USA > Iowa > Allamakee County > Past and present of Allamakee county, Iowa. A record of settlement, organization, progress and achievement, Vol. II > Part 2
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62
ROBERT FREDERICK HECKER.
Robert Frederick Hecker, proprietor of a large carriage factory in Postville, which he conducts in connection with an automobile repair shop, is one of the representative and successful business men of his community and his labors during the years of his active career have been potent forces in general industrial development. He was born in Baden, Germany, November 15, 1852, a son of Christian and Veronica (Gerder) Hecker, natives of the same section of the fatherland. The father, who engaged in farming all during his active life, died in Germany and after his demise his widow and son crossed the Atlantic to America, locating in New York city in 1861. After one year they came west to Lansing, Iowa, where the mother married again, dying in this section about the year 1899.
Robert F. Hecker completed an education, begun in Germany, in the public schools in New York city and in the district schools in the vicinity of Lansing, and continued to reside with his mother until he was twenty years of age. At that time he began learning the wagon-making trade and after two years went to Dubuque
15
PAST AND PRESENT OF ALLAMAKEE COUNTY
and thence to Davenport, where he spent one year engaged in that occupation. He then returned to Lansing but at the end of six months came to Postville, where he engaged in business for himself, manufacturing wagons and conducting a general repair and blacksmith shop. In the early days he made spring wagons, buggies, sleighs, etc., but he now does all kinds of automobile repair work and vulcaniz- ing. The business has grown steadily during the passing years and is now one of the important enterprises in the city, the credit for its rapid growth being entirely due to Mr. Hecker's untiring efforts. As his sons grew older and left school they were taken into the business and they now relieve their father of a great deal of the active work, so that he has more time to devote to his other interests. He has a fine farm of four hundred and twenty acres in Post township, which is rented on shares, and he is the owner of a great deal of valuable property.
On the 6th of January, 1876, Mr. Hecker was united in marriage to Miss Mary Hupp, who was born in Lansing, October 11, 1854, a daughter of Joseph Hupp. Her father was a native of Hesse, Germany, and her mother of Bavaria. They emigrated to America about the year 1853 and although the father was a stonemason by trade he engaged in farming in Allamakee county. Mr. and Mrs. Hecker became the parents of five children. John C., born November 12, 1876, is now associated with his father in business. He married Miss Lena Bedenbender, a native of Laporte, lowa. Robert M., who was born December 2, 1878, is also in partnership with his father. Joseph M., born September 22, 1881, has also a share in his father's business. Josephine, born February 8. 1885, married Lowell Moody, manager of a large dry-goods store in Montana. Mary passed away at the age of seven years.
Mr. Hecker gives his political allegiance to the democratic party but has never sought nor desired public office. Although reared in the Catholic religion he is not now a member of any denomination. Fraternally he is connected with the Masonic order and is also a member of the Turner Society. In all the relations of life he has been honorable and straightforward and his example is well worthy of emulation. Prosperous in his business connections, he proves what may be accomplished by earnest and persistent labor, for he has worked his way steadily upward, improving every opportunity for advancement and standing today among Postville's substantial and representative citizens.
ROBERT WAMPLER.
Robert Wampler, honored as a pioneer in Iowa and as one of the few remain- ing veterans of the Civil war, has been a resident of Allamakee county since 1852. He has, therefore, witnessed almost its entire growth and development and has borne an honored part therein, his work along agricultural lines having con- stituted one of the forces in local agricultural development. He was born in Westmoreland county, Pennsylvania, May 22, 1842, and is a son of Eli Wampler, also a native of the Keystone state. The father grew to maturity in Westmore- land county and there married Miss Mary Jane Luek, a native of the same section. They moved west in 1850 and settled as pioneers in Jackson county, where they resided for two years, moving in 1852 to Allamakee county. The father, however,
16
PAST AND PRESENT OF ALLAMAKEE COUNTY
never arrived in this section for he died of cholera on a Mississippi river boat upon the journey, while two of his sons and one of his daughters died of the same disease after reaching Lansing, Iowa. Mrs. Wampler with her surviving chil- dren located on Clear creek, where she later married again.
