USA > Iowa > Fayette County > Past and present of Fayette County, Iowa, Volume I > Part 57
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Mr. Bopp is an extensive property holder in West Union and Fayette county, all accumulated, largely, through his own unaided efforts. Besides his beautiful home property, he owns eight handsome residences in West Union, all of which have been built or rebuilt within recent years and mod- ernized and rendered "up-to-date" by the owner. These, besides being a handsome addition to the town, are always in demand at good rental figures. The Bopp block, a modern two-story brick building, with handsome stone front, was constructed in 1898, and is occupied by several permanent tenants, besides Mr. Bopp's commodious offices.
Such, in brief, is the record of a man, now in the prime of life, who is distinctively "self-made," as that expression is understood. As shown in his parental sketch, to which reference has been made, he was born of Ger- man parents who came to this country in pioneer days, and were poor, ignorant of the manners and customs of American people, and also ignorant of the usual methods of money-making. The subject heard no language in the home except the German until after he was six years old, but the memory of the mother tongue is one of the sweetest remembrances of child- hood's happy days. In later years he studied the language and is fluent and accurate in the use of German.
It is not the purpose of this article, nor of consistent biography generally, to unduly extol the merits of any individual, except as their recital stimulates an effort to imitate the example of a worthy subject. If this object-lesson should encourage any struggling young man to work for attainments above the mediocre, and pave for himself the pathway to success, it will have served a worthy purpose.
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RONOLD S. F. CRAWFORD.
Fayette county, Iowa, enjoys a high reputation because of the high order of her citizenship, and none of her citizens occupies a more enviable position in the esteem of his fellows than the gentleman whose name appears at the head of this sketch. A residence here of almost his entire lifetime has given his fellows a full opportunity to observe him in the various lines of activity in which he has engaged and his present high standing is due solely to the honorable and upright course he has pursued. As a leading citizen of this community he is eminently entitled to representation in a work of this char- acter.
R. S. F. Crawford is a native son of old Ireland, and in him are exem- plified those sturdy qualities for which the natives of the isle of the shamrock are noted. He was born on May 9, 1844, and is a son of Samuel F. and Anna Maria (West) Crawford, both of whom also were natives of Ireland. The subject's uncle, John B. West, was a man of local influence and importance, having defeated Daniel O'Connell for Parliament from Dublin, the latter being recognized as one of Ireland's strongest men. The subject's father was a graduate of Trinity College, Dublin, and in 1848 he brought his family to the United States. For nine years he was the second steward at Ward's Island, being under the immediate authority of the commissioner of immi- gration. On September 14, 1855. he came to Fayette county, Iowa, and bought farm land, to the improvement and cultivation of which he thereafter devoted himself. He owned two hundred acres of fine land which he developed into a good farm, on which he resided until his death, which occurred on July 7, 1897. In politics he took an independent attitude, but so high was he held in general esteem that he was chairman of the first board of supervisors in Fayette county and for some years he served as tax collector and justice of the peace. He was a splendid rifle shot, being considered the best wing shot in Fayette county. He and his wife were members of the Episcopal church and while residing in New York City were members of St. George's church. Of their ten children, five are living. The mother of these children died on March 1I, 1897, at the age of eighty-nine years, her husband having been but a year younger at the time of his death. The subject's oldest brother now living, William F. Crawford, gave his adopted country faithful service during the Civil war, having first enlisted in the Third Regiment Iowa Vol- unteer Infantry. He was placed under the command of Commodore Foote, as fourth quartermaster. After his discharge, he re-enlisted in the Sixth Regiment Iowa Cavalry, under Capt. Allen Ainsworth, and served until the
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close of the war, when he received an honorable discharge. He is now acting as inspector of United States war vessels at Bremerton.
R. S. F. Crawford received his education in the public schools of New York City and the common schools of Fayette county, and he was reared to the life of a farmer, from which line of effort he has never departed. He is now the owner of three hundred and forty-two acres of land, which he devotes to diversified farming. Mr. Crawford has given special attention to the buying and feeding of cattle for market and in this line he has met with marked suc- cess, having found it a profitable source of income. His farm is highly im- proved and well equipped, being numbered among the best farms of the township.
