Past and present of Shelby County, Iowa, Vol. 2, Part 37

Author: White, Edward Speer, 1871-
Publication date: 1915
Publisher: Indianapolis, Ind. : B.F. Bowen
Number of Pages: 874


USA > Iowa > Shelby County > Past and present of Shelby County, Iowa, Vol. 2 > Part 37


Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).


Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38


Mrs. Ruschenberg was born in Westphalia township, in this county, her parents being natives of Germany. The Ruden family came to America and settled first in Dubuque county, Iowa, early in its history, but a short time afterwards removed to Westphalia township, in this county, where they lived the remainder of their lives. They retired from the farm several years before their death and lived five years in Harlan, and then moved to Earling, where they passed the remainder of their days. Mr. and Mrs. Ruden had two children, Peter and Mary Magdalena, the wife of Mr. Ruschenberg. After the death of Mr. Ruden his widow married Nicholas Schram, and to this union two children were born, Matthew and Anna.


Politically, Mr. Ruschenberg is a member of the Democratic party, and has taken an intelligent interest in the political affairs of his township and county. At the present time he is serving on the school board of Douglas township and rendering valuable service to his fellow citizens in this capac- ity. He and his family are stanch members of the Catholic church at Defiance, and Mr. Ruschenberg is a member of the Roman Catholic Mutual Protective Society. He was secretary of his local organization for five years and president of the Defiance branch of this society a short time.


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LORENZ LORENZEN.


To have been born in Germany seems to be a guarantee of success if the carcer of the German citizens of Shelby county, Iowa, is taken as the criterion. Without exception they have been as potent or more potent in the advancement of the various interests of this county than the citizens of native birth. One of the men of German extraction who has played an important part in the life is Lorenz Lorenzen, a prosperous farmer of Jeffer- son township.


Lorenz Lorenzen, the son of Thomas and Christina (Martinsen) Lorenzen. was born April 3, 1857, in Schleswig, Germany, and is the only one of his family to come to this country. Thomas Lorenzen was a laborer in his native land and the father of four children, Catherine, Frederica, Christina and Lorenz.


All of the education of Lorenz Lorenzen was received in Schleswig and when only seventeen he left his home and native land for the United States. It must have taken a great deal of courage for this boy to make the long trip across the broad Atlantic and yet it is this very quality which has made him such a successful man since coming to this country. On arriving in this country he at once went to Clinton county, Iowa, but shortly afterward located in Crawford county in this state. In 1886 he moved into Shelby county and bought eighty-two acres in section 7. Jefferson township, on which he has since resided. Before buying he worked for farmers in the state and in that way learned American methods of agriculture. He has always carried on general farming and in 1914 had eight head of horses, thirty-eight head of cattle and seventy-five head of hogs upon his farm.


Mr. Lorenzen was married in 1883 to Cathrina Clausen, a native of Ger- many. Her parents died when she was small and she was reared by an uncle. To this union there have been born ten children: Anna, who married Henry Ehricks of Crawford county, and has two children. Edward and Raymond ; Carolina, who married Bernard Thompson, of Minnesota, and has one living child, Arnold: Hannah, who married Fred Boyens of Crawford county, and has one child, Alvin: Christina, the wife of Louis Reininger of Crawford county; Thomas, who married Mary Kroger. and four who are single and still living at home, Emma. William, John and Edward. The mother of these children died October 17. 1906.


Politically, Mr. Lorenzen is affiliated with the Democratic party but has never been an aspirant for political office. He has preferred to devote all


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of his time to his duties on the farm and in the home circle. He was formerly a member of the Modern Woodmen of America but is now a demitted member. He and his family are members of the German Lutheran church and have been interested in its various activities. Mr. Lorenz is highly respected by every one with whom he has come in contact and well merits the expression which his neighbors use in speaking of him, "He is as honest as the day is long." He came to the United States with nothing and by a life of honest toil and well-directed effort has attained a position of pecuniary independence.


REV. BARTHOLOMEW KUEPPENBENDER.


' The ministry of the Gospel is the most honorable profession to which any man can address himself and the one fraught with the most good to humanity. Wherever the Catholic people settle they always make arrange- ments to establish a church. and as soon as there are enough children, they start a parochial school. Shelby county, Iowa, has a large Catholic popula- tion and the people are liberal contributors to their churches and schools. The parish of St. Joseph at Earling has been in charge of Rev. Bartholomew Kueppenbender for the past two years during which time he has endeared himself to his parishioners and the citizens of the city.


