USA > Iowa > Pottawattamie County > History of Pottawattamie County, Iowa, from the earliest historic times to 1907, Vol. II > Part 14
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JOHN W. PEREGOY.
John W. Peregoy, president of the Peregoy & Moore Company, wholesale dealers in cigars and tobacco, was born in Baltimore, Maryland, August 24, 1835, and is a son of Charles and Elizabeth Peregoy. He was reared at Balti- more and at Winchester, Virginia, where his mother's people resided, and there ยท acquired his early education but his advantages along that line were rather limited for at the age of twelve years he left school and began work in a cigar shop in Baltimore, where he served a two years' apprenticeship at the cigar-maker's trade, working for his board and clothes during that time. Hav- ing mastered the business in principle and detail, he was then employed at his trade in Winchester, Alexandria and Middleburg, Virginia, and at Washing- ton, D. C.
While in the capital city the war of the Rebellion broke out and Mr. Pere- goy's patriotism was so aroused that he enlisted in Company E, Fourth Bat- talion, District of Columbia Volunteers, for three months, but rheumatism soon rendered him unfit for active service and he was honorably discharged. Going to Dayton, Ohio, he worked at his trade in that city for two years and subsequently traveled over the west and northwest for several years working at his trade.
In 1868 Mr. Peregoy came to Council Bluffs and embarked in the cigar business, manufacturing his own cigars, and from a small beginning he has gradually built up his business to its present immense proportions, having to- day the largest trade of any establishment of the kind west of New York. In 1904 the business was incorporated with Mr. Peregoy as president and under his able management it has become an important industry, so that Council Bluffs now ranks him among her wealthy and substantial citizens.
On the 18th of December, 1872, in Council Bluffs, Mr. Peregoy married Miss Inez Kirkpatrick, and to them were born four children but Robert C. is the only one now living.
Mr. Peregoy is public-spirited and progressive and has served six years on the park board and as treasurer of the board of education for seven years.
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In his political relations he is independent, preferring to vote for men and measures rather than party. Since coming to Council Bluffs he has united with the Masonic fraternity and is now a member of Bluff City lodge, No. 71, A. F. & A. M .; Star chapter, No. 47, R. A. M .; and Ivanhoe commandery, No. 17, K. T., having served as grand junior warden of the grand lodge. He is also a member of the Elks lodge, No. 531. He had a natural liking and adaptability for the business in which he is engaged and believed that in that line lay success for him. His hopes have been more than realized and though he started out in life without capital he has by his honesty and untiring efforts succeeded in acquiring a handsome competence and in bulding up an extensive and profitable business. His whole life has been such as to gain for him the confidence and good will of those with whom he has come in contact.
CLEMENT FIELD KIMBALL.
Clement Field Kimball, city attorney of Council Bluffs, and one who in his private as well as professional capacity exerts a strongly felt influence for the welfare and progress of the city, has here resided since 1895. He came here . a recent graduate of the law department of the State University of Michigan at Ann Arbor and opened a law office for general practice. He has since made steady progress in the field of his chosen calling and is now regarded as one of the able lawyers at the bar of western Iowa.
A native son of this state, he was born in Anamosa on the 11th of Au- gust, 1868, his parents being John C. and Lucy (Field) Kimball, the former a manufacturer of machinery. The son was educated in the common schools until he had mastered the elementary branches of learning, after which he entered the state college at Ames, Iowa, from which he was graduated in the class of 1889. He completed his preparation for the practice of law as a stu- dent in the law department of the State University of Michigan at Ann Arbor and in the meantime he engaged in teaching for four years in the Chicago Manual Training School and in high schools. He had thus been enabled to prosecute his own studies and when he had qualified for practice he located in Council Bluffs, where for twelve years he has remained an active member of the bar. He entered upon general practice, in which he still continues but has made somewhat of a specialty of corporation law and is now the legal repre- sentative of several important corporate bodies. He belongs to the Pottawatta- mie County Bar Association and to the State Bar Association and he is regarded by the legal fraternity, as well as by the general public, as a close and dis- criminating student of his profession, who does thoroughly the work of the office before entering the courtroom, wherein he presents his cause in clear, logical and cogent manner.
