USA > Iowa > Fayette County > Past and present of Fayette County, Iowa, Volume II > Part 26
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After their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Chris Wenger lived in Clayton county, Iowa, two years, then came to Illyria township, Fayette county, and pur- chased one hundred and sixty acres, also bought ninety acres in Highland township, Clayton county. Mr. Wenger followed the butcher business in connection with general farming and stock raising and was very successful in whatever he undertook. He made all the splendid improvements on his farm and built a fine home. He took a delight in keeping everything up to the standard about his place, and took especial pains in raising good horses and
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hogs. He was a hard working man and a good manager. He operated an extensive meat market at Elgin, Iowa, for a period of five years, and was also connected with the Elgin creamery.
To Mr. and Mrs. Wenger fifteen children were born, named as follows : Rose H., born May 30, 1880, is a stenographer at Waterloo, Iowa; Alfred, born January 10, 1882, married Lena Kreuger, and is farming in Pleasant Valley township, Clayton county, Iowa; Louis was born October 1, 1883; John was born May 25, 1885; Fred, born February 3, 1887; Will born November 24. 1888; Ida, born September 7, 1890; Christ, born January 12, 1892; Edward, born August 23, 1893; Lena, born March 5, 1895; Harry, born November 15, 1896; Charles, born September 8, 1898; Mary, born June 29, 1900; Walter, born May 19, 1902 ; Martin, born December 29, 1903. These children, with the exception of the two oldest, are all at home and they and their mother carry on the farm very successfully.
The death of Christ Wenger occurred on May 10, 1908. He was a member of the Modern Woodmen of America, Lodge No. 8376, Highland township. Politically, he was a Democrat and held several minor offices, in- cluding that of school director. He was well known in this part of the county and had numerous warm friends who admired him for his stability of character, his honesty, genial nature and because of his success, being a purely self-made man.
EDWARD EUGENE GEHRING.
The farmers who are most successful are those who, not content with general farming merely, devote much of their time to some specialty by which they not only increase pecuniary profits in gaining for themselves and their products a reputation, but obtain a great deal more of satisfaction out of life. The subject of this sketch, who, by attention to stock breeding, has made his farm known for miles around, is doing far more for the benefit of the race than he himself thinks.
Edward Eugene Gehring was born in Illyria township, December 23, 1864, the son of George Gehring, who was born in Germany, September 25. 1830, and Josephine Ruethner Gehring, born in Germany, January 26, 1831. His mother's first husband was Carl Sebastian Kniel, who died in Ohio, leav- ing her with one son, Carl Sebastian, now a merchant at Elgin, Iowa. She came to Towa in 1849. George Gehring came to America as a young man, lo-
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cated in Ohio, and then moved to Elkader, Iowa, where he was married. In 1857 he came to this county and took up land in Illyria township. He erected a log house and stable, and made a home there, working and improving the farm, on which he lived until killed by lightning, July 24, 1869. His wife remained on the place until her death, May 6, 1895. They were loyal mem- bers of the Catholic church. Six children were the result of their marriage ; Caroline, born January 31, 1858, died February 20, 1858; Franklin G., born March 1, 1859, now a farmer in Elgin, Iowa; William M., born February 25, 1861, now a blacksmith and wagonmaker in Jennings, Oklahoma; Albert J., born November 5, 1862, now a farmer in Elgin; Edward E .; and Frederick G., born March 25, 1867, now a merchant in Elgin.
Edward E. was educated in the home schools and has always lived on the home place. On May 26, 1891, he married Louisa Beers, born in Clayton county, the daughter of Christian and Maria (Schori) Beers, who were born in Bern, Switzerland, he in 1834 and she in 1839, and came with their par- ents to Clayton county, where they were married. Mr. Beers farmed in Marion township and at Highland and now, having retired, lives at Elkader. He is the father of ten children, seven of whom reached maturity : Evelina, who married John Kohler, of Elgin; Wilbur, dead; Albert, dead; William, contractor of Brooklyn, New York; Louisa; Ella, who married Robert Schmidt, of Elkader; Anna, married William Ebendorf, of Waukon, Iowa; Amelia, married William Davidson, of Elkader; and Edward.