Politically, Mr. Crawford was aligned with the Democratic party until Cleveland's administration, since which time he has taken an independent attitude, though, strictly speaking, he would be termed a progressive Repub- lican. He is giving efficient service as school treasurer of his township. Fraternally, he was at one time an active Freemason, but is not now affiliated with any blue lodge.
In August, 1904, Mr. Crawford was married to Alice Fannie Reese, who was born in Kane county, Illinois, the daughter of William and Hattie (Smith) Reese, the former a native of Somersetshire, England, the latter of New York state. They moved to Kane county, Illinois, and subsequently came to Fayette county, Iowa, where the mother's death occurred, Mr. Reese now living at Maynard, this county. Mr. Crawford has one stepson, William H. Pratt.
Mr. Crawford enjoys a splendid reputation throughout Fayette county, because of the marked success to which he has attained and the high personal character borne by him. Large-hearted, generous and courteous to all, he easily makes acquaintances and enjoys a large circle of warm personal friends, who esteem him for his genuine worth.
JOHN MICHAEL AND MARGARETHA (SCHMIDT) BOPP.
The subjects of this sketch were both born in the beautiful Rhine country at Mayence, Germany. Mr. Bopp was born October 28, 1822, and was the son of John and Magdalena (Faszbender) Bopp. His father was born in 1788, and his mother in 1790. They were farmers who devoted a
MRS. MARGARETHA BOPP.
مصربيك
JOHN M. BOPP.
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large part of their land to the raising of the famous Rhine wine grape. His parents were the only members of his immediate relatives who followed farming as a business, the other members of his father's family being trades people and mechanics. His father was a soldier under the great Napoleon for eight years, until he was captured on the retreat, in the campaign which the French made against the Russians at Moscow. He was held as a prisoner of war until after the battle of Waterloo. He was also mayor of his town for many years, and was always prominent in its business and social affairs. In his family there were six sons and three daughters, who have all long since died, but their descendants are numerous in the vicinity of the old home on the Rhine.
Mr. Bopp grew to manhood in his native land, and was the only one of his family who came to America. On February 1, 1851, he was married to Margaretha Schmidt, who was born in the same village, on February 14, 1828, the daughter of Peter and Anna Mary (Bopp) Schmidt. Her father was born in the same neighborhood June 28, 1802, and her mother on May 28th of the same year. There were five children in her father's family, one son and four daughters, who have all died excepting one sister who still lives in the old home. Her father was a fisherman by trade, and carried on his business on the rivers Rhine and Main, which join at that place. She grew to womanhood in her native town. They both received good common school educations with additional training in music and some other branches.
A little over two years after their marriage, May 29, 1853, they started on their journey to America, coming over the Atlantic in a sailing ship. The journey required forty-two days, and was filled with many hardships and much sea-sickness. At one time, of the entire shipload of immigrants, Mrs. Bopp was the only passenger not sea-sick. They landed at New York, and immediately came on to Chicago, which was then only a small town by the lake. and where they knew but one family who had preceded them to this country. They were both sick with typhoid fever for several months, and here Mr. Bopp worked on the railroad for about a year. In May. 1854, he came to Iowa with some other Germans, who brought along an interpreter, and entered a piece of government land in Windsor township, Fayette county. and returned to Chicago to arrange for moving out. He arrived with his wife and first child September 28, 1854, and built a small slab house near a creek in the northwest part of the township. This slab shanty had no floor, and only one window, and here they spent their first winter. Mr. Bopp bought a span of oxen and hauled logs for a house on the land which he
(38)
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had entered, and for fencing a small tract which he put into crops that season. He also rented some land for the first year. There were no near neighbors, and no house to be seen from the little log cabin on the prairie. They endured many hardships the first winter, on account of the deep snow and severe cold, to which neither of them was accustomed, and which was much harder to endure on account of insufficient clothing.
