USA > Iowa > Sac County > History of Sac County, Iowa > Part 37
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NICHOLAS ORLANDO GISHWILLER.
An enumeration of those men of the present generation who have won honor and public recognition for themselves, and at the same time have honored the locality to which they belong would be incomplete were there failure to make specific mention of him whose name forms the caption of this biographical record. The qualities which have made him one of the most capable and successful men of Sac county have also brought him the esteem of his fellow men, for it is evident that his career has been one of well directed energy, strong determination and honorable methods. . As a contractor and builder he has achieved a good measure of success; as a business man he has so managed his personal affairs as to rank among the substantial citizens of Sac City ; as mayor of the city he has so administered governmental affairs as to earn the hearty commendation of his fellow citi- zens regardless of politics.
Nicholas O. Gishwiller was born September 9. 1854. on his father's farm in Williams county, sixteen miles from the city of Bryan, Ohio. His parents were Louis and Margaret (Sheets) Gishwiller, natives of Switzer- land and Polk counties, Ohio, respectively. His mother was born near the town of Ashland, Ohio. Louis Gishwiller was an infant six months of age when his parents emigrated from Switzerland to the United States. They settled on a farm near the city of Wooster, in Wayne county, Ohio, where Louis was reared to young manhood. When the father of Nathaniel O. Gish- willer became of age he moved to Williams county, Ohio, and purchased a
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tract of land which he cleared of heavy timber growth and improved. He disposed of his western Ohio farm in 1869 and moved westward to Stephen- son county, Illinois, where he purchased a large farm. The first land in- vestment which he made totalled two hundred and ten acres, which was subsequently added to in different tracts until his holdings were among the most extensive in the county. In his old age Louis retired to a residence in the town of Lena, where he died in October, 1911. leaving a large family of ten children, namely: John Alford, of Carancahua, Texas; Louis Frank- lin, of Waddams, Illinois; David William. of Lena, Illinois; Mtrs. Sarah Elizabeth Stahl, of Freeport, Illinois; Nathaniel Orlando; Mrs. Sophia Mar- garet Albee. of Lena, Illinois; Henry I., also of Lena; Hulbert Marion, of Lena ; Charles Wesley, of Wilcox, Nebraska; Mrs. Ada Catharine Coomber, residing in Freeport, Illinois. Three children died in infancy.
He with whom this narrative is intimately concerned was educated in the district schools of the neighborhood in which he was reared and remained on the parental farm until the year 1882. He then came to Sac county and purchased one hundred and forty acres of good land in Cedar township which he improved and made into a valuable property. He resided on the farm until 1884 when he sold it and bought another tract of eighty acres in Wall Lake township, on which he and his family resided until 1888. The family then moved to Sac City with the intention of making a permanent residence here. Mr. Gishwiller at once engaged in carpentering and con- tracting and has met with signal success in all of his undertakings in his chosen line. It is very rarely that a man who has followed the ancient occu- pation of tilling the soil can abandon it as a means of gaining a livelihood when approaching middle age, but Mr. Gishwiller has exemplified the fallacy of the oft-repeated argument that "Once a farmer, always a farmer." His work as a contractor and builder has been thoroughly and honestly done and his services have been in great demand for several years. His two oldest sons assist him in his operations and he employs additional help on occasion. He is the owner of two hundred and forty acres of excellent farm land in South Dakota and is the possessor of a residence property in Sac City. Politically, he has always been allied with the Republican party. He has filled various local and school offices with credit to himself and in the inter- est of his constituents. In the spring of 1913 he was elected mayor of Sac City. Ile is known as one of the most energetic and capable eity execu- tives who has ever held the office. During his administration extensive city improvements have been pushed to completion. Miles of paving have been laid within the city and improvements have been made throughout the mu-
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nicipality which have placed Sac City among the most progressive of the cities of lowa. He is a member of the Baptist church and is fraternally affiliated with the Knights of Pythias and the Brotherhood of American Yeoman. Mr. Gishwiller is a prominent and active member of the local lodge of Pythians.
