USA > Iowa > Pottawattamie County > History of Pottawattamie County, Iowa, from the earliest historic times to 1907, Vol. II > Part 51
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The family are members of the Catholic church. In politics Mr. Leon- ard has always been a stalwart democrat, keeping well informed on the ques- tions and issues of the day and giving loyal support to the party. He has served as township trustee and as school director. Mr. Leonard is still a well preserved old man, enjoying excellent health for one of his years and yet doing no little work about the farm. He made no mistake in coming to America but on the contrary here found the opportunities which he sought and which he has improved until he is today one of the substantial residents of the county. In the course of years he became the owner of extensive and valuable farming interests and with generous spirit he has divided with his sons, giving to each a valuable and extensive farm. His life has at all times been honorable and upright, and good qualities have gained for him the warm regard of many friends.
SOLOMON MCMULLEN.
Solomon MeMullen, who is engaged in general farming and stock- raising in 'Hazel Dell township, is one of the worthy citizens that Ohio has furnished to western Iowa. He was born in Fayette county in the former state, June, 6, 1832, his parents being William and Catherine (Myers) Mc- Mullen. The father, who was born in Virginia, March 15, 1783, died on the 8th of October, 1878, when he had reached the very venerable age of ninety- five years. His wife, whose birth occurred in Ohio, February 10, 1776, passed away near Springfield, Missouri, November 10, 1848. Their children were eleven in number but only two are now living, the elder being Mrs. Martha Dutrow of Crescent township.
Solomon MeMullen, when a lad of nine years, accompanied his parents as they left Fayette county, Ohio, and made their way to Lawrence county, Missouri, driving across the country. For eleven years they lived in that state and the mother died during that period. In 1852 the father and his children came to Pottawattamie county and here established their home. He owned land in Missouri, which he sold on coming to Iowa, and here he in- vested in property which he retained in his possession up to the time of his death.
Solomon MeMullen was married on the 2d of December, 1852, in Iowa, to Miss Ellen Dunkle, who was born in Ohio, March 10, 1835, and died in Crescent, Iowa, in 1901, being then about sixty-six years of age. She was a daughter of William and Mary (McMillen) Dunkle. The father's birth
MR. AND MRS. SOLOMON MCMULLEN.
THE NEW YORK PUBLIC LIBRARY
ASTOR, LENOX AND TILDEN FOUNDATIONS.
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occurred in Virginia, January 10, 1781, and he reached the advanced age of ninety-two years, passing away December 30, 1873. His wife, who was born in Ohio, January 20, 1777, died September 20, 1831. Mr. and Mrs. MeMullen have become the parents of six children: Mrs. Catherine Butler, living in Hazel Dell township; Manda, John W. and Daniel, all deceased; Lee, who married Maude Camp and lives on the farm with his father; and Annie, who has departed this life.
The marriage of Mr. and Mrs. McMullen was celebrated the year in which they came to Pottawattamie county. At that time he started out upon an independent business career and for two years cultivated a rented farm, in the meantime carefully saving his earnings until he was enabled to buy fifty-five acres of land. This he improved to some extent and then sold. After a residence of six years in the county he bought his present home farm of one hundred and ninety aeres in Hazel Dell township. This does not embrace his total landed interests, however, for he owns altogether three hun- dred and eighty acres in the county. His home place is nicely improved with modern equipments and accessories. The buildings are substantial, the fences kept in a state of good repair and the fields under a high state of cultivation. He uses the latest improved machinery to facilitate the work of plowing, planting and harvesting and the results attained thereby are of a most desirable character. The home is now surrounded by a beautiful grove of trees, which have grown from mere saplings to their present fine proportions since Mr. McMullen came to the farm. They constitute an at- tractive feature of the landscape and add not a little to the value of the place. Mr. MeMullen belongs to the Church of the Latter Day Saints and gives his political allegiance to the democratic party.
REUBEN DUNKLE.
