USA > Iowa > Shelby County > Past and present of Shelby County, Iowa, Vol. 2 > Part 29
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The parents of Mrs. Harness were natives of Indiana and Kentucky, respectively, the father following the occupation of a farmer all his life. Mr. Boultinghouse moved from Indiana to Rock Island county, Illinois, later in life, where he farmed for three or four years. Subsequently, the Boultinghouse family removed to Mercer county, Illinois, where the parents lived until their death. Seven children were born to John Boultinghouse and wife: James, Isaac, Elizabeth, John, Mary, Nancy and Caroline. Mr. Boultinghouse died in 1906 and his wife in 1889.
Mr. Harness has not spent all of his career on the farm, having lived in Defiance from 1887 until 1892. During the time he was living in that city he managed a general mercantile establishment, but the call of the farm in- duced him to dispose of his store and return to agricultural life. In 1909 Mr. Harness and his wife went to California and lived in San Diego for four years, having gone there on account of ill health, and in the salubrious climate of the Pacific coast he recovered his usual health and is now enjoy- ing life on his farm in this county to its fullest extent. He has no desire to move to the city, preferring to spend his declining years on the farm where he and his wife have made such a successful record.
Mr. Harness and his family are consistent members of the Methodist Episcopal church. Politically, he has always been identified with the Demo- cratic party, and has been one of his party's leaders for many years. At different times his party has nominated and elected him to the office of township trustee, school director and assessor, and in each of these official positions he showed himself a faithful servant of his fellow citizens. The career of Mr. Harness shows him to be a true American citizen of the high- est type. In his personal affairs he has been successful, while in the ad- ministration of the civic duties which he has performed, he has been no less successful than in the administration of his private interests. He and his wife have reared a large family of children to lives of usefulness and honor, and in turn have seen their children building homes of their own. Thus, in every capacity where he has been found, Mr. Harness has lived up to the highest ideal of American citizenship.
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REV. CHARLES V. BURKHISER.
The place which a minister holds in civilization entitles him to every consideration at the hands of his fellow citizens. . There is no profession which is so exacting, which calls for such diversified talent as that of the minister of the Gospel. They come into touch with every phase of life, with men in all occupations, and he who does the work of the Master the most efficiently is the man who is the most cosmopolitan in his appeal to humanity. The successful minister imust be able to talk not only to the business man, but to the laborer in the trenches. He must have that breadth of sympathy which enables him to make the appeal to the cultured woman and again to the woman who has become an outcast from society. It is not too much to say that one reason why the church has failed to appeal to humanity better than it has, is the fact that the men who are representing the church are not as catholic in their tastes and in their appeals as they should be. One of the men of Shelby county, Iowa, who is doing his share in the amelioration of the spiritual needs of the people is the Rev. Charles V. Burkhiser, the pastor of the St. Patrick's church of Defiance.
Rev. Charles V. Burkhiser, the son of John and Mary ( Eigleman) Burkhiser, was born in Fremont county, Iowa, on March 30. 1877. John Burkhiser was born in Bavaria, Germany, and came to this country when a young man and found employment upon a farm. At the opening of the Civil War he enlisted and served for three years. After the close of the war he married and moved to Indiana, where he remained for only a short time. He then moved with his family to Putnam county, Missouri, where he bought a farm and remained for two years. He then traded his farm in Missouri for a farm of eighty aeres in Fremont county, Iowa, and by hard work and honest methods he increased his land holdings in Fremont county until he was the owner of one thousand one hundred and forty acres of ex- cellent land. He continued in active charge of his farm work until 1909, when he retired from active life and moved to Shenandoah. Iowa, where he is still living, his wife having died on May 25. 1913. John Burkhiser and wife were the parents of eleven children: Conde F., who married Kath- rine Roach : Matilda, the wife of William Swift: Sylvester, who died at the age of three; Dorothy, the wife of Charles O'Brien: Annie, unmarried; Laura, the wife of Joseph Hilger; Mary, who became the wife of Louis Hilger; John, a Catholic priest at Des Moines, Iowa; Ernest, who is un- married: Agnes, who died at the age of eighteen months: Charles V .. the immediate subject of this sketch.