N. O. Gishwiller was united in marriage with Mary Hall, of Jo Daviess county, Ilinois, on February 13, 1877. She is the daughter of Joseph and Rebecca Hall, natives of England and Canada respectively. Three children have been born to this estimable couple, namely: Margaret Rebecca Cor- saut, who was born January 3, 1878, on the farm in Illinois, and resides in Cedar township. She is the mother of four children: Frances, Elmira, DeWitt James, Zada Emma and Loren. Oran Orlando, the second son, was born May 9, 1885, and resides in Sac City. He is the father of two children, Helen Grace and Marguerite. The third child is Ira Irwin, born June 6, 1887.
EDWARD P. HARTMAN.
It is the essence of biography to record the accomplishments of the in- dividual. Not all men are chosen to perform wondrous tasks. The great bulk of the population in our towns and cities is made up of industrions men who are doing their duty in behalf of those dependent on their exertion and at the same time taking the necessary part in the self-government and promoting the well being of the community at large. Each man in his own sphere of endeavor is doing his duty as he sees it or as his environments re- quire. Edward P. Hartman, banker and man of affairs in Lake View, is a successful citizen, residing in a growing and hustling city noted for its en- terprise and the high personal character of its citizenship. It is meet and desirable that his biography be written and inserted herein.
E. P. Hartman was born November 16, 1869, in Spencer county, In- diana, the son of John C. and Barbara (Collignon ) Hartman. John C., the father, was born in Germany in 1834 and died in Sac county in the year 1905. Barbara Collignon was the daughter of French parents and a native of the province of Alsace Loraine. When John C. Hartman was twelve years old he came to America with his parents, who located in the state of Pennsylvania in 1846. His father was a miller by trade and John C. naturally took up the same vocation and was employed in his younger days in a flouring mill near the city of Harrisburg. He likewise became a skilled millwright and understood the erection of a flouring-mill from the founda-
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tion to erecting the structure and installing the machinery. He became a builder of flouring mills. He removed to Indiana for a short time and later migrated to Jowa in the year 1873 and for two years worked in a flouring- mill in Dubuque county. In 1875 he came westward and built a mill at Car- roll, which he operated until 1880. He then came to Sac county and built a mill in Boyer Valley township, which he operated until 1883, then removed to Odebolt and erected the Odebolt Flouring Mill. He operated the Odebolt mill for several years and became quite well to do, being recognized as one of the substantial and valued citizens of the county.
The children of John C. and Barbara Hartman numbered thirteen in all, seven of whom are yet living, namely: Mrs. J. R. Mattes, of Odebolt ; Mrs. J. F. Covey, of Clinton, lowa; Mrs. J. P. Laughlin, of Bevington, Iowa; Mrs. Barbara Shea, a resident of Spokane, Washington: J. W. Hartman, of Lake View ; E. P. Hartman, with whom the reviewer is directly concerned.
E. P. Hartman was educated in the public and parochial schools of Carroll, lowa, and also studied in Dixon College. From 1890 to 1891, inclusive. he served as deputy treasurer of Sac county. He then engaged in the mercantile business in Gowrie for a period of seven years, after which he returned to Odebolt where he resided until 1905. In 1905 he became connected with the Lake View State Bank and is now the bank's efficient and accommodating assistant cashier. His attention, like that of many other successful and enterprising men in this section of the West, has been devoted to agricultural interests and his land holdings are con- siderable. He is the owner of three hundred and sixty acres of rich land, one hundred and twenty acres of which is located in Wall Lake township and two hundred and forty acres in Boyer Valley township.
Mr. Hartman was married in 1892 to Louisa Schaller, a daughter of Hon. Phil Schaller, one of the noted and commanding figures in the history of Sac county, and of whom this volume gives an extended biography. Six children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Hartman, as follows: Lucille and Philip, students in Grinnell College; Mary, Schaller, Catharine and Margaret.
Politically, Mr. Hartman is allied with the Republican party. He is a member of the Catholic church. He ranks high as one of the representa- tive and leading citizens of his city and county; is genial, well educated and progressive and enjoys the friendship and esteem of his many acquaint- ances throughout the county. He is the father of a very interesting family who will undoubtedly be reared to become good and useful men and women.
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ALFRED G. KRUSENSTJERNA.