A life of intense and well directed activity has made Reuben Dunkle one of the representative farmers of Hazel Dell township. He resides on section 30, where he owns two hundred acres of valuable and productive land and he also has one hundred and forty acres on the river bottom in Crescent township. He was born in Fayette county, Ohio, March 31, 1840, his parents being William and Mary (McMullen) Dunkle. The father, a farmer by occupation, brought his family to Pottawattamie county in 1852 and his last days were spent at Crescent, where he passed away at the very advanced age of ninety-two years, having long survived his wife, who died in Lawrence county, Missouri, at the age of forty-seven. Reuben Dunkle was the youngest of their family of three children. His brother David was born in Fayette county, Ohio, lived for many years at Crescent and died at Omaha a few years ago. The sister, Ellen, now deceased, was the wife of Solomon MeMullen, of Hazel Dell township.
During the summer following the birth of Reuben Dunkle, his par- ents removed to Greene county, Missouri and later to Dade county, where
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they resided until 1848, when the father settled in Buchanan county, Mis- souri. His wife had died in April, 1844. In 1852 the father brought his family to Iowa, locating on a farm a mile east of the city of Crescent, then called Pigeon City. He bought one hundred and sixty acres of raw prairie land on section 30, Hazel Dell township, and began life in true pioneer style, living in a sod house for many years. The family shared in the hardships and privations incident to life on the frontier.
Reuben Dunkle acquired but six months' schooling before coming to this county, where he arrived when a lad of twelve years. At that age he had to go to work and received no more education but in the practical school of experience he has learned many valuable lessons and that he is a good business man in the field of his chosen endeavor is indicated by the fact that he now has valuable agricultural interests in this county. He re- mained on the old home farm with his father and eventually came into possession of the place. He now owns two hundred acres of rich land on section 30, which has been brought under a high state of cultivation, the fields being made to return rich crops. He also has a hundred and forty acres on the bottom in Crescent township. He has always been a hard worker, industrious and energetic, and is yet living a life of strenuous ac- tivity.
In early manhood Mr. Dunkle married Miss Elizabeth Strang, who was born in Scotland, and came to this county in 1853 with her father, William Strang. She has been an invalid for nearly forty years. Mr. and Mrs. Dunkle became the parents of eight children but only three are now living: Jennie, the wife of Dr. J. H. Swanson, of Weston, Iowa; Maggie E., the wife of J. H. Bryan, of Storm Lake, Iowa; and Annie L., the wife of J. H. Barclay, of Council Bluffs. The parents also reared two grandchildren from childhood to manhood and one is still with them, while the other is em- ployed in a drug store at Avoca. Realizing the need of an education, be- cause of his own deprivations in that direction, Mr. Dunkle gave to his chil- dren and grandchildren every advantage which he could for the acquire- ment of education as a preparation for life's practical duties.
The family are members of the Reorganized Church of the Latter Day Saints. Mr. Dunkle's political allegiance is given to the democracy and he has held the offices of township trustee and road supervisor. He is truly a pioneer, familiar with all the old landmarks in his part of the county. Upon his place is an oak tree which was here when he arrived in Pottawattamie county fifty-five years ago. He has spared it from the woodman's ax many a time and for many years it was the home of a swarm of bees but it is now showing signs of decay. Mr. Dunkle can tell of the many changes which have occurred in this part of the county, the people who have lived here and the work that has been wrought. He can remember the days when much of the farm labor was done by hand as there were no steam thresh- ers, self-binders or riding plows. The farmer had to walk back and forth across the fields, following the plow that turned the furrow, dropping the seed by hand. Many changes have occurred in the methods of farming
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and Mr. Dunkle has kept in touch with the advancement that has been made. Deprived in youth of many advantages which boys enjoy at the present time he has nevertheless mnade good use of his opportunities and deserves much credit for what he has accomplished.
WILLIAM J. TREDE.
William J. Trede, who follows farming on section 3, Keg Creek town- ship, was born in Germany, June 19, 1864, his parents being John and Antje Trede. The mother was married twice, her first union being with a Mr. Hartz. His death occurred in Germany. Mr. and Mrs. Trede after- ward came to America, he spending his last days in Treynor, where he departed this life in 1903 when seventy years of age. By her first marriage the mother had one son, Claus, who is now living in Carson, Iowa. Unto Mr. and Mrs. Trede were born eight children: Joe, who resides in Keg Creek township; William J .; Mrs. Dora Sucksdorf, of Silver Creek town- ship; John. Mrs. Margaret Theman and Theodore, all living in Silver Creek township; Mrs. Mary Hartje, of Keg Creek township; and Mrs. Bertha Leick, of Council Bluffs. The mother resides in Keg Creek township with her daughter, Mrs. Hartje.
