USA > Iowa > Allamakee County > Past and present of Allamakee county, Iowa. A record of settlement, organization, progress and achievement, Vol. II > Part 20
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FRED L. H. GERICKE.
Fred L. H. Gericke, whose operations along agricultural lines are proving highly successful, is the owner of two hundred and twenty acres of land in Franklin township. Allamakee county. He is one of Iowa's native sons, his birth occurring in Clayton county, near Farmersburg, on the 13th of September, 1878. his parents being John and Mary ( Klinge) Gericke. He was reared to agricultural life, early becoming familiar with the tasks that usually fall to the farm lad. In the acquirement of an education he attended school in Marion township, Clayton county, and later was a student at Wesgrove, Post township, this county. At the comparatively early age of seventeen years he left school and began working as a farm hand in the employ of neighboring farmers, in the meantime, however, continuing to reside with his parents. Thus he continued until his marriage. when, desiring to engage in agriculture on his own account, he purchased a farm and began its operation. From the very first he has been
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successful and is now the owner of a fine tract of land of two hundred and twenty acres, twenty acres of which are in timber. The remainder of the tract is all under cultivation and has been highly developed, owing to the careful supervision and progressive methods of Mr. Gericke. General farming and stock-raising fully occupy his time and attention although he is interested as a stockholder in the farmers store, the Postville Creamery and the Canning Factory.
It was on the 26th of March. 1907, that Mr. Gericke was united in marriage to Miss Lucy Heins, who was also a native of Clayton county, born April 7, 1889, a daughter of William and Minnie (Lange) Heins. The father was born near Clayton Center, March 5, 1863, while the mother's birth occurred in Ger- many, July 24, 1866. The father has been a lifelong farmer and at an early day became a landowner in Clayton county. He has resided on his present farm since 1887 and is still active in its operation, devoting his entire time and attention to general farming and stock-raising, although in the past he has held various local township offices. His daughter Lucy was the second in order of birth in a family of four children, and in early life attended the Springfield school, near Postville, in the acquirement of her education. By her marriage to Mr. Gericke she has become the mother of two children, Milo W. J. and Clinda M. L., the former born on the 14th of April, 1908, and the latter on the 22d of May, 1910. The family are members of the Lutheran church of Postville, and Mr. Gericke gives his political allegiance to the democratic party. He has never aspired to any office, although he is public-spirited in a large degree, pre- ferring that his political service should be fulfilled as a private citizen rather than as a public servant. Manifesting, from the very beginning of his business career those traits-energy, industry and perseverance-that seldom fail to accom- plish gratifying results, he has won for himself an excellent place among the younger generation of agriculturists of Franklin township, while the honorable principles which he has ever followed in his relations with his fellowmen have won for him the confidence, respect and good-will of all with whom he has come in contact.
ELLISON ORR.
Ellison Orr, prominently connected with business interests in Waukon as superintendent of the Standard Telephone Company, has been actuated through- out all of his business life by a spirit of enterprise and initiative and has advanced step by step to be one of the most substantial and representative men of the community where he makes his home. He was born on the Orr farm near McGregor, lowa, June 15, 1857, and is a son of James and Margaret Orr, of Scotch-Irish ancestry. The father emigrated from Ireland at the age of twelve and settled with his parents in New York state, coming to Jowa in 1856 and purchasing a farm one and one-half miles northeast of Postville, whereon he resided for many years.
Ellison Orr grew to manhood upon this farm and acquired his education in the Postville public schools. After laying aside his books he taught for a number of winter terms in the district schools in the vicinity of his home and from
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January, 1891, to June, 1893, was teacher of the seventh and eighth grades of the school in Postville where he attended in his youth. After three years devoted to educational work he accepted the position of clerk in the Postville State Bank and retained it for a similar period of time, later again turning his attention to farming, an occupation which he followed until 1898. In that year he was elected clerk of the court for Allamakee county and he did such able and effective work that he won reelection to the office, serving in all from January 1, 1899, to January 1, 1903, and proving discriminating, far-sighted and conscientious in the dis- charge of his duties. On the Ist of January, 1904, Mr. Orr was appointed general manager and superintendent of the Standard Telephone Company and in the fall of the same year he moved to Waukon, where he has since resided. He possesses an initiative spirit and an executive ability which have been important factors in his success in his present position and under his able management the affairs of the concern have prospered exceedingly, the business has increased in volume and the details of operation have been put upon a modern and business- like basis.
