USA > Iowa > Johnson County > Leading events in Johnson County, Iowa history, biographical > Part 49
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RESIDENCE OF HENRY J. WIENEKE
under General Sulley, in 1864, which resulted in driving the entire Sioux Indian tribes out of the country and into British America. He was mustered out late in 1864 at Sioux City, Iowa, and returned home to Iowa City. From the exposure and hardship experienced during his army career his health was much impaired and in seeking some business that would be light he engaged with J. G. Fink in the cigar trade, books, papers, and notions. He remained in this employment for forty years and then started in the same line for himself. He has been in the present location six years. He has hosts of friends, is popular with his customers, and conducts a prosper- ous business.
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Mr. Wieneke was married in 1857 to Caroline Kembel, daughter of Solomon Kembel, native of Pennsylvania, who came to Iowa in 1839. From this union there were eight chil- dren : Caroline, the oldest; Henry C., Wilhelmina, Rosa E., Chas. S., George A., Laura A., and Robert S. The last named is a resident of New Orleans in the employ of the U. S. Express Company.
In his social relations Mr. Wieneke is a member of G. A. R., Kirkwood Post, member of A. F. and A. M. Iowa City, No. 4, and of I. O. O. F. Kosciusko, No. 4, member of the Lutheran church. He votes the republican ticket. He has held all of- fices in the Johnson County Old Settlers' Association, from president down, for the last thirty-five years. He is treasurer and secretary at the present time, and was the originator in the building of log cabins, the first one on the fair grounds, and the two now building on the beautiful city park.
His wife, Caroline Kembel Wieneke, died April 3, 1912, after two years' illness, aged 72 years, 5 months, 27 days.
JACOB ALBRIGHT
The Albright family, of which Mathias Albright and Anna Meyers were the founders in Iowa, emigrated from Pennsyl- vania to the Hawkeye state in 1849. It was a journey fraught with strennosity and variety in that early period. By wagon from Hanover to York, by rail from York to Wrightsville, by canal packet and inclined plane to Johnstown and over the backbone of the Alleghenies, by canal to Pittsburgh, down the Ohio by steamer to Cairo, thence by steamer to St. Louis and Bloomington (now Muscatine), Iowa, and thence by wagon to Iowa City - that is the schedule in brief of the trip of the Al- bright and the Meyer families from the land of Penn to the land of Black Hawk's Purchase: John Meyer, father of Isaac Meyer (see Meyer sketch), was a member of the party, with his family, and died at Muscatine of cholera. Mathias Al- bright remained at Muscatine to bury his brother-in-law, while his oldest son, Abraham, in company with his unele, continued the journey to Iowa City. The family finally settled on what is now the Murphy farm in section seven, Penn township.
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HISTORY OF JOHNSON COUNTY, IOWA
This was formerly a frontier farm owned by one Chapman. Two log cabins, built as one, with a partition dividing them, were occupied jointly by the Albrights and Dr. Miller until the latter had prepared another house for the accommodation of his family. Amid these simple surroundings Mathias Al- bright and his good wife began the battle of life in the new west. It is needless to recount the simplicity of the farming methods of those days ; but in spite of primitive tools and meth- ods the newcomers made headway and carved victory out of the wilderness. Later Mathias Albright bought a farm in sec- tion thirteen, which he brought to a high state of cultivation. He lived to see a great scope of country transformed into rich
RESIDENCE OF JACOB ALBRIGHT
farms, villages, and cities. As previously stated, the wife of Mathias Albright was Anna Meyer. She bore her husband fourteen children. Their names are: Abraham (see sketch) ; Isaac, died in the Union army; George; Catherine Stetzel, a widow, mother of sixteen children, all living, mother residing at Audubon, Iowa; Henry, died at the age of five; William, of Story county, father of eight children ; Elizabeth Haas, widow, of Baldwin, Kansas ; Martin, of Guthrie county, father of four children ; Anna Maria Eberhart, widow, of Lawrence, Kansas ; Samuel, of Pennsylvania; Jacob, our subject; John, of Linn county ; David, of Bellingham, Washington; Charley, of Bald-
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win, Kansas. Mother Albright died in August, 1888, and Father Albright in August, 1892. Both are buried in North Liberty cemetery. Both were originally members of the Ger- man Lutheran church and helped to organize it. Later they joined the Evangelical association. Father Albright was a re- publican in politics. He served as township trustee and school director in Penn township.