William J. Trede was reared on a farm in the fatherland and is in- debted to the public-school system for the educational privileges which he enjoyed there. He was a young man of about seventeen years when he crossed the Atlantic to the new world, attracted by its broader business op- portunities. He came at once to Council Bluffs and for five years there- after worked at farm labor by the month. In 1886 he returned to Germany and brought his parents and the family back with him to the new world, a location being made in Silver Creek township.
Mr. Trede continued to work by the month as a farm hand until the time of his marriage, when he rented land of his father-in-law and con- tinued its cultivation until 1894. He then purchased his present farm com- prising three hundred acres of land. The farm had been cultivated and Mr. Trede has added to it many modern equipments, making it one of the model farms of the twentieth century. He has recently completed a beauti- ful residence, equipped with every modern convenience, has a system of water works which supplies water to the house, and is now erecting a com- modious and substantial barn. He uses the latest improved machinery to carry on the farm work and his place forms one of the attractive features of the landscape owing to its fine buildings, its well tilled fields and the high grades of stock feeding in its pastures. Annually he feeds from six to eight carloads of cattle and also ships a great many hogs each year. He derives not a little of his income from his live stock interests and is well known in this connection in the county. His wife also owns two hundred and thirty-five acres of land in Silver Creek township.
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It was on the 3d of October, 1889, that Mr. Trede was united in mar- riage to Miss Annie Sucksdorf, who was born in Davenport, Iowa, in 1873, a daughter of H. N. and Maggie (Voderberg) Sucksdorf. In the father's family were three children: P. N., now living in Silver Creek township; Mrs. Trede; and Dora, who died in 1901 at the age of twenty-three years. The parents came to America in 1866, settling first at Davenport, Iowa, where Mr. Sucksdorf was salesman for a lumber firm. . In 1875 he brought his family to Pottawattamie county, settling in Silver Creek township, where he purchased land and carried on general farming until 1903. He then retired from active business life and removed to Treynor, where his death occurred in February, 1904, when sixty-four years of age. His widow still survives and is yet living in Treynor. The home of Mr. and Mrs. Trede has been blessed with nine children: John; Herman; Adolph; Hugo; Elmer; Lillie; Lester, who died at the age of a year and a half; Lorene; and Olive.
The family are members of the German Lutheran church and are prominent socially, occupying an enviable position in the social circles in which they move. Mr. Trede exercises the right of franchise in support of the men and measures of the republican party and fraternally he is con- nected with Armour camp, M. W. A., and with the Sons of Herman at Trey- nor. Although his advantages in youth were few and his opportunities limited he has steadily climbed the ladder of success and has now reached the plane of affluence.
ERNEST E. HART.
In financial circles in Iowa Ernest E. Hart has won a position of dis- tinctive prominence and is today numbered among the leading, influential and honored citizens of Council Bluffs. An enumeration of the many busi- ness interests with which he is connected and which have felt the stimulus of his energy and profited by his sound. judgment is indicative in a measure of his fertility of resource, his keen discrimination and his unabating dili- gence .ยท Such respect is held for his opinion in business circles that his ex- pression concerning any situation or possibility is largely considered con- clusive by those who know him. From his youth he has been one of the world's workers and his success, so great as to seem almost magical, is attrib- utable entirely to his own labors, but while he has reached a commanding position as a financier and promoter of many important industrial and com- mercial concerns, he is equally well known in social and political circles, exerting a widely felt influence that is always found on the side of advance- ment and progress. Moreover, the integrity of his purpose is never ques- tioned. The word of Ernest E. Hart is ever a synonym for. honest dealing among his colleagues in the business world and wherever he is known- and his acquaintance is a wide one throughout the nation-it is a uniformly
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acceded fact that his position relative to any question results from an honest belief therein.