Mr. Orr married, November 2, 1881, Miss Belle Makepeace, whose parents resided in Winneshiek county. To their union were born four children: Fred, a construction foreman for the Standard Telephone Company; Harry, a civil engineer in the employ of the Missouri Iron Company : Florence, who is engaged in teaching ; and James, at school.
Always interested in anything pertaining to questions of public education and anxious to do his part in promoting educational facilities, Mr. Orr has accom- plished some beneficial work in matters relating to the public schools and espe- cially as a member of the board of trustees of the State College of Agriculture located at Ames, a position which he held from July 1, 1904, to July 1, 1910. He was for thirteen years a member of the State Militia, resigning in 1897, at the time of its reorganization, as first lieutenant and quartermaster of the Fourth Regiment. He belongs to the Presbyterian church of Waukon and has been a Mason since attaining his majority, being now a Knight Templar. He cooperates in all movements for the material, intellectual and moral progress of the com- munity and is recognized as one of the foremost business men of the city, his remarkable success in an important capacity placing him in an enviable position in business circles.
FREDERICK SEGRIST.
Frederick Segrist, carrying on general farming upon eighty acres of fine land on section 7, Franklin township, is one of Allamakee county's most progressive and successful native sons, his birth having occurred just across the county line in Hardin, on the 5th of February, 1883. He is a son of Louis and Mary Ann (Joyce) Segrist, the former born in Massachusetts in 1835 and the latter in Indiana some seven or eight years afterward. As a young man the father came to Iowa and his marriage occurred in Allamakee county, after which he worked in the employ of others for some time. He later became an independent land- owner in Franklin township and from there moved to Post township, where his
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death occurred in 1902. His wife survives him and makes her home in Franklin township. In their family were nine children, of whom the subject of this review is the youngest.
Frederick Segrist was reared upon his father's farm and from an early age assisted with the work of its cultivation, becoming thoroughly familiar with the best agricultural methods and with everything pertaining to the work of the fields and the care of the grain and stock. The occupation in which he had been reared was the one to which he turned his attention upon reaching manhood and upon the death of his father he assumed charge of the homestead, continuing to develop and improve it until 1906. In that year he sold the property and bought eighty acres on section 7. Franklin township, upon which he still resides. He engages in general farming and stock-raising and devotes his entire time to his agricultural pursuits, his farm evidencing in its neat and attractive appearance his practical methods and well directed labors.
Mr. Segrist married, on the ist of May. 1904, Miss Zelma Lawson, who was born in Franklin township, March 1, 1886. To their union have been born two children, twins, Bertha Louise and Bessie Lucile, whose birth occurred September 16, 1908. Mr. Segrist is independent in his political views and interested in the growth and welfare of the community although never an office seeker. He is well known throughout the township as a man of alert and enterprising spirit, possessed of the resolute will which enables him to carry forward to successful completion whatever he undertakes. His methods are at all times practical and progressive and his success, rewarding earnest and persistent labor, places him among the most prosperous and able of Allamakee county's native sons.
ROBERT J. ALEXANDER.
For thirty-four years Robert J. Alexander has been connected with mer- chandising in Waukon, where during that time he has built up a large and profitable patronage as a dealer in clothing and men's furnishings. He is one of the active and progressive business men of the city, where his long residence, his sterling qualities of character and his straightforward business dealings have made him widely known and honored. He was born in Linn county, near Mount Vernon, July 18, 1852, and is a son of Charles Alexander, a native of New York, who went south with his parents when he was still a child and settled in Missis- sippi, where he grew to maturity. As a young man he came to Iowa, locating in Linn county, where he married Miss Susan Smyth, a native of Ireland but reared in the United States. Her parents came to Jowa and settled in Linn county when she was sixteen years of age. Charles Alexander was subsequently one of the earliest settlers in Cedar county, where he opened up a new farm, which he improved and developed into a valuable agricultural property. He reared his family upon the homestead and there spent the remainder of his life.