Jacob Albright was born May 27, 1853, in Penn township, and was raised and educated in that locality. He also attend- ed school in the old log school house at North Liberty. The farm on which he was raised is now the property of Mrs. Keene and adjoins his own farm on the north. After his marriage Mr. Albright farmed the home place about a year and then re- moved to Audubon county, Iowa. There he bought a farm and remained nine years. Selling that in 1890, he returned to Johnson county, and the family took up their residence on the farm where Mrs. Albright was born, Mr. Albright having bought the same some years previously. This is now their place of residence, and is one of the fine farms of the county, provided with all necessary buildings and improvements, com- pletely stocked with large numbers of cattle, horses, hogs, etc. Situated on the Interurban electric line, two miles from North Liberty, the place is worth today upwards of $200 per acre.
In 1878 Mr. Albright was married to Miss Martha E. Cra- mer, a native of Penn township, daughter of George and Anna (Green) Cramer, the latter a daughter of David Green, one of the early settlers of Johnson county. Misfortune attended Mr. Albright and his family in Audubon county. Four of his children, William, Annie, Lottie, and Raymond, ranging in ages from four weeks to six years, were taken with fever and died within a week. Three were buried in one grave. The mother, who was stricken with the same disease, was spared. The surviving children are: Carrie, widow of Royal Koser, of North Liberty, mother of three children; Ada; Bertha; Leon- ard. These have all been given the best educational advan- tages. Mr. Albright's sons now farm the old place, but he is still a busy man. While in Audubon county he served as trus- tee, and in Penn township has been director of the Union school for many years. He is a trustee of the United Evangelical church.
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Abraham Albright, the oldest son of Mathias and Anna (Meyers) Albright, and brother of our subject, was born in York county, Pennsylvania, July 21, 1838. He came with his parents to Johnson county in 1849 when a lad of eleven years, and put in his youthful days working on the old home farm in Penn township. He was educated in the old log school house at North Liberty. After his marriage in 1862 he settled in Muscatine county, lowa, where he remained two years. In 1864 he settled in section nineteen, Penn township, where he brought to a high state of cultivation a farm of 200 acres. This he continued to live upon until his retirement. He is now spending his declining years at North Liberty, having taken up his residence there in 1907. Mr. Albright was township trustee of Penn township for a number of years, a position now held by his son Aaron S. He was also an active member of the school board. He has the reputation of being one of the best posted men in Johnson county concerning pioneer history. The biographical staff of this work are indebted to him for valuable assistance. Mr. Albright is a member, trustee and class leader of the Evangelical association.
On March 19, 1862, Mr. Albright was married to Miss Eliza- beth Kronmiller, born September 2, 1844, in Montgomery coun- ty, Ohio. When an infant her parents removed to Woodford county, Illinois, where she was partially educated in the com- mon schools. At the age of twelve years she removed to Linn county, Iowa, and was residing on Otter Creek at the time of her marriage. The children of Abraham Albright and Eliza- beth Kronmiller are: Jacob M., married, father of two chil- dren, Orville and Ethel, the former married Grace Hardy and has one son ; Anna Maria, wife of Charles R. Hardy, brother of Grace, lives in Floyd county, has eight children - Fred, Vernon, Burdette, Lillian, Edith, Eva, George, and Lois ; John W., of Humboldt county, married, has three children - Cecil, Roy, and Grace; Aaron S., of North Liberty, married to Miss Aldburn, has one son, Walter; Uriah, of Iowa City, married Miss Maude Lewis, has two children - Forest and Bura; Al- ice J., married to Elmer Simpson, of North Liberty, has four children - Blanche, Marie, Wilma and Glenn; Margaret E., married to Freburt Wies, lives in North Dakota; Eva, married to J. W. Pooley, who farms the home place in Penn township;
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Levi A., died at the age of nineteen; Milton R., married Ethel Switzer, resides in South Dakota, has one child - Kenneth Benjamin ; Ed. S., died in August, 1890, at the age of eighteen, in vigorous young manhood.
JOHN COLDREN
Opposite the beautiful county court house of Johnson conn- ty, Iowa City, there stands, at No. 426 South Clinton street, the residence of John and Mary Olive (Stevens) Coldren. This house, at the time of its erection, was accounted one of the finest homes in the university city, and today is in a fine state of preservation and makes a most favorable appearance along- side the more modern residences which have recently been con- structed in that section of the city. The widow of John Col- dren still owns this homestead, and, except when visiting or traveling in other sections of the country, makes it her home. It is one of the old rallying points of this historic city, well known to and popular with the pioneers and old settlers of Johnson county, to most of whom John Coldren and his wife have been personally known.
