locating in Iowa City, Mr. Kintz there engaged in the tailoring business for many years but during the last fifteen years of his life lived retired, passing away in 1888. His wife also died in Iowa City in 1884. Three children were born unto Mr. and Mrs. Schoentgen, namely: Edward P., who is vice president of the Groneway & Schoentgen Company and also a member of the firm of Cox & Schoentgen, architects of Council Bluffs, and is represented on another page of this volume; Elsie Mary, the wife of Thomas D. Metcalf, Jr., who is president of the Metcalf Company, retail clothiers of this city; and Caroline, wife of Eldin H. Longee, who is engaged in the real-estate and loan business in Council Bluffs and whose sketch is also found in this work.
Mr. Schoentgen continued in active business up to the last but for a few years prior to his death he suffered with throat trouble. In October, 1906, he went to Rochester, Minnesota, to undergo an operation and died at a hospital in that city twelve days later. on the 17th of October, 1906, his remains being brought back to Council Bluffs for interment. In his death the community realized that it had lost a valued and useful citizen-a man upright and honorable in all the relations of life. He was what the world terms self-made, his success being due entirely to his own unaided efforts, for he began his business career without capital or influential friends to aid him and by his untiring industry, close application and sound judgment he was soon able to leave the ranks of the many and stand among the successful few. His friends and business associates held him in the highest regard and to his family he was a loving husband and father. His widow, who resides at 703 South Sixth street. is a most estimable lady and an earnest member of the Methodist Episcopal church.
OLIVER P. SHERRADEN.
A man ever watchful of all indications pointing to success, his life guided by laudable ambition and strong purpose. Oliver P. Sherraden became well known in Council Bluffs as one whose enterprise and labor contributed to the publie weal as well as to individual prosperity. Through much of his life he - was engaged in the real-estate business here, continuing in that line up to the time of his death. His residence in the city dated from April, 1860. He was a native of Ohio, born November 14, 1814, and his father was a native of Vir- ginia. whence he removed to the Buckeye state. There he engaged in farm- ing throughout the remainder of his life and his wife also passed away there.
MP - LYDIA VEMERRADO.
ASTOP, TILD. N
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In the public schools of his native county Oliver P. Sherraden acquired a good education and became a fine penman. In his youth he assisted his father on the old homestead farm in Ohio and when he became a young man he started to the west, settling first at Canton, Fulton county, Illinois, where for a few years he engaged in clerking in a store. While in Canton he was married to Miss Lydia M. Johnson, a native of Vermont, born October 25, 1821, a daughter of Ira and Mary (Perry) Johnson, the former born in New Hampshire and the latter in the Green Mountain state. Mr. Johnson was reared to farm life in Vermont and when a young man removed westward, settling first near Buffalo, at Holland, Erie county, New York. There he pur- chased a tract of land and engaged in general farming until 1838, when he disposed of that property and started westward in a covered wagon to Canton, Fulton county, Illinois. There he again purchased a farm near the village and carried on general agricultural pursuits until his latter days, when he took up his abode in the village of Canton, where he lived retired until called to his final rest. He was a well informed man and reached the very venerable age of eighty-eight years, while his wife died at the age of eighty-six years. Unto Mr. and Mrs. Sherraden were born six children: Charles Henry, who was born August 26, 1845, is now a retired photographer residing in Salt Lake City, Utah. Emma Marie, born December 30, 1847, was the wife of Forrest Eaton and died in September, 1905. Helen Eveline is the widow of James P. Goulden, and she and her two children reside with her mother. She has two sons: James G., who is now employed in the office of the Cudahy Packing Company, at Sioux City ; and Robert, who is a graduate of the college at Ames, Iowa, now in the employ of the Union Pacific Railroad. Dr. William H. Sherraden, the fourth member of the family, was born April 15, 1861, has graduated both in medicine and dentistry and is now engaged in the practice of the dental profession in Omaha. The other two children of the family, Mary Ellen and Ira Everett, died in childhood.