Robert J. Alexander spent his childhood upon his father's farm, aiding in the work of the fields and acquiring his education in the public schools. He supple- mented this by three terms at Cornell College and upon laying aside his books taught for three winter terms, engaging in farming during the summer months.
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In 1879 he came to Waukon, where he formed a partnership with Levi Armstrong under the firm name of Armstrong & Alexander. They put in a large and complete stock of clothing and men's furnishings and opened for business in the same building now occupied by Mr. Alexander, where he has conducted a pros- perous mercantile concern for thirty-four consecutive years. The association continued for twelve years and at the end of that time Mr. Alexander purchased his partner's interest and since 1891 has conducted the business alone. He carries a complete line of clothing and men's furnishings, his stock being varied and well selected, and he has gained a large and growing patronage, accorded him in recognition of the excellent quality of his goods, his upright and honorable busi- ness methods and his reasonable prices. Mr. Alexander is doing an annual business amounting to thirty thousand dollars and is one of Waukon's most suc- cessful merchants and most progressive business men.
In 1882 Mr. Alexander was united in marriage to Miss Carrie L. Hayward, who was born in Wisconsin but who was reared in Waukon, in the home of her sister, Mrs. Alonzo M. May. Mr. and Mrs. Alexander have two daughters : Susan, who married B. H. Keeler, a civil engineer in Kansas City, Missouri; and Ruth, who is a student in Cornell College. They lost two children, Emma and Hayward, both of whom died in childhood. The family residence is located on Wooster street, near the public school, and is modern and up-to-date in every particular, Mr. Alexander having recently remodeled it throughout.
Mr. Alexander attends the Methodist Episcopal church of Waukon and is a man of exemplary character. A resident of Iowa all during his life and of Waukon for over one-third of a century, he has thoroughly identified his inter- ests with those of the community with the result that his name stands as a synonym for progressiveness in business, for public-spirited citizenship and for all that is honorable and upright in every relation of life.
FRANK ROFFMAN.
Frank Roffman, actively engaged in general farming and stock-raising, is one. of the best known agriculturists of Franklin township, his fine farm of one hun- dred and twenty-seven acres lying on section 7. In the management and conduct of this property he displays excellent business ability, and his enterprise, care- ful control and keen discernment are the factors which have gained him the substantial place which he now occupies among the leading business men of his community. He was born in Germany, on the 22d of December, 1871, and is a son of John and Minnie (Blank) Roffman, also natives of that country. The father spent his entire life engaged in farming, coming to America in 1875 and locating immediately in Post township, Allamakee county, where he purchased land, whereon he continued to make his home until his death, which occurred on the 20th of August, 1882. The mother survives him and makes her home in Franklin township.
The Evergreen school in Post township afforded Frank Roffman his educa- tional opportunities and in his childhood he divided his time between his studies and work upon the farm. He began his independent career at the age of twenty-
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one, hiring out as a farm laborer, and he continued thus for nine years, after which he purchased land of his own. He bought one hundred and twenty-seven acres on section 7, Franklin township, and since he was thirty years of age has been active in its cultivation. Upon his property he has made many substantial improvements, erecting barns and outbuildings, all of which present a neat and attractive appearance. Success has steadily rewarded his well directed labors and he is today one of the prosperous farmers and substantial business men of this vicinity.
On the 5th of December, 1900, Mr. Roffman was united in marriage to Miss Lucy Segrist, a daughter of Louis and Mary Ann (Joyce) Segrist, the former a native of Boston, Massachusetts, and the latter of Indiana. More extended mention of these parents is made on another page in this work. Mr. and Mrs. Roffman have four children: Harold, who was born October 14, 1903; Earl, born January 17, 1907 ; Otto, born January 21, 1909 ; and Mabel, born July 20, 1912.