Robert Wampler remained with his mother until the outbreak of the Civil war, when, on October 15, 1861, he joined Company B, Twelfth Iowa Volunteer Infantry. The regiment was soon afterward sent to Dubuque, where it was organized and drilled for some time, and afterward it went to St. Louis, where it remained during the winter months. In the spring of 1862 it was sent down the river to Fort Henry, where Mr. Wampler was for the first time under fire. He later participated in the battle of Shiloh, where he was wounded in a peculiar manner. Having put his hand to his head to pull down his cap behind, a ball cut off his finger and gave him also a scalp wound across the back of his head. He was taken prisoner with General Prentiss and taken to Memphis, and later to Mobile and Montgomery, where he contracted typhoid fever so severely as to bring him near death and was placed in a hospital until his recovery. He was thien paroled and sent to Chattanooga with about eleven hundred other soldiers to be exchanged, but it was not until October of that year that the exchange was completed in Richmond. Upon his exchange he went to St. Louis, where he drew some money and received clothing and through the influence and kindness of Colonel Earl his company was sent home on a furlough to recuperate. After six weeks he returned to St. Louis and rejoined his command at Benton Barracks, the regiment being later ordered to Vicksburg. It participated in the siege preceding the fall of that city and also in the battle at Jackson. It later returned to Memphis and afterward took part in the raid at Holly Springs. Mr. Wampler was in the thick of the battle at Tupelo, Mississippi, fighting in a hotly contested engagement of three hours' duration. He later returned with his regiment to Memphis and from there to Eastport, where he remained in camp several months, returning to Memphis at the end of that time. The regiment was later sent down the river to New Orleans and after two weeks spent in Fort Jackson aided in the attack on the Spanish Fort. In that engagement Mr. Wampler was wounded by a shell, which exploded over him, a piece, one and a half inches long and three quarters of an inch wide, striking him in the back. His wound not proving serious, he returned to his regiment after a few days and served until the close of the war, when he was mustered out at Memphis and returned to Iowa, receiving his honorable discharge in Davenport on January 20, 1865.
With this honorable military record Mr. Wampler returned to Allamakee county and purchased a forty acre farm, to which he later added the forty acres adjoining. For sixteen years he cultivated and developed this property and his practical and progressive methods were rewarded by success, his farm becoming one of the best improved and most valuable in this section of the state. Finally Mr. Wampler retired from active life and moved into Waukon, having earned leisure and rest by many years of honorable and worthy labor. He purchased a comfortable residence in the city and makes his home therein, having disposed of all of his farm property.
While home on a furlough during the Civil war Mr. Wampler married, April 11, 1864, Miss Margaret Duff, a native of Westmoreland county, Penn- sylvania, who was reared and educated in Allamakee county. Mr. and Mrs.
17
PAST AND PRESENT OF ALLAMAKEE COUNTY
Wampler have five children: Eli M., who is a resident of Sioux City, Iowa ; L. O., of Waukon ; Ella, married J. E. Mills, of Sioux Falls, South Dakota; Mary Agnes, the wife of L. F. Seelig, of Waukon : and Lillian, who was married December 25, 1912. Two sons born to Mr. and Mrs. Wampler have passed away. James grew to maturity and married. He died in St. Paul, Minnesota, in 1901. Warren met death by accident, having been killed by a horse when he was a young man of seventeen, his death occuring in 1892.
Politically Mr. Wampler is identified with the republican party and has been for many years an active worker in its ranks. He has been a delegate to numerous republican conventions and served for a number of years as city assessor. He is prominent in the affairs of the Grand Army of the Republic, being connected with John J. Stillman Post, No. 194, of which he has served as commander and of which he is at present chaplain. Since he was a lad of ten years he has been a resident of Allamakee county and now at seventy-one can count among his friends many who have known him from boyhood. As a public- spirited and progressive citizen he has borne his part in the work of development and progress, displaying in all business, public and private relations of life the same loyalty and courage which marked his service on the southern battlefields.
GOTTFRIED STAADT.