John Coldren was born December 4, 1839, in Lancaster coun- ty, Pennsylvania. He first began business as a clerk in a store in Rossville, a small village of Lancaster county, in 1853. Three years later he removed to Summit county, Ohio, and en- gaged in farming about a year and a half, after which he re- turned to his old home in Lancaster county, Pennsylvania. For two years he lived at Euphrata, at the end of which time he opened a grocery store in Rossville. The microbe of dis- content or of ill luck seemed to follow him, however, and in 1865 he sold out his grocery business and went back to Ohio. In May of the same year he decided to make a big jump west- ward and came on to Iowa City. There he remained for a year, and in the spring of 1867 moved to Union township and farmed until 1874. While thus engaged he was elected presi- dent of the Johnson County Agricultural Society, and also the first president of the Farmers' Mutual Insurance Company of Union township. In 1875 he took up his residence in Iowa City, continuing the business of farming. In October, 1877,
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HISTORY OF JOHNSON COUNTY, IOWA
he was elected sheriff of Johnson county on the democratic ticket, which office he held for six years.
The marriage of John Coldren and Mary Olive Stevens took place March 26, 1868. The bride at that time was a teacher in the Third ward public school of Iowa City. Prior to that she had been a teacher in the district schools. Some of those who are now considered old settlers were her pupils. She is one of the earlier daughters of the State University of Iowa, and has probably as wide a personal acquaintance among the repre- sentative families of Johnson county and Iowa City as any resident of the city. Mrs. Coldren was born in Stark county, Illinois, in 1840. She is a daughter of Abel and Rosannah
RESIDENCE OF MRS. JOHN COLDREN
(Davis) Stevens. Her father was born at Royalton, Vermont, October 19, 1811, and her mother in Washington county, Ten- nessee, May 1, 1811. They were married in Stark county, Il- linois, July 8, 1839. Both died in Johnson county, Iowa. The Stevens family, father, mother, and child, Mary Olive, came westward to Iowa in 1841 in wagons, and became some of the first settlers of what is now West Lucas township. There the rest of the children were born, as follows: Margaret Frances. born January 1, 1842, married to Robert Collins, resides in Brighton, Colorado; John Davis, born November 17, 1843, de- ceased, widow resides in Scott township; Alfred Davis, born November 31, 1846, died in Iowa City January 27, 1911 ; Elias
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McPherson, born April 3, 1853, farmer in West Lucas town- ship.
The children of John and Mary Olive Coldren, in the order of their birth, are as follows : Clymer Abraham, born April 5, 1870, resides at Phoenix, Arizona ; Stevens Abel, born Angust 15, 1872, resides at Kansas City, Missouri ; Alfred, born Aug- ust 27, 1874; Paul. All were born in Johnson county.
Stevens A. Coldren, of Kansas City, Missouri, is a large and successful land dealer. His brother Clymer has been associ- ated with him in some of his most important deals. Stevens A. is of a generous disposition and has aided several worthy charities. Among his bequests is a fine building for the Old Ladies' Home of Iowa City.
The death of John Coldren occurred in Iowa City on Friday, October 12, 1894, and his funeral took place Sunday, October 14, Rev. E. N. Barrett, D. D., officiating. The A. O. U. W., of which deceased was a prominent member, attended in a body and observed the ritual of the order at the cemetery.
