USA > Iowa > Fayette County > Past and present of Fayette County, Iowa, Volume II > Part 63
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Mr. Oelwein, the subject of this sketch, was born on the Ioth of Feb- ruary, 1838, and in 1848 removed with his parents to Dubuque county, Iowa, and later, in 1855, the family moved to Jefferson township, Fayette county. He attended the school of Baltimore and Dubuque, and after moving to Fay- ette county, he gave his attention to agricultural pursuits, which business he followed for many years. In 1857 the land on which the city of Oelwein now stands was purchased, and in 1868 he purchased a tract of land about two miles south of the present city and erected a flour and feed mill, which he operated for some time. He has recently sold this land to the city for a park site.
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GAOelwein
Emma Il Gelwein.
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In 1872 the Burlington, Cedar Rapids & Northern railroad survey came through, and the town was started in 1873. Mr. Oelwein donating the site, the town was given his name.
On the 23d day of February, 1861, Mr. Oelwein led to the marriage al- tar Emma Schmidt, daughter of Frederick and Maria Schmidt, who was born in Saxony, Germany, on March 24, 1836. She attended the schools in her native country and in 1855 came with her parents to America, where they located on a farm in Jefferson township, Fayette county.
By their union eight children have been born, as follows: Mary E., Carl F. W., Emma A., Oscar R. (who died in infancy), Anna L., Lena C., Gustav A., Jr., and Theresa C. All the children received good educa- tional advantages.
The city bearing the family name of the subject is a thrifty, prosper- ous, wide-awake business place, containing more than six thousand inhabit- ants. It has two railroads, the Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific and the Chi- cago Great Western, whose lines branch from this point to Chicago, St. Paul and Minneapolis, Kansas City and Omaha, making this an important railroad center. The city has made rapid strides in the past few years, and is des- tined soon to become one of the important cities of Iowa. These facts are given in view of the name of the city being associated with that of the sub- ject of this sketch. Mr. Oelwein and his family are members of the Lutheran church.
HENRY GEORGE.
It is by no means an easy task to describe within the limits of this review a man who has led an active and eminently useful life and by his own exertions reached a position of honor and trust in the line of industries with which his interests are allied, but as the public claims a certain property in- terest in the career of every individual, especially one who is recognized in the front rank of citizenship, as is Henry George, one of the best known agri- culturists and stock men of Fayette county, the biographer finds justification in tracing and recording his life history. He was born in Dover township, this county, in August, 1861, the son of Michael and Katherine ( Bomus) Ungerer, both natives of Germany, who come to America when young and settled at an early date in Fayette county, Iowa. Henry George was adopted in 1862 by James and Rachel George. His father, Michael Ungerer, was a soldier in the Federal army, enlisting in Company C, Sixth Iowa Cavalry.
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He safely passed through the conflict and is now living at Independence, Iowa. After the war he was a restaurant keeper in Buchanan county, Iowa. He and his wife were the parents of two children, J. F. and Henry.
James George was born in Buckinghamshire, England. Upon arriving in America he went first to Wisconsin, later drove an ox team to Iowa, when this state was wild and sparsely settled, the Indians having left only a year previously. He at once located upon the place where Henry George, of this review, now resides, and he continued to reside here, developing an excellent farm, until a few years ago, when he moved to West Union. He erected splendid buildings on the place, including the present house and barn. Upon his arrival here he erected log buildings, but these in time gave way to com- fortable frame ones, he having built the first frame house in the township. It still stands and is in good condition, and in the early days the Methodists held many meetings here. Mr. George assisted in organizing the Methodist church at Eldorado. He became quite well-to-do and was an extensive land owner, later in life selling off different tracts. He made a success of general farming and stock raising, doing his marketing in the early days at McGregor, Iowa. He was a hard worker and cleared the farm on which Henry George now lives. He was always active in township affairs and was influential here. He and his wife reared a large family, all daughters but one, and this son was killed during the Civil war.