Gottfried Staadt, a well known druggist of Postville, conducting a profitable and growing business, was born in Post township, Allamakee county, February 21, 1857. He is a son of Anthony and Pauline (Verver) Staadt, natives of the Rhine Province, Germany, the father born January 7, 1821, and the mother, February 28, 1813. Anthony Staadt crossed the Atlantic in 1851, before his marriage, his future wife landing in New York a few months later. Their mar- riage occurred in that city and the father was afterward employed in a drug store there for a short time, retaining his position until he went to Wisconsin, settling in the vicinity of Sheboygan. In 1854 he came to Iowa, locating on a farm in Post township, two miles east of Postville, and this property he con- tinued to improve and develop for twelve years, at the end of which time he turned his attention to business pursuits, opening a drug store in Conover. In 1866 he came to Postville, establishing a drug store in this city, which he con- tinued to conduct successfully until his death, which occurred in December, 1902. He was well known in local politics and was especially interested in school affairs, serving for several years as president of the school board. He had long survived his wife, who passed away January 3, 1890. They were the parents of two children: Anthony, who was born October 28, 1853, and who died in Milwaukee, December 16, 1871; and Gottfried, of this review.
After acquiring an education in the public schools of Post township and Post- ville, Gottfried Staadt, at the age of sixteen, began his independent career, join- ing his father as a partner in the drug business in this city. He retained this connection until after his father's death, when he assumed entire charge of the enterprise, which he has since conducted alone. He carries a full stock of drugs and in addition has paid particular attention to his popular lines, which include
18
PAST AND PRESENT OF ALLAMAKEE COUNTY
toilet articles, paints and oils. His excellent business and executive ability has contributed in a large measure to the success which has attended this enterprise, making it one of the largest and most important pharmacies in the city. He is also a stockholder in both of the banks of Postville and is a director in the Postville State Bank. He is connected with the Postville Clay Product Company and is the owner of some valuable farming property in Clayton county.
Mr. Staadt married, on the 9th of February, 1893, Miss Anna Welzel, born in Grand Meadow township, Clayton county, September 13, 1872, a daughter of John and Savina (Thoma) Welzel, natives of Bavaria, Germany. They came to America in early life and were married in Grand Meadow township, where the father turned his attention to farming, although he had been a meat cutter in his native country. He later retired from active business life and moved into Postville, where he died on December 18, 1906. His wife survives him and makes her home in this city with her daughter, Mrs. Staadt. He was active and prom- inent in local public affairs and held various important offices, including that of school treasurer, in which he served for a number of years. Mr. and Mrs. Staadt became the parents of four children: Anthony, born January 24, 1894, a gradu- ate of Postville high school ; Pauline, born January 16, 1896, who was graduated from the same institution in 1913 : Edward, born October 23. 1899; and Catherine, born July 2, 1908.
Mr. Staadt gives his political allegiance to the democratic party and served for one term as a member of the city council. He is especially interested in educational matters and has done a great deal to promote the spread of public education in Postville through his long period of service as secretary of the school board, a position which he has held since 1885. Fraternally he is con- nected with the Masonic lodge, of which he is treasurer, with the Modern Woodmen of America and the Ancient Order of United Workmen. He is a member of the Turner Society and president of the Maennerchor. A resident of Postville during practically all his life, he is recognized as a representative and enterprising citizen of the community and is widely known by reason of the excellent establishment with which he is connected. His business methods have been such as neither seek nor require disguise, being at all times straight- forward and honorable.
JAMES M. BARR.
Not only has James M. Barr seen Allamakee county grow from a wilderness with only a few inhabitants into a rich agricultural district containing thousands of good homes and a number of growing towns, but he has participated in the slow, persistent work of development which was necessary to produce the change which has been so complete that Allamakee stands in the front ranks of the leading counties of the state of lowa. Mr. Barr is numbered among its most honored pioneers and is further entitled to a place in this volume as a veteran of the Civil war, to whom the country owes a debt of gratitude that can never be forgotten and never fully repaid.
19
PAST AND PRESENT OF ALLAMAKEE COUNTY
Mr. Barr was born in Glasgow, Scotland, June 26, 1843, and is a son of John C. Barr, of English ancestry but a native of the north of Ireland. The father was reared in Scotland and there married Katherine Allen, also a native of that country, coming from a long line of Scotch ancestors. John C. Barr emigrated to America in 1852 and went by way of New Orleans up the Missis- sippi river to Dubuque, where he worked in the lead mines for some time. He later came to Allamakec county, locating in Hanover township, where he took up two hundred and forty acres of raw land, which he cleared, fenced and improved, opening up a new farm, upon which he resided until his death.
