USA > Iowa > Allamakee County > Past and present of Allamakee county, Iowa. A record of settlement, organization, progress and achievement, Vol. II > Part 17
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HON. WILLIAM S. HART.
Hon. William S. Hart, of Waukon, ranks as one of the prominent men of Iowa, as a lawyer, orator, soldier, political leader and legislator. He was born in a pioneer log cabin in Cherry Mount settlement and Allamakec county has been his lifetime home. His parents, William and Alicia (Conway ) Hart, were early settlers in that part of Paint Creek township.
William S. Hart acquired his education in the district schools of his native township and at the early age of sixteen began teaching a country school, follow- ing this occupation until he was elected clerk of the district court just after com- ing of age. His able service won him reelection but he resigned the office soon afterward to practice law, having studied this profession while serving as clerk under the preceptorship of Henry and John F. Dayton. Few men at his age have attained more brilliant success as an attorney, notably in jury trials and in cases tried before the supreme court. As a specialist in telephone and electric law his services are in wide demand and papers and addresses by him upon this branch of his profession have been published by the International Telephone Asso- ciation. He is also consulted and retained as special counsel in all of their important cases by some of the largest fraternal insurance societies in America.
Mr. Hart's success at the bar has been accompanied by his growing promi- nence in politics and along this line he has done a great deal of constructive and far-sighted work in the public service. As a member of the twenty-ninth and thirtieth general assemblies he gave special attention to labor, railway, military and telephone legislation and also to that on behalf of the dairy interests and the State Agricultural College. He was chosen by the stock shippers of Iowa to father the law compelling railroads to transport stockmen and to furnish sani- tary equipment on stock trains and by the dairy interests of the state to champion legislation favorable to that industry. As chairman of the military committee he rewrote the military code of lowa and a philanthropical state organization of which Mrs. A. B. Cummins was at that time president selected him to write and take charge of a child-labor law which is regarded as a model of its kind. The legislative committee of the Iowa Federation of Labor thanked him in its pub- lished report for his services as a legislator on behalf of the laboring men, while
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in the interests of the State Agricultural College he vigorously and successfully to the end of his service resisted the central educational board law and other legis- lation then regarded as unfavorable to that institution.
Mr. Hart married Miss Nellie M. Holahan, a daughter of James Holahan, a pioneer implement dealer and capitalist of Waukon. Mr. and Mrs. Hart became the parents of six children: James; William S., Jr .; Malcolm J .; Nellie M. : Catherine ; and Ivan, who died in childhood. In the life of Hon. William S. Hart there is a distinguished military chapter, which includes service in the Iowa National Guards, his rank ranging from that of private to captain. He served during the entire Spanish-American war in the United States Volunteers as a member of the Forty-ninth Iowa Regiment and took part in the subsequent mili- tary occupation of Cuba. The greater part of his United States service was spent on detail duty as judge advocate, general court martial, Second Division, Seventh United States Army Corps, under General Fitzhugh Lee, at Jacksonville, Florida, and at Marianao, Cuba. Mr. Hart's reputation as a public speaker extends far beyond the borders of Iowa and many of his addresses and speeches have been printed and widely circulated. He is one of the most prominent and best known attorneys, statesmen and men of affairs in the middle west and, being broad-mind- ed, large-hearted and liberal, his influence has been a force for good in the upbuilding of state institutions and in their development along constructive, logical and progressive lines.
CHARLES J. HAAS.
A highly profitable and productive farm of two hundred and eighty acres on section 16, French Creek township, Allamakee county, is evidence of intelligent labors along agricultural lines undertaken by Charles J. Haas, who was born upon this property October 4, 1872. As his father, who settled upon this prop- erty, was one of the most progressive men of his time, he follows in his foot- steps and is considered the most modern and up-to-date agrictilturist in French Creek township.
