USA > Iowa > Allamakee County > Past and present of Allamakee county, Iowa. A record of settlement, organization, progress and achievement, Vol. II > Part 51
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C. A. ROBEY
MRS. C. A. ROBEY
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still active and hearty and accomplishes every day work which would be a credit to a man twenty years his junior.
In Allamakee county Mr. Robey was united in marriage, May 13, 1866, to Miss Isabelle Dunn, who was born in West Virginia, a daughter of William Dunn, an early settler in Allamakee county, where he located in 1852. Mrs. Robey passed away December 21, 1911. She was a devout member of the Baptist church, which she joined as a girl of fourteen, and was a lady of many exemplary qualities of character and highly respected and esteemed wherever she was known. She became the mother of eleven children: Angie, the wife of J. L. Kelly, of Paint Creek township; Edith, who married O. B. Kelly, of Jef- ferson township; B. L., a farmer of Jefferson township, who married Lois M. Lovelace, a Baptist minister's daughter ; Bertha G., the wife of S. H. Reeve, of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania ; Ray C., who married Hazel Henderson, a native of Jefferson township; Ella W., the deceased wife of A. L. McClintock; Harry, who was killed by a horse when he was twelve years of age; William Dudley, who died at about the same age; Edna, who passed away at thirteen; and two children who died in infancy.
A progressive and public-spirited citizen, Mr. Robey has always taken an intelligent interest in community affairs and, representing the republican party, has held various positions of trust and responsibility. He twice took the census of Paint Creek township and indeed held all of the important township offices, his public career being varied in service and faultless in honor. Although he received only a common school education, he is today a well informed and cul- tured man, having throughout his entire life been a wide reader and a deep thinker. His home had always been supplied with numerous and well selected books and a spirit of refinement has pervaded it. Mr. Robey has been an exten- sive traveler and while his wife was living she accompanied him on various journeys through the eastern and western states. In 1913 he took a trip to Phil- adelphia in order to visit his daughter who resides there and also to attend the reunion of the Grand Army of the Republic held on the Gettysburg battlefield. Since 1868 he has kept a diary of all the important events in the township and county and is thoroughly familiar with this section of lowa from pioneer times to the present. He has been closely identified with Allamakee county in its up- building and prosperity and is justly accounted a progressive and representative citizen. From time to time he has given hearty cooperation to many movements for the public good and has contributed in a substantial measure to the develop- ment and growth of one of the greatest counties in Iowa.
THORE ENGEBRETSON.
Thore Engebretson, who passed away in Allamakee county at the age of seventy-eight years, was one of its honored pioneers and successful agriculturists, owning two hundred and eighty acres of rich and productive land in Center and Paint Creek townships. He was a native of Barrum, Norway, and in that ยท country wedded Miss Helena Marie Nelson, who was born in the same province. In 1851 they crossed the Atlantic to the United States with their family of four Vol. II-25
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children and for one year made their home at Rock Prairie, Wisconsin. In 1852 they came to Allamakee county, Iowa, purchasing and locating on a tract of one hundred and sixty acres of land on sections 35 and 36, Paint Creek township. The log shanty on the place, which had been built by a former resident, remained their home for a time. Later a stone house was erected which is still standing and doing good service. Mr. Engebretson prospered in his undertakings as an agriculturist and subsequently purchased an additional tract of one hundred and twenty acres, making his farm one of two hundred and eighty acres, which is still in possession of three of his children, who reside on the place. At the time of the Civil war he responded to the call for troops and for one year loyally served the Union cause as a member of Company F, Ninth Iowa Cavalry. He came to the new world a poor man and experienced all the vicissi- tudes and privations of pioneer life. It was only by dint of persistent and untir- ing labor that he won the success which eventually placed him among the substantial and representative citizens of his community. His wife was called to her final rest at the age of seventy-five years. They were devoted members of the Lutheran church and their lives were in consistent harmony with their pro- fessions. In his political views Mr. Engebretson was a stanch republican.
