USA > Iowa > Pottawattamie County > History of Pottawattamie County, Iowa, from the earliest historic times to 1907, Vol. I > Part 39
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way upward in the business world until he is now filling the responsible position of manager of the business.
On the 30th of November, 1889, in Council Bluffs, Mr. Fox was mar- ried to Miss Wilhelmina C. Spetman, a daughter of H. H. Spetman. IIe belongs to the Elks lodge and in his political faith is a democrat. Through- out almost the entire period of his manhood he has lived in Council Bluffs and his business record is well known to his fellow citizens as one which has at all times been creditable.
JOHN H. C. STUHR.
John Il. C. Stuhr, who is now living a retired life in the little city of Minden, was for years a prominent business man and farmer of Pottawat- tamie county, and is numbered among its old settlers, having for a third of a century lived within its borders. He was born in the town of Preetz, Hol- stein, Germany, near Kiel, February 27, 1841, and was there reared to the age of sixteen years, when, attraeted by the broader business opportunities of the new world, he emigrated to America in 1857. taking passage on a ship at Hamburg, which was seven weeks and four days in completing the voyage, during which time two severe storms occurred. He landed safely. however, in New York in May, and thenee proceeded by way of the lakes and by rail to Davenport, lowa.
For a time Mr. Stuhr engaged in working on the farm near Davenport and also in teaming. At the outbreak of the Civil war he became deeply interested in the event- which were shaping national history, and in Sep- tember, 1861, offered his services to the government. He continued at the front until 1866, serving in the Twelfth and in the Fifteenth Missouri Regi- ments of Infantry. In both he was a member of Company I. With the former he served for three years and was then transferred to the Fifteenth Missouri Infantry, when he veteranized. continuing at the front then until after the close of hostilities. He participated in the battles of Jackson, Vicks- burg. Lookout Mountain. Missionary Ridge and Ringgold, Georgia. At the last place the command lost very heavily, many being killed or wounded. He was also on active duty in the Atlanta campaign. aided in the capture of Jonesboro and proceeded with Sherman as far as Savannah. With his command he was then sent on the Carolina campaign. afterward to New York and later to Nashville. When hostilities had ceased the regiment was ordered to Texas, where they were on guard duty until sent later to the north. Mr. Stuhr was honorably discharged at St. Louis in 1866, and with a most creditable military record returned to Davenport, where he engaged in teaming.
It was on the 6th of October of that year that Mr. Stuhr was married in Davenport to Miss Eva Ahron, a native of Germany, in which country she was reared. Following their marriage Mr. Stuhr rented a traet of land in Scott county, which he cultivated for eight years, and in 1874 he came to
MR. AND MRS. J. II. C. STUHIR.
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Pottawattamie county, purchasing land near Shelby. The tract was wild and unimproved, but in the course of years he opened up and developed a good farm of two hundred and five acres. After living there for some time he turned the place over to the care of his son, who is still operating it. Coming to Minden, Mr. Stuhr engaged in the grain trade for seventeen or eighteen years. He took up his abode in the town in the fall of 1893. In 1892 he had purchased an eighty-acre farm near the town, which he greatly improved, adding to it many substantial buildings. This farm he sold in 1904 for one hundred and twenty-five dollars per acre and he sold the old home place for one hundred and ten dollars per acre. In Minden he has ereeted a number of residences, thus adding to the material improvement and development of the town. His own home is a fine pressed brick dwelling, commodious and attractive in style of architecture. He has here ten acres of land, for which he paid one hundred and fifty dollars per aere. He has helped to improve and make the county what it is today and his labors have been especially beneficial to the town of Minden. In all that he under- takes he is practical, following methods that lead to substantial results.
In 1882 Mr. Stuhr was called upon to mourn the loss of his first wife, who had for fifteen years been to him a faithful companion and helpmate on life's journey. She died on the old homestead farm, her death being deeply regretted by many friends, as well as her immediate family. There were eight children of this marriage; William, who now owns and culti- vates the old home place; Emma, the wife of William Martins; Mary; Clara, the wife of William Schultz, of Davenport; Katie, the wife of Charles Lantz, railroad agent and telegraph operator at Durant, Iowa; Tillie, the wife of Harry Jens, a farmer of Pottawattamie county; Dora. the wife of Otto Soukop, a farmer of this county; and Anna, the wife of Herman Ball, of Minden. In 1883 Mr. Stuhr was married in Pleasant township to Miss Abel Lienaun, also a native of Germany. There are four children by this marriage: Amel W., John C., Olga and Alma.