Mr. Hart spent his entire life in Iowa, his birth having occurred at West Union on the 9th of December, 1859. He is a son of Dr. Hart, of whom mention is made elsewhere in this volume, and a brother of Mrs. Jennie Edmundson, after whom the Edmundson Memorial Hospital was named. His early education was acquired in the public schools of Dubuque and in 1868 he came with his parents to Council Bluffs, where he continued his studies, passing through successive grades in the public schools until he completed the high-school course by graduation with the class of 1875. He afterward pursued a preparatory course in Grinnell College and then en- tered the classic walls of old Yale, where he was graduated in 1881 with high honors.
Mr. Hart began his business career in the real-estate office of his broth- er-in-law, J. D. Edmundson. there remaining until 1884, when he engaged in the mortgage and loan business at the corner of Main and First avenue in Council Bluffs. He has since continued in this line but the intervening years have watched the broadening out of his sphere of activity until his efforts touch many lines contributing to the commercial and financial sta- bility and progress of Pottawattamie county. In 1891 he established a private bank under the name of E. E. Hart, which institution he is still conducting. In 1885 he became a director of the Citizens State Bank, which in 1899 was merged into the First National Bank. Purchasing a controlling interest in this institution, Mr. Hart became its president in January, 1902, and has since served in that capacity. He has made the First National one of the greatest banking institutions in western Iowa, having doubled its capital out of its earnings. It is now capitalized for two hundred thousand dollars and he has increased the surplus to one hundred and fifty thousand dollars, while the institution pays an annual dividend of twelve per cent. What he has accomplished in this connection would alone entitle Mr. Hart to classi- fication with the prominent men of Council Bluffs and western Iowa, but it represents but one of the many lines with which he is associated. He has been a director of the State Savings Bank from its organization ; is president of the State Banking & Trust Company of Sioux Falls, South Dakota: a director of the First National Bank at Imogene, Iowa; president of the Potta- wattamie Abstract Company, of Council Bluffs; and president of the Council Bluffs Building, Savings & Loan Association. He is likewise treasurer of the Eagle Life Insurance Company, of Council Bluffs, and the extent and im- portance of these connections make him one of the most prominent finan- ciers of Towa. He has likewise extended his efforts into other fields, being president of the Council Bluffs Real Estate & Improvement Company ; pres- ident of the Interstate Improvement Company and vice president of the York & Hill Realty Company, of Denver, Colorado, thus operating exten- sively in property interests and investment. He is closely connected with the development of important industrial interests, being treasurer of the Towa Lumber & Box Company, of Council Bluffs, with factory at Medford,
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Oregon, a director of the Kretchmer Manufacturing Company, of this eity, and for thirteen years was owner and president of the Nonpareil. A man of sound judgment and excellent executive ability, he has met with far more than ordinary success in his business affairs and while wealth has crowned his efforts, he is also classed with that splendid type of the American citizen who promotes general progress and improvement in advancing individual prosperity. Never hasty in his judgments, he nevertheless forms his plans readily and is determined in their execution. He is a man of push and progress, before whom difficulties vanish as mist before the morning sun. He is penetrative and practical. He sees to the center of things and he sees from the center to the outmost circumference of the possibilities of accom- plishment.
Mr. Hart is a valued member of the Benevolent & Protective Order of Elks, the Modern Woodmen of America, the Loyal Legion, and the Royal Arcanum, being in hearty sympathy with the basie principles of those orders. In earlier life he was not unknown in military circles, having for five years served as a member of the Dodge Light Guards. He is an active member and trustee of the First Congregational church and has been a generous contributor in fostering plans and movements for the benefit of those upon whom fate or some untoward circumstance has bestowed a hard lot.
Mr. Hart has personal acquaintance with many of the eminent political leaders of the country and has for many years been accounted one of the most prominent republicans of Iowa. He regards it the duty as well as the privilege of every American citizen to stand for those principles which he believes contain the best elements of good government and has been a close student of those questions which are to the statesman and the man of affairs of the gravest import. Few men have so intimate knowledge of the issues that have been brought forward in successive campaigns. In 1892 he was the Iowa delegate to the national convention and for eight years has been the Iowa member of the republican national committee, filling the position at the present time. He enjoyed the personal friendship of President. . Me- Kinley, who was his guest in 1892, and is today in close touch with repub- lican national leaders.