Rev. Bartholomew Kueppenbender, the son of Frank and Anna ( Mager) Kueppenbender, was born August 14, 1849, near Cologne, in the Rhine Province, Germany. His father was a farmer in early life and later operated a flour mill at Dueren, Germany. His parents celebrated their golden wedding anniversary in Germany and then came to America in 1889 and lived with their son, Bartholomew, who was then stationed at Roseland, Nebraska. There were ten children born to Frank Kueppenbender and wife, Peter. John, Anna, Kate, Bartholomew. Werner, Frank, William and two who died in infancy.


The education of Father Kueppenbender was received in Germany and America. After finishing the course in the common school in his home neigh- borhood. he entered the college at Dueren and was in attendance there for five years. He then attended Sargenuend College for two years and a half after which he entered the University of Muensten at Westphalia where he remained until 1877. In that year he came to America and located at Mil- waukee, Wisconsin, where he finished his education at St. Francis Seminary.


Immediately after graduating from the college at Wisconsin he was


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ordained and read his first mass at Omaha, Nebraska. in St. Philomena cathedral. His first assignment was the St. Stephens church at Beachem- ville. Nebraska, and there he remained for the next twelve years, leaving that parish for St. Francis Sales church at Lincoln, Nebraska, where he re- mained three years. He was then transferred to the Church of the Assump- tion at Roseland, Nebraska, where he was stationed eight years. Ile was next sent to Davenport, Iowa, and given the charge of the St. Joseph church at that place. He remained there only a short time and then was sent to St. Mary's church at Solon, Iowa, where he ministered to the people for four years. The next three years were spent at Bauer, Iowa, where he was in charge of the St. Joseph church after which he was sent to the Mercy hospital at Council Bluffs, Iowa, for a year and a half. In October, 1912, he came to Earling. Iowa, and has since been in charge of the St. Joseph parish in that place.


He is a man of broad and cosmopolitan sympathies and has already won a place in the affections of the parish. Politically, he is a Democrat and is interested in everything which pertains to good government. He is a mem- ber of the Knights of Columbus and deeply interested in the welfare and success of this Catholic fraternity.


JOHN C. GINGERY.


In every community are found some individuals who are more active than others in advancing the general welfare of the neighborhood and push- ing forward the means of disseminating information which has a tendency to advance the industrial progress of the people. This is only natural and is to be expected in an agricultural region in which a few men are found who are gifted with the ability to lead in the work for advancing the inter- ests of all. In John Gingery, a well-known farmer and breeder of Lincoln township. the historian finds a character deserving of special mention as a progressive agriculturist of the first rank, and a pronounced leader in the art of better farming. As secretary of the Shelby County Farmers' Insti- tute his influence is considerable and always to be found on the right side and in favor of the better and more advanced ways of carrying on the great work of inducing larger and better yields from the cultivation of the soil. A successful farmer himself, his interests are broad enough to desire the


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MR. AND MRS. JOHN C. GINGERY ..


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and is the efficient secretary of the Shelby County Farmers' Institute. His most useful public service aside from the successful conduct of his own affairs is his activity in connection with the Farmers' Institute. Mr. Gin- gery is keenly interested in the science of better farming and his individual success as a scientific farmer bespeaks his influence with his associates in behalf of better farming. No citizen of Shelby county is more widely nor more favorably known, and his prestige is due to the exercise of native ability combined with intelligence of a high order. Mr. and Mrs. Gingery are popular and highly esteemed by all who know them.


PERRY McDOWELL.


Poets often tell the truth and the old song which contains the refrain, "The farmer feeds them all," states a very fundamental economic truth. Without the farmer the rest of the country would starve within a week de- spite the large amount of food in cold storage. Every occupation might be done away with but farming and people could live, but a total cessation of farming for a very short time would actually depopulate the whole world. A man can live without banks all his life, but deprive him of his bread and his carcer is soon ended. Farming is becoming an honored profession : our district schools are teaching it as a science and our colleges are granting de- grees for agricultural courses. The farmers of any community sustain the people dependent on every other profession. Without the farmer the banker would close his doors, the manufacturer would shut down his factory and the railroads would suspend operations. Among the honored men of Shelby county, Iowa, who help to keep the banker, the manufacturer and the rail- roads is Perry McDowell, of Douglas township.