The Swedish nation has contributed her quota to the cosmopolitan character of the American populace and the American citizens whose na- tivity was originally in Scandinavia are among the best of our population. No immigrant from foreign shores speaking a language other than the Eng- lish is more quickly assimilated or is more thoroughly Americanized in a short period of time after arrival on our shores than the sturdy sons of Sweden. As tillers of the soil they are among the most successful; in the marts of trade and commerce they have made their presence felt in large measure: in the learned professions the Swedish-Americans have achieved fame, wealth and distinction, and are found everywhere in the van of human progress. They are alive to their opportunities and readily throw off the Old World mannerisms and customs which are sometimes stubbornly adhered to in this country by the representatives from other foreign nation- alities. Everywhere they are considered valued members of society and soon take their rightful places in the life of the communities which are so fortunate as to secure them as permanent citizens. In Alfred G. Krusen- stjerna, of Odebolt, we find one of the best and most intelligent types of an American citizen whose birthplace was in Sweden.
Mr. Krusenstjerna was born June 2, 1856, in Sweden and is the son of Marritz Von and Mary Krusenstjerna. His father was a manufacturer and a well-to-do land owner who had large estates in Sweden and Norway. The father is now deceased and the mother resides in the old home in Sweden. Alfred G. received the advantages of an excellent education in the schools of his native land, a proficiency which stood him in good stead when he came to America to seek his fortune in the West. He was twenty- four years of age when he first came to America and in 1880 he located in Odebolt. He entered the employ of Henry Hanson and was thus en- gaged for a period of ten years. He was then employed for the St. Paul & Kansas Grain Company for two years and in 1893 started in business for himself. His grain business is very extensive and probably the largest in Sac county. He is a large buyer and shipper of grain, including corn, popcorn and oats. It is computed that he buys and ships over one hundred and seventy-five carloads of grain annually. Mr. Krusenstjerna is also a very extensive buyer and shipper of live stock and handles in excess of one hundred and twenty-five carloads of live stock yearly. Being the owner of nine hundred and ninety acres of land in Richland township gives him an outlet for his live stock operations and affords an excellent feeding place for
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large herds previous to their shipment to the markets. Several years ago he began investing his surplus earnings in Sac county land and has added to his possessions of this valuable commodity, which is the source of all wealth, until he is now one of the largest land owners in the county.
In politics, Mr. Krusenstjerna is a pronounced Progressive ; his religious affiliations are with the Presbyterian brotherhood.
Mr. Krusenstjerna was married in 1889, to Ida Haakison, a native of Sweden. To this union have been born eleven children as follows: George, a farmer on his father's farm; Hazel, Fred, Mabel, Russell, Ruth, Florence, Arthur, Morris, Helen and Richard.
Mr. Krusenstjerna stands high in the estimation of his fellow citizens and is admired for his genuine business ability and many good qualities by those who know him best. His career furnishes a striking example of the possibility of attaining success in this western country by those of for- eign birth who come here unhandicapped by not possessing sufficient attain- ments to enable them to grasp their opportunities and win.
ZACHARY FULLER, M. D.
Life holds possibilities for all of us. We come into the world with our pathway before us. It is strewn with obstacles which are ofttimes difficult to overcome but the very nature of which, in the necessary efforts of will and expenditure of energy, enable us to properly develop the mental efficiency and capabilities destined to enable the individual to gain a measure of success. Some individuals rely to a certain extent upon the fickle fortunes of destiny ; others are inspired by the lessons handed down by ancestral heredity; some are tossed about upon the waves of commotion without attaining a definite course ; many are inspired with a desire to devote their lives for the benefit of their fellow men. Ambition is the notable spur which drives men forward to the attainment of a certain well-defined goal. When ambition is combined with positive genius and power of brain success is certain, and comes to him who patiently exercises the God-lent gifts which are his by right of birth and endowment. Since the time of the first Great Ilealer the history of the medical fraternity has abounded with tales of the deeds of self-sacrificing indi- viduals who have given their lives for the alleviation of suffering. In these days of commercial exploitation and the pursuit of wealth, it is a gratification to the historian to be permitted to write concerning an eminent professional
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ZACHARY FULLER, M. D.
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gentleman who has risen from a modest beginning to one of the leaders of a profession noted for its learned, scholarly and self-effacing members. The biographer of this volume is pleased to chronicle briefly and concisely this tribute to Dr. Z. Fuller, one of the leaders of the medical fraternity of Sac City and county.