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Charles V. Burkhiser received his common school education in the schools of Fremont county, lowa, and then entered the Christian Brothers College, at St. Joseph. Missouri, where he remained for six months, after which he returned to his father's farm and worked for two years, when he became a student for one term in St. Ambrosia College at Davenport, lowa. He next entered St. Benedict's College at Atchison. Kansas, and spent a year in this school. He then returned to St. Ambrosia College at Davenport. where he remained for six years. He finished his course of training for the priesthood in St. Francis Academy at Milwaukee, Wisconsin, remaining there for three years, and was ordained to the priesthood on June 14, 1908.
Rev. Charles Burkhiser read his first mass at Hamburg, lowa, June 24, 1908, in St. Mary's church of that place. His first appointment was as as- sistant to Father McManis at St. Francis church. Council Bluffs. Iowa, and there he was stationed for the first two years. He then was sent to Missouri Valley, Iowa, where he was stationed until November 1, 1910. His next assignment took him to Harlan, Iowa, where he had charge of the churches at Harlan and Defiance. He remained at Harlan until July. 1, 1911, when Defiance became a regular parish and he was given the full charge of the church at this place. . Although he has been here but three years, he has had the satisfaction of seeing his church increase in membership until it now has sixty families.
Father Burkhiser is a man of active mind and thoroughly devoted to his chosen life work. He takes an intelligent interest in public matters and in local politics always casts his ballot for the best man. He is a member of the Roman Catholic Mutual Protective Society and also of the Knights of Col- umbus.
JOSEPH GROSS.
To make a success of agriculture it is necessary to be something more than a hard worker. A farmer might labor from dawn to twilight every day in the year and yet fail to accomplish much. There must be sound judgment and discretion exercised at the same time; a knowledge of soils, drainage, live stock, and a multitude of details which never concerned the farmer of fifty years ago. The man who accomplishes much as a tiller of the soil and manager of a landed estate in these days should be accorded a place along with the men who succeed in other walks of life, for often it requires more ingenuity and courage to be a farmer than anything else that
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claims the attention of men in the world of affairs. The history of Joseph Gross indicates that he has achieved success in his life work. not only because he has worked for it, but because he has been a good manager and has directed his energies in such a way as to command the greatest returns.
Joseph Gross, the son of Adam and Joanna ( Kramer) Gross, was born in Wisconsin February 22, 1871. His parents were both natives of Ger- many and came to America with their parents when they were children. The parents of both settled in Wisconsin, and here they grew to manhood and womanhood and were married. The Gross family first settled in Racine county, Wisconsin, but about a year later moved to Walworth county, in that state. where the father of Adam Gross bought a farm of one hundred and twenty acres. The father of Adam Gross passed away shortly after the family came to Wisconsin, and upon Adam then fell the responsibility of caring for the family. After marrying in that state, Adam Gross lived upon the old home place until 1874, and in that year brought his family to Mills county, Iowa, reaching that county on the 4th day of February, 1874. However. he decided not to settle in Mills county, and a month later per- manently located in Westphalia township, Shelby county, where he pur- chased a farm of forty acres and on which he lived until 18So, when he retired from active farm life and moved to Westphalia, where he and his wife are now living. To Adam Gross and wife were born eleven children : Frank. Louisa, Mary, Joseph, Aloyious, Kate, Frederick, Mary, Josephine. Gertrude and George.
Joseph Gross attended the Catholic school at Westphalia until he was fourteen years of age and then began to work upon the farms in his neigh- borhood by the day. He worked as a farm hand until 1900 and then married and bought eighty acres of land in Westphalia township, where he lived for eight years. He then disposed of it and bought his present farm in Union township. which he has greatly improved within the past five years. He has built new and commodious barns and has erected one of the most substantial silos in the county. He devotes most of his farm of one hun- dred and twenty acres to the raising of corn and hogs, marketing about seventy head of hogs each year. In his various agricultural duties he keeps fully abreast of the latest methods and holds an enviable position among the progressive farmers of his township and county.