Perry MeDowell, the son of Luke and Jane (Mitchell ) MeDowell, was born May 17. 1866, in Poweshiek county, Iowa, on the Powesheik-Mahaska county line. His father is the son of John McDowell, who was a native of Ohio, of Irish descent. Luke McDowell was born in Ohio in December, 1850, was one of eight children and lived at home until one year before his marriage. He worked on the farms in his immediate neighborhood one year and stayed in his home county until about 1879, when he moved to Shelby county with his family, where he purchased sixty acres of land. Luke Me- Dowell and one of his brothers. Jolin, came together to this county and bought sixty acres each in section 24, of Douglas township, and on this farm Luke


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lived until his death, increasing his hollings to two hundred forty acres. Ile died July 29. 1912. His widow still survives him and resides at Kirkman. He was an independent voter. but never active in political affairs, although he was once a candidate for office on the Republican ticket. Mr. and Mrs. Luke McDowell were the parents of six children. Perry, Mrs. Euphema (Darling). Thomas, M. K. Dessa ( Plummer), Mrs. Eva (Greeves) and Cooper.


Perry McDowell was given a good common school education in the schools of Poweshiek county. He was thirteen years of age when his parents moved to Shelby county and continued to work with his father on the home farm until he was married and then began farming in Polk township. . \ year later he removed to Nebraska and resided in Pierce county for cleven years, after which he bought two hundred and forty acres of land in Knox county, Central township, Nebraska, on which he resided for another eleven years. In February, 1913, he returned to Shelby county, renting his Ne- braska farm and took charge of the okl home place. He is now engaged in a general system of farming and stock raising, making a specialty of the raising of full blooded Poland China hogs. Unlike many stock raisers lie has not adopted the practice of shipping his live stock for exhibition at the county fairs, although he has stock that would stand a good chance of win- ning prizes.


Mr. McDowell was married to Elizabeth McConnell. the daughter of Thomas and Elizabeth (Cassady) McConnell, early settlers of this county. To this marriage there have been born nine children, including three sets of twins. The three sets of twins are Vera and Neva, Vivian and Vernon, Luke and Jane, while the other three children are Tina, Charles and John. All of the children are still living at home with their parents, except Tina, wh .. married Daniel O'Connor and lives in Nebraska.


Thomas McConnell ( born 1820, died January, 1914), and Elizabeth (Cassady) McConnell (born 1836, died 1890), were natives of Ireland an ! came to Illinois from Ireland in 1850. In 1881 they came to Shelly counts and after abont eight years' residence in Harlan moved on a farm of cil .: ) acres in Douglas township. In 1900 they moved to San Diego, Cahi- fornia. The children of Thomas McConnell and wife were as follows: M .. Belle Cassady, Vancouver Island: James, of Illinois; Edward, Fairbank ., Alaska: Mrs. Susanna Daniels, Wisconsin; Thomas. Fairbanks. Maska : Elizabeth, wife of Mr. McDowell : Charles, deceased; Kate McConnell, San Diego, California: John. Goshen, California.


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Politically, Mr. McDowell was formerly a Democrat, but is now pre- ferring the Republican policies, and while an advocate of good government, yet he has never been active in political matters. Fraternally, he is a mem- mer of the Modern Woodmen of America. He and the members of his fam- ily are adherents of the Methodist Episcopal church.


SIMON A. BENDON.


A veteran of the Civil War and the present postmaster of Portsmouth, lowa, is Simon A. Bendon, who has been a resident of this county for the past thirty-five years. In fact, his whole life in Shelby county has been spent in or near Portsmouth, and therefore he is well known to all of the citizens of that enterprising little city. As a carpenter and contractor he has built a large number of the houses in Portsmouth and the surrounding community and has therefore been a prominent factor in the life of the community.


Simon A. Bendon, the son of Robert and Mary ( Frexler ) Bendon, was born June 8, 1843, in Cambria county, Pennsylvania. His parents were both natives of Pennsylvania, his father's birth occuring in 1812 and his mother's two years later. Robert Bendon followed the carpenter trade all his life and died in the state where he was born, October 13. 1859. His wife lived until March 10, 1908, dying at the advanced age of ninety-six years. Robert Bendon and wife were the parents of eleven children, Elizabeth, Vannetta, Simon, Cecelia. Agnes, Matilda. Angela, Alice. John C., Gernis and Sepher- ina. Of these children, Gernis, Sepherina, Angeline and Elizabeth are de- ceased.