After his marriage Mr. Sherraden continued to reside in Canton, Illinois, for a short time and then removed to Princeton, that state, where he began business on his own account, purchasing a stock of goods and engaging in the conduct of a general mercantile store here. On leaving that place he went to Richland, Iowa, where he served as a member of the legislature. In the spring of 1860 he sold out and removed to Council Bluffs. Prior to this time, how- ever, through the agency of relatives he had become the owner of five acres of land here, which at that time was situated on the outskirts of the city but is now in one of its populous and pleasing residence districts. On his arrival here Mr. Sherraden planted his five acres to fruit and soon afterward built the home which his widow still occupies. For several years his time and energies were given to his fruit-raising interests and he also kept a large number of fine cows, engaging in the dairy business. His time and energies were thus occupied for several years, when he decided to retire from active business life and look after his property investments, which he then had in the city. He afterward bought and sold lands and built houses and at one time he owned the entire block between Third and Fourth avenues and Ninth and Tenth streets. He continued to operate in real estate throughout his remaining days
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and handled considerable valuable property, making his investments care- fully and judiciously, so that his sales brought him a good financial return.
In his social relations Mr. Sherraden was an Odd Fellow and in his politi- cal views was a republican. He died here November 14, 1881, after a residence of about twenty-one years in the city, during which time he had become closely associated with the welfare and progress of the city and its environments. He left behind him an honorable name and a memory which is cherished by many friends.
Mrs. Sherraden is a member of the Congregational church at Council Bluffs. She owns the old home at No. 917 Third avenue, where she resides with her daughter Mrs. Goulden and her children. She also owns three other residence properties in the same block, at the corner of Ninth street and Third avenue, where the family once grew sweet potatoes. That was in the early days when the property was situated in the outskirts of the city but the growth and development of Council Bluffs have so extended the corporation bound- aries that this is now in a fine residence district, and the property has greatly increased in value, bringing to Mrs. Sherraden a good income.
JAMES E. H. WINELAND.
James E. II. Wineland, a representative agriculturist and stock-raiser of Knox township, Pottawattamie county, was born in Brooklyn, Poweshiek county, Iowa, September 25, 1855. Ilis parents were Jacob and Mary Ann (Haines) Wineland, the former born in Maryland November 29, 1827, and the latter in Hancock county, Ohio, in 1831. They were married November 11, 1852, and after living in Hancock county, Ohio, for a year, they journeyed westward with an ox team, locating first in Poweshiek county, Iowa. On the expiration of a year Jacob Wineland came to Pottawattamie county, pur- chasing a tract of land of one hundred and sixty acres, of which a part was timber and for which he paid five hundred dollars in gold. He immediately began making improvements on his land by the erection of a log house, fourteen by sixteen fect, with clapboard roof and one window a foot square. The family lived in this pioneer cabin for a year, without cither a floor or a door, the canvass cover of their wagon being used as a door when the cold weather came. Mr. Wincland also built a log stable for his oxen, which is still standing, as is also a part of the old log cabin, these primitive structures being mute reminders of pioneer days, when the country was largely unsettled and the work of civilization lay for the most part in the future. The father had to haul his grain to Council Bluffs, the trip requiring three days. He killed and dressed his hogs and after hauling them to market, received one and a quarter cents per pound for them. He is a republican in his political views, and is still living on the old home farm, being now in his eighty-first year. He is respected and esteemed throughout the county as one of its hon- ored pioneers, for he located here when the work of development had scarcely been begun and aided in the arduous labor necessary for the cultivation of
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wild land. He experienced all the hardships and privations of frontier life and has seen the work of civilization carried ever onward until the country has reached its present high state of progress and development. He was called upon to mourn the death of his wife in 1900. She had ever been a faithful companion and helpmate to him and her demise was deeply deplored through- out the entire community.
In the family of this worthy couple were eight children, six of whom yet survive: Bert W., living in Wayne county, Nebraska; James E. H., of this review; Samantha, the wife of Richard Hines, residing on the home farm in Knox township; Lucretia, the wife of W. H. Pingree, of Coon Rapids, Iowa; Rhoda J., the wife of Henry Evans and a resident of Bloomfield, Nebraska; Mary C., who became the wife of William Rott and now makes her home in South Dakota; Lorenzo, who died on the home farm in 1901; and Viola, who passed away February 22, 1876, at the age of eight years.