Mr. and Mrs. Engebretson were the parents of the following children : Anton, who resides on the old homestead on section 35. Center township, with his two sisters, Emma and Christina ; Mary, the wife of L. O. Larson, of Taylor town- ship, this county; Johanna, who is the widow of George Bieber and resides in Rock county, Minnesota ; Ludwig, who died at the age of forty-five years; Edward, who is deceased; Olof, a resident of Rock County, Minnesota; Chris- tian, who was drowned in childhood; and Emma and Christina, who reside on the old homestead farm with their brother Anton, the former having been blind since the age of ten years. Anton Engebretson carries on general agricultural pursuits with good success. He is now sixty-four years of age and has lived here from pioneer times to the present, having witnessed the wonderful trans- formation that has occurred as early conditions have given way before the onward march of civilization.
FRANK MYRON NAGEL.
Frank Myron Nagel, a worthy native son and enterprising young agricul- turist of Allamakee county, is the owner of a well improved farm of one hundred and seventy-seven and a half acres on section 21, Franklin township, and devotes his attention to its operation with excellent results. His birth occurred at Hardin on the 29th of July, 1889, his parents being Julius J. and Clara ( Dunning ) Nagel, the former a native of Garnavillo township, Clayton county, Iowa, and the latter of Franklin township. Allamakee county. Julius J. Nagel was born on the ist of October, 1858, while his wife's natal day was February 9, 1863. A sketch of the former, who is a prominent agriculturist of Franklin township, appears on another page of this work.
In the acquirement of an education Frank M. Nagel attended district school No. 3 of Franklin township. He remained under the parental roof until he had
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passed the age of twenty and then rented a farm, which he cultivated for one year. On the expiration of that period he purchased a farm of one hundred and seventy-seven and a half acres on section 21, Franklin township, which has since remained in his possession and in the operation of which he has won success. The land is rich and productive and annually yields bounteous harvests. Mr. Nagel raises the cereals best adapted to soil and climate and also devotes considerable attention to live stock, finding both branches of his business remun- erative.
On the 11th of May, 1910, Mr. Nagel was united in marriage to Miss Leta Renpage, who was born at Wheaton, Illinois, on the 20th of February, 1890, her parents being Henry and Effie (Thornton) Renpage. The father's birth occurred in Germany in 1854, while the mother was born in Franklin township, this county, in 1864. Henry Renpage worked as a blacksmith in early manhood but after coming to Iowa turned his attention to general agricultural pursuits. At the end of seven years' residence here, in 1909, he removed to Ottertail county, Minnesota, purchased a farm and has operated the same continuously since. Our subject and his wife have two children: Chalmer Gilbert, whose natal day was November 23, 1911 ; and a son, not yet named.
Mr. Nagel gives his political allegiance to the republican party but has not sought nor desired office, preferring to devote his attention exclusively to his business interests. He is a substantial young agriculturist of his community and has won many friends by reason of his upright and honorable life.
H. B. MINER.
Among the men who have been active in inaugurating and shaping the agri- cultural and political development of Allamakee county since pioneer times is numbered H. B. Miner, whose residence in this section of the state dates from 1856. A spirit of enterprise, initiative and progress, has actuated him in all the varied activities of his career, making his business attainments of a high order and his work in politics a credit and a benefit to the community where he has so long made his home. For thirty consecutive years he served as surveyor of the county and he has held other important official positions, his work being distinguished by the same energy, progressiveness and public spirit which domin- ate his character and influence all the phases of his public and private life.
Mr. Miner was born in Jefferson county, Ohio, January 24, 1840, and is a son of Thomas E. Miner, a native of Virginia, who grew to manhood in that state. After a period of able service in the War of 1812, the father went to Ohio, settling in Jefferson county, where he engaged in farming. He there mar- ried Miss Fannie Coyle, a native of Maryland, and they began their wedded life on the farm in Jefferson county, where nine of their children were born. In 1856 the family removed to Allamakee county, Iowa, where they were numbered among the pioneers, Waukon being at that time nothing more than an insignifi- cant crossroads village. The father entered one hundred acres of land in Linton township and with the help of his sons cleared this property, broke the soil, fenced the fields and opened up a new farm which in time became one of
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the valuable places of the section. He spent the remainder of his lite upon the homestead, dying November 3, 1872. He had survived his wife two years and both are buried in the Council Hill cemetery.