Henry George was educated in the district schools and at West Union, also attended Ainsworth's Academy. He received a very good education. and when a mere lad began farming and he has continued the same line of endeavor on the old George homestead, taking charge of the place in 1888. A little later he gave the place the Indian name of "Shetucket," meaning "land between the rivers." Although he raises a variety of stock, he favors Shorthorn cattle and Poland-China hogs. He raises some of the best corn in the country and for many years he has been exhibiting his fine specimens of corn at the annual corn show at Omaha, Nebraska. He has won first ' prize at the State College during the past five years and he has taken prizes at Chicago, St. Louis and Omaha international exhibits. He exhibited at Des Moines and Ames, winning on wheat in 1909. He showed the best sample that had ever been shown in Iowa. Also took first place in the state on oats. He operates two hundred and ten acres in a manner that stamps him fully abreast of the times in modern scientific farming.
Mr. George was married in September, 1888, to Laura Phelps, a native of Connecticut and the daughter of an excellent old New England family. This union has resulted in the birth of the following children : Mildred A .. Marion L. and Russell.
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Fraternally, Mr. George belongs to the Ancient Free and Accepted Masons and the Modern Woodmen of America. Politically, he is a Repub- lican and a member of the Methodist Episcopal church. He and his family are held in high esteem throughout the county, and their pleasant and attract- ive home is known to be a place of hospitality and good cheer where the many friends of the family frequently gather.
JOHN WILLIAM HORAN.
The gentleman whose name heads this paragraph is widely known as one of the honored citizens of Clermont township. He has lived here all his life and for a number of years has been prominently identified with the agricultural interests of the community. His well-directed efforts in the practical affairs of life, his capable management of his business interests and his sound judgment have brought to him prosperity and his life dem- onstrates what may be accomplished by any man of energy and ambition who is not afraid to work and has the perseverance to continue his labors in the face of any discouragements which may seem to arise. In all the relations of life he has commanded the respect and confidence of those with whom he has been brought into contact and a biographical history of Fayette county would not be complete without a record of his career.
John W. Horan was born on the farm in Clermont township where he now lives, his natal day having been November 17, 1867. He is the son of Marcus and Eliza (Peraman) Horan, both of whom were natives of Ireland. They emigrated to the United States, establishing their first home at Dubuque, Iowa, where they remained seven years. They then came to Clermont township, Fayette county, and settled on the farm now owned by the subject of this sketch. The farm comprised one hundred and sixty acres and to its cultivation the father devoted the remainder of his years, his death occurring there in 1900. His widow survived him four years, dying in 1904. They had six children, four of whom are living. Politically, Mar- cus Horan was a Democrat, while his religious membership was with the Catholic church, to which he rendered a stanch allegiance.
John W. Horan was reared on the paternal farmstead, receiving his education in the common schools, and as soon as old enough he took a hand in the work of the home farm. After his father's death he assumed the active management of the place, the acreage of which he has increased to
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two hundred and forty acres. The farm is highly improved, including an attractive and comfortable residence, large and commodious barn and other necessary outbuildings, the entire place bearing an air of prosperity and enterprise. All the crops common to this section of the country are raised and considerable attention is also given to the breeding and raising of live- stock, with satisfactory success.
On January 2, 1900, Mr. Horan was happily wedded to Mellie Shea, whose death occurred on October 28th of the same year. For his second wife, whom he married in 1902, Mr. Horan chose Kate Shea, a sister of his first wife and the daughter of John and Margaret Shea. The father was a native of Iowa and his wife was born in Ohio. John Shea was an early and well-known settler of Fayette county, and in this county he and his wife both died. To Mr. and Mrs. Horan have been born four children, namely : Marcus Richard, Francis William, Irene Elizabeth and Mary Arlene.
In matters political Mr. Horan stands aligned with the Democratic party, in the success of which he takes a deep interest. He and the members of his family belong to the Catholic church, to which they render an earnest and generous support. Mr. Horan is widely known as a man of ability, in- tegrity and generosity and because of his upright life he enjoys the respect of all who know him. He takes a broad-gauged view of life and his influence is always thrown on the side of every movement which promises to benefit the community.
DANIEL McFARLAN.