James E. H. Wineland acquired his education in the old log school- house which his father helped to build when he first came to this county. The methods of instruction were crude, but our subject made the most of his opportunities and gained a good practical education, to which he has added in later years by reading and observation. He remained under the parental roof until he had attained his majority, when he removed to Oakland, Iowa, where he owned and operated a general store for two years. On the expira- tion of that period he sold out his mercantile enterprise and returned home, remaining with his father until the time of his marriage, when he established a home of his own. He now owns and operates two hundred acres of land on section 36, Knox township, it being one of the best improved farms in the township. In addition to his agricultural interests he also makes a specialty of raising full blooded shorthorn cattle, as well as Shropshire and Oxford Down sheep. Ife has a fine herd of twenty full blooded shorthorn cows and is meeting with marked success in his stock-raising and farming interests, being recognized as one of the enterprising and representative agriculturists of the county. He has about three hundred head of thorough bred stock on his farm.
On the 14th of March, 1883, Mr. Wineland was united in marriage to Miss Ida A. Judd, who was born in New York, July 24, 1859, a daughter of J. B. and Agnes N. (Miner) Judd, both of whom are natives of St. Lawrence county, New York, the former born September 4, 1831, and the latter July 2, 1834. They were married in Massena, New York, June 26, 1855. In their family were two children: Charles S., living at Moorhead, Iowa; and Mrs. Wineland. Mr. and Mrs. Judd came west in 1861, locating in- Randolph county, Wisconsin, where they remained for a year, after which they removed to Wilton, Wauseca county, Minnesota. The father enlisted for service in the Civil war, joining the army in Minnesota, as a member of Company A, First Minnesota Heavy Artillery, and served his country faithfully and well until hostilities had ceased. At the close of the war he returned to Minne- sota and followed farming until 1867, when he removed to O'Brien county, Iowa. Both he and his wife are still living and now make their home with their children in Iowa. Unto Mr. and Mrs. Wineland two children have been
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born: Charles Glenn, born April 23, 1887; and Rose Agnes, born July 25, 1889, both of whom are still at home.
In his political affiliation Mr. Wineland is a stalwart republican and has served as school director for twelve years, the cause of education ever finding in him a firm and helpful friend. Fraternally he is connected with the Odd Fellows lodge, No. 220, at Avoca, Iowa, while both he and his wife are members of the Rebekah lodge. . They are widely and favorably known throughout the entire community and have won the respect and esteem of all with whom they have come in contact, by reason of their genuine personal worth and sterling traits of character. For a quarter of a century Mr. Wineland has carried on agricultural pursuits in this county and as a representative of an honored pioneer family he certainly deserves mention in this volume.
ARTHUR SARGENT HAZELTON.
Whatever else may be said of the legal fraternity, it cannot be denied that members of the bar have been more prominent actors in public affairs than any other class of citizens. This is but the natural result of causes which are manifest and require no explanation. The ability and training which qualify one to practice law also qualify him in many respects for duties which lie outside the strict path of his profession and which touch the general interests of society. Holding a prominent position among the members of the bar of Council Bluffs is Arthur S. Hazelton, who is now so acceptably filling the position of postmaster.
He was born in Plymouth, New Hampshire, on the 7th of November, 1855, and is the youngest in a family of four children. the others being Martha F., still a resident of Plymouth: Charles W., a civil engineer residing at Turners Falls, Massachusetts ; and Henry W .. who is connected with the Council Bluffs Savings Bank. The family is of English descent. The father, Charles Hazelton, was a native of Plymouth, New Hampshire, and died there, April 1, 1881, at the age of sixty-seven years. The mother, Sarah D. (Sargent) Hazel- ton, was born in Hopkinton, New Hampshire, and is also deceased.