In the spring of 1855 Mr. Bopp erected a log cabin, and shortly after- wards the family moved into it. The prairies were covered with tall grass and an endless variety of native flowers, and the wild wolf and native game were plentiful. It was a wonderful change from the peaceful German village to the wild open prairies of a new country like Iowa at that time, but the hope of success, and the determination which had decided them to come and to make the journey from their native land, stood by them in their new sur- roundings, and gave them courage to work and wait. Neighbors came very slowly, and it was many months before they could see the smoke from another log house, and a long time before they could learn enough English to make themselves understood, even to the few who came. These were days of hardship and toil, and, no doubt, their memories and their hearts often went back to the peaceful German village which they had left, with all their friends and early associates.
Unto Mr. and Mrs. Bopp were born fourteen children, nine of whom are yet living: (1) J. W., the eldest, was born September 28, 1853, at Chicago. His sketch appears elsewhere in this volume. All the rest of the children were born on the home farm in Windsor township. (2) Ellen M. was born August 4, 1855, and is the wife of William Billmeyer, a large land owner of Auburn, Iowa. They have five children, four daughters and one son, all of whom are living. (3) M. N. was born June 2, 1857, and resides in Windsor township, on the old home farm which he now manages. He was married to Minnie Clark, and they have two children, both of whom are living. (4) J. G. was born September 3, 1858, and was married to May Mottinger. They live at Hawkeye, Iowa, where he is a retired farmer and money loaner. They have no children. (5) Martha P. was born September 20, 1860, and was the wife of G. H. Mottinger, of Mottinger, Washington. She died May 14, 1909, and was buried in the family lot at Hawkeye, Iowa. They had no children. (6) Louise E. was born November 3, 1861, and is at the old home. She has been an invalid all her life. (7) Clara I. was born June 8, 1863, and died March 16, 1882. (8) Henry E., a twin brother of Clara, was born June 9, 1863, and died October 14, 1867, from the effects of an accidental fall from a wagon. (9) L. E. was born October 18, 1864,
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and was married to Leona Mendenhall, July 9, 1896. His wife died August 14, 1897. He was again married to Carlotta Baety, of Canada, and now lives at Minneapolis, and is engaged as a traveling salesman for the Cary Safe Company. (10) C. W., (II) William E. and (12) Chauncey, triplets, were born March 23, 1868. Chauncey died August 3d of the same year. The other two are still living. C. W. lives at Hawkeye, Iowa, and is president of the First National Bank, and was married to Elizabeth L. Miller, who assists him in the management of the bank. His sketch appears elsewhere in this volume. William E. is a traveling salesman for the Cary Safe Com- pany, and lives in Minneapolis. He was married to Luna E. Wheeler, of Grinnell, Iowa. They have two children, both living. (13) Fred A. was born November 6, 1869, and was killed in a railroad accident near Redfield, South Dakota, February 23, 1903. He was married to Eugena Rudloff, of Colum- bus, Wisconsin, and left a widow and one son. She has since re-married and lives in Minneapolis. At the time of his death he was one of the highest salaried salesmen in the west. (14) Anna M., the youngest of the children, was born April 14, 1873, and lived at the old home until her marriage to J. D. Hughes, of Boise City, Idaho. They now reside at Roseberry, Idaho, and have three children, one son and two daughters.
Mr. and Mrs. Bopp were truly life companions, as they were born in the same village, studied in the same school, under the same teachers, and attended the same church before their journey to this country. They both lived to a ripe old age in the new home in their adopted country. They celebrated their golden wedding February 1, 1901, on the farm which they had taken from the hand of nature, and with their own planning and efforts had made it into a beautiful home, with all the modern conveniences which may be enjoyed on a farm.