Mr. Stuhr east his first presidential ballot for AAbraham Lincoln in 1864, when a member of the army, and has supported each presidential nominee at the head of the republican ticket. While in Pleasant township he served as assessor for six consecutive years. He has been identified with the schools as a member of the school board for a long period and also as its president, the cause of education finding in him a stalwart champion. Moreover, he has served as a delegate to county conventions and has been township trustee. In every position that he has been called upon to fill he has proven himself a faithful offieer and one most loyal to the best interest- of the community. He belongs to the Odd Fellows lodge at Shelby and to the encampment, and in the lodge has filled all of the chairs and is a past grand. while he has served as delegate to the grand lodge at Sioux City. He is also a member of the Grand Army post at Shelby and thus maintains pleasant relations with his old army comrades. He is one of the few remain- ing veterans of the Civil war who fought for the old flag and the Union. Since coming to Ameriea he had made a splendid reeord as a business man, winning success by industry and perseverance, carefully placing his earn-
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ings in real estate, which is the safest of all investments. He is now the owner of five hundred and sixty acres of land near Missouri Valley, Har- rison county, Iowa, of which his son-in-law is cultivating two hundred and forty acres, and while winning success in a material way he has also gained an honored name in the land of his adoption and is regarded as one of the public-spirited and worthy citizens of Pottawattamie county.
FRANK R. CHILDREN.
Frank R. Children, manager of the Children's Sons Manufacturing Company, manufacturers of agricultural implements, is a prominent repre- sentative of industrial circles in Council Bluffs, his intense and well directed activity gaining for him a creditable position in the business world. He was born in Dunleith, now East Dubuque, Illinois, in 1868, and is of English lineage. His paternal grandfather, Robert Children, was born in England and came to America in 1846, his last days being spent in Dunleith, Illinois. Throughout the greater part of his active business life in this country he was identified with farming and he also appeared at different times on the lecture platform.
Edwin Children, father of our subject, was born in England on Christ- mas day of 1830 and was brought to America by his parents in 1846, the family home being established in Michigan. Five years later he went to southern Wisconsin, where he remained until 1852, when he crossed the plains to California, attracted by the discovery of gold on the Pacific coast and the business opportunities which were thereby opened up. He con- timed for four years in that section of the country, working at his trade of blacksmithing at French Camp, about thirty miles from San Francisco. In 1856 he returned by way of the isthmus and settled on a farm near Lancaster, Grant county, Wisconsin, where he carried on general agricul- tural pursuits until 1867. Removing in that year to Dunleith, Illinois, he began the manufacture of corn cultivators and in 1892 he came to Council Bluffs, continuing his residence here until he was called to his final home on the 13th of June, 1900. In Lancaster, Wisconsin. he married Miss Sarah Carter, who was born in Sussex. England, May 29, 1840, and came to the United States with her parents in 1850. Of the children born to Edwin Children and wife five are yet living: Laura A., Nina A., Frank R., Fay B. and William C. While living in East Dubuque or Dunleith the father served for several terms as alderman and was there recognized as a citizen of genuine personal worth, opposed to misrule in public affairs and stand- ing for all that is just and right in every relation of life. Both he and his wife held membership in the Swedenborgian church.
Frank R. Children spent the greater part of his vonth in his native city and acquired his education in its public schools, which he attended to the age of fifteen years, when he put aside his text-books and entered his father's factory. There he became familiar with the business of mannfaetur-
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ing corn cultivators and in September, 1892, the factory was removed to Council Bluffs, so that he became a resident of this city. Here the business was incorporated in August, 1900, under the name of E. Children & Sons, of which Frank R. Children became president and so continued until the fall of 1906, when William C. Children was chosen president and Frank R. Children manager, while E. G. Anderson continued as secretary. When the factory was removed to Council Bluffs the business was carried on under the name of E. Children & Sons, which was also the first incorporated name, but in August, 1904, the present style was assumed. It is true that Frank R. Children entered upon a business already established but in enlarging and extending this in scope many a man of less resolute spirit would have failed. He is a man of broad outlook and keen discrimination and has dis- played marked ability in the management of the business, which is now a successful productive industry of Council Bluffs. He belongs to the Benevo- lent & Protective Order of Elks and is well known socially, having many warm friends in his adopted city.
