USA > Iowa > Fayette County > Past and present of Fayette County, Iowa, Volume I > Part 67
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Patrick Sullivan was reared by his parents and for his mental discipline he is indebted to the common schools of Fayette county principally. He has consistently devoted his entire life to agricultural pursuits and, by the exer- cise of sound judgment and wise discrimination, he has been prospered to a very gratifying degree. He is now the owner of four hundred and forty acres of land, practically all of which is improved and in cultivation. Mr. Sullivan does not specialize in any line, but carries on diversified farming, in connection with which he gives some attention to the raising of livestock, with good results. He is practical in his methods and progressive in his ideas and is considered one of the best farmers in Clermont township. He has also other business interests, being a stockholder and director of the Cler- mont State Bank, one of the solid and influential monetary institutions of this part of Fayette county.
On February 14, 1871, Mr. Sullivan was united in marriage with Mary Minihan, who was born in Brattleboro, Vermont, on October 20, 1850, daughter of Patrick and Catharine (Curran) Minihan. These parents. were natives of Ireland and came to the United States about 1845, settling in Ver- mont, where they remained until 1853, when they moved to Ohio. In 1856 they came to Clayton county, Iowa, and there spent the rest of their days, the father dying on October 13, 1873, and the mother on April 24, 1901. They were the parents of seven children. The father was a farmer by vo- cation and in politics he was an ardent Democrat, while he and the members of his family were affiliated with the Catholic church. To Mr. and Mrs. Sullivan have been born eleven children, namely: Michael (deceased), James, Thomas, Mary (deceased), John, Margaret (deceased), Catharine, Henry, Johanna (deceased), Clara and Elizabeth.
Politically, Mr. Sullivan gives a stanch support to the Democratic party,
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while religiously, he and his family are members of the Catholic church, to which they give an earnest support. Mr. Sullivan enjoys a wide acquaint- ance throughout Clermont township and vicinity and he stands high in the esteem of all who know him.
REV. JOHN G. REMBOLD.
The writer of biography, dealing with the personal history of men engaged in the various affairs of every-day life, occasionally finds a subject whose record commands exceptional interest and admiration and especially is this true when he has achieved more than ordinary success or made his influence felt as a leader of thought and a benefactor of his kind. The gen- tleman whose name forms the caption of this sketch was eminently of that class who earn the indisputable right to rank in the van of the army of pro- gressive men, and by reason of a long and strenuous career devoted to the good of his fellows and to the dissemination of the gospel of peace through- out the world he occupies a position of wide influence and made a name which will long live in the hearts and affections of the people. Though most of his latter life had been closely identified with agricultural pursuits, yet he never lost an opportunity to do a good deed, to help some one in need of kindly service or to foster any movement looking to the general good. He was born in Wurtemberg, Germany, June 24, 1832, and was the son of George and Barbara (Enteman) Rembold, who also were natives of Wur- temberg, the father born in 1800 and the mother in 1807. They married in 1827, and became the parents of four sons and three daughters: Dora, born in Wurtemberg in 1829, married George Rapp, and became the mother of eight children; Mr. Rapp for many years operated a meat market at East Dubuque, Iowa; Frederick, born in Germany, married after coming to America and died in 1853; Rev. John G., of this review; Barbara, born in Germany, in 1833, married Jacob Loeb, who died in Germany, after which his wife with her five children came to America in 1882. The mother of this family died in 1836 and the following year Mr. Rembold was again mar- ried, and three children were born of the second union : Jacob, born in 1839; Frederica, born in 1840, and Christoph, born in 1842. The father died in Germany in 1875, at the advanced age of seventy-five years.
Rev. J. G. Rembold spent his boyhood days in his native land and laid the foundation for an excellent education in the common schools there.
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When twenty years of age he came to America, landing in New York City, a few weeks later went to Bellefonte, Pennsylvania, where he spent about four years with an uncle. He came to Iowa in 1856, locating in West Union, where he remained until 1858. Determining upon the ministry as a life work, he resumed his studies, entering the Upper Iowa University at Fay- ette and a year and a half later became a student at St. Sebald Seminary, from which he was graduated in 1864, having made a splendid record there. The Iowa synod of the German Lutheran church, which was in charge of that school, ordained him as a minister in the year of his graduation.