H. B. Miner acquired his education in the public schools of Jefferson county, Ohio, and in 1856, when he was sixteen years of age, came to lowa with his parents, settling in Allamakee county, where he has since resided, being today one of the honored pioneers. He helped clear, improve and develop his father's farm at a time when there were but three families in Linton township and amid the inconvenient and often hard conditions of pioneer life grew to manhood. Having supplemented a course in the Ohio public schools by two years' attend- ance at the Richmond (Ohio) Presbyterian Seminary he was unusually well educated for those days and when he began his independent career turned his attention to teaching, having received his first teachers' certificate as early as 1860. He followed that occupation only during the winter months, spending his summers assisting with the work of the farm. He later engaged in agricultural pursuits on his own account and his early training made him a practical, able and successful farmer. He continued to reside upon his property until 1899 when he removed to Waukon, where he has since made his home.
Being a far-sighted. discriminating and progressive man, Mr. Miner has been carried forward into important relations with the public life of the city and is considered today one of the leading figures in local republican politics, having always been a stanch supporter of the principles and policies for which that party stands. He cast his first vote for Abraham Lincoln in 1864 and has voted for every republican presidential nominee since that time. He has himself taken an active and prominent part in local politics, his public career beginning while living on the farm. when he served as township assessor and also as township treasurer. During this time also he studied surveying, becoming very proficient at that profession, in which he has continued to engage in a public or private capacity since that time, accomplishing much important work along this line. In 1879 he was elected county surveyor of Allamakee county and served so efficiently, conscientiously and capably that at the end of his first term he was returned to office and he thereafter served for thirty years-a conclusive evidence of the value and importance of his labors and their acceptability to the public at large. Mr. Miner's friends are fond of saying that the only way he could be gotten out of this office was to be legislated out, for his service ended when the office of county surveyor was abolished in lowa. He has, however, continued his work in a private capacity, having been since connected with important survey- ing projects in Allamakee and Clayton counties. He is in great demand for surveys calling for careful, expert and prompt labor and is particularly proficient in running and establishing lines and corners. In addition to holding the office of county surveyor he has also served as deputy county treasurer and he has made his name a synonym for high ideals of political morality and for earnest, capable and discriminating work in the public service.
Mr. Miner was married in Clayton county, March 17, 1864, to Miss Hattie E. Bywater, a native of England, born near Leeds, and a daughter of George Bywater, who came of old and honored English ancestry. He was an expert flax dresser by trade and was sent to America in the interests of a large English company engaged in the manufacture of fine linens. He located at Lansingburg,
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near Troy, New York, where he bought and dressed flax for his employers, and where he and his wife died. His daughter was reared and educated in that state and later went to Madison, Wisconsin, where she spent some years, but in 1862 came to Monona, Iowa. She had fitted herself for teaching and followed that occupation in various schools in this part of the state, holding a position in the same district school of which her husband had previously been teacher. Their oldest son later taught in that institution as did also two of their daughters. Mr. and Mrs. Miner became the parents of five children: Dr. Frank D. is in active practice of dentistry in Hazelton. Dr. Cora R. is also a dentist by profes- sion, practicing in Waukon, for some years. Addie F., a graduate nurse of Wesley Hospital, Chicago, is now superintendent of Sheridan Park Hospital on Belmont avenue in Chicago. Willis H. is county engineer of Allamakee county. The oldest child in this family, Fannie, died in 1879 at the age of fourteen. All the surviving members acquired excellent educations, supplementing the usual public-school course by attendance at college. The parents are members of the Methodist Episcopal church and while on the farm Mr. Miner served as Sunday school superintendent for five years.