Mr. Kimball was married to Miss Carroll Williams, a daughter of Captain R. S. and Jennie C. Williams, the former a lumber merchant of Wyoming, Iowa. The wedding was celebrated in 1895 and unto them has been born a son, John Williams Kimball, whose natal day was February 7, 1901.
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Mr. Kimball is an active republican, recognized as one of the prominent and influential members of the party in this locality. He has studied closely the signs of the times and the questions of the day and is a strong adherent of good government and equally stanch in his opposition to misrule in public af- fairs. In this connection he is serving as a member of the legislative committee of the Iowa League of Municipalities. He served as assistant county attorney from 1899 until 1903 and at the present writing is capably filling the position of city attorney. He is well known socially and is popular in various organiza- tions. He belongs to the Commercial Club, to the Council Bluffs Rowing Asso- ciation, to the Knights of the Maccabees, the Woodmen of the World, and the Royal Arcanum. He is prominent in the Knights of Pythias order, being a district deputy grand master and he is also royal prince of the Dramatic Order of the Knights of Khorasan. A young man, he has already left the im- press of his individuality upon public interests and aside from his profession he centers his energies most largely perhaps upon the efforts to promote a higher standard of citizenship and a greater regard for the duties and obliga- tions which devolve upon the individual in this connection.
BERNHARD VOLKENS.
On a farm on section 7, Silver Creek township, resides Bernhard Volkens, a buyer, feeder and shipper of cattle and hogs. His place of two hundred and eighty acres adjoins the village of Treynor and is also devoted to the raising of grain as well as of stock. A native of Holstein, Germany, he was born May 15, 1868, his parents being Henry and Mary (Hein) Volkens. The mother died in Germany during the early boyhood of her son Bernhard and the father is still living in that country.
Bernhard Volkens spent the first seventeen years of his life in the land of his nativity and then came alone to the new world, attracted by its broader business opportunities and greater advantages. He landed on the eastern coast but did not tarry long there, making his way at once to Wright county, Iowa, where he lived for two years, providing for his own maintenance by working as a farm hand. In 1887 he arrived in Pottawattamie county and continued his work at farm labor for about ten years. This was interrupted, however, by a trip to the Pacific coast. About 1889 he traveled to the far west, spending a year in Washington and Oregon working in the timber regions and in the towns. On the expiration of twelve months he returned to this county, where he has resided continuously since, but in order to engage in farming on his own account he cultivated rented land for two years after his marriage. He next bought his present farm from his father-in-law and has resided thereon for eleven years, having two hundred and fifty acres of land on section 7, Silver Creek township, save that eighty acres extends over the boundary line into Keg Creek township. This farm adjoins the village of Treynor and is devoted to the production of grain and the raising of stock, Mr. Volkens being well known as a buyer, feeder and shipper of cattle and hogs. This constitutes an
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important branch of his business and furnishes him with a good annual revenue.
In 1895 Mr. Volkens was married to Miss Annie Heesch, who was born on the farm where Mr. Volkens now lives, March 13, 1872. She was a daughter of George Heesch and died in 1897 at the age of twenty-three years leaving one child, Mary. In 1901 Mr. Volkens was again married, his second union being with Emma Kahler, who was born in Holstein, Germany, October 30, 1878, a daughter of John and Anna (Aschinger) Kahler, likewise natives of Holstein but now residents of Keg Creek township. There are four sons of this marriage-Henry, Herman, John and Harry, all of whom are still under the parental roof, the family circle being yet unbroken by the hand of death.
In 1899 Mr. Volkens made a trip to Germany, returning in 1900. He brought his father back with him and the old gentleman remained for two years, Mr. Volkens in the meantime taking him to the Pacific coast on a trip. There were eight children in the father's family, five sons and three daughters, of whom one son is now deceased. A brother, Ferdinand, resides with Bern- hard and another brother, Ed, is living in Canada. A sister, Amanda, is the wife of Fritz Ehrig, of Weston, and the others are still in Germany. Mr. Vol- kens has held to the religious faith of the family and is a member of the Lutheran church at Treynor, while his political belief is indicated by the ballot. which he always casts in support of the men and measures of the republican party.