Joseph Haas, the father, a native of Germany, came to America when about twenty years of age, entering upon his first work at West Point, New York. whence he subsequently removed to St. Louis, where he was engaged in railroad work as stone mason and stone cutter. Later he took contracts for putting in culverts and laying of steel and finally by branching out was enabled to make agreements which covered complete jobs of railroad construction. In 1851, Joseph Haas came to Allamakee county to see his mother, who had preceded him here and during his sojourn assisted in completing the building of the stone ele- vator at Lansing. Returning to St. Louis, he remained there until 1856, when a brother in Allamakee county wrote him that a railroad was then to be built from the junction to Waukon. Packing up his tools and instruments, he came with his outfit and teams to Allamakee county in order to be on the spot if con- struction should begin, but although the road had been surveyed its building was delayed for several years. He therefore turned his attention to agricultural mat- ters and purchasing three hundred acres of land in French Creek township set-
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tled thereon. About thirty-five acres of this tract were under cultivation and a primitive log shanty was upon the farm. . In 1857-8 Mr. Haas erected the stone house which still stands and here made his home, engaging in the breaking of the land and placing his acres under cultivation, continuing in general farming until his demise on August 31, 1900. Careful management and thorough and pro- gressive methods resulted in gratifying financial returns and he was enabled to extend the boundaries of his farm until it comprised six hundred and eighty acres. It was said of him by his old-time neighbors that he was the most up-to- date farmer in French Creek township, for it was he who installed upon his farm the first mowing machine, the first riding plow and the first threshing machine. In fact it was he who was always first to own any new machine, to try out its merits, and always first to adopt any new method. That he was successful his ensuing prosperity was the soundest proof. Joseph Haas was united in marriage, in St. Louis, to Miss Julia Remstein, a native of Germany, who came to the United States in the company of friends when a young woman, and at the time of her marriage was employed in St. Louis. She was a true helpmate to her husband during all her life, and after his demise made her home in Mankato, Minnesota, passing away at an advanced age in April, 1913. It is but natural that a man of such advanced views as Mr. llaas should have taken an active part in the public life of his township, and he held all the township offices with the exception of that of assessor, ever discharging his duties to the satisfaction of his constituents. He gave his support to the democratic party and both he and his wife were members of the Catholic church. In their family were ten children: Joseph, who died at the age of twenty ; Lawrence, of Hammer, North Dakota; George, of Jackson Junction, lowa; Ferdinand, a salesman for the International Harvester Company : Mary, the wife of Henry Shulte, of Kansas; Matilda, of Great Falls, Montana ; Julia, who married S. J. Bray, of Helena, Montana ; Henry, of Waukon, this state ; Charles J., the subject of this review ; and Katie, the wife of Joseph Schultz, of Wilmont, Minnesota.
Charles J. Haas was reared under the parental roof and there were early instilled into his boyish consciousness the old-fashioned virtues of honesty and industry. In the acquirement of his education he attended the district schools and later a business college at Waukon, lowa, and at La Crosse, Wisconsin. Early he became acquainted with agricultural pursuits, acquiring thorough methods un- der the able guidance of his father and assisting him until his own marriage, after which he continued along the same line. He lost his wife soon afterward and then attended Upper lowa University, after which he was for one summer em- ployed by the Atlas Art Studio of Chicago, for which concern he solicited orders for photo enlarging. The following summer he was employed as fireman by the Chicago & Northwestern Railroad, running out from Eagle Grove, Iowa, and for the following two years held a position with the Plano Manufacturing Company, being stationed as agent in North Dakota. When his father passed away in 1900 he was appointed administrator of the estate and returned home. After the affairs were settled none of the other heirs wishing to take over the farm, he purchased the interests of the others and has since continued the opera- tion of the old homestead with ever increasing success. He owns two hundred and eighty acres, all of which is in a high state of cultivation, and engages in general farming, planting grains most suitable to soil and climate, and giving a
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great deal of his attention to stock-raising. His buildings are modern and up-to-date, substantial and suitable, and the latest machinery and implements can be found upon his farm in order to facilitate the labors that increase the yield of the land. Mr. Haas follows in every way in the footsteps of his father as a progressive agriculturist, and he has the distinction of being the first in French Creek township to own an automobile.
The first wife of Mr. Haas was Miss Alice O'Brien, a native of Allamakee county and a daughter of James O'Brien. Of this marriage one son was born, Charles James, at home. Mr. Haas was again married, his second union being with Miss Helen Tilzenberger, a native of St. Lucas, Fayette county, Iowa. They have six children : Viola Laona, Anna Marie, Evelyn Eleanora, Daniel Ferdi- nand, Bernard John and Merill Joseph.