The domestic life of Rev. Mr. Rembold began at Detroit, Michigan, on June 13, 1865, when he espoused Magdalena Prottengeier, who was born in Germany, March 2, 1844, a daughter of Conrad and Barbara (Braunlein) Prottengeier, whose family consisted of three sons and five daughters, namely : George, born July 26, 1829, married Emma Koeberle about 1862, and eight children were born to them; he was a miller by trade and resided near St. Sebald until after the death of his wife, when he moved to a farm near Waverly, Iowa, where he died in July, 1890; Annie Protten- geier was born September 20, 1831, and died in St. Sebald in 1881; she married George Wuest, a cabinetmaker of Dubuque, Iowa, and six children were born to them: Margaret, who was born in 1832, married Prof. Sig- mund Fritschel, D. D., of Dubuque, Iowa, and for many years professor of literature and Bible history in St. Sebald Theological Institute, and they be- came the parents of eleven children, one of whom was exceptionally highly educated, passing through many noted institutions in this country and Ger- many, and at the beginning of a very promising and brilliant career, he died in Mendota; Annie Magdalena Prottengeier was born in 1836, married Al- bert Andrew, formerly a merchant in Dubuque, later a farmer near St. Sebald; Barbara, born in 1839, married Rev. C. Ide, and became the mother of eight children, dying at the parsonage of Zion's congregation in 1881; Rev. Christoph, who was born in 1841, a minister in the German Lutheran church, married in Toledo, Ohio, and eight children constituted his family; the next in order of birth was Mrs. John A. Rembold, wife of the subject ; the youngest was born in 1847 and died in childhood.
Over thirty years of Rev. Mr. Rembold's life was spent in educational work, which he began in 1858 and he became one of the noted educators of this section of the state during that long period of service in this line. Twen- ty-four years of his very busy and useful life were spent in the ministry, his first charge being at Marine City, Michigan, from which place he was soon transferred to Sanilac, Michigan, where he remained until 1867, when he
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came to Iowa and became pastor of the church at Bellevue. In 1873 he was appointed superintendent of the Asylum for Orphans and Destitute Children, of the Evangelical Lutheran church. He assumed full charge of the school, both the financial and clerical business, in a manner creditable to himself, of much profit to the institution and of general satisfaction. Three hundred children were taken into the school, educated and provided for otherwise at the expense of the church, during his superintendency, all homeless and des- titute children being welcomed; most of those children have become useful and worthy citizens. In connection with his work there, he also had charge of the congregations at Andrew and Maquoketa, where he preached two Sundays each month. He also served as local missionary at various times, preaching to congregations who were without a minister, laboring in such a manner at Lost Nation, Spragueville, Buckeye and other places. He started the congregations at the last three named places, and, in fact, served them for years. He revisited each of these in 1909 and found flourishing condi- tions, good strong churches. He found his most pleasant work in the church ; he started many Sunday schools, and during his long ministry he never missed a Sunday on account of sickness. He was always liberal in his views on public matters, being independent in politics, also liberal in his views on prohibition-in fact, he was not a prohibitionist. Although advanced in years, he served the church at Wadena until his death. He was a power for good in the church, a forceful, learned, eloquent expounder of the gospel of the lowly Nazarene. He was always a profound student and had one of the most extensive and best libraries in the county, composed of the world's best literature, with which he was familiar and he was a most charming conver- sationalist as well as a public speaker. He led a useful and upright life, de- voted to the church and its interests and was esteemed by all classes.
Finding it necessary on account of failing health to abandon regular work, in 1885 he purchased the farm to which he moved in 1887, which is known among old settlers as the Turner place and consists of two hundred and eighty acres, which is valuable and well improved, having a large. at- tractive and cozy dwelling and commodious barns and outbuildings. The place is well watered and admirably adapted to stock raising and grain pro- duction. He managed his place in a very able manner and made of it one of the choice farms of the township. Here Mr. Rembold lived until his death, in September, 1910.