Edward E. and Louisa Gehring are the parents of five children : Mabel, born May 23, 1892; Carl G., born September 26, 1897; Dorris M., born November 12, 1901; Lester E., born August 26, 1904; Florence, born No- vember 4, 1908.
Edward E. and his brother Albert bought out the heirs to his father's farm in 1891 and in 1902 Albert sold his interest to Edward E., who has made the improvements on the place, including a fine house and good out- buildings. The farm consists of one hundred and thirty acres, one hundred and ten of which are in a high state of cultivation. For the past ten years Mr. Gehring has been a breeder of full-blooded Shorthorn cattle and Poland- China hogs, and of Brown Leghorn and Buff Orpington chickens. He keeps good horses and is also engaged to some extent in dairy farming. The stock kept on the Gehring farm have won much commendation for themselves and their owner.
Mr. Gehring is a Republican. He has been an excellent manager and a first-class all-round farmer as well as a first-class all-round man, as his many friends will testify.
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HIRAM D. WOOD.
Among the venerable and well-known citizens of Oelwein, Fayette county, Iowa, he is whose name heads this sketch. Mr. Wood, though now practically retired from active life, was formerly an active and potent factor in the upbuilding of the city of his residence and has at all times enjoyed the unbounded confidence and respect of his fellow citizens. He is descended from an honored and patriotic line of ancestry and in himself are embodied many of those sterling qualities which characterized these patriot ancestors.
Hiram D. Wood was born in Clinton county, Kentucky, on April 8. 1828, and is a son of Samuel and Keziah (Dougherty) Wood. Samuel Wood, who was born in Kentucky December 25, 1804, was a son of James Wood, a native of Loudoun county, Virginia. The latter was a son of Sam- uel Wood, who was born May 2. 1737, in Leicestershire, England. The lat- ter was the fourth in the order of birth of the five sons born to his parents, the others being Thomas, John, William and Abram. Samuel, Thomas and John came to America some time prior to the French and Indian war and Samuel, at the age of eighteen years, became private secretary to Colonel George Washington, being present at the historic defeat of General Brad- dock near the present city of Pittsburgh. Samuel Wood later settled in Loudoun county, Virginia, and during the war of the Revolution he took an active part in behalf of the colonists, though prevented from enlisting as a soldier in the ranks because of a defect in one of his legs. His son James was a soldier in the war of 1812, serving under Gen. William Henry Har- rison. The subject's mother, Keziah Dougherty, was born in Tennessee February 1, 1805, and her father was killed by the Indians in that state. Samuel Wood and Keziah Dougherty were married May 1, 1825, and in 1832 they moved to Macoupin county, Illinois, where they reared their family of twelve children.
Hiram D. Wood remained on the home farm in Illinois until he was eighteen years old and he had an active part in the strenuous work of the frontier farm. When nineteen years old he enlisted in the Fourth Cavalry Company, from Illinois, for service in the Mexican war. The soldiers were required to furnish their own horses and were rendezvoused at Jefferson Barracks. From there they were sent by steamboat to Vera Cruz, where they became a part of the army under the command of Gen. Winfield Scott. During his period of enlistment Mr. Wood took part in a number of bat- tles and skirmishes, experiencing some severe service. On his return from military service, he went into the pine woods near Menominee, Wisconsin,
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HIRAM D. WOOD AND FAMILY.
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where he was employed about two years. Prior to going there he had en- tered two land warrants in Delaware county, Iowa, one on a warrant given himself for service in the Mexican war and the other on a warrant he had bought of a comrade. He thus secured three hundred and twenty acres of land and when he returned from the Wisconsin woods he found he had enough money with which to improve his land. He was married in 1853 and immediately located on this Iowa land, where he remained thereafter nearly a half century. He was of industrious habits and practical in his methods and succeeded in making of this farm one of the best agricultural properties in his section of the state. When the Chicago Great Western railroad was constructed through this section of the state it crossed his land and he laid out the town of Dundee. He built the first store there and ran it success- fully for about nine years. In 1895 Mr. Wood sold this store and came to Oelwein, where he has since resided. He also sold his farm, and on coming to Oelwein he built a store on South Frederick street, a large two-story brick, the same being now occupied by the Hub clothing store. During the follow- ing eight years he was engaged there in the dry goods business, at the end of which time he sold his stock, rented the building, and has since that time been practically retired from active business pursuits. He is still the owner of considerable property in Oelwein, which demands a share of his atten- tion, being also a stockholder and director in the First National Bank, one of the solid and influential financial institutions of Fayette county.