In his political views Mr. Haas reserves independent judgment giving his indorsement to whatever candidates he considers best suited to the offices to which they aspire. He has efficiently served as township trustee and as school director has done much toward promoting the cause of education. Both he and his wife are members of the Catholic church, to which they give helpful support, and are highly respected and estecmed in French Creek township for their qualities of mind and character. While Mr. Haas has attained individual pros- perity and is considered one of the most prosperous agriculturists of his dis- trict, he had done much toward promoting general advancement and has proven a serviceable factor in making this section one of the richest in the state. He is public-spirited in the best sense of the word and is ever glad to bear his share of time and money in promoting any worthy public enterprise.
SAMUEL WATERS.
A native of Allamakee county, Samuel Waters was born in Ludlow township on June 27, 1873, and has devoted practically all of his active life to agricultural pursuits, now owning a valuable farm of one hundred and twenty acres near Postville. His parents were Samuel and Catherine (Lyons) Waters, the former a native of County Wicklow, Ireland, where he was born on May 26, 1833, and the latter born not far from Dayton, in Montgomery county, Ohio, on August 6, 1845. When sixteen years of age the father came with his parents to the new world, the family making settlement at Pittsburg. Samuel Waters had already worked in the lead mines of Ireland and took up similar work near Pittsburg, continuing so until 1852, when he came west to Iowa and purchased land from the government in Ludlow township. For thirty years he resided thereon, bring- ing it to a high state of cultivation, and then made removal to Clayton county, having put his old homestead into pasture. There he operated a farm of several hundred acres until 1891, when he returned to the homestead, where he remained for another seventeen years active in its cultivation, when he went to Frankville, Winneshiek county, where he now lives retired. The mother passed away on February 7, 1910. Mr. Waters, Sr., had been previously married to Miss Anna Overholt, by whom he had four children. Of the second marriage eight chil- dren were born.
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In the acquirement of his education Samuel Waters attended district school for three terms in Ludlow township and subsequently the district schools of Clay- ton county. He remained at home until about twenty years of age, when he hired out as a farm hand in Frankville, Winneshiek county, for one year. He then rented land in Ludlow township, successfully cultivating it for two years, and then removed to Emmet county, Iowa, where for ten years he rented, returning at the end of that time in order to assist his father for two years with his work on the old homestead. He then bought one hundred and twenty acres of land where he now lives. The farm was but partially improved at that time but he has since brought it to a high state of productivity, has erected a modern and comfortable residence, a substantially built barn and other necessary buildings which greatly increase the value of the property. He engages in general farm- ing and in addition to his holdings rents eighty acres, which he also operates. He is a stockholder in the Farmers Cooperative Store at Postville and also in the Cooperative Creamery.
On March 13, 1895, Mr. Waters married Miss Jennie Hughes, who was born near Red Cloud, Nebraska, on November 21, 1873, her parents being Frank and Emily (Early) Hughes. The father is a native of Indiana and the mother was born in Post township, this county. Mr. Hughes always followed agricultural pursuits, coming from Indiana to this county and later removing to Nebraska. About 1890 he proceeded to Oklahoma, where he took up government land, re- taining his Nebraska land, and he now lives at Hartwell, Arkansas, still active in his occupation. The mother passed away in 1884. In the family of Mr. and Mrs. Hughes were three children, of whom Mrs. Waters is the oldest. Mr. and Mrs. Waters have one daughter, Clara Catherine, born August 6, 1902. The religious faith of Mr. Waters is that of the United Brethren church and he is helpful in its work and expansion. Politically he is independent, giving his sup- port of the best men available without considering party affiliations. How- ever he inclines toward the prohibition party, taking a firm stand upon matters which concern the liquor question. While he has attained success, he has been a factor for good in his community and has contributed towards the upbuilding of moral and intellectual standards as well as to agricultural develop- ment.
ANTON T. NIERLING.