To Rev. Mr. Rembold and wife the following children were born. Bar- bara, born May 23, 1866, is the widow of Rev. John Moehl, who died at the age of thirty years while pastor of the church at Lost Nation; Godfried, born
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October 9, 1868, received an excellent education, and is now a cement con- tractor at Oelwein; John, born October II, 1870, became a farmer, assist- ing his father on the home place; Hans is a barber at West Union, Iowa; Albert, born January 27, 1873, operates the home farm; Christoph, born September 24, 1875, is a minister in the Lutheran church at Berea, Ohio; he graduated at the Waterbury Seminary at Waverly, Iowa, and he served the church at Lost Nation, Iowa, and Genoa, Illinois ; Paul, born February 9, 1878, is a jeweler at Farmington, Minnesota; Mary Ann, born March 9, 1881, is the wife of Emil Moschel, a farmer in Windsor township; Karl, born December 1, 1883, is a graduate of the Watbush Seminary, and be- came a minister, preaching in the Lutheran church at Lamont and Aurora, Iowa, and at Dundee ; Julius, born November 22, 1887, is a jeweler. These children were all well educated and are successful in their chosen callings, men and women of high ideals and are regarded as good, honorable people wherever they live, reflecting the wholesome home environment in which they were reared.
LORIN M. STRANAHAN.
The history of the highly honored venerable citizen whose name intro- duces this review is one of vital interest to the people of Fayette county, with which it has been so intricately entwined, and it is safe to say that Lorin M. Stranahan is regarded by all classes as one of the leaders in the progress of this county; having, while advancing his own interests and that of his immediate family, never lost sight of his obligations to the community at large. He was born in Canaan, Columbia county, New York, July 13, 1831, the son of William, Jr., and Dorcas (Fisher) Stranahan. His paternal grand- parents were William, Sr., and Margaret (Salts) Stranahan; through the former the family may be traced back through two generations further to one of their brothers who came to America from Ireland, locating in Colum- bia county, New York, where the Stranahans have lived for seven or eight generations. When Lorin M. was only a few months old his parents moved to Essex county, New York, and he there attended the public schools and worked on a farm as soon as he was old enough. In 1845, when he was thirteen years of age, the family moved to Rock county, Wisconsin, and there the father entered a quarter section of land from the government, which was the family home for a period of nine years. They had an interesting trip from their eastern home to Rock county, Wisconsin, having made the journey
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LORIN M. STRANAHAN.
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by steamboat on the lakes, which were visited at that time by frequent squalls and storms. They came by water as far as Southport, now Kenosha, Wiscon- sin, and from there by wagon through a rather rough and unfrequented coun- try, which was wild at that time and overrrun by numerous prairie wolves.
In 1850 Lorin M. Stranahan made a trip to West Union, Iowa, there being but one house in the place at that time, having as his object securing a school, but he did not care to take up teaching when he saw the nature of the "fare" he would be compelled to accept while "boarding around" and he accordingly returned to Wisconsin, in various localities of which state he taught very successfully for a period of six years. during the winter months. A part of that time, however, was spent in Illinois and Missouri. He had received an excellent education in the public schools of Essex county, New York, and in Beloit College at Beloit, Wisconsin. During the summer he worked on the farm, pursuing his studies during the winter months and later began teaching, which he made a very successful undertaking.
In 1853 Mr. Stranahan again came to Iowa and purchased land, but re- turned to Illinois to teach during the following winter. He purchased a farm lying between Fayette and Arlington, in Fayette county, near where the Corn Hill postoffice was formerly located, having secured one hundred and sixty acres of prairie land and one hundred acres of timber land in Fairfield town- ship. He also acquired another eighty acres the following fall, this being known as "graduation land," which had been in the market until a specified time stated by the government, the price being reduced according to the time it remained unsold, he having purchased this land for seventy-five cents per acre. It is now worth about sixty-five dollars per acre without improvements.
Mr. Stranahan's parents came with him to Fayette county, in 1854, the father dying the same year and was buried at Taylorsville, the mother dying two years later.
In those early days corn was worth only seventeen cents per bushel and Mr. Stranahan was compelled to haul his wheat to McGregor, quite a dis- tance, in order to secure a market. His home was then a frontier cabin sit- uated upon the open prairie, across which one could look for many miles on either hand, but industry, enterprise and hard work developed the raw land into a rich and highly productive farm, one of the best in the county. Prospering from the first, he was soon enabled to build a substantial and comfortable home which is today one of the most attractive in the county, being surrounded by fine shade trees, planted by his own hands, and made many other improvements, both useful and ornamental. In many respects
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Mr. Stranahan has shown himself to be one of the leading citizens of this locality.