On the 15th of October, 1889, Ernest E. Hart was united in marriage to Miss Clara Bebbington, a native of Council Bluffs and a daughter of Mr. and Mrs. George Bebbington, the former an old-time lumber dealer of this city. They became the parents of four children but their first born, Ernest Edmundson, whose natal day was September 25, 1890, passed away Novem- ber 10, 1891. The others are: Henry Bebbington, born November 20, 1892; Eldred Schuyler, born August 28, 1894; and Clara, June 24, 1897. The family home is a beautiful residence at No. 525 South Third street and Mr. and Mrs. Hart are acknowledged leaders in social circles in Council Bluffs.
Mr. Hart's recent address to the people, who have in him the utmost confidence concerning financial affairs, has done much to avert the present threatened financial panic in this city. His fellow townsmen. among whom he has lived from boyhood, know him well and trust him. They have found
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him in every circumstance and under all conditions loyal to truth and honor. Although his business has reached mammoth proportions he has never been known to take advantage of the necessities of another in any business trans- action but at all times has been thoroughly just and straightforward. His success is attributable to his keen sagacity, his capable management and his unfaltering diligence. His life has been so varied in its activity, so lon- orable in its purposes, so far-reaching and beneficial in its effects, that it has become an integral part of the history of Council Bluffs. While he has not sought to figure in any public light. he has nevertheless exerted an immeas- urable influence on the city of his residence: in business life as a financier and promoter of extensive industrial and commercial enterprises; in social circles by reason of a charming personality and unfeigned cordiality ; and in polities by reason of his public spirit and devotion to the general good, as well as his comprehensive understanding of the questions affecting state and national welfare.
O. E. OSBORN.
O. E. Osborn, who is engaged in carrying on general agricultural pur- suits in Hazel Dell township, was born in Virginia on the 4th of March, 1858. He is a son of J. W. Osborn, of whom further mention is made in connection with the sketch of G. H. Osborn on another page of this volume. He pursued his education in the common schools and remained at home until twenty- five years of age, during which time he received ample training in the work of the farm, becoming familiar with the best methods of tilling the soil and planting and harvesting the crops. When twenty-three years of age he bought eighty acres of unimproved land, whereon he now resides, and with characteristic energy began its development and cultivation. He has made all the modern improvements upon it, including the erection of a large frame dwelling and barns. He now owns one hundred and sixty acres of land, one-half of this being received by him as his share of his father's estate. In tilling the soil he has brought his fields under a high state of cultivation and his farm therefore presents a neat and attractive appear- ance. For sixteen years he has been making a specialty of Duroc Jersey hogs and now has upon his place two hundred head which are eligible to registry. He holds two stock sales each year and disposes of about one hun- dred head of hogs annually. This branch of his business is proving profit- able to him.
Mr. Osborn was married to Miss Sarah Roosa, a daughter of Isaiah and Mary L. (Turner) Roosa, residing in Garner township. Unto Mr. and Mrs. Osborn have been born the following children: Margaret, the wife of Richard Hough, of Hazel Dell township; Frank, who is a student in Simpson Col- lege at Indianola, Iowa; Ernest. who attends the Agricultural College at Ames, Iowa; Grace. a student in the school at Cedar Falls, Towa; Olive, pursuing her education at Council Bluffs: Mary. at home; and Charles L.
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Mr. Osborn and his family are members of the Methodist Episcopal church. in the work of which he is actively interested, while to its support he contributes generously. He does everything in his power to advance the growth of the church and to extend its influence, is now serving as one of its trustees and for four years has been superintendent of the Sunday school. His life accords with its teachings, for he has ever been an upright, honor- able man, well meriting the confidence and esteem which are so uniformly extended him. In politics he is a stalwart republican. For four years he served as justice of the peace and for four years has been school director, filling this position at the present time. In all of his farm work he is prac- tical, following methods that produce good results, and today has a valuable property which presents a very attractive appearance, owing to the care and labor that Mr. Osborn has bestowed upon it.
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