LEWIS HENN.
Lewis Henn, now deceased, was one of the early chiefs of the fire depart- ment in Council Bluffs and was well known to the pioneer citizens and early residents of Pottawattamie county. For a long period he was connected with the hotel and livery business in Council Bluffs, whither he came in early man- hood. He was a native of Berlin, Germany, born April 14, 1830, his parents being John and Charlotte Henn, who were likewise natives of that city. They came to America in 1836, settling in Syracuse, New York, where the father engaged in the manufacture of salt throughout his remaining days, both he and his wife passing away in Syracuse.
In the public schools of that city Lewis Henn acquired his education and when a young man he left home and came to the west. He first located at Omaha, Nebraska, but after a short time removed to Council Bluffs, being iden- tified with the interests of the city from that time until his demise. Here he- opened a hotel, owning the building and conducting the business under the name of the Bryant House on West Broadway. This is now the Neumayer Hotel. Mr. Henn continued as the proprietor for several years and then turned his attention to the conduct of a livery stable on Broadway, which he con- tinued for a considerable period. During the last years of his life, however, he was engaged in the livery business on Scott street, in which he continued until his demise.
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Mr. Henn was married twice. He first wedded Miss Harriet Schuyler, who died in Omaha, shortly after their removal to the west. There were two chil- dren by that union: Lottie, who now resides in California; and Harriet, de- ceased. For his second wife Mr. Henn chose Mary E. Rounds, also of Syra- cuse, New York, a daughter of Daniel Rounds, of the Empire state, who spent the greater part of his life upon a farm near Syracuse, where both he and his wife died. Three children graced the second marriage. Carrie, the eldest, is now the wife of John M. Schwab, formerly of Philadelphia, who came to Council Bluffs in 1888 and is now engaged as shipping clerk with M. E. Smith, of Omaha, but he and his wife now reside with Mrs. Henn. Lewis is engaged in the clothing business in Sheridan, Wyoming. Mamie is the wife of Harlan Sawyer, a resident of New York city, where he is engaged in the fire insurance business.
The death of the husband and father occurred on the 7th of April, 1882. . In politics he was a republican and though he never served in public office nor desired political preferment he was always interested in the welfare and prog- ress of the city and in the early days was chief of the fire department here for several years. He belonged to the Knights of Pythias fraternity and assisted in organizing lodge No. 52 in Council Bluffs. In his business he prospered, leaving to his family a comfortable estate. He had a very wide acquaintance among the pioneers of Council Bluffs and enjoyed in large measure the warm regard of those with whom he came in contact. Mrs. Henn now owns a nice home at No. 116, Vine street, where she is living with Mr. and Mrs. Schwab.
HENRY NIEMANN.
Henry Niemann, a retired agriculturist and extensive landowner of Pottawattamie county, is now living in Avoca. He is a native of Germany, having been born in Hanover on the 11th of September, 1848, of the marriage of John and Marie (Becker) Niemann, also natives of the father- land. The father emigrated to America with his family in the year 1864, taking up his abode in DuPage county, Illinois, where he worked by the month for a year. He then operated a rented farm for eight years and on the expiration of that period, in 1873, the family journeyed westward, locat- ing in Shelby county, Iowa, just across the county line from Pottawattamie county, on a farm of four hundred acres, which the father purchased. Though he is now in his eighty-ninth year, he is still active and makes his home with our subject. Mrs. Niemann passed away on the 2d of February, 1901, at the age of seventy-six years. In the family of this worthy couple were six children: William, living in Avoca; Henry, of this review; Mary, the widow of Philip Bolander, also residing in Avoca; Dora, the wife of Adam Bolander, of Manilla, Iowa; Maggie, who became the wife of Charles Steckelberg and resides near Manilla, Towa; and Fred, who makes his home in Avoca.