On September 1, 1853, Mr. Wood married Lydia L. Luken, a daughter of David and Prudence (Macklin) Luken. The latter was a daughter of James Macklin, who, as a member of the Fourth Pennsylvania Battalion of the Continental army, served during 1777-78, his death occurring in Feb- ruary, 1819. His wife had borne the maiden name of Elizabeth Johnson. Mrs. Lydia Wood was born July 1, 1827, on the summit of the Alleghany mountains, in Cambria county, Pennsylvania. To the subject and his wife have been born eight children, all of whom are living, namely: Mary E., John R., Ella, Joel L., Jennie L., Alice E., Rose M. and Margaret A., the two last named being twins. Ella, who resides in San Francisco, California, is the widow of Fred H. Muckler, and is the mother of two children, Byril and Allene. Jennie L. is the wife of W. G. Jones, of Oskaloosa, Iowa, and they have one child, Byril. Alice E. is the wife of W. C. Smith, of Park Rapids, Minnesota, and they have four children, Wood, Orril, Arlo Earl and Ruth. Rose is living with her parents at Oelwein. Margaret is the wife of W. S. Pitt, a jeweler at Oelwein. John, who lives at Bentonville, Arkansas,
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married Mattie Riddle, of Texas, and they have two children, Jennie and Dougherty. Joel is engaged in the mercantile business at Victor, Colorado.
Politically, Mr. Wood has been a lifelong Democrat, and prior to the Civil war was elected surveyor of Delaware county, having also held a number of township offices in that county. Fraternally he is an appre- ciative member of the Masonic order. His religious views are that of the Christian church, to which he and his wife belong and to which they give an earnest and liberal suport. On September 1, 1903, Mr. and Mrs. Wood celebrated their golden wedding anniversary, on which occasion there was a reunion of the members of the family, some coming from the Pacific coast to do honor to their parents. Now, though advanced in years and married nearly six decades, they are in enjoyment of remarkable health and in the full use of their faculties, with probably a number of years of enjoyable life ahead of them. No residents of this community command a larger share of the public regard and esteem than do this worthy couple, who have been witnesses of and participants in the wonderful transformation which has taken place in the section of country in which they live. Their sterling qualities of character and their genial dispositions have won for them a host of warm and loyal friends throughout the community.
JACOB KUNZ.
The subject of this sketch is one of the few remaining links that connect the present days with those of long ago, more than half a century having dis- solved in the mists of the past since he crossed the prairies to what was then the far west and located a home amid what was to him new and strange sur- roundings. Jacob Kunz was born in the canton of Zurich, Switzerland, September 4, 1825, and spent the first thirty-three years of his life in his na- tive land. In early manhood he became a proficient workman at carpentry, which trade he followed in the country of his birth until he sought a new home in the great republic across the sea, meanwhile, at the age of twenty-six. tak- ing a life companion in the person of Eliza Gieryzendanger, an estimable young lady of the same part of Switzerland as himself, who for nearly sixty years has been his faithful wife and helpmeet.
In 1858 Mr. Kunz bade farewell to the familiar scenes of his native land and came to the United States, proceeding direct to Iowa, where he was in- formed land could be procured at reasonable prices. Being pleased with the
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appearance of Fayette county, he invested about eight hundred dollars he had received from his father's estate, in a tract of land about three-fourths of a mile north of Waucoma, for which he paid at the rate of two dollars and fifty cents per acre. Being skilled in the use of tools, he was not long in erect- ing a small but comfortable frame grout house, which answered the purposes of a dwelling until replaced by a larger and more commodious edifice some years later. Before locating permanently in Fayette county Mr. Kunz spent a short time in the county of Winneshiek, where several of his early friends and army comrades were then living, among the number being a Mr. Hizer who served in the same company with himself during their military experience in the old world. Although enrolled for nine years in the reserve corps, which was in readiness for duty whenever called upon, the active service of these two comrades covered a period of only eight months, during which time they took part in the civil war which then disturbed Switzerland, but did comparatively little fighting. During the Civil war he organized a company and was elected captain, was also justice of the peace and school director.