Mr. Gross was married on February 22, 1900, to Mary Engel, the daughter of John and Kununda (Dusel) Engel, and to this union have been born nine children: Annie, Michael, Clara, Andrew, Leonard, Werner,
(44)
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Norwood, Emil and Alban. The parents of Mrs. Gross were both natives of Germany and came to this country when young. Mr. and Mrs. Engel were the parents of ten children: Michael, who married Kate Kaufman; Annie, the wife of William Foxhoven; Mary. the wife of Mr. Gross: Johanna, the wife of John Sunday; Albert, who married Mary Schmitz; Barbara, the wife of Matthew Domitrich; Kununda, the wife of Frank Weis; Rosa, the wife of Fred Gaul; Cecelia and Kate, who are still single. Mr. Engel died in 1897 in his old home in Westphalia.
Politically, Mr. Gross is a member of the Democratic party and gives it his hearty support at all times. Ile has served as school director in Sheridan district, Westphalia township, and favored all measures which he felt would benefit the schools of his home township. He and his family are all loyal members of the Catholic church. Mr. Gross is essentially a self- made man, having had to work hard for all he has, and consequently is de- serving of a great deal of credit for the success which he has made in life.
FRANKLIN B. LINN.
A worthy citizen of Shelby county, Iowa, is Franklin B. Linn, who has met with definite success in his agricultural career. He came to this county forty years ago, when he was a babe in arms, and consequently has been identified with the history of the county for a long time. He is a man of splendid education and is a wide reader of everything which pertains to his own chosen profession, and thus keeps in close touch with the latest ad- vances in agriculture. He is a man who is deeply interested in the welfare of his community, and by his upright conduct and correct principles of life he has endeared himself to a wide circle of friends and acquaintances.
Franklin B. Linn, the son of Jacob B. and Hester Ann (Chilcoat) Linn, was born in Huntington county, Pennsylvania. July 16, 1873. His father was born in the same county on March 16, 1839, and his mother was born on December 15, 1835, and was a native also of Huntington county. They were married on October 7, 1864. immediately after his father's re- turn from the Civil War. Jacob B. Linn was attending school in his home county when the war broke out in 1861. Jacob B. Linn enlisted on April 23, 1861, in response to President Lincoln's call for fifty thousand volunteers, in Company F, Eighth Pennsylvania Reserve. He served for three years. He fought at Gainesville and in the Seven Days' Peninsular Cam-
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paign battles, was taken prisoner June 27, 1861, and was sent to Libby prison. He spent sixty days here and at Belle Isle, experiencing all the horrors of these terrible prisons. After his exchange he was unfit for duty and was sent to the United States Hospital in New Jersey, but escaped from the hospital and joined his regiment at Sharpsburg. Maryland. Other battles participated in by Mr. Linn were Sharpsburg, Antietam, Fredericksburg, Battle of the Wilderness, and Seven Days' Battle before Richmond.
He returned to his father's farm in Huntington county, Pennsylvania, married and lived in his native county until 1874. in which year he came to Shelby county, Iowa, and bought one hundred and twenty acres of unim- proved land in Shelby township. His first home was a rude cabin, fourteen by sixteen feet, and a barn of still smaller dimensions. That he succeeded is shown by the fact that when he died, in 1893, he was the owner of seven hundred and sixty acres of well-improved land in Shelby county and South Dakota. There were eight children born to Jacob B. Linn and wife, Am- brose B., Kenny, Anna Laura ( Best), Roy S., Walter. Franklin B. and Dr. Hugh H. Of these children two are deceased, Anna Laura (Best) and Walter. Dr. Hugh H. Linn is a physician and minister in the southern part of India, where he is serving as a physician and missionary for the Methodist Episcopal church. The mother of these children is now living with her son, Franklin B.
The education of Franklin B. Linn was received in the district schools and in the high school at Shelby. He has always remained on the farm and managed a part of his father's estate from the time of his mar- riage, in 1899, until 1908. In that year he bought one hundred and sixty acres of his father's farm and at once erected a beautiful country home and a large and commodious barn. He has placed other improvements upon the farm and has brought it to a high state of cultivation and productivity. He keeps only the best grades of horses, cattle and hogs, and is known through- out the county as one of its most progressive farmers.
Mr. Linn was married on December 7, 1899, to Elizabeth Walker, who was born in Johnson county, Iowa, on January 10, 1875. She was the daughter of John Walker, who was born in Johnson county, Iowa, in 1851, and Sarah Woodruff, who was born in Ohio in 1855. To this union have been born nine children, Harry, Dwight, Gladys, Laura, Hugh, Jacob. Fern, Frank and Leslie. All of these children are still living and at home with the exception of Laura, who is deceased. Mrs. Linn's parents came to Shelby county in 1890 and located on a farm in Shelby township. John Walker removed to Oklahoma in 1894, where Mrs. Walker died in 1905.