James M. Barr's childhood was spent amid pioneer conditions and it was he who aided his father in breaking the raw prairie land. He had a five yoke team of oxen and a large breaking plow, which cut an eighteen inch furrow, and with this he accomplished a great deal of the initial work in the improvement of the homestead. When he was eighteen years of age, in August, 1861, he joined the Union army, enlisting in Company H, Ninth Iowa Volunteer Infantry, as a private. With his command he went south to St. Louis and into Benton Barracks, where the regiment was drilled and its organization completed in preparation for active field duty. It later followed General Price through Missouri and was first under fire at Pea Ridge, Arkansas, under command of General Curtis. There Mr. Barr received a slight gunshot wound in the left shoulder and the next day was wounded in the right leg. Though disabled for a time he did not leave the field. During his term of service he participated in thirty- three different battles besides the guerilla fights through Arkansas to Helena. He was in the thick of battle at Vicksburg, Jackson and Meridian, met the enemy again at Lookout Mountain and Missionary Ridge and under General Sherman marched to the sea, fighting every day until Atlanta was reached. The regiment helped to drive General Johnson out of Resaca and was in the battles of Rome and Kenesaw Mountain. In the latter engagement Mr. Barr was wounded for the third time when a cannon ball struck the top of the rebel fortification knock- ing down a large log which struck Mr. Barr, causing serious and almost fatal injuries. He was confined to his tent for six weeks under treatment and was at death's door a number of times. However, he responded to roll call every day, his captain and comrades nursing and caring for him and answering to his name. This was not the only time Mr. Barr just escaped death, for in the charge at Vicksburg he received five bullets through his clothing, the shots con- ing so close that his skin was burned but not broken. He aided in taking Jones- boro and Atlanta and participated in the Carolina and Virginia campaigns. After Lee's surrender the troops marched to Richmond and thence to Washing- ton, where they took part in the grand review at the close of the war. Mr. Barr was later sent to Louisville, Kentucky, where he was mustered out, receiving his honorable discharge at Clinton, Iowa, July 26, 1865.
After the war Mr. Barr returned to Allamakec county and purchased a threshing machine outfit, which he operated here, wearing out three machines before he abandoned that line of work. Eventually, however, he purchased land in Hanover township and opened up a new farm of one hundred and sixty acres, upon which he continued to reside for a number of years. When he disposed of it he removed to Howard county, where he purchased a wagon and blacksmith shop, which he conducted until 1900, when he refitted the place
20
PAST AND PRESENT OF ALLAMAKEE COUNTY
for his sons, who now carry on the business. Mr. Barr resided in Howard county nineteen years but at the end of that time sold his interests there and removed to Duluth, where for two years he made his home with his daughter. At the end of that time he purchased forty acres of wild land in Douglas county, Wisconsin, on Eau Claire lake, a body of water clear as crystal, five miles in length, with a smooth and beautiful shore. Mr. Barr built a neat cabin near the lake and furnished it completely, making it an ideal summer retreat. He spends every summer on the lake shore, fishing in Eau Claire lake and hunting in the adjoining woods. In 1911 he purchased a lot in Waukon and upon it built a neat aand comfortable home, in which he now resides, taking great delight in working upon and improving his place. He is his own house- keeper and has proven an excellent one, keeping his home neat and attractive in every respect. His leisure hours are spent in reading and his life is quiet, peaceful and happy, a fitting crown to his many years of honorable and useful labor.
In Hanover township, in 1871, Mr. Barr married Miss Anna Anderson, who was born in Christiania, Norway, but who was reared in lowa. They became the parents of seven children. John C. is an extensive landowner in Wisconsin. Robert T. is a plumber in Osage, Iowa. Alfred is engaged in merchandising in Leonard, North Dakota. Ella K. grew to maturity and married, but has passed away, leaving two daughters, Mabel and Mary Flo. James died at the age of twenty-five years in Denver, Colorado, and Nellie died in Wisconsin at the same age. Aldine died December 1, 1910, when he was also twenty-five years of age. Mrs. Barr passed away in Howard county, July 26, 1903.