After providing a shelter for his family and clearing a small portion of his land, Mr. Kunz found plenty of work at his trade, as settlers were arriving in large numbers and their demands for his services were urgent. In those times wild game of all kinds was plentiful and, being an expert shot, he ex- perienced no difficulty in supplying the table with an abundance of fresh meat, prairie chicken, ducks, deer and other denizens of the woods and prairies, affording an agreeable variety to the daily bill of fare. The nearest market was the town of McGregor, on the Mississippi river, sixty miles distant, and to that place Mr. Kunz was obliged to haul his wheat, which he sold at thirty cents per bushel after paying freight at the rate of a shilling per bushel. He marketed his entire crop at one time, hiring seven teams, which with heavy loads made a considerable cut in the amount received for his grain. Hogs butchered and hauled the same distance brought from two dollars to two dol- lars and fifty cents per hundredweight, but during the Civil war prices rose to a very high scale, pork selling for fourteen dollars and fifty cents per hundred- weight and wheat at two dollars and fifty cents per bushel.
Mr. King in due time cleared and improved a fine farm and became com- fortably situated in the matter of worldly wealth. He bore his full share in the development of the country and has lived to see Fayette county redeemed from a wilderness and converted into one of the finest and most prosperous sections of the great state of which it forms a part. After living fifty-two years on the place which he originally purchased and improved, increasing its area in the meantime to one hundred and forty acres, he sold his land for
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fifty-five dollars per acre and moved to Waucoma, where, in a beautiful and comfortable home, he is now living in honorable retirement. After a long and strenuous life, beset with difficulties and hardships not a few, he has well earned the rest which he now enjoys and with sufficient means to insure him ample comfort in the future, he is passing toward the twilight of the journey's end in peace and quiet, cheered by the approval of his conscience and the good will of his fellow men.
Mr. Kunz was originally a Democrat and as such filled various local offices, but of recent years he has been independent in politics, voting for the candidates best qualified for the office to which they aspire, irrespective of party ties. To him and his good wife have been born fourteen children, only three of whom survive. Two daughters are living at Waucoma, namely : Bertha, whose husband, Fred Babcock, owns and operates a farm near the town, and Eliza is the wife of S. Perry, the latter also a farmer and stock raiser in the same vicinity. One son, Jacob, left home twenty-five years ago, since which time no knowledge of his whereabouts has been ascertained.
DENZIL ARTHUR FITCH.
The subject of this sketch is a son of G. W. and R. A. Fitch, of West Union. He was born in Illyria township, Fayette county, Iowa, April II, 1874. His early life was spent in his native county, and he entered school at West Union when a child of five years, pursuing the course through the vari- ous grades, and spent two years in the high school. His brother, William E., was then in the laundry business, and it was the ambition of the younger brother to take up that industry. He worked, as a journeyman and foreman, in large laundries at La Salle, Ottawa and Joliet, Illinois, for several years, when he secured a position as traveling salesman for a Chicago laundry sup- ply house. After some years spent in this work, he purchased a half-interest with his brother-in-law, J. E. Palmer, in the Mendota, Illinois, laundry. A year later he bought out Mr. Palmer, who removed to California, and now the Fitch Laundry is one of the stable industries of the pleasant little city. It is well equipped with modern machinery, and is turning out high-class work, and making money for its owner.
D. A. Fitch is a young man of good business qualifications and an inde- fatigable worker. He has met some reverses in business, but the successes of recent years have placed him on a higher plane, and his prospects for a suc-
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cessful business career are now very bright. Much credit is due his esti- mable wife, whom he married in Mason City, Iowa, September 8, 1902. She is a daughter of Cornelius and Mary H. (Cook) Van-Note, natives of Mon- mouth county, New Jersey. She is thoroughly schooled in the details of the business, a lady of excellent business attainments, and one who is a competent adviser as well as a real helpmeet, as comprehended in the marriage relations.
Elizabeth Van-Note was born on a farm near Mason City, March 1, 1876, and is a representative of a large and prominent family, of whom four broth- ers and one sister reside at Mason City, while her father also makes his home among the children, mostly in the vicinity of his early Iowa home. The brothers are Monroe, Eugene, Morris, George and Charles W., the last named a resident of Live Oak, Colorado, and the others are well-known business men of Mason City, Iowa. The sisters are Daisy, now Mrs. J. H. Ransom, of Mason City, and Jennie, the wife of C. J. Ferris, of Steward, Illinois. The father of this family was born April 9, 1836, and was a soldier during the Civil war. His wife, Mary H. Cook, was born February 15, 1845, and died at Mason City, Iowa, November 2, 1900.