Mrs. Bopp was a member of the Methodist church for many years, and did much to keep up neighboring Sunday schools and churches. Mr. Bopp was a supporter of schools and churches but was not actively identified with any one denomination. They were both deeply interested in the success and education of their children, and gave most of them college schooling, and assisted them in every possible way to become active and influential business men and women in the community in which they lived. In their later years they took great pride in the success of their sons in the business world. Seven members of their family were school teachers part of their lives, and the family did much to further the interests of education in the neighborhood of the old home, and were always active in supporting any worthy enterprise or undertaking. Mr. Bopp was not
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a strong man and felt the hardships of pioneer life very keenly. He was a great lover of flowers and books, and in his earlier years was a fine singer. . He was one of the choir at the dedication of the first monument to Gutenberg, the inventor of printing, at Frankfort, Germany, and was a great lover of fine penmanship and the beautiful in nature. Mrs. Bopp was of a more com- manding disposition, and took great delight in seeing successful enterprises and material prosperity. They worked hard for many years and saw the wild prairies subdued and converted into prosperous farms and beautiful homes. They saw the growth of churches and schools; the building of roads and towns, and were taxed heavily to start in the building of the first rail- ways, which brought them nearer to the outer world. With their neighbors, they sold eggs for four cents per dozen; butter for six cents per pound ; dressed pork for one dollar and thirty-five cents per hundred, and wheat for thirty-five cents per bushel, which had to be delivered at McGregor, with ox teams, a distance of fifty miles; and with all these disadvantages they kept their family together, attended church in their own and neighboring cabins, and contributed to that cordial sociability only found in the pioneer homes. They enjoyed the afternoon of life together in the same devotion and companionship in which they grew up in their native village, and lived to see a great county and a great state grow to be a part of a great nation, by the efforts of themselves and other immigrants from foreign countries, joined with those of native Americans. . Theirs were lives well spent, and their last years were gladdened with the satisfaction of success for themselves and their family, and the consciousness of having wrought faithfully and well at the old homestead.
Mr. Bopp died July 21, 1901, at the family home. He was buried in the Hawkeye cemetery, where he had lived to see a prosperous town, in which his sons had taken an active and prominent part in its growth, on what was a houseless prairie when he came to Iowa. Mrs. Bopp died at the old home- stead, August 5, 1905, surrounded by all the members of her family and amid the scenes and associations of more than fifty years. Six of her sons acted as pall bearers for her, as they did for all the members of the family who have gone on before, and she is buried in the Hawkeye cemetery, where five of her children, and husband, had been laid to rest.
Mr. and Mrs. Bopp were truly pioneers, and were widely known over the county, both by their own friends and because of the success and enter- prise of their children. It is certainly a great achievement when a young couple like Mr. and Mrs. Bopp leave their native land to go thousands of miles across the seas, into a strange country, whose language and customs
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they do not understand, and take up a homestead and develop it into a home for a large family, and start them in life with good health, splendid educations and commendable business habits. Such lives must be counted a success, and it is families like this one on which the strength and greatness of a state and nation must be founded. It is families like this one which make a state and nation great, and the benediction of "well done, good and faithful servants," went with them to their final rest.
ANDREW F. RANDALL.
It is not an easy task to describe adequately a man who has led an emi- nently active and busy life and who has attained to a position of relative dis- tinction in the community with which his interests are allied. But biography finds its most perfect justification, nevertheless, in the tracing and recording of such a life history. It is, then, with a full appreciation of all that is demanded and of the painstaking scrutiny that must be accorded each statement, and yet with a feeling of satisfaction, that the writer essays the task of touching briefly upon the details of such a record as has been that of the honored sub- ject, Andrew F. Randall, one of the honored and influential business men of Fayette county.
Mr. Randall is a native son of the old Empire state, having first seen the light of day in Madison county, New York, on March 16, 1837. He is the son of Asahel and Julia (Dykins) Randall, who were numbered among the early settlers of Madison county, where the father successfully followed ag- ricultural pursuits for a number of years, he and his wife spending their last days at Oneida, that county. They became the parents of six children, of which number two are living, B. F., of Cedar Rapids, this state, and the sub- ject of this review. Politically, the father was originally an old-line Whig, but on the formation of the Republican party he allied himself with it. He and his wife were members of the Presbyterian church. They are both now deceased.