Mr. Barr was formerly a member of the Knights of Pythias, having helped to organize the lodge at Elma, Howard county, and he was also at one time identified with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. He belongs to John J. Stillman Post, G. A. R., and thus keeps in touch with his comrades of the Civil war. His life record has at all times been a creditable one and in matters of citizenship he has displayed the same patriotic spirit which he manifested as a soldier on the battlefields of the south. In politics he has always been a stanch republican since reaching manhood.
HON. WILLARD CHAUNCEY EARLE.
Probably no man is better known and more highly respected and esteemed in Waukon and throughout Allamakee county than Dr. Willard Chauncey Earle, for he is not only one of the pioneer physicians of this section of the state, but throughout a period of residence here covering fifty-nine years has been one of the greatest individual forces in its financial, commercial, political and moral development. His activities have touched and influenced in an important way practically every phase of municipal and county advancement and his great success has rewarded a life high in its purposes, beneficial in its effects and up- right and honorable in all its relations. Had he no other claim to the re- spect of his fellow citizens, his long and loyal service in the Civil war would constitute a valid and lasting one.
WILLARD C. EARLE
23
PAST AND PRESENT OF ALLAMAKEE COUNTY
Dr. Earle has been a resident of Waukon since 1854 but was born in Hones- dale, Pennsylvania, October 7, 1833. His family is of old English origin and the line can be traced back directly to a Saxon ancestor who lived in Great Britain before the Norman conquest. It is also of old American estab- lishment, its first representative in this country having settled in Newport, Rhode Island, as early as 1634. Members of the family were prominent in that state for a number of years, later moving to Massachusetts where Calvin Earle, father of the subject of this review was born February 1, 1790, his birth occurring in Hubbardstown. He there married Miss Betsy Foster and they later moved to Pennsylvania, locating in what is now Honesdale, that state. The father built the first house on the site where now stands a flourishing community of three thousand inhabitants. Calvin Earle made his home there until 1840 when he returned to Hubbardstown where he remained until he came west in 1858, joining his son Willard C. in Waukon. He here spent the remaining years of his life, dying in October, 1872.
In the acquirement of an education Willard Chauncey Earle attended public school in Pennsylvania and Massachusetts and later under a private tutor pre- pared to enter Brown University. He was obliged to abandon this intention on account of poor health, however, and instead joined his elder brother, J. W. Earle, and came west to Tiffin, Ohio, where both engaged in railroad work. In 1854 Willard C. Earle came from Ohio to Iowa and in June of that year located in Waukon, where he has since maintained his residence. His first investment here was in a sawmill and for some time thereafter he engaged in the manufacture of lumber in association with a partner. He afterwards pur- chased his partner's interest and conducted the business alone with great suc- cess until 1860.
Dr. Earle was among the first to respond to President Lincoln's call for volunteers for service in the Civil war and in October, 1861, joined Company B, Twelfth Iowa Volunteer Infantry, being elected captain. The regiment was sent to Dubuque, where it was drilled for a time, later going to St. Louis and thence to the southern battlefields. He participated in numerous important engagements, among which were the battles of Fort Henry, Fort Donelson, Shiloh, Jackson, Black River Bridge, Champion's Hill and Vicksburg. After the latter engagement Captain Earle was ordered to raise a regiment of colored troops, the headquarters of which were to be with General Joseph Mower. He carried this work forward to successful completion and, much to his sur- prise, received the commission of colonel of the regiment, which was entirely unsolicited on his part. He afterward learned that it was at the request of Colonel J. J. Woods, of the Twelfth Iowa Infantry, and through the influence of General James Tuttle and General Mower that this honor had come to him. General Mower laid Colonel Earle under many and great obligations for ad- vice and instructions in organizing this regiment, the general being a graduate of West Point, an ideal and efficient officer and a true-hearted patriot. The regiment participated in the battle of Natchez and in the campaigns along the Mississippi river and remained in active service until the close of the war. Colonel Earle has always found the greatest satisfaction in the thought and it is the sweetest memory of his life that he was able to help Abraham Lincoln to destroy the most powerful and infernal labor trust ever conceived by man Vol. II-2
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.