Signal ability, energy and steadfast purpose have formed the watchwords in the life of Anton T. Nierling, who stands as a central figure in financial circles of Allamakee county through his connection with many important banking enterprises. Through steps of orderly progression he has made his way upward in the business world, being today cashier of the First National Bank of Waukon and identified also with various other financial and commercial concerns. He was born in French Creek township, February 8, 1872, and is a son of Anton Nierling, born in Germany on the river Rhein in 1826. The father came to America when he was a young man after having served three years in the German army and after his arrival came immediately to Iowa, locating in Lansing about 1849,
ANTON T. NIERLING
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where he lived for three years, after which he settled on Lansing Ridge, coming two years later to French Creek township. He was a miller by trade and fol- lowed that occupation in his native country for several years, but he abandoned it after settling in Iowa, giving all of his attention to the clearing and improving of his two hundred and sixty acres of wild land. He married in Lansing Miss Mary Buck, a native of Wurtemberg, Germany, and they became the parents of a large family of children. The father never left the homestead which he de- veloped, dying upon his farm in 1888, when he was sixty-two years of age. His wife survived him for a number of years, passing away in 1902.
Anton T. Nierling was reared upon the home farm and from his early child- hood assisted in carrying on the work of the homestead. He acquired his primary education in the district schools and later completed his studies at the Breckinridge School at Decorah. After laying aside his books he engaged in teaching in Alla- makee county but after two years entered the Bayless Business College at Dubuque, from which he graduated, receiving a thorough business training. When he had completed it he formed a partnerhsip with Otto J. Hager and aided in the organization of the First National Bank of Waukon, an institution founded with a capital stock of fifty thousand dollars, which has recently been increased to one hundred thousand dollars. Mr. Nierling first took the position of bookkeeper and assistant cashier, but for the past ten years has been cashier, serving ably and efficiently in the discharge of his duties. In this connection his excellent business and executive ability have been called forth and the success of the institution is in large measure due to him. As the years have passed Mr. Nierling has extended the field of his activities and is now connected with a great many important financial concerns, being president of the New Albin Savings Bank, a director in the Waterville Savings Bank and in the Dorchester Savings Bank. From the time of its organization in 1903 to January, 1913, he was a director and manager of the Farmers Stock & Produce Company, which he aided in organizing and promoting and of which he served as treasurer. The object of the organization is purely for the purpose of establishing and maintaining a good stock market for Waukon which object it accomplished during the time of his ten years' management, to January 1, 1913. In Waukon he is known as a man of resourceful and discriminating business ability, basing a distinct success in the world of finance upon an exhaustive knowledge of his business and upon the aggressiveness, energy and enterprise which makes this knowledge effective in financial circles.
Mr. Nierling married, February 3, 1896, Miss Winifred Taylor, who was born and reared in Waukon, a daughter of G. W. Taylor, a pioneer in the settlement of Allamakee county and a veteran of the Civil war, now a well known resident of Waukon, where he is living retired in the eightieth year of his age. Mr. and Mrs. Nierling became the parents of three children, Gertrude, Shirley and Paul A.
Since casting his first vote Mr. Nierling has been a member of the republican party but has never aspired to public office, although he served in a creditable and able manner as city treasurer and also as school treasurer. He has also the honor of serving as trustee of Upper Iowa University. He is a member of the Masonic order, holding membership in the Waukon blue lodge, in the chapter and in Decorah commandery. In both the lodge and chapter he has served in a number Vel 11-9
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of official positions and he is also well known in the affairs of the Knights of Pythias, of which he is now vice chancellor. He and his wife are members of the Rathbone Sisters lodge, O. E. S. Mr. Nierling is undoubtedly one of Waukon's most representative and successful men and his citizenship is of that loyal and public-spirited kind which evidences itself in far-sighted and constructive work in the public service. No movement which has for its object the betterment of municipal conditions or improvement of the city along any line lacks his cooperation and hearty support and he is especially interested in the work of the committee on public improvements and paving, of which he is now acting as chairman. A man of broad and modern views and high ideals, he is leaving the impress of his work and personality upon the city both along lines of material welfare and upbuilding and in standards of citizenship, and his name is respected and esteemed wherever it is known.
ALBERT D. LARSON.