The subject of this sketch was reared in Oneida, New York, the paternal farmstead being near that city, and in the public schools of that community he received a good practical education. In 1856 he came to Lyons, Clinton county. Iowa, and was employed in driving a team on railroad construction work. After a short time he returned to his old home in New York, but soon afterward again came to Clinton county and took a position as engineer
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with his brother, P. D. Randall, who had charge of twenty miles of construc- tion of the Northwestern railroad west of Cedar Rapids, and in this capacity he assisted in laying out the town of Clinton. After completing this work Mr. Randall again returned to Oneida county, New York, and was married. In 1860 he came to Cedar Rapids, Iowa, where he remained a year and was then appointed railroad station agent at Lisbon, this state, retaining the posi- tion two years. At the end of that period he went to Carroll, Iowa, and dur- ing the following summer he run a boarding house. During the following three years he was employed as station agent at Mount Vernon. Receiving then the appointment as superintendent of the Lynn county poor farm, Mr. Randall efficiently discharged the duties of that position for three years. In 1873 he came to Center township, Fayette county, and he and his brother, P. F., of Cedar Rapids, platted the village of Randalia, which they named. During the following six years Mr. Randall served as station agent at the new railroad point, but during the following years he chiefly applied himself to mercantile pursuits, having opened up a general store at that point. He was appointed the first postmaster at Randalia and held the office for twelve years, to the entire satisfaction of the patrons of the office. He has been in business here continuously since the inception of the business life of the village and has been one of the principal figures in the business life of the community, the commercial prosperity of the place being largely due to his influence and per- sonal efforts. He has taken the keenest interest in the welfare of the town and was one of the organizers and stockholders of the Randalia Savings Bank, of which he was chosen a member of the board of directors, this being one of the solid and influential banks of Fayette county. In various ways has Mr. Randall shown at all times his unvarying faith in the community in which he lives and the unselfish interest that he has exhibited in its welfare has earned for him the sincere respect of all who have been asociated with him. Sound business principles and stanch integrity have characterized his commercial life and a sense of fairness has actuated him in his dealings with others.
Politically. Mr. Randall is an adherent of the Republican party, in the success of which he has ever been deeply interested, having been chairman of the township central committee for a number of years, in which capacity he rendered appreciated service to his party. He served satisfactorily as justice of the peace for several years, but has never been an aspirant for public office. Fraternally he was a charter member of Randalia Lodge, No. 177, Indepen- dent Order of Odd Fellows, and is also a member of the Rosebud Lodge No. 232, Daughters of Rebekah, to which his wife also belongs. Mr. Randall also belongs to West Union Encampment of Patriarchs Militant, in which he has
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received special recognition officially, having been elected colonel of the Third Regiment, Second Brigade. Mr. Randall was reared in the faith of the Presbyterian church, as was his wife, but they now give their support to the Methodist Episcopal church.
On April 29. 1858, Mr. Randall was united in marriage with Addie Foland, who was born at Oneida, New York, on November 22, 1838, the daughter of Jonas and Elizabeth (Mowers) Foland, both of whom were natives of New York state, the former born at Schenectady and the latter at Hudson. In the Foland family were nine children, of whom may be noted the remarkable fact that six of them lived wedded lives of more than fifty years. Mrs. Randall's parents both died in New York state. Mr. and Mrs. Randall have had no children of their own, but had an adopted daughter, Belle. The latter received a good education in the public schools and Fayette College, and was also highly accomplished in music. She became the wife of Daniel Duncan, of this county, who is now teacher in a Presbyterian school in New York City. Mrs. Duncan died in New York City on December 5, 1894.
In all that goes to make up strong and potential manhood, Mr. Randall has been well equipped and in all the affairs of a busy life he has "stood four square to every wind that blows," his present high standing in the community where he has lived so many years attesting the opinion held of him by those who know him best. Every movement looking to the advancement of the community, morally, educationally, socially or materially, has received his earnest endorsement and support and he has justly earned the right to be numbered among the representative men of his community.
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