During his boyhood AArthur S. Hazelton was a student at Kimball Union Academy, Meriden, New Hampshire, and in 1877 entered Dartmouth College, from which he was graduated in 1881. Deciding to make the practice of law his life work, he became a student in the office of Blair, Burling & Adams, the first mentioned being Hon. Henry W. Blair, United States senator from New Hampshire. Later he continued his studies in the law department of Boston University and at the Columbia Law School in New York city. He paid his own way through college and while pursuing his law course in New York taught school in the mornings in order to meet his expenses and attended lectures in the afternoons.
Believing that he would find better opportunities for advancement in the west. Mr. Hazelton came to Council Bluffs on the 5th of September, 1884, and for one year was employed as principal of the high school of this city. As he
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was obliged to read law for one year in Iowa before he could engage in prac- tice, he entered the office of Jacob Sims, and on the 6th of April, 1886, was ad- mitted to the bar, thoroughly equipped for his chosen profession. On the 1st of the following month he became a member of the firm of Mayne & Hazelton and has since successfully engaged in practice.
On the 16th of May, 1888, Mr. Hazelton was united in marriage to Miss Emma Higham, of Keokuk, Iowa, and they have two sons, Charles S. and Paul H. Fraternally Mr. Hazelton affiliates with the Masons, Bluff City lodge, and politically is identified with the republican party, being a recognized leader in the ranks of that organization. He is always a delegate to the state republican conventions and for seven years was chairman of the Pottawattamie county re- publican central committee, his voice bearing weight in the councils of his party. His ability as a lawyer being widely recognized, he was called upon to serve as eity solicitor of Council Bluffs from 1892 until 1898, and next served as state senator for four years, resigning the latter position in 1902 in order to accept the appointment of postmaster in June of that year. The appointment came from President MeKinley, and so ereditably and satisfactorily did he fill the office that he was re-appointed by President Roosevelt in June, 1906, being the present incumbent. He has made a most popular official and he has most ably discharged the duties of all the positions he has been called upon to fill. From the time he made his own way through college he has been dependent upon his own resources and the success that has come to him in life is certainly well merited.
HENRY II. SPALTI.
The life record of Henry H. Spalti is such as any man might be proud to possess, for he has worked diligently and persistently for advancement and at the same time has followed a course which throws no shadow of wrong or suspicion of evil upon his life. On the contrary he is known for his business integrity and commands the respect of all of his associates in the commercial world.
He was born in Marion county, Iowa, in 1859, and comes of Swiss ancestry, his parents being Henry and Sarah A. (Roth) Spalti, the former a native of Switzerland and the latter of Indiana. The father eame to the United States in 1845, settling at Ottumwa, Iowa, where he worked by the month, and dur- ing the first winter he and his brother, Joachim, lived in a hole dug in the ground with straw for a bed and parched corn for food. They were regarded by people passing by their dug-out as "two Dutch boys starving to death." Their condition could not be explained, as they spoke no English. Their first wages were four dollars a month, receiving half pay in farm products. Henry Spalti continued to work as a farm hand until 1849, when attracted by the discovery of gold on the Pacific coast he went to California, where he worked in the mines, making about sixteen thousand dollars in two years. With this capital he returned to Ottumwa and he and his brother embarked in mer-
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chandising at that place. Later they removed to Pleasantville, where they so successfully and capably conducted their business interests that when they re- tired they were worth about a half million dollars. They are now both living at Pleasantville, Iowa, their time being given to the supervision of their prop- erty interests and to the enjoyment of a well earned rest. In 1902, Mr. Spalti divided a large part of his property among his children, thus preventing them from having the same experiences and hardships which came to him in his early business life in America. His business record seems almost phenomenal when we think of his early condition here and know that today, while not a millionaire, he is nevertheless in possession of a handsome competence, which renders him free from all want and business care. He belongs to the Methodist Episcopal church and is a republican in his political views. He has ever been very methodical in his habits, extremely systematic in all that he has done, thoroughly honest in his dealings and upright in his character, and so justly and honorably has his success been gained that it cannot be grudged by the most envious.