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They were the parents of four children, Sherman (in Oklahoma), Mrs. Elizabeth Linn. Samuel (Oklahoma), and Mrs. Hattie Egnew ( Oklahoma).
Politically, Mr. Linn is allied with the Republican party and has been one of his party's leaders for many years. He is now the able incumbent of the office of trustee in his township and has held this position for the past four years. He and his family are loyal and consistent members of the Methodist Episcopal church and give it their hearty support at all times. Mr. Linn is a man of genial personality and is highly respected by everyone with whom he is associated.
EUGENE SULLIVAN.
A safe and conservative bank in any community is one of the most valuable assets in the life of the community. It not only serves as a safe depository for the funds of the citizens which make up the community, but when properly officered, the bank becomes the patron saint, as it were, of the various enterprises in which the community is interested. The Panama Savings Bank, of Panama, Iowa. is an institution which is a vital part of the life of the community which it serves, and under the able and efficient man- agement of Eugene Sullivan it is filling a distinct place in the life of Panama and the surrounding territory. Mr. Sullivan has been connected with the bank for the past seventeen years, and has seen it grow from a small con- cern with deposits of forty-six hundred dollars to a thriving institution with one hundred and forty thousand dollars on deposit.
Eugene Sullivan, the cashier of the Panama Savings Bank, was born in Jones county. Iowa, February 24, 1867. His parents. Eugene and Mary ( Ratigan) Sullivan, were both natives of Ireland, his father being born in County Cork, and his mother in County Galway. They came to this country before their marriage and were married in Norwich, Connecticut. Eugene Sullivan, Sr., was given a fine education in his native land. and after leaving school taught in Ireland for a time and then took up the study of civil engi- neering, devoting his time and attention to that profession until he left Ire- land for America. Upon coming to this country, several years before the Civil War, he followed his profession of civil engineering in Jones county, Iowa, where he settled with his family. He laid out many of the roads in the county, taught school and was a man of great influence. Before locating in Jones county. Iowa, he had taught in the parochial school of Norwich,
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Connecticut, for eight years, and from there had gone to McHenry county, Illinois, where he also taught school. He came to Jones county, Iowa, about the close of the Civil War and bought a farm of one hundred and sixty acres, on which he lived until about 1884. In the latter year he came to Shelby county and settled in Washington township, where he purchased three hundred and twenty acres of land. He continued to increase his land holdings from time to time until at the time of his death, December 13. 1895, he was the owner of cleven hundred and eighty acres of well-improved land. He was probably the largest stock raiser in the county at that time, selling his cattle and hogs by the carload each year. He and his wife, who died June 27. 1872, were the parents of ten children : John, deceased; Julia, the wife of Thomas Keane; Lawrence, deceased; John, who married Mary Herman; Mary, single: Anna, deceased; Michael, deceased; Eugene, the subject of this review; Bridget, the wife of Joseph R. White; Dennis, who married Ida McAllister.
Eugene Sullivan, Jr., received his education in the schools of Jones county, although the most of his education was received under the excellent instruction of his father at home. He remained at home assisting his father in the management of his large estate until he was twenty-eight years of age. and then began farming for himself. In 1897 he engaged in the banking business in the bank of which he is now the cashier. In 1906 he and his brother, Dennis L., who is now president of the bank, reorganized it with a capital of twenty thousand dollars. They changed the name of the bank from the Bank of Panama to the Panama Savings Bank. This bank has had a successful career from the time of its organization and is now recog- nized as one of the sound financial institutions of a county which is noted for its excellent banks.
Mr. Sullivan was married on May 16, 1900, to Mary Lehan, the daugh- ter of Edward and Margaret (McDonald) Lehan, and to this union four children have been born. Edward, Elizabeth, Robert and Edward. The oldest son, Edward, died, and the last son born to Mr. and Mrs. Sullivan was then given the same name of Edward. Mrs. Sullivan's parents were both natives of County Cork, Ireland, and came to this country when they were quite young and were married in Dunlap, Iowa. Her father was a railroad engineer and is now living in Dunlap, while her mother died June 9, 1913.