Fraternally Mr. Miner is a member of the Masonic order, belonging first to Clayton Lodge, No. 70, and now to Waukon Lodge, No. 144, F. & A. M. He is probably one of the best known and most influential residents of Waukon, where he has resided for so many years and where his work as a private citizen and as a public official has commended him to the trust, good-will and confidence of all with whom he has come in contact.
GEORGE D. L. THOMAS.
George D. L. Thomas is a native of Allamakee county and a son of one of the pioneers of the '40s. He is a self-made man and now owns a valuable farm of ninety-seven acres in Linton township, to the cultivation of which he gives his whole attention. He was born at Waterville, this state, September 24, 1865, his parents being John and Nancy Jane ( Snell) Thomas, both natives of Indiana. The father was born February 22, 1824, and the mother was about ten years younger, her birth record having been destroyed by fire when she was a mere child. The father practiced medicine in Indiana and came to Iowa on a visit in the late '4os. He made the trip from Indiana to this locality and back on foot but the following year he and his brother and wife rode overland in a one-horse wagon. The first winter he made his living here by hunting and the following year engaged in buying and selling land, so continuing for a number of years until he became the owner of a grist-mill at Waterville. He also built a sawmill there and later a second mill of the same kind, engaging in the milling business for about fourteen years. At the end of that period he turned his atten- tion to farming, acquiring title to a farm in Franklin township, and was so engaged until he removed to Waukon, where he farmed for two years before another removal was made to Rossville, where five years were spent. He then came to Linton township, where he died in 1908, the mother having preceded him by one year. The father enlisted in the Mexican war as a drummer boy,
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as he was too small to be taken as a regular. However, the war came to a close before the regiment arrived at the front.
George D. L. Thomas is the eighth of ten children born to his parents. He attended school at Bear Hollow in Linton township and also at Waukon and Rossville. When nineteen years of age he took up farm work, remaining on his father's place until he married, when he bought a farm for himself in Linton township. There he resided until 1906, when he sold out and located on his present place. It comprises ninety-seven acres of fertile land and is devoted to general farming and stock-raising. His buildings are substantial, his fields under high cultivation, his stock high grade and his machinery up-to-date and modern, indicating his progressive spirit and thorough methods. He is a stock- holder in the Monona Creamery Company and also in the Shipping Association.
On March 24, 1896, Mr. Thomas married Miss Iona Russell, who was born in Linton township at what is now called Sixteen, April 24, 1872. She was a daughter of Washington and Ada Russell, natives of Wisconsin and early set- tlers of Allamakee county. The father was for many years a prominent farmer and now resides retired at Fennimore, Wisconsin. The mother passed away and her daughter, Mrs. Thomas, is also deceased, her demise occurring November 19, 1907, when but thirty-five years of age. On April 24, 1910, Mr. Thomas married Miss Blanche Rose, who was born in Franklin township, February 14, 1885, a daughter of Charles and Vina (Johnson) Rose, natives of that town- ship. Mr. and Mrs. Thomas have become the parents of a daughter, Inez, who was born in November, 1911.
Mr. Thomas gives his allegiance to the democratic party and efficiently served as school director of his township. Devoting his entire time to his agricultural pursuits, he has been very successful and is today numbered among the sub- stantial farmers of his section.
THOMAS W. MELAVEN.
Thomas W. Melaven, since 1890 connected with mercantile interests of Harper's Ferry as proprietor of a general store, was born in Taylor township, November 6, 1859, and is a son of James and Elizabeth (Healy) Melaven, the former a pioneer in Allamakee county, more extended mention of whom is made elsewhere in this work.
Thomas W. Melaven was reared at home and acquired his education in the public schools of Taylor township. He remained with his parents until 1890 and then came to Harper's Ferry, where he purchased a stock of general merchandise and established himself in business. He now has the largest and best store in the village and controls an important and growing trade, accorded him in recognition of his upright and honorable business methods, his constant courtesy and his earnest desire to please his patrons.