LOUIS WILLARD MILLER
Louis Willard Miller belongs to one of Johnson county's old pioneer families, one that has been represented in the com- munity by four generations. He is well known and has served in various local offices, and his son is now (1912) holding the important county office of superintendent of schools. Mr. Mil- ler was born in Fremont township, Johnson county, May 11, 1853, a son of Abraham and Elizabeth (Barrett) Miller, and grandson of Benjamin Miller. Like other men of his time, Benjamin Miller erected a log cabin from native timber, and there his family made their home when first coming to Johnson county. At that time there were plenty of deer, wild turkeys, and prairie chickens. He was a native of West Virginia, and died in 1839. He was one of that noble band who braved the trials and dangers of the frontier and paved the way for a later civilization. There were nine families who came with thirteen wagons and ox teams, from Jefferson county, Indiana, and reached Iowa river May 10, 1838. They were the following: Green Hill and family, Joseph Stover and family, Benjamin
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HISTORY OF JOHNSON COUNTY, IOWA
Miller and family, William Kelso and family, David Sweet and family, and the widow Ralston, who remained, and the follow- ing who returned the same fall: Mr. Witter and family, Wil- liam Ward and family, and John Yarner. Of their descend- ants the following resided in the community in 1911 : Sion Hill, of Iowa City, aged ninety-one years ; Jacob Stover, of the same place, eighty-nine years old ; William and Caleb Sweet, of Fre- mont township; and several of the Miller family, all of whom are given mention in these pages. Benjamin Miller started the first ferry in Johnson county in the winter of 1838-39, just below the mouth of the stream known as Ralston Creek, a little below where the Rock Island railroad crosses Iowa river. This
RESIDENCE OF L. W. MILLER
place was at or near the upper edge of the old town site of Napoleon. Benjamin Miller and wife had seven children: William, a farmer by occupation, lived many years in Mis- souri, where his death occurred; John served in the Union army, became an attorney, was a prominent factor in early af- fairs, served as county judge, married Eunice Hamilton, and died at Eldorado, Kansas, at the age of seventy-three years; Thomas moved to California and died there; James died of yellow fever while crossing the plains in 1849; Mary, married George Shell; Eliza, married Perry Bozarth; Abraham, father of Louis W., the subject of this sketch.
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BIOGRAPHICAL
Abraham Miller was born in West Virginia, June 12, 1822, and died October 10, 1873. He was buried in his native state. He had gone to Virginia for his health in the spring and died a few months later. He was a well-grown boy in his sixteenth year when his parents brought him to Iowa, and at that time the Indians were rather numerous where the family located. In 1849 he crossed the plains with a team of oxen and was gone over two years. Returning, he took up land, comprising 160 acres in Section 19, Fremont township, going to Dubuque to enter his land, and later added forty acres more. He thus wit- nessed the development of Johnson county from a wilderness to a thriving farming community. In early days their trading post was Muscatine, then known as Bloomington, and it took several days to complete the round trip. He drove his hogs or hauled his grain to this market and returned with necessary supplies. He used such primitive implements as the scythe, cradle, reaping hook, and the like. He was a democrat in pol- itics and held such minor offices as school director, and town- ship supervisor when one of the latter was elected from each township. He and his wife were members of the Methodist church, and he belonged to the I. O. O. F.
Abraham Miller married Miss Elizabeth Barrett, who was born at Kingwood, Preston county, West Virginia, and died in June, 1864. She is buried in Swank cemetery in Fremont township. They were married in Missouri in 1848 and became parents of the following five children: one died in infancy ; Virginia, married John Kelso, a son of the pioneer, William Kelso, who came to Johnson county in 1838, and they reside in Lone Tree and have two sons and three daughters; Louis W. is the second in order of birth of those who reached maturity; Benjamin A. is a resident of Kansas; Ida, married Curtis Cor- win, of Cedar Falls.
Louis W. Miller was reared on the home farm and educated in the district schools. He has always been engaged in farm- ing operations and began life on his own account in 1877, on the home farm in Fremont township, where he located after his marriage. In 1881 he purchased a farm in Pleasant Val- ley township, which is carried on by his eldest son. He first purchased 102 acres of land and later added ninety acres more, all in Section 19 of Pleasant Valley township. In 1907 he re-
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HISTORY OF JOHNSON COUNTY, IOWA
tired from active life and came to live in Iowa City, his present liome being at 1035 East Burlington street. He has always been actively interested in public affairs and has been recog- nized as a substantial citizen. He served six years as assessor and four years as clerk of Pleasant Valley township, and was for seventeen years secretary of the school board. In 1894 he was elected on the county board of supervisors, serving until 1900, several terms acting as chairman. He is active in the councils of the democratic party and has often been a delegate to various conventions. He belongs to Kosciusko Lodge No. 6, I. O. O. F., and has taken the Rebekah degree in the order. He also belongs to the Order of Elks.
In March, 1877, Mr. Miller married Wilhelmina, daughter of William Shephard, a pioneer of Fremont township, and they have the following children : Charles L., who farms the home place, married Alta Johnston; Claude M .; Mabel, married Manly Fountain, a farmer of East Lucas township, and they have a daughter, Dorothy ; Miss Ethel is a teacher in the dis- triet schools.