Mr. Roffman is a stockholder in the Farmers Cooperative Store at Postville and is connected fraternally with the Modern Woodmen of America. He gives his political allegiance to the republican party and has been road supervisor and a member of the school board, laboring effectively in that office to promote the cause of education. As one of the large landowners and successful farmers and business men of Franklin township he is well known, for his life record shows what may be accomplished by a determined spirit and by unfaltering enterprise. He has carefully noted and utilized each opportunity and his example of unre- mitting industry and perseverance is one well worthy of emulation.
JOHN EDMUND O'BRIEN.
John Edmund O'Brien, controlling an important and representative business as a dealer in real estate in Waukon, was born in Oneida county, New York, in 1860, and was one of nine children born to Michael Smith O'Brien and Henrietta Alice Jenkins, who emigrated from Ireland in the early '50s and were married in Oneida county. They afterwards came to Iowa, settling in Ludlow township, Allamakee county, where the father still resides upon his farm.
John Edmund O'Brien was ten years of age when his parents came to Iowa. He worked on farms in this vicinity for several years and then engaged in car- penter work in various parts of the state, being employed in the construction of the buildings on the Illinois Central Railway between Onawa and Sioux Falls. Afterwards he spent two years working at his trade in Birmingham, Ala- bama, and Jackson, Mississippi, going from the latter city to Chicago, Illinois where he assisted in the erection of the exhibition buildings at the World's Columbian Exposition and served for six months in the Columbian Guards. In the winter of 1893 he went to California and put up the Canadian exhibits at the Midwinter Exposition in San Francisco. Returning to Iowa, he established him- self in the building business at Waukon and his ability becoming widely recog- nized, he soon secured a large and representative patronage.
MR. AND MRS, JOIN E. O'BRIEN AND SON
HENRY G. AND JOHN G. O'BRIEN
A
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Mr. O'Brien served in Company 1, the Waukon company, Iowa National Guards, under Captains Gibbs, Nichols and Stewart. In 1898, a few days after the declaration of war with Spain, he went to l'ensacola, Florida, and with Paul D. May, enlisted in the United States Navy for one year as carpenter's mate, first class. He served on the United States ships Tacoma, Lancaster and Cassius, under commanders Sutherland, Very-Perry and Lieutenant Waters of Commo- dore Remy's fleet. At his own request and through Senator Allison's influence he received his honorable discharge at Norfolk, Virginia, at the close of the Spanish-American war. Returning home he studied law first at the Iowa State University and then at Drake University at Des Moines and was admitted to practice before the state and federal courts in 1900. In the following year how- ever he turned his attention to the real-estate business and in this he has since continued, his patronage in Waukon being today profitable and important. He is known as an expert judge of land values and his opinion has come to be regarded as an authority on matters of this character. He is resourceful, far-sighted, ca- pable and energetic and his sagacity is far-reaching and his integrity beyond question.
At Medford, Oklahoma, March 19, 1903, Mr. O'Brien was united in marriage to Miss Decorah Grattan, a daughter of Henry G. Grattan, a pioneer in Allamakee county and for many years one of the most prominent citizens in this part of lowa. He was born at New Haven, Oswego county, New York, June 28, 1826, and was of English descent, a son of Amos and Abigail (Guyant) Grattan. The former, a blacksmith by trade, was born in Berkshire county, Massachusetts in 1797 and died in Ludlow township, Allamakee county, lowa, June 2, 1889. In 1835 he took up a claim and built the first log cabin where Kenosha, Wisconsin, now stands. He was for fifty years a member of the Baptist church and voted with the first organization of the old abolitionist party. He fought in the War of 1812. His wife, who was in her maidenhood Abigail Guyant, was born Sep- tember 8, 1794, in Canterbury, Connecticut, and died in Ludlow township, Alla- makee county, in 1886. She was for a time the only white woman in Kenosha, Wisconsin. One child was born to the union of Mr. and Mrs. Amos Grattan- Henry Guyant.