Mr. Stranahan was married in 1856 to Sarah Cockerell in St. Charles county, Missouri. She was born in Northumberland county, Virginia, May 30, 1833, of an excellent old Southern family. This union resulted in the birth of eight children, of which number two died in infancy; the others are named as follows: William, who married Emily Moore, lived at Harper, Kansas, until his death, in 1892; he and his wife were the parents of six chil- dren, one of whom died in early childhood, those living being, Lily, William, Grace, Frank and Helen. Lizzie Stranahan married William B. Stevenson, a well known citizen of Fayette, and they have two children, Oliver W. and Nellie I., the former having married Imogen Cobb, daughter of Sidney Cobb, and he is practicing law in Fayette ; Nellie is editor of the alumni department of the Upper Iowa University Collegian. Nellie Stranahan married Win- field Moine and they live on a farm in Clayton county, about five miles from Arlington, and they had one daughter, Edna, who died when six years of age. Frank Stranahan married Lida Bogart, daughter of Isaac Bogart, of Oelwein, and they are living in Fayette, but own a farm near that town; they are the parents of three children, Merritt, Mildred and Margory. Loren Seymour Stranahan died in September, 1888; he and Frank were twin brothers. Warren Stranahan, who is farming near Hurdland, Missouri, married Ada Homewood and they are the parents of five children, living, one child having died in infancy ; those living are, Bessie, Willard, Blanche, How- ard and Esta.
For many years Mr. Stranahan was a leading citizen of Smithfield town- ship, having taken a prominent part in local public affairs and held every office in the township with the exception of that of constable. He is usually found working with the Democratic party, having cast his first vote for Franklin Pierce for President in 1852, but he is in nowise narrow in his views and is rather independent in politics. He was a member of the Green- back party during its existence, but he afterwards returned to the Demo- cratic party. He never belonged to any secret order except the Grange and that was years ago. He was justice of the peace in Smithfield township until he moved into Fayette, since which time he has refused to hold office. On one occasion he was the nominee of the party for county treasurer, but the county being overwhelmingly Republican he failed of election.
In January, 1885, Mrs. Stranahan was called to her reward, and in May, 1887, Mr. Stranahan married Mary E. Brooks, daughter of Chancy Brooks, one of Fayette county's first pioneers, he having been born in Livingston
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county, New York, in 1817, the son of Benjamin and Olive ( Harris) Brooks. Chancy Brooks married Hannah Casebier, a native of Wayne county, Ohio, and they came to Fayette county, Iowa, May 13, 1847, finding here a wild prairie and virgin timber-land on which lived Indians and wild beasts, and at that time there were no settlers living north of the Volga. He was an indus- trious and upright man and he became prosperous.
In 1892 Mr. and Mrs. Stranahan moved into Fayette and he sold his farms to his sons, Frank living two and one-half miles south of Fayette and Warren residing at the old home. Mr. Stranahan, in order not to be idle and to gratify his desire to raise small fruit, bought twenty-two acres on the east edge of the town of Fayette, which he cultivates, and has shown great skill and good management in the raising of a variety of small fruits. One year he raised strawberries extensively, producing on two and one-half acres two hundred and fifty bushels of strawberries. At one time he had seventy- five hands engaged in picking them. He also owns several good houses and lots, besides some valuable business properties in Fayette, and he owns a part interest in the opera house here. He is a stockholder in the Inter-State Telephone Company and he is also interested in the State Bank at West Union.
Mr. and Mrs. Stranahan have many loyal and warm friends throughout the county, and he is honored as one of the pioneers of Smithfield township, in the organization and development of which he bore a prominent part. He is public-spirited, having always been ready to do what he could in the development of his community, and his efforts along business lines have been crowned with abundant success, as they deserved, owing to his close ap- plication to whatever he had in hand and his honorable dealing with his fellow men, having always been regarded in every-day life as a man whose word was as good, if not better, than the bond of many. Honesty and integrity are no meaningless terms with him and his record as a man and citizen is without blemish.