FRITZ BERNHARDI.
Fritz Bernhardi, owning and conducting the barber shop in the Grand Hotel in Council Bluffs, was born in Cassel, Germany, on the 11th of October, 1844, his parents being George and Marie (Crell) Bernhardi, who were like- wise natives of Cassel, the former born in March, 1802, and the latter in 1811. The father was a shoemaker by trade and died in his native land in 1872, while his wife passed away in the same country in 1875.
Their son, Fritz Bernhardi, was a pupil in the common schools of Ger- many between the ages of six and fourteen years. He was then appren- ticed to learn the trade of barber and worked for four years in this way without receiving compensation for his services. He was then granted a diploma, issued by the civil authorities of his native town, permitting him to practice his profession and still has this document in his possession. In 1865 he went to Hamburg, Germany, to follow his chosen calling, walking across the country with his pack of clothes in one hand and a cane in the other. He also carried with him a pipe of large dimensions, without which the son of Germany never feels at home. Mr. Bernhardi remained in Ham- burg for a year, and two weeks after his arrival there he met Johanna Woll- burg, whom he afterward made his wife. Upon his return to Cassel he entered the army and served for three years in the war between Prussia and Austria. He then returned to Hamburg after his discharge from military service in 1868. It was in 1869 that he married and in the same year he engaged in the barber business on his own account, continuing therein for a year. In 1870 he again enlisted in the army and saw active service in the war between France and Prussia for eleven months, when he was honorably discharged, having in the meantime been promoted from private to the rank of corporal.
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While Mr. Bernhardi was at the front his business was destroyed and he was left without anything to work with save his honest hands and good tools. lle again opened up a shop in Hamburg but after a short time he disposed of his business there and entered the employ of the Hamburg Steam- ship. Company as barber and doctor's assistant. For eight years he remained with that company, crossing the Atlantic eighty-five times. On one of these trips he met the late George Keeline, Sr .. of Council Bluffs, who was suffer- ing from carbuncles on his back. Mr. Bernhardi treated him and upon inquiry concerning his nativity Mr. Kceline learned that our subject was a fellow countryman. A warm friendship sprang up between them and it was through the influence of Mr. Keeline that Mr. Bernhardi came to Couneil Bluffs, being offered unlimited assistance by Mr. Keeline if he would engage in business in this city. Accordingly, in 1879, he decided to come to America, locating first, however, at Long Branch, where he remained for only a short time. On the 4th of October, 1879, with his wife, whom he had married December 18, 1869, he came to Council Bluffs and has here since conducted a barber shop.
Unto Mr. and Mrs. Bernhardi have been born the following named : Bertha, born in Hamburg, Germany, is the wife of John Hinkle, a linotype operator, who is employed in the office of the Daily Nonpareil of Council Bluffs. They have four children, Gertrude. Madge, Dorothy and Fritz. Mary, born in Hamburg, became the wife of Ephraim Strong in 1901. Mr. Strong operates a machine repair business in Omaha but lives in this city and unto him and his wife has been born one child. Donald. Robert, born in Hamburg, was married in 1901 to Mrs. Elizabeth Tanner, née Watt, and they have two children, Bernice G. and Ethel. Mrs. Tanner had two children of first marriage, Cecil and Margaret Tanner. They live in Council Bluffs, where Robert is employed in his father's shop. Fredericka, born in Hamburg, was married in 1901 to Walter Ellis, who is employed by the Kimball Elevator Manufacturing Company of this city, and they have one child, Margaretta. Mary and Fredericka were married at the same time and place. ITelena, born in Hamburg, was married in March, 1902, to Theo- dore Rosch, a plumber, and they have two children. Eldred and a baby. George William, born in Council Bluffs, was married December 24, 1905, to Hattie Huntington, a daughter of Mr. and Mrs. John Huntington, and they have one child. George W. Bernhardi holds a responsible position as bookkeeper in the Commercial National Bank. Osear is employed as a bar- ber in his father's shop. Rosalinda lives with her parents.