Henry Spalti was married in early manhood to Miss Sarah A. Roth, who was of Scotch-Irish ancestry. She has long since passed away, her death hav- ing occurred in the fall of 1881 when she was forty-one years of age. In their family were five children: Joshua H .; Henry H .; Lydia E., the wife of Jacob Kline, a resident of Pleasantville, Iowa; Fridoline H., who is engaged in mer- chandising in Pleasantville; and John H., who is in partnership with his brother Henry.
Upon the home farm Henry II. Spalti of this review was reared and in his boyhood he mastered the common branches of learning taught in the public schools. In early life he entered his father's store and learned the business and in 1883 embarked in business on his own account at Bevington, Iowa, forming a partnership with his brothers, Joshua and John, under the firm name of Spalti Brothers. There they continued for four and a half years and in 1887 came to Oakland, where they established a large store. In 1893 the Spalti Brothers Bank was opened, Henry H. Spalti continuing a partner in both con- cerns until 1894, when Joshua Spalti withdrew from the firm and took the mer- cantile interests and some real estate as his share of the business of Spalti Brothers. He yet continues the conduct of the store under the name of Joshua H. Spalti & Sons, while Henry H. and John H. Spalti continue the original partnership as Spalti Brothers, having retained as their interest in the original firm the banking business and the residue of the real estate. In 1905 they built a large store building and again engaged in merchandising, continuing under the old style of Spalti Brothers, merchants, and Spalti Brothers, bankers. They were thus engaged until the spring of 1907, when the banking concern was incorporated into a savings bank, under the style of the Oakland Savings Bank, with the following officers: W. L. Overman, president; Henry HI. Spalti, vice- president; W. J. Donlin, cashier ; and M. H. Evans, assistant cashier. The di- rectors are E. S. Harlan, H. H. Spalti, John H. Spalti, A. B. Johns, Alfred A. Lenocker, L. S. White and W. L. Overman. The bank is capitalized for twen- ty-five thousand dollars, has deposits of one hundred and four thousand dollars and is doing a general banking business with a large patronage. Henry H.
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Spalti and his brother John also have large real-estate holdings in Pottawatta- mie and Marion counties, owning altogether fifteen hundred acres in farm, lands besides other property.
In 1894 was celebrated the marriage of Henry H. Spalti and Mrs. Carrie Scroggins, a daughter of James N. Carter, a farmer. She is a member of the Methodist Episcopal church and Mr. Spalti belongs to the Masonic fraternity and the Odd Fellows lodge. He gives his political allegiance to the republican party and has been a member of the town council. His interest in public af- fairs has been manifest in the active and substantial aid which he has given to many movements for the public good. His worth as a citizen, aside from his business affairs, is widely acknowledged, while his efforts along commercial and financial lines have made him a valued resident of Oakland, contributing largely to its prosperity and growth. He has made excellent use of his talents and his opportunities, carefully considers every business proposition and uses the means at hand to the best advantage, producing results which are gratify- ing from a financial standpoint. His business methods, too, have never been such as seek or require disguise but on the contrary may well serve as an ex- ample to be followed by others who wish to advance along honorable lines from a humble position to one of affluence.
WALTER F. STEPHAN.
Walter F. Stephan, engaged in business in Council Bluffs as a member of the firmn of Stephan Brothers, plumbers, was born in this city on the 20th of April, 1865. Having spent much of his life here, his history is largely as an open book and each definitely defined chapter in the record is one which will bear close investigation and scrutiny. He comes of German parentage, his father, Charles H. Stephan, being a native of Germany. He arrived in America in 1818 and lived for some time in Buffalo, New York. He then came to Council Bluffs, but afterward left Iowa and returned eastward to New York, where his death occurred. His wife bore the maiden name of Henrietta Fischer and is still a resident of Council Bluffs. In their family were seven children, four sons and three daughters, of whom four are yet living: Amelia, now the widow of A. McMillan, of Council Bluffs, and the mother of one daughter, Frances, who has married Ralph Metzger, of Sterling, Colorado; August G., of Chicago, Illinois ; Walter F., whose name introduces this review ; and Ernestine, the wife of Morris Woolman, of Council Bluffs.
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