Among the well known and highly esteemed citizens of Fayette county who have finished their labors and gone to their reward, the subject of this sketch is deserving of special notice. Daniel McFarlan was a native of Perth- shire, Scotland, born and reared in the city of Stirling, at which place his wife, Anna, also spent her childhood and youth, the two having been children to- gether and pupils of the same school. After his marriage Mr. McFarlan set up his domestic establishment in the country and began life for himself as a tiller of the soil, which useful vocation he pursued in his native land until 1844, when he bade farewell to the scenes of his childhood and, with his wife. boarded a vessel and set sail for America. After being several weeks on the ocean, and experiencing not a few inconveniences and discomforts, the vessel finally arrived at the city of Quebec, its destination, from which place Mr. and Mrs. McFarlan proceeded about fifty miles north of Montreal where he pro-
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cured land and engaged in farming. After residing in that part of Canada until 1857, he disposed of his holdings and moved to Fayette county, Iowa, settling in Scott township where he entered one hundred and sixty acres of land, which he cleared and improved and in due time converted into a good farm and one of the most desirable homes in the locality.
Mr. McFarlan possessed the practical intelligence and keen insight char- acteristic of his nationality, and was much esteemed for his integrity, high sense of honor and a desire to apply the principle of the Golden Rule in all his relations with his fellowmen. He was an uncompromising Republican in politics, a stanch Presbyterian in religion and in his daily life exemplified the beauty and worth of a live Christian faith. Both he and his good wife died at their home in Scott township and their taking off was felt as a personal loss by the neighbors and friends among whom so many of their years were spent.
Mr. and Mrs. McFarlan were the parents of ten children, namely: Dan- iel, a retired lake captain who lives in the city of Detroit; Alexander (de- ceased), formerly a well-to-do farmer of Scott township; Archie, also de- ceased, was for many years mate on vessels plying the Great Lakes; Mary, who is noticed at some length in the closing paragraph of this sketch; Eliza- beth, who first married Det Fleming, after whose death she became the wife of Jacob Crawford, she dying some years ago. Parley, the sixth in order of birth, married Mary Deming and lived in Buffalo, New York, where his death also occurred. He too was captain of a vessel and spent many years in the lake service. Peter, the next in succession, was also in the above service and after serving as mate of a lake vessel for a number of years, resigned the position and is now connected with the Pavlin works, Buffalo, New York. John, the next, is a farmer, living on a farm near Strawberry Point. George and James, the youngest of the family, are twins, the former, like his older brothers, being in the lake service as mate and living in the above city. James, formerly a sailor, is now a painter and varnisher for the Pullman Car Com- pany in Chicago.
Mary McFarlan, the fourth of the subject's children, was born in the month of September, 1839, near Thorn Hill, Scotland, and in growing womanhood married Johnes Derflinger, of Virginia. Mr. Derflinger came to Fayette county, Iowa, in 1856 and engaged in farming, which he carried on for some years in the townships of Arlington and Putnam. He departed this life in 1877, leaving a widow and the following children to mourn his loss : Mary, who married Charlie Parker and is the mother of two sons, Clar- ence and Glenn; Agnes; Kate; Mattie, wife of Charles Carnal, of Fairfield township, and mother of one child who answers to the name of James; Archie,
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a farmer of Scott township, whose wife was formerly Anna Seedorf. Of the above children, Agnes and Kate are deceased.
In 1883 Mrs. Derflinger was united in marriage with Gust Sillig, a native of Germany, who came to America with his parents when young and spent his early life in Iowa, South Dakota, and at different places in other states, finally locating in Scott township, Fayette county, where he lives now. He is a successful farmer and excellent citizen and among the residents of the community is held in high esteem. Mrs. Sillig owns a fine farm of two hundred acres which is well improved and which her son cultivates, the land being productive and quite valuable and one of the most desirable places in the township. Mr. Sillig is a Lutheran in his religious affiliation, his wife being a worthy member of the Christian church and a lady of beautiful char- acter whose popularity is limited only by the extent of her acquaintance.
CLELL J. MCLAUGHLIN.