Mr. Bernhardi owns and conducts the barber shop in the Grand Hotel. having one of the best equipped tonsorial parlors of the city. It has five chairs and secures a very liberal and gratifying patronage. He also owns his beautiful home at No. 217 South First street, where he has lived for twenty-six years. He took out his final naturalization papers in 1884 and he is an ardent supporter of the republican party. with which he has been allied since casting his first presidential ballot for James G. Blaine. He he- longs to the Elk lodge, to the Masonic fraternity, the Royal Arcanum, the
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sons of Hermann and the Reform church. His life has been one of busi- ness activity and whatever success he has achieved has come to him as the merited reward of his own labor.
HENRY HI. ROCK.
Henry H. Rock. identified with agricultural interests in Pleasant town- ship, where his birth occurred on the 23d of January, 1880, is a son of William V. Rock, mention of whom is made elsewhere in this volume. Throughout his entire life he has been identified with agricultural interests, for he was reared upon the home farm, and since attaining manhood has engaged in the tilling of the soil. In his boyhood and youth he was a pupil in the district schools, where he acquired a fair English education, and at the age of twenty-one years he started out in life on his own account, working for one year as a farm hand.
Mr. Rock made preparations for having a home of his own by his mar- riage on the 28th of August, 1901. to Miss Reca Russmann, of this town- ship, and in the following spring the young couple located on a farm which has since been their place of residence. It is owned by Mr. Rock's father and is a well developed property. Mr. Rock is a successful agriculturist, and in addition to tilling the soil, in the production of crops best adapted to the climate, gives considerable attention to the raising of shorthorn cattle, and this branch of his business adds materially to his income.
Unto Mr. and Mrs. Rock have been born three children, Pearl. Esther and Lawrence. The parents are well known socially and have the warm regard of many friends. who esteem them for their excellent traits of char- acter. Mr. Rock belongs to Avoca lodge, No. 120, I. O. O. F., and to Avoca camp of the Modern Woodmen. His religious faith is indicated by his membership in the Lutheran church, to which his wife also belongs. He is regarded as one of the representative young farmers of Pleasant township, and. possessing strong traits of character. it is not difficult to predict for him a successful future. He belongs to one of the old and prominent fam . ilies of this section of the state and his own record is one which reflects credit upon an untarnished family name.
FREDERICK WILLIAM HABICHT.
The time has long since passed when it is considered that it requires little mental effort to engage in farming. Today the farmer is as well trained for his work as is the representative of commercial or professional life. Agriculture has been reduced to a science, and experiment and investi- gation have brought to men a knowledge not only of the qualities of the
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soil and the elements which are needed for different kinds of plant life, but also a knowledge of even the chemical processes which are undergone as the plant takes up its nourishment from the ground and converts it into the leaf and to the grain. Regarded as one of the most scientific farmers of Pottawattamie county, Frederick William Habicht stands today as a prominent representative of agricultural life here. He is also well known as a breeder of registered Aberdeen Angus cattle, Poland China hogs and Plymouth Rock chickens, his opinions being regarded as authority on each of these.
Mr. Habicht is a native of Kreis, Lauterbach, Germany, born on the 1st of June, 1866, and is a representative of the family which for genera- tions has been noted for the strong intellectuality of its members in the section of the fatherland in which they have resided for almost two cen- turies. Father and son through various generations have preached in the church at Steinbach, IIolenbach, Germany. After a service of about fifty years in the pulpit at that place, Rev. Ernest Habicht, the grandfather of our subject, when about to retire from active work of the ministry, was asked by Kurfeurst. the ruler of that section of Germany in which he resided, to preach his last sermon from the text which the official should furnish. Rev. Habicht promised on the condition that he should have the subject some two or three weeks prior to the time designated for the delivery of the ser- mon that he might prepare an address worthy so important an occasion. The days passed and no word came. He entered the pulpit therefore with- out prior preparation and after the singing of the hymn a knock was heard at the chancel door and a folded paper was handed him. Opening it and looking upon each side, he found it blank. Holding the paper up before the audience he said: "Here is nothing," and turning the paper over added, "There is nothing. Out of nothing God made the world. This shall be my text." He delivered then a powerful sermon, which caused the ruler to double his pension.