Doctor Fuller was born May 22. 1853, in the town of Crown Point, Indiana. He is the son of Aaron Fuller, a native of Ohio, who was born in Vinton county, of the old Buckeye state, the son of James Fuller, a direct descendant of an old New England family, and whose forbears crossed the ocean with the first brave group of pilgrims in the "Mayflower." James Fuller was a native of Maine. He began his migration to Ohio when a young man, but was deterred in the city of Boston for a period of two years on ac- count of Indian troubles to the westward. He finally settled in Ohio, but in 1835 moved to the Hoosier state, and located in Lake county. Aaron was twenty years of age at this time the elder Fuller purchased a large tract of land in Lake county. The family resided in Indiana until the spring of 1865. During the Civil War it was necessary for Aaron to remain at home and care for an invalid wife, but four brothers served faithfully during the war in the service of the Union. Aaron was married in Lake county to Melvina Sprague, a native of Canada, and who later resided in Vermont and New Hampshire with her parents and afterwards accompanied her father and mother to their new home at Crown Point. In the spring of 1865 Aaron Fuller located per- manently in Buchanan county, Iowa, and engaged in the retail merchandise and hotel business. In 1868 he traded his town property for a fine farm in Delaware county and moved thereon.
Ile became the owner of two farms, one of which he traded for a stock of goods and a residence property in the town of Sand Spring, and there removed his family. He engaged in merchandising and the buying and shipping of live stock and grains. He had previously had considerable experience in the handling of horses, having been in the employ of the United States govern- ment during the Civil War in the capacity of horse buyer. He would buy up horses suitable for the use of the army and ship them to Chicago. In 1873 the notable panic which swept over the country caused his failure in business. After securing all that he possibly could from the wreck of his fortunes he moved to Texas and spent his remaining days in Texas and Louisiana, finally dying in the city of Shreveport in 1911, at the great age of ninety years. During his residence in the Southland he became the owner of an immense cotton plantation in the state of Texas. Aaron Fuller was thrice married. (25)
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By his first wife, he was the father of two children, a son and daughter, both of whom are deceased. There were three children by his second marriage, two of whom died in infaney, and he of whom this narrative reads is the only survivor. Four children were born as a result of his third marriage, only two of whom are yet living, namely: Stephen Fuller, a resident of Texas; Francis, who lives at Lake Charles, Louisiana.
Dr. Z. Fuller was reared on a farm and grew to sturdy manhood with a knowledge of the rudiments of agriculture, but while yet young in years he decided to adopt one of the learned professions as his life work. He had the advantages of a good village school as well as fairly good district schools in securing his initiatory education. He entered the University of Iowa and studied medicine and literature, graduating therefrom in the spring of 1876. He first practiced at Masonville, in the western part of Delaware county, for six months and then located in Sac City, in the fall of the same year. He remained here until November of 1879, when, by reason of failing health, he removed to the mountain regions of Colorado. He spent fifteen years in the Mountain state, the first five years of which were devoted to the practice of his profession in the mining camps of the Gunnison river country. He then practiced for ten years in the city of Denver. The panic of 1892 and 1893 hit the city of Denver very hard and the Doctor deemed it expedient to return to the scene of his first successes. He came again to Sac City and here has remained. He enjoys the distinction of being the oldest practicing physician in point of years of service within the confines of the county. To Doctor Fuller we are greatly indebted for the excellent medical chapter which is one of the important divisions of the History of Sac County. He is a member of the Sac County Medical Society, the Iowa State Medical Society, and the American Medical Association. In 1878 he received appointment of United States examining surgeon for pensions, being the first appointee in this county. In the year 1879 he was elected coroner of the county, but did not remain to serve out his term. Doctor Fuller has ever striven to advance him- self in the profession, as his high standing among the medical fraternity will attest. During his residence in Colorado he was local surgeon of the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad Company at Creston Butte, Colorado. He took post- graduate work in the county hospital of Denver and also pursued a post- graduate course in Rush Medical College of Chicago, and in 1909 studied in the Post-Graduate Hospital in New York City. In recognition of his attain- ments and ability he was recently appointed state lecturer on tuberculosis, its prevention and eure, by the state board of health. His writings and lectures on this subject have since been widely quoted and read. He is local surgeon
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of the Chicago & Northwestern railway. Doctor Fuller is a member of the Christian church of Sac City, and is a fraternal brother of Modern Wood- men of America and the Woodmen of the World. He has been twice mar- ried. In the fall of 1874 he took to wife Ellen Estella Cummings, the daugh- ter of his old preceptor, Doctor Cummings, of Sand Spring. She died in the mountains of Colorado in the spring of 1882, in the mining town of Creston Butte, leaving three sons, namely : Elmer Dean Fuller, a practicing attorney of Mexico City, Mexico; Garth Cummings Fuller, a real estate dealer of Tampico, Mexico, and Nathaniel Ilaves Fuller, of Mexico City, a practicing attorney allied with his older brother in the profession. In the fall of 1890 Doctor Fuller was united in marriage with Miss Nellie Tuggy at Loveland, Colorado. To them have been born two children: Mary Elizabeth Fuller, a student in the Carnegie Training School for Librarians at Pittsburg, Pennsyl- vania, in which school Miss Fuller is specializing on children's library work: Bayard Craig Fuller, who is attending the local high school.