One of Fayette county's splendid young business men, who is the pro- prietor of as fine and up-to-date drug store as is to be found in the West, and who deserves special mention in a history of Fayette county as a man of enter- prise, push and originality, is the subject of this review.
Clell J. McLaughlin was born in Monticello, Iowa, on January 29, 1879, the son of Michael and Joanna Mclaughlin. His father was born in New York, his mother in Vermont. His father was one of the first settlers of the state of Iowa, coming to Monticello in 1837, to which place his wife came about 1850. They were married in 1868. Michael McLaughlin has passed his life in the honorable occupation of farming, and is still living, a substantial citizen of Jones county, and he is now the oldest living inhabitant of the county. His wife is also living.
Clell J. Mclaughlin attended the public schools of Monticello, and Northwestern University at Evanston, Illinois, graduating from the latter institution. For three years after graduation he was employed as a travel- ing salesman for a Chicago wholesale drug firm. He then embarked in the drug business for himself at Hawkeye, Iowa, where he remained for three years. Coming to West Union at the expiration of this time, he purchased the drug store then operated by E. M. Philips & Company, and is still continu- ing the business. He carries a full line of drugs and all articles found in a first-class drug store, and keeps his store in a neat, attractive, and well-ap-
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pointed condition so that it is a tempting place to passers-by. Mr. McLaugh- lin is a skilled pharmacist, and a courteous, accommodating gentleman, while he is not afraid to assert his original ideas, and he has accomplished the some- what difficult task of putting individuality into a drug store, of making his store, while thoroughly modern and up to date to the minute, so different from the ordinary drug store as at once to impress whoever enters.
Mr. Mclaughlin was married on April 12, 1899, to Lettie A. Bright, the daughter of Henry Bright, of Union, Illinois. To this union have been born two sons, Stuart, on March 21, 1907, and Donald, on May 10, 1910, bright and interesting children.
In politics Mr. Mclaughlin is a Republican. Fraternally, he is a member of the Masonic order at West Union. He is one of the able young business men of his town and county, whose enterprise is bringing to him its reward, both financially and in the standing which he holds in the community. Every inch a gentleman, he is one whom it is a pleasure to meet, and whose genial disposition, accommodating nature and true worth have made many friends for him, while the public have absolute confidence in him as a business man and in the line of goods which he sells. As "The Druggist" of West Union, he has gained a wide and enviable reputation.
LOUIS LEHMAN.
Among the native sons of Pleasant Valley township, Fayette county, who have benefited alike himself and his neighbors through his persistent ap- plication to worthy lines of endeavor is Louis Lehman, who was born in 1864 on the farm he now occupies and owns. He has an excellent and honored ancestry, being the son of Benjamin and Elizabeth (Lehman) Lehman, both born in Switzerland where they grew to maturity and were educated and came to America in 1852. They penetrated to the interior and located southeast of Elgin, Pleasant Valley township, Fayette county, Iowa, on a farm of one hundred and seventy-three acres on which they spent the rest of their lives, making most of the improvements on the same, erecting the buildings and there reared their family, Mr. Lehman engaged in general farming and stock raising and was very successful. To Mr. and Mrs. Benjamin Lehman nine children were born.
Louis Lehman, of this review was educated in the public schools of his native community, working on the home farm during the summer months,
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remaining under his parental roof until he was twenty-one years of age. After reaching his majority he began farming for himself near Clermont, this coun- ty, which he continued for several years and got a good start. Believing that larger opportunities existed in the newer state of South Dakota, he moved there and purchased one hundred and sixty acres and engaged in farming for two years; then he returned to Lyon county, Iowa, in 1894, where he rented land. In 1903 he returned to Fayette county and bought the old homestead, consisting of one hundred and seventy-three acres, which he has so skillfully tilled and carefully managed that it has retained its original fertility and has yielded abundant harvests from year to year. Besides general farming, Mr. Lehman is a successful breeder of Shorthorn cattle, which he has been dealing in for several years.
Mr. Lehman was married in 1886 to Louise Muehlethaler, the daughter of an excellent old family, and this union has resulted in the birth of the fol- lowing children ; Cornelia, Max, Clara, Eva, Louis.