Henry Guyant Grattan was for many years well known in agricultural and journalistic circles of the middle west and as a leader in many public movements of a progressive and constructive character. He founded and published the Janesville (Wis.) Gazette, the Mt. Carroll (Ill.) Mirror and the Sterling ( Il1.) Gazette. He also did considerable literary work after coming to Iowa, but in this state was chiefly interested in scientific agriculture, in the promotion of which he was one of the greatest individual forces of his time. He was a member of the board of trustees of Iowa Agricultural College and took a great interest in the work of that institution, organizing several new departments, among which may be mentioned that of domestic science. His own farm in Ludlow township was a practical exemplification of his theories and was one of the best equipped and most scientifically managed in the township.
Henry Grattan was married three times, first to Jane Trask who died in 1849, then to Phoebe Jane Tisdel, who died in 1865, and to Rosanna Russell who survives him. She was born in Shefford, Canada, and is of French and English parentage, the daughter of Francis and Susannah ( Griggs) Bryant. Previous to
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her first marriage which united her with Franklin Russell who was killed in the Civil war, Mrs. Grattan engaged in teaching. She was married to Henry Grattan on the 9th of December, 1865. Henry Grattan's children are as follows: Marvin Trask, born in Janesville, Wisconsin, in 1848; Jane, who was born in Freeport, Illinois, in 1851 ; Orlando Tisdel, born in Mt. Carroll, Illinois, in 1855: Bertha, born in Ludlow township, in 1868; John, born in Ludlow township, in 1869; and Decorah, the wife of the subject of this review. The last named was born at Waukon, Iowa, December 20, 1871, and acquired her education in the public schools of the city, in the South Dakota Agricultural College and at Drexel Institute, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She was a teacher of Domestic Science for several years at Toronto, Canada, in St. Thomas Alma College and at Buf- falo, New York. Mr. and Mrs. John E. O'Brien have two children : Henry Grat- tan, born April 2, 1904 ; and John Gordon, born January 23, 1908.
Mr. O'Brien is today one of the well known business men of Waukon, for he possesses as salient elements in his character, the energy, resourcefulness and sound judgment necessary to business success. His associates respect his integ- rity and honor and his straightforward dealings and his many sterling traits of mind and character have gained for him the esteem and confidence of a wide circle of friends.
ANTON C. LARSON.
Anton C. Larson, a prominent real-estate dealer in Waukon and well known in business and political circles of the city, is a native of Allamakee county, born June 2, 1857. His father, Christian Larson, was born in Norway and there grew to maturity and married. He and his wife emigrated to the United States in 1853. coming direct to Iowa, where they settled in Hanover township, Allamakee county. The father entered an eighty acre tract of land which he broke, fenced and improved, later purchasing more property to which he added from time to time until he owned a fine farm of two hundred acres. Upon this he made sub- stantial improvements, erecting a good residence, barns and other outbuildings and installing all of the necessary machinery and equipment. He made his property valuable and by his practical and progressive methods secured for himself a place among the prosperous and successful farmers of Hanover township. He spent his last years upon the homestead, dying at the advanced age of eighty-two. His wife survives him and makes her home with one of her sons on the old farm where she has lived for the past fifty-nine years. She is now in the eighty- seventh year of her age.
Anton C. Larson was reared upon his father's farm in Hanover township and as a child aided in the operation of the homestead. He attended the district school and later supplemented this by a course in a commercial college in Minne- apolis. He afterward went to Yellow Medicine county, Minnesota, where he clerked for three years, at the end of which time he returned home and clerked in a general store for five years, receiving during this time a thorough and practical business training. Returning to Yellow Medicine county, he engaged in busi- ness at Canby, where he made his home for five years, disposing of his interests
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at the end of that time in order to come to Waukon, where he has since remained. Ile soon became prominent in local politics, winning the appointment to the office of deputy county treasurer, a capacity in which he served ably and efficiently for six years, resigning only to accept the office of county treasurer. At the end of his first term his able work was rewarded by reelection and in all he served in this office for four years. Upon the completion of his last term he opened a real-estate office in Waukon and has since given his entire time to the conduct of his business. He deals in Allamakee county improved farming lands and town properties and handles also Dakota and Canadian real estate. He has bought and sold numerous farms in this section of lowa and has negotiated the sale of a great many business houses and residences in Waukon. Possessing a just comprehension of land values, he has so conducted his business as to make it profitable not only to himself but to his clients also.
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