CHARLES S. DARLING.
The field of agriculture has widened considerably during the past twenty years, and nowhere in the land has greater advancement in this important industry been made than in Sac county, nor has the value of farm lands increased with greater rapidity than in this "Garden Spot of the World," as it is called by the pioneer settlers and their descendants who have lived to see the county emerge from a condition of dormancy, and have seen the wide prairie lands transformed into productive farms, the peer of which can not be found elsewhere in the country. In C'edar township, where some of the most substantial farmers of the county reside, modern methods of agriculture have supplanted the old, arduous way of tilling the soil and the farmer's burdens have been lightened by the introduction of modern ma- chinery, and an excellent drainage system has reclaimed thousands of acres of rich, desirable land which was frequently flooded and at one time con- sidered valueless on account of its sodden condition during the greater part of the year. Charles S. Darling, a citizen of the better type and an enter- prising farmer of Sac county, enjoys the unique distinction of having re- sided on his Cedar township farm for forty years and is one of the pioneer residents of the county.
Mr. Darling is the owner of a farm of two hundred and ninety-six acres,
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two hundred and seven of which lie in Sac county, and is part of the old Darling homestead, and eighty-nine acres lie in Calhoun county adjoining. This land is now being thoroughly drained at considerable expense for tiling and ditching, the land being located in a drainage district which will provide for a direct flow of the water. The old Darling home, in which Charles S. resides, was remodeled and modernized in 1903. He has been a stock raiser and breeder for many years and has at the present writing about twelve head of pure-bred Shorthorn cattle, and also produces from ten to twenty head of English Shire thoroughbred horses annually. At present the farm is supporting a large drove of hogs. In the year 1913, Mr. Darling's land produced seventy bushels of corn to the acre, this being the best known yield in Sac county, and one of the best yields in the entire state of Iowa for the season, which was not propitious for a good corn crop. The Darling farm is known as Eaverdale farm, Lytton, lowa.
Charles S. Darling was born March 4, 1856, in Summit county, Ohio. He is the son of James Darling, who was born January 8, 1824, in New York state, and died November 17, 1887, in Sac county. He was the son of Adam Darling, a native of Haddington, Scotland, and who emigrated to New York in 1820 after he married Elizabeth Portus, and later reared a family. Adam was a cabinet-maker by trade. His son James married Margaret Drennen, a daughter of Scotch-Irish parents, who were Matthew, a native of Ireland, and Jane Drennen, a native of Pennsylvania. Margaret Drennen was born in Pennsylvania in 1827 and died in Sac county in the year 1877. James Darling migrated to Summit county, Ohio, and was there married.
In the spring of 1874. James Darling and his family left the old Buck- eye home and started for lowa. The trip consumed seven days in all. They settled on the farm in Cedar township for which James had traded his Ohio property at a valuation of five dollars an acre for the land, which totaled four hundred and fifteen acres. William Drennen took the other part of seven hundred and thirty-five acres which was included in the deal. Charles S. now owns two hundred and seven acres of this land and Mrs. Sadie J. Elwood, his sister, owns two hundred and seven, five acres forming the balance. They erected a small house, sixteen by twenty-four feet in di- mension, which served as the habitation of the family for the first two years. Their nearest neighbors at this time were the Youngs and Herrolds, who lived over four miles away. The land was swampy and remained so until the drainage district was organized and an outlet was made which permitted the draining off of the "slough" water. It is said of James Darling that he
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