Fraternally, Mr. Lehman is a member of the Yeoman lodge, and, polit- ically, he is a Democrat, but he is too deeply engrossed in his business affairs to devote much time to political matters, though he is always ready to support any measure that has for its object the upbuilding of his community.
HON. JOSEPH P. WEBSTER.
The venerable mayor of Waucoma is one of the connecting landmarks between early pioneer days and the present. Everybody in Fayette county knows something of the life career of this honored citizen.
Joseph P. Webster was born in Madison county, New York, in 1824, and from early childhood he was self-dependent. His father died in 1831,. and thus the son was early bereft of a father's care and counsel. As a child he attended the district schools of his day and acquired the rudiments of a common school education. But by far the greater part of his knowledge has been earned in the universal "college" of experience, which, with Mr. Web- ster, has been varied and interesting. In 1841 he left his native state and penetrated the western wilds, finally settling in Cook county, Illinois. At that time the new great city of Chicago was practically unheard of and the general development of the west had not commenced. The Indians had un- disturbed possession of "peerless Iowa," and, barring the few adventurous settlers along the Mississippi, the white man had scarcely invaded the ter- ritory.
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Mr. Webster remained in Cook county, Illinois, until 1853, with the exception of a couple of years spent in the mining regions of. California, where he went, via the overland route, in 1849. His experiences on this haz- ardous trip, going and returning, to say nothing of dangers and exposures in the mining camps of that resort for the lawless element of all countries, were something appalling. People of the present generation can have no in- telligent appreciation of the trials and dangers endured by the pioneers of '49.
Mr. Webster was married on the 28th of January, 1849, and his leav- ing of his young bride behind in the Illinois wilderness was another source of constant worry to the parties interested in this domestic "tragedy." The lady whom he chose as his life companion was Phoebe Ann Staples, a na- tive of Vermont, who shared with him the trials and privations of early pioneer life and their later successes, in the true spirit of a devoted wife and mother. Their fiftieth wedding anniversary was celebrated in the opera house at Waucoma, in order to accommodate their friends, and on January 28, 1909, their sixtieth wedding anniversary was celebrated.
The subject was fairly successful in his mining efforts, and in 1853 he brought his family to Eden township, Fayette county, Iowa. He was the first settler on lands which he entered from the government at the present site of the prosperous town of Waucoma. In deference to his conspicuous part in the founding of the town, he has been signally honored by the mu- nicipality, having served twenty-seven years, almost continuously, as mayor of the corporation, a position which he now holds.
Mr. Webster has been active in the development of the town and county from every point of view, and has always been a prominent and influential citizen. Few men have accomplished more, or lived longer within the boundaries of Fayette county than J. P. Webster. He has been a recognized leader in the councils of Democracy for more than half a century, and has held numerous positions of official trust. He has been active in the pro- motion of the first railroads in the county and in the upbuilding of other public institutions. He was one of the first directors of the Davenport & St. Paul railway, which was afterwards purchased by the Chicago, Milwau- kee & St. Paul Railway Company. He donated the right-of-way and station grounds, besides giving practically two years of his time to the securing of the road. He has always been a firm supporter of the public schools, a friend of struggling humanity in every laudable effort, a generous contributor to the churches, and knows no denominational boundaries in his zeal to promote a good cause. For a few years, beginning in 1860, Mr. Webster was in the
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hotel business at West Union, but nearly all of his productive years were spent in farming and stock raising on his fine farm at Waucoma.
For a man of eighty-six years it is hardly probable that there is another as well preserved in Fayette county as "Uncle Joe" Webster. His tall figure is as erect as at the age of sixty, and he is in the full possession of all his faculties, with the exception of defective hearing. He enjoys the things which amused and entertained him when a young man, takes an active inter- est in the lodges of which he has been a lifelong member, and seldom indeed, does Langridge Commandery, Knights Templar, appear in uniform that Mr. Webster does not appear among the marchers. He is a son of Chauncey and Malinda ( Hills) Webster, both of whom were natives of the Nutmeg state. His father died in New York state, but the mother survived until 1853 and died in Clockville, New York.
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