Mr and Mrs Henry Niemann
THE NEW YORK PUBLIC LIbim
ASTOR, 1 . . (X AND TILD N FOUNDATIONS
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Henry Niemann acquired his education in the common schools of Ger- many and has always followed farming and stock-raising as a business pur- suit. At one time he was the owner of eight hundred acres of land, but sold three hundred and twenty acres to great advantage, so that he now has four hundred and eighty acres of well improved and arable farming land. It is located in the edge of Shelby county, five miles northwest of Avoca, and is valued at one hundred and twenty-five dollars per acre, so that he is easily ranked as one of the most extensive landowners of the county. He also has a fine residence in Avoca, where he is now living retired, having left the farm in 1906. His prosperity has been gained entirely through his untiring industry and excellent business management and his methods have ever been such as have neither sought nor required disguise. He has thus won the admiration and respect of the people of this community, and no one grudges him his present life of ease and freedom from further labor.
On the 2d of September, 1880, Mr. Niemann was joined in wedlock to Miss Emma L. Schmidt, who was born in La Salle county, Illinois, December 11, 1862, her parents, however, being natives of Germany. Mr. Schmidt came to Shelby county, Iowa, in 1869 and is now living in Avoca, but his wife has departed this life. Mrs. Niemann was one of a family of six children and by her marriage she became the mother of six children: C. J., who is engaged in business in Omaha, Nebraska; E. H., at home; H. O., who is married and operates the home farm ; J. E., a druggist of Shelby, Iowa; and Clara and Martha, both of whom are at home. Mr. Niemann was called upon to mourn the death of his wife on the 11th of November, 1906, and her death was deeply deplored throughout the community as well as in her immediate family.
Our subject is a stalwart republican in his political views and has held the office of school treasurer for seventeen years and has also been school director for several years, the cause of education ever finding in him a stanch friend. Fraternally he is connected with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows at Shelby and has filled all the chairs in the lodge. He and his family are members of the Lutheran church, in the work of which they are actively and helpfully interested. Henry Niemann is numbered among those ambitious young men who left the fatherland to identify them- selves with American life and institutions, who have pushed their way to the front and who are a eredit alike to the land of their birth and that of their adoption.
JOHN CHILSON LEWIS.
Proof of the early connection of the Lewis family with the development and progress of Pottawattamie county is found in the fact that one of its townships bears the family name, having been so called in honor of the five brothers who had settled within its borders. One of the number was John
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Chilson Lewis of this review, whose life record began in the town of Monroe, Monroe county, Michigan, on the 21st of February, 1829. His parents were Silas and Lydia (Chilson) Lewis, both of whom were natives of the state of New York. At an early day the father went to Michigan but was driven out by the Indians, who resented the eneroachment of the white man upon their hunting grounds. He then went to Fort Meigs, Ohio, and there volunteered to fight the red men, serving under General Harrison in the war of 1812. He participated in that struggle until it was brought to a successful termination, after which he with thirteen other families returned to Monroe, Michigan. Dur- ing the war he had served under General Hull and was connected with his command at the time he surrendered Detroit but, not willing to surrender, Mr. Lewis struek out for Fort Meigs, one hundred miles away, through the forest. While on the trip he passed many Indians, the journey being a hazardous one, but at length he reached his destination in safety. Following his return to Michigan he aided in the pioneer development of his district and continued to reside at Monroe until killed by the falling of a tree. It was in 1812 that he took up his abode at that place on the River Rasin. His wife long survived him and died in Lewis township, Pottawattamie county, at the very advanced age of ninety-two years. In their family were ten sons, of whom John C. is the sixth in order of birth. Three of the number are now living, his brothers being George, a resident of Monroe, Michigan; and Nelson, who is living in Lewis township, this county.