Albert D. Larson, who since 1912 has served with credit and ability as sheriff of Allamakee county, has for a number of years past been identified in an important way with agricultural interests of Hanover township and still owns his valuable farm of three hundred acres in that locality, although he makes his home in the sheriff's residence in this city. He was born in Hanover township, December 31, 1867, and is a son of Christian Larson, one of the earliest settlers in Allamakee county, of whom more extended mention is made elsewhere in this work.
Albert D. Larson was reared upon the family homestead and acquired his primary education in the district schools, supplementing this by two years' at- tendance at the Waukon high school. When not engaged with his books he assisted in the operation of the homestead and when he was seventeen years of age assumed entire charge of the farm, acting as manager until after his father's death, when he purchased the interests of all the other heirs. He thus came into possession of one hundred and twenty acres of fine farming land and to this he later added other tracts, owning today three hundred acres. Upon it he built a fine new residence, a barn, a silo and other outbuildings and he fenced and cross-fenced his place into convenient fields with woven wire. He gave his at- tention to general farming and stock-raising and was also a shipper on an ex- tensive scale. Success steadily attended his well directed labor and in the course of time he gained an enviable degree of prosperity, winning recognition as one of the prominent, substantial and representative farmers of his locality. He was one of the promoters of the Farmers Stock & Produce Company of Waukon and is still a stockholder and director in the concern.
Although Mr. Larson is an able farmer and an influential business man it has not been along these lines alone that he has accomplished useful and bene- ficial work, for he is one of the leaders in local politics and an active force in republican circles of this vicinity. He has served as assessor of Hanover township and as township trustee and for a number of years was deeply inter- ested in school affairs, serving for twelve years as president of the board of
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education. In the fall of 1912 he was nominated sheriff of Allamakee county and after a hard fought campaign against two opponents was elected to the office by a gratifying majority. He is now serving and has proved capable, efficient and businesslike in the discharge of his duties. He moved to Waukon upon assuming office and, although he owns the old Todd homestead in the city, he now occupies the sheriff's residence.
In Waukon, on the 4th of October, 1899, Mr. Larson was married to Miss Louisa M. Todd, who was born and reared in the city and who was later for nine terms a teacher in the Waukon schools. She is a daughter of Frank and Margaret Todd, of this city. Mr. and Mrs. Larson, having no children of their own, have adopted and reared two, a son and a daughter : Oscar Williams, whom they adopted at the age of thirteen and who has now reached maturity and is in business for himself ; and Julia Flather, whom they took into their home when she was a child of four and who is now a student in the Waukon schools. Mr. Larson's mother is also a member of this family. She has now reached the age of eighty-seven years. Mr. and Mrs. Larson are members of the Waukon Presbyterian church and fraternally Mr. Larson is affiliated with the Modern Woodmen of America. He is widely and favorably known throughout the sec- tion where he was born and where his entire life has been spent and in his various responsibilities as a business man and as a public official has discharged his obligations so as to merit and receive the respect of all who know him.
MICHAEL QUILLIN.
In 1862 Michael Quillin bought his first tract of land in Hanover township, Allamakee county, and this formed the nucleus of the extensive tract which he now owns. He has become well and favorably known in this part of Iowa, and the years have brought him prominence and substantial fortune, so that he stands today among the representative and able agriculturists of the section where he has so long made his home. He was born in Ireland in 1842 and is a son of Philip and Nancy Quillin, who came to America in 1848 and settled at Lambertsville, New Jersey, where the father followed the stonemason's trade until 1854. In that year he came west, and settling in Dubuque, Iowa, con- tinued in his former occupation for two years and a half. Removing from that city to Lansing, in Allamakee county, in 1856, he preempted eighty acres of government land in Iowa township and when he disposed of that property bought two hundred and forty acres on the Minnesota line. This also he after- ward sold and removed to South Dakota, where he proved up a homestead and a tree claim, continuing to develop this property until his death in 1888. His wife, surviving him some years, died in 1896. To their union were born eight children, six of whom lived to maturity: Michael, of this review; Mrs. Mary Fitzgerald; Thomas, of Minnesota; John, of Kimball, South Dakota; Mrs. Bridget McGraw, who has passed away; and Mrs. Ann Conklin, also deceased.
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