Mr. Sullivan and all of his family are devout members of the Catholic church, while he holds his membership in the Knights of Columbus. Politi- cally, he is identified with the Democratic party, but owing to his financial
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interests has never taken an active part in political matters, since it has not been possible for him to be active and remain in charge of the affairs of the bank. Consequently, he has left political questions to others more fortun- ately situated to handle them. He is a man who is deeply interested in the welfare of his community and gives his enthusiastic support to all public- spirited measures.
JENS CHRISTIANSEN LUNN.
It is no small honor to be the editor and publisher of the leading Danish newspaper of the United States, and yet this honor belongs to one of the citizens of Harlan, Iowa. Jens C. Lunn is not only a newspaper man of wide and varied experience but he is also a minister of the Danish Baptist denomination and still carries on his ministerial duties occasionally in addi- tion to handling the newspaper. The paper, The Yacgteren, is the official organ of the Danish Baptist Conference of America and has a subscription list which extends throughont the world.
Jens Christiansen Lunn, the son of Christian and Maren Dorothy (Larsen) Hausen, was born in 1861 in Denmark. His parents were born in 1826 and 1828, respectively, and lived in their native land until 1884, when they came to America and settled in Shelby county. Iowa. Christian Hausen bought a farm of eighty acres near Harlan and leased it out until his death, in 1894. His wife passed away in 1905. Christian Hausen and wife were the parents of a large family of children, Hans C., Michael C., Charles C., Vibecca F., Carrie. Jens and two who died in infancy.
Jens C. Lunn was nineteen years of age when he came to this country, and consequently received the most of his education in his native land. However, he wished to follow the ministry and after coming to this country entered the Danish Theological Seminary at Chicago. He graduated from that institution in the spring of 1891 and at once entered the ministry and has been preaching ever since. although he gives the larger part of his tine to his newspaper duties.
He became connected with The Yaegteren, as associate editor, in 1897 and became publisher as well as editor on January 1, 1911. This paper is the leading Danish paper of the United States and is controlled by the Danishi Baptist churches of America. It was established at Chicago in 1876 and removed to Harlan in 1897 and it was at that time that Mr. Lunn became connected with it in an editorial capacity. The printing plant has been im-
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proved from time to time and is now one of the best equipped printing offices in the state. In 1914 an international typesetting machine was in- stalled and other equipment added, which put the plant in a position to do all kinds of printing. It is one of the important points of interest in Harlan and the people are justly proud of the enterprise.
Mr. Lunn is an able and convincing writer and is well equipped for the manifold duties of his position. Possessing a ready flow of language and an easy and fluent means of expression, he gives a certain literary distinc- tion to everything which passes through his hands. His paper. catering to the Danish people throughout the country, carries the name of Harlan from coast to coast as well as into foreign lands, and thus is the means of making the name and fame of the city extensively known to the Danish people of this country.
EVERETTE STARNER.
It is probable that the youngest business man of Shelby, lowa, is Everette Starner, the manager of the Shelby Lumber Company. Although he is merely past his majority, yet he has exhibited business qualities of a high degree and has already made his impress upon the business life of his community. He is a young man of high educational qualifications and has made a study of the business to which he proposes to devote his career.
Everette Starner, the son of Benjamin Franklin and Maude (Foster) Starner, was born in Shelby county, Iowa, in 1892. His father was born in Monroe county, Pennsylvania, in 1861, and his mother was born in Wis- consin in 1871. Benjamin F. Starner was reared and educated in his native state and in 1886 came to Iowa and settled in Pottawattamie county. He first worked as a farm hand and after his marriage rented a farm in that county. Subsequently, he bought a farm on which he lived for six years, after which he sold his farm and bought another near the city of Atlantic, Iowa. He lived on this farm for two years, after which he moved to Shelby county, Iowa. and bought a farm in Shelby township. He improved his farm and successfully tilled it for twelve years and then sold it and moved to Grant county, Minnesota, where he is now farming. Eight chil- dren were born to Benjamin F. Starner and wife, Everette, Lee, Jesse, Herbert, Hazel, Viola, Ruth and Allen. None of these children are yet married but all are living with their parents with the exception of Everette.
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