Mr. Melaven married Miss Aline Guthnick, who was born in Harper's Ferry, and they have become the parents of one child, Ethel. Mr. Melaven is a devout member of the Roman Catholic church and is a democrat in his political beliefs. interested and active in community affairs. After the incorporation of the
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town he served as mayor for eight years and his administration was distinguished by the accomplishment of a great deal of constructive and beneficial work. While giving close attention to his personal interests he has never lost sight of his duty as a citizen, being deeply interested in all matters pertaining to the public welfare and giving of his time and means toward the advancement and promotion of the community at large.
WILLIAM MORTON KELLY.
During a period of residence in Allamakee county covering forty-six years, William Morton Kelly made many substantial contributions to its agricultural and business development and his name still stands as a synonym for progress, reform and advancement in the communities where he was known. A great many of the business enterprises in this part of the state profited greatly by his initiative spirit and his untiring industry and a fine farm of one hundred and sixty acres on section 33, Paint Creek township, stands as a memorial to his life of energy and thrift. Upon this property he passed away January 18, 1907.
Mr. Kelly was born in Ohio on the 7th of April, 1833, and was of Irish descent, though his father, Daniel Kelly, was a native of Ohio as was his father before him. The public schools of his native county afforded William M. Kelly his educational opportunities and after laying aside his books he turned his attention to farming, engaging in that occupation in Ohio until 1861. In that year he came to Allamakee county and he remained an honored and respected resident of this part of Iowa until his death. He settled first in the village known as Sixteen, in what is now Linton township, and remained there seven years, removing in 1868 to Rossville, where he became very successful in the conduct of a general store. He went to Mason City in 1870 and became a merchant there, but after three years returned to his business in Rossville, building up in that community a large, well managed and profitable mercantile enterprise. However, in 1878, he again turned his attention to farming, buying on section 33, Paint Creek town- ship, a one hundred and sixty acre tract which had formerly belonged to his brother Richard. It had been improved but was badly run down and Mr. Kelly turned his attention with characteristic energy to its development, repairing the buildings, erecting new ones and neglecting nothing which would add to the attractive appearance or value of the place. He made it an excellent property, provided with all the accessories and conveniences of a model farm and at his death was numbered among the representative and progressive agriculturists of his locality.
In Ohio on the 19th of August, 1858, Mr. Kelly was united in marriage to Miss Sarah Lewis, a daughter of Jesse and Esther Lewis, and they became the parents of thirteen children, eight of whom are still living: Nettie, who makes her home with her brother Daniel; Alice, twin sister of Nettie and the wife of Samuel Campbell of Nebraska; Mary, who married T. B. Campbell of Sheridan, Wyoming; Daniel, who is engaged in farming in Paint Creek township; Jesse L., also a farmer in Paint Creek township; William H .; Mattie, the wife of Albert Gast of Paint Creek township; and Fred, a resident of Giltner, Nebraska.
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William H. Kelly is operating the family homestead and is accounted one of the successful and representative farmers of Allamakee county. He was born in Rossville, March 2, 1870, and acquired his education in the district schools. After the death of his father he came into possession of the farm and has ably carried forward the work of development. He married Miss Sarah Klees, a native of this county and a daughter of Mathias and Emeline Klees, the former of whom has passed away. The mother lives upon a farm in Linton township. Mr. and Mrs. William H. Kelly have one daughter, Ruth. Mrs. William Morton Kelly survives her husband and makes her home upon the farm with her son and daughter-in-law. She is a lady of many excellent traits of mind and character and her long residence here has brought her wide-spread esteem and many friends.
William Morton Kelly was a member of the Presbyterian church and was a democrat in his political beliefs. He was prominent in the party's councils and active in public affairs, being eminently progressive and public-spirited in matters of citizenship. For many years he rendered his township excellent serv- ice as trustee and was for three years a member of the county board of super- visors. Projects for the advancement and development of Allamakee county seldom lacked his ready and hearty cooperation, and meritorious business enter- prises could always look to him for support. Thus he aided in the organization of the Waterville Creamery which is still in operation and which has proven through the years an important factor in business expansion. In Allamakee county where he was widely known, he held the esteem and confidence of all his associates and his death was felt as a personal loss by all who were fortunate enough to come within the close circle of his friendship.
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