Anst Ernest Habicht, father of our subject, studied for the ministry but failed to pass the required and exceptionally rigid examination. Ile felt heart broken over his failure to wear the ecclesiastical mantle of his fore- fathers but turned his attention to other duties. At the usual age he entered the military service of his country and through the influence of the Habicht family was later detailed on special duty to guard the estates of a nobleman, and following his marriage was placed in charge of these estates. In 1875 he followed his son Frederick William to this country, where he spent his remaining days, being eventually laid to rest in the cemetery at Avoca. In early manhood he had wedded Wilhelmina Thiel, and unto them were born eleven children, of whom three are yet living: Helen, now the wife of Charles Uhden, of Spokane. Washington; August, who for fifty- nine years was with the Cereal Mill Company at Akron, Ohio, and is now living retired in that city; and Frederick William, of Avoca.
The last named was reared in his native country, where he learned the blacksmith's trade, and in 1874 he came to the United States, landing at Castle Garden on the 12th of September of that year, with only three
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cents in his pocket. His passage had been paid to Avoca, Iowa, and on his arrival in New York city he traded his pocketbook for food to sustain him on his journey west. Soon after reaching his destination he secured a posi- tion with John Acker, a hardware merchant, in whose employ he remained for six months, and theu being given a recommendation by Mr. Acker he went to Council Bluffs, where he secured a position with P. C. De Vol, a wholesale and retail hardware merchant, in whose employ he continued for a year. He next went to Akron, Ohio, where for one year he was in a hard- ware store, after which he secured a position in the Cascade House, then the leading hotel of that place. He was thus employed until 1867, when he returned to Iowa. For a few months thereafter Mr. Habicht was engaged in farm work and later he opened a blacksmith shop in Avoca. He secured a liberal patronage as a blacksmith but the coal gas caused the failure of his health and led him to seek employment of a different character.
On the 22d of February, 1882, Mr. Habicht was married to Miss Bertha Klindt, of Avoca, who was born in Davenport, Iowa. Her father, Peter Klindt, came to the United States from Germany with his parents when a lad of eight years. After his marriage Mr. Habicht turned his attention to farming, and for six years engaged in the cultivation of rented land. During that period he carefully saved his earnings, and in 1880 he purchased the old Pattel farm four miles south of Avoca, in Valley township, comprising two hundred and ten acres of land. This he successfully operated until 1902, when he sold that farm and removed to the vicinity of Avoca in order to give his children the advantages of better educational facilities afforded by the town. His place was about a mile northcast of Avoca and here he settled after entering upon an understanding with the school board that his children should be admitted to the town schools. His farm, comprising one hundred and sixty acres, known as The Cedars Farm, is one of the finest farms in the state of Iowa. His scientific methods of farming were recognized by the secretary of agriculture of the United States, who in 1905 sent him twenty-five pecks of winter wheat with instructions concerning the preparation of the soil and the sowing of the seed. The instructions which he received, however, did not coincide with his views and after several letters had passed between him and the agricultural department relative to this, he was advised to act upon his own judgment. As a consequence he was the first man to harvest a crop of wheat, yielding forty-three and three- tenths bushels to the acre in Pottawattamie county. He was one of the most progressive, as well as one of the best known farmers of the county, and his opinions are largely regarded as authority in agricultural circles. In addition to cultivating the cereals best adapted to soil and climate, he is extensively engaged in breeding registered Aberdeen Angus cattle, Poland China hogs and Plymouth Rock chickens, and is prominently known in con- nection with the live-stock interests of this part of the state. He is now a mem- ber of the Poland China Hog Association and the Aberdeen Angus Cattle Association. He is likewise a stockholder in the Pottawattamie County Fair Association and of the Pottawattamie Stock Pavilion.
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