John Chilson Lewis was reared amid the wild scenes and environments of frontier life, sharing with the family in the hardships and privations inci- dent to the establishment of a home on the frontier. His education was ae- quired in one of the log schoolhouses of that early day, conning his lessons as he sat upon a slab beneh. As his age and strength increased he aided more and more largely in the arduous task of developing a new farm and in 1852, when twenty-two years of age, he left home to make the overland journey to California. He was one hundred and one days on the road and after reaching the Golden state he began mining. He made some money in that way and remained upon the coast until the summer of 1855, when he returned to Mon- roe, Michigan, by way of the isthmus and the water route. He spent the greater part of the time during the succeeding winter washing out apple seeds, with which he later started a nursery. In December, 1855, he again turned his face toward the setting sun but his journey was not so long on this occasion. He drove overland as far as Cedar Rapids, Iowa, where he spent the winter grafting apple trees, his labors proving an important element in the establish- ment of the early orchards of the state. In the spring of 1856 he came to Pottawattamie county and purchased eighty acres of land, on which stood a log house that had formerly been occupied by Mormons. There he made his home for five years, after which he purehased and removed to a tract of wild land of one hundred and twenty aeres. There were no improvements upon this place but he soon built a frame dwelling, which is now a part of his present residence. The work of development was carried forward and was soon mani- fest, not only in the substantial buildings but also in the excellent condition of the fields. Since that time he has bought and sold other pieces of land and is
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now the owner of three hundred and twenty acres in the homestead, has land elsewhere in Iowa, a section in Kansas and a quarter section in Nebraska.
In February, 1860, Mr. Lewis was maried to Mrs. Sarah Ball, a widow, and a daughter of James Piles, of Pottawattamie county. Their children were: Rena, the wife of Silas Wymore, of Stuart, Holt county, Nebraska; and Har- vey C., who is living in Lewis township, this county. The parents traveled life's journey happily together for thirty-six years and were then separated by the hand of death on the 2d of December, 1896, when the wife was called to her final home.
Mr. Lewis is a prohibitionist in political principle and has held various local offices, serving as trustee of his township, as county supervisor for several terms and as a member of the school board for many years, the cause of educa- tion always finding in him a warm and stalwart champion. He is one of the oldest and most influential citizens of Lewis township, having a very extensive acquaintance. His is one of the finest stock and grain farms in the state, as he annually produces abundant harvests and also sends to the market much fine stock. When he came to Pottawattamie county Lewis was a part of Kane township and when it was subdivided the section now comprised in Lewis and Garner townships was taken away from Kane and known as Lewis. The next year another subdivision was made, however, resulting in the present township organization. The citizens of this township petitioned to have it named Lewis, which was done in honor of the family of which our subject is a representative, there being five brothers of the name in the locality. When our subject first settled here his was the only home in a territory distant eight miles from Council Bluffs. Around him stretched the wild unbroken prairie and there was much game in the locality, including deer, turkeys and prairie chickens. Wolves, too, were frequently seen and it required considerable watchfulness to prevent their depredations upon the farmyards. The conditions which ex- isted entailed many hardships and privations upon those who were reclaiming the region for the purpose of civilization but the pioneers were a brave, coura- geous band of men and women, who laid the foundation for the present develop- ment and progress of the county. When Mr. Lewis first shingled his house he used walnut shingles split from blocks. Year after year he continued the ardu- ous task of developing his land and has now a rich and productive farm that responds splendidly to the care and labor he bestows upon the fields. His long residence here has made him very widely known and as an honored pioneer he certainly deserves mention in this volume.
R. FROST.
R. Frost is a self-made man who owes his advancement entirely to his own labors. It is not a lack of opportunity that prevents men from winning suc- cess but a failure to recognize and improve it, for similar opportunities sur- round a great majority of mankind. Mr. Frost is one who has made good use
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of his chances and as the years have gone by he has worked his way steadily upward to a position of prominence and of financial independence.
He was born in Denmark, January 27, 1851, his parents being Jans and Maria (Christenson) Frost, whose family numbered seven children but only three are now living, the sisters of our subject being: Ida, the wife of Gustav Aukerstjerne, of Aalborg, Denmark; and Sine, the wife of P. V. Aukerstjerne, of Allingbro, Denmark. The parents were also natives of that country, where they were reared, their marriage being celebrated there about 1845. The mother died in 1866 and two years later the father came to the United States, being for some two years employed on the construction of the Rock Island Railroad through Iowa. He was again married in 1870 and located either in Dexter or Earlham, living at different times in both of those towns. In 1874 he came to Avoca and settled on a farm just over the line in Shelby county. With the exception of a short period spent in Arkansas he resided on that farm until about 1895, when he removed to Avoca, where he died in 1902. His sec- ond wife bore the maiden name of Isabelle Schuberg and unto them were born three children but only one is now living: Christ. a resident of Avoca.
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