Mr. and Mrs. D. A. Fitch have had three children born to them, of whom two are living, and the youngest, Kenneth Dale, died in infancy. William V. was born September 15, 1904, and Marion W. was born March 17, 1906, the former at Burlington, Iowa, the daughter at the parental home in West Union, and Kenneth was born and buried at Mendota, Illinois.
The subject of this sketch is a member of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks and the Fraternal Order of Owls. He is a Republican in po- litical views. He possesses a congenial temperament, is universally esteemed as a business man and faithful, sympathetic friend. His wife possesses these virtues in a marked degree. Her quiet, unassuming manner, and helpful, encouraging disposition have endeared her to all who know her.
The family genealogy of the subject of this sketch will be found in the personal sketches of his uncle, E. E. Fitch, and his father, G. W. Fitch, to which reference is made for further consideration.
JAMES EVERETT RICHARDS.
There is great difference as to how property is acquired ; sometimes it is obtained by slow degrees and hard toil, sometimes by suddenly making it in one or a few lucky ventures, or by inheriting it from successful and thrifty ancestors. One important fact will not be disputed : That if a man puts forth
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the proper effort long enough and adheres closely to the time-honored prin- ciples he is bound to reap satisfactorily. Thrift should characterize the efforts of everyone, as it does in James Everett Richards, a Fairfield town- ship, Fayette county, farmer. He was born in this county, August 19, 1860, and is the son of James and Cordelia (Andrews) Richards, natives of New York, who came to Fayette county, Iowa, in 1853, and located on a farm now owned by Mr. Richards, the subject. The mother is still living. The father was born at Warsaw, Wyoming county, New York, July 8, 1828, and died at his home in Arlington, Iowa, June 3. 1893, aged sixty-four years, ten months and twenty-five days. Paul Richards, grandfather of the subject, was the first judge of Wyoming county, New York, and it was through his efforts that the county was organized and the first officials elected. He also served on the committee that selected the site for the first public building in the county. Hon. Paul Richards was one of the foremost legislators of the Empire state. It is not known exactly when he died. He came to Iowa shortly after his son came here and was buried at Edgewood, Clayton county, Iowa. His wife died in New York and was buried there.
James E. Richards received a common school education and grew to maturity on the home place. He was married April 1, 1886, to Almena Rice, daughter of Samuel and Elmira Rice, natives of New York, who came to Iowa in August, 1859, and purchased a farm just south of Taylors- ville, on which he lived many years, engaged in general farming. He was a Mason and a Republican in politics, and at one time was assessor of his township. He and his wife were the parents of four children, namely : Adaline married J. M. Flower ; Almena married James E. Richards, of this review; Susan C. and Bertha died when young. Samuel Rice, the father of these children, was born December 12, 1822, and died December 6, 1904, and is buried at Taylorsville. The mother makes her home with her daugh- ter, Mrs. Richards.
Mr. and Mrs. Richards began their married life on their present farm, his father's old homestead, and, with the exception of three years spent in Arlington, he has lived continuously on this place, which he has kept well improved. He completed in 1910 a new, modern and attractive residence. at a cost of four thousand dollars. His place lies in one of the choicest farm- ing sections of the county and by hard work and good management Mr. Richards has been very successful in his operations as a general farmer and stock raiser, always keeping a good grade of stock; however, farming constitues his principal life work. His place is a model one in every respect and is one of the most desirable in the county.
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Fraternally, Mr. Richards is a member of the Modern Woodmen of America, and he is a member of the Methodist Episcopal church, of which he is a liberal supporter.
One son, Glen W., a young man of more than average business ability, has been born to Mr. and Mrs. Richards, his birth having occurred on Sep- tember 6, 1888. He received a good education in the common schools of this county, in which he graduated, also was graduated from the business college at Des Moines, and he is at present very acceptably filling a position as bookkeeper and stenographer for a lumber firm at Des Moines, Iowa.
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