EZRA L. ROWLAND.
A man deserving mention in this history of Fayette county is Ezra L. Rowland, the subject of this sketch, for he was born and raised in Dover township of this county and during his life has been actively engaged in a progressive and enterprising manner in furthering the interests of the community by a careful and intelligent development of his own land, for it is a well recognized principle that where a man does extremely well with his own interests, the public, as well as himself, is benefited.
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Ezra L. Rowland, the son of P. L. Rowland, of Dover township, was born on December 6, 1874. His education was acquired at the township schools. After completing his school course, he resided with his parents, assisting his father in caring for the home farm. His mother passed beyond on January 29, 1890, but he and his father made their home together until November 21, 1903, when his father joined the mother in the other world.
Mr. Rowland continued to live on the home farm and has managed it most successfully and economically. Upon coming into his inheritance the tract consisted of one hundred and twenty-six acres, and to these he has since added forty-eight acres. In 1906 and 1908 he erected two fine new barns, excellently built and equipped, which were erected with a view to the better conducting of his general farming business, but also for the purpose of caring for the stock which he takes great pride and interest in breeding. His two specialties in stock raising are the very best high-grade Norman horses and pure bred Poland-China hogs. To these two specialties he has given all the time and attention he can spare from his general farming in- dustry with such excellent results that he is widely known for the grade of stock which he raises, and for which there is a demand, often from distant points.
On December 12, 1902, Mr. Rowland was united in marriage with Emilia Vasby, and their union was blessed with a daughter, Elvira Rachel. Mrs. Rowland passed away on February 24, 1905. Mr. Rowland remained a widower until December 20, 1906, when he married Bertha E. Wirz, and to them have been born two daughters, named Matilda Evon and Mildred Ilsabel.
Mr. Rowland is a Republican, but has not been active in politics other than furthering in a quiet way whenever possible the interests of his party locally. He is actively interested in educational affairs in this community, being a member of the school board, of which he has been president for the last three years ; he was also treasurer of the board for some years.
Mr. and Mrs. Rowland are members of the Evangelical church, in the work of which they take a practical interest.
JOHN F. HARRINGTON, M. D.
Conspicuous among the many successful men in the medical profession in Fayette county stands the subject of this sketch, and his position as one of the leaders of the community is not only deserved by reason of his ability and success as a physician, but also because of the connection which his
JOHN F. HARRINGTON, M. D.
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family has had with the growth and development of the county, his father having been actively connected with business interests in the county for many years.
J. F. Harrington was born in Jackson county, Iowa, on July 6, 1871, being the only son of Ira L. and Jennie (Stahl) Harrington, his paternal parent having removed to Jackson county from Cayuga Falls, Ohio, and his mother being a native of Clayton county, Iowa. Although he had been reared on a farm, at the age of twenty-two years the business instinct asserted itself in Ira L. Harrington, and he took up well-drilling in Jackson county, where he was an early settler, helping to operate the first well-drilling outfit ever seen there. In 1878 he removed to Elgin, Fayette county, and in this county he drilled many wells and also took up extensively the business of handling pumps and wind mills, in which he was likewise successful. After continuing for some years in these different lines of business, he took up bridge work and insurance, and .in the latter he is still engaged. He is a member of the Inde- pendent Order of Odd Fellow's and is well and favorably known throughout the county.
J. F. Harrington, after attending the schools at Elgin, Iowa, entered the State University in 1891, leaving that institution in 1894, when he en- tered the Keokuk Medical College, for his training for professional life. After graduation from the medical college, he began his practice at Westgate, Iowa, where he remained one year, removing at the end of that time to Ossian, Iowa, where he practiced for one and one-half years, from this latter place removing to Eldorado, Iowa, where he resided, practicing, for three and a half years, whence he removed to New Albin, where he lived until 1904. In that year he located at Wadena, Iowa, where he has since resided and where he is enjoy- ing a large and lucrative practice. In addition to his extensive private prac- tice, Doctor Harrington is medical examiner for the Royal Neighbors, Brotherhood of American Yeoman, Northwest Life Insurance Company and the Equitable Life Assurance Company.
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