Claude M. Miller, the second child of his parents, is of the fourth generation of the Miller family to live in Johnson coun- ty, and was born on the old home farm in Fremont township, November 27, 1879. He gained his education in the country schools and in the Iowa City Academy. He completed his ed- ucation in Iowa State University and was graduated from the Law Department in 1906 with the degree of LL. B. He taught in the public schools and in 1906 was elected to the office of county superintendent of schools, serving very acceptably three terms. This fact indicates the esteem and confidence in which he is held by the people of Johnson county. On Febru- ary 1, 1913, he began the practice of law in Iowa City and is building up an excellent practice.
On December 31, 1910, Mr. Miller married Miss Ruth Haney, a native of MeLean county, Illinois, a teacher in the Iowa City schools. They have one son, Paul H. Miller, born July 10, 1912.
Mr. Miller is a member of the Order of Elks and of No. 4 A. F. and A. M.
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BIOGRAPHICAL
WESLEY SHEBETKA
Wesley Shebetka owns one of the best farms in Monroe township, Johnson county, and is a self-made man, having acquired his present success by years of hard work and careful management. He is one of the useful Bohemian-American citizens who have done so much to develop the county and state, and has won a good standing among his neighbors and asso- ciates. He was born in September, 1864, and came from Bo- hemia with his parents in 1870. The family came direct to Johnson county and located on a farm in Jefferson township.
RESIDENCE OF WESLEY SHEBETKA
After two years there they removed to Oxford township, and there the parents passed away, the father June 5, 1895, and the mother in February, 1885. Their six children were as follows : Annie, wife of Joseph Hemsley, of Monroe township; Joseph, a farmer of Oxford township; John, retired from his farm and living in Oxford; Victoria, wife of Michael Shubtar, of Craw- ford county, Iowa; Frank, now occupying his farm in Oxford township, will shortly remove to the fine residence he is erect- ing at Swisher; Wesley, of this sketch.
Mr. Shebetka has spent his time in farming since he was old enough to help with the work at home, and after reaching ma- turity began working for others. He continued this until 1888,
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HISTORY OF JOHNSON COUNTY, IOWA
when he purchased his first farm, which he sold three years later. After spending two years in Cedar Rapids, he pur- chased his present farm, which then contained 120 acres of land. By subsequent purchase he added to his holdings, and is now the owner of 220 acres of excellent farm land. He has been successful to a gratifying degree and is now able to retire from active work on the farm. He is erecting a handsome res- idence in Swisher, which he will occupy shortly.
On August 23, 1886, Mr. Shebetka was united in marriage with Miss Elizabeth Wotroubek, a native of Monroe township, whose parents came to Monroe township soon after coming to America, in 1867. Three children have been born to this cou- ple : Frank, William, and Elizabeth, all at home. Mrs. She- betka has been a great sufferer from rheumatism and has been an invalid for the past fourteen years. She is patient and brave in her affliction and has the high regard of her many friends. Mr. Shebetka is a republican in polities and has held the various township offices and for the past seven years has been school director. He has at heart the best interests of the community and has made his good influence felt in various cir- cles. The present fine condition of his farm is due to his enter- prise and industry, and it is but natural to suppose he will be an influential factor in the life of the community to which he purposes removing.
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C. M. RENO
C. M. Reno, a prominent real estate dealer of Iowa City, is a native of that place, born June 1, 1846, and has long been closely associated with affairs in Jolmson county. His pa- rents, Morgan and Margaret A. Reno, were natives of Penn- sylvania, and settled in Johnson county in 1839. The father was a lawyer by profession and for a number of years prac- ticed in Iowa courts, but later became interested in banking business, to which he devoted most of his time. He served as lieutenant and commissary during the Civil War, his commis- sion in the Sixth Iowa Cavalry being dated October 21, 1862. He served as mayor of Iowa City in 1857 and was previously active in the affairs of the Commonwealth. He was the last territorial treasurer and the first state treasurer of Iowa, and
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BIOGRAPHICAL
was faithful to his trust in peace as in war. He was highly honored for his sterling qualities in the matter of his public life, and was popular with his many friends and acquaintances. He died at Iowa City, July 9, 1869, and his widow survived him until 1899, passing away at the age of seventy-four years. They had a son and a daughter, who survived them.
C. M. Reno was educated in his native city, attending the public schools, and later Iowa University. He also took a course in a Chicago business college. After leaving school he spent six months in the employ of Calhoun & Company, bank- ers, of St. Joseph, Mo., then returned to Iowa City and became associated with his father in the mercantile business. In 1868
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