Simon AA. Bendon was educated in the schools of Cambria county, Penn- sylvania, but his education was very limited and in fact his schooling was lim- ited to fifty-two days of actual attendance. After leaving the school room he farmed until he enlisted for service in the Civil War. He first enlisted as a member of Company K, One Hundred and Twenty-fifth Regiment. Pennsyl- vania Volunteer Infantry, and at the expiration of his enlistment re-enlisted. on June 6, 1863, in Company V. Eighty-seventh Regiment, Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry, and was mustered out June 29. 1865. His regiment saw hard fighting in Virginia. and later fought at Gettysburg in the summer of 1863. He participated in the bloody battles of Antietam. Spottsylvania and Winchester, and a score of other engagements in which the loss of life was heavy. His last battle was at Sailor's Creek in 1865.


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After the close of the war, Mr. Bendon returned to his home in Penn- sylvania, and after his marriage, in 1868, removed to Iowa and located in Iowa county. In 1879 he moved with his family to Shelby county and located near Portsmouth. subsequently moving to the city. He had learned the car- penter trade as a young man with his father and has followed that occupation in Shelby county. He has built a large number of houses, barns and out- buildings in the county and has always had all the work he could do in season.


Mr. Bendon was married on January 14, 1868, to Anastasia A. Wagner, the daughter of Jacob Wagner, and to this union eight children have been born, Victoria, Othia, Giles, Isadore, Gertrude, Ira, Nellie and Eldenia. Othia married Nora Ileadley. Giles married Anna Herkenrath. Ira mar- ried Angela Claudenburg. Nellie is the wife of Elmer Spracklen. Isadore is the husband of Rosa Hutchinson, while Gertrude is single and living with her parents. Mrs. Bendon's parents were natives of Pennsylvania and lived all their lives in that state. Her father was a prominent farmer of his com- munity and a man of influence in his county.


Mr. Bendon is an active Republican in politics and has always been a leader in the party in his county. He has been serving for fourteen years as postmaster of Portsmouth and giving universal satisfaction to the patrons of the office. He is a member of the Grand Army of the Republic and deeply interested in everything pertaining to the welfare of his local post. He and his family are devout members of the Catholic church, while he is a member of the Knights of Columbus.


WILLIAM O. ARMENTROUT.


There are several hundred different occupations in the United States at the present time, but of all this large number there is only one that is also- lutely necessary to the existence of man. The three things without which man cannot live are food, clothing and shelter, and it is the farmer who not only controls the food supply of the world, but who also holds the clothing products in his hands. In fact, his is the only occupation which could exi-t independently of all others. An ever increasing number of our young men are taking courses in the many excellent agricultural colleges of the country and this means that the future generation of farmers will have that scientific training which is so necessary to the successful farmer of today. Shelby county boasts of fine farms and good farmers and among this number is


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found William Armentrout, one of the most progressive young farmers of Jackson township.


William Armentrout, the son of Phillip and Alice ( Ross) Armentrout, was born on March 21, ISSO, in the township where he has always made his home. Phillip was born on February 28. 1847, in Richland county. Ohio, and is the son of Jacob and Mary ( Hammond) Armentrout. Jacob and wife were the parents of twelve children, Allen. Nancy, Annis, Ann Amelia, Anita. Catherine, George. Abraham, Ansel, Albro, Dallas and Phillip, the youngest of the twelve children. Eight of these children are still living. Phillip was married December 28, 1876, to Alice Ross, the daughter of Hugh and Millie ( Baber ) Ross. To this union were born seven children : Alonzo, who married Elsie Brown, and has four children, Everett, Lawrence, Lloyd and Amrett : William, with whom this narrative deals; Eldoras, who married Bertha Slates, and has two children, Ival D. and Dorris F .: Ralph L., who married Laura Peterson, and has one son, Lysle: Robert, who married Rosa Peterson, and has one danghter, Berniece; Cassie, who married Lillie Silver- wood : Marion, single.


William Armentrout received a good common school education and re- mained upon the home farm until he was married, in 1904. He then went to Nebraska and entered one hundred and sixty acres of land in Rock county with his father and brothers. He lived upon this two years after he was married, putting most of his attention to the raising of cattle. He kept about four hundred and fifty head on the farm all the time and marketed about one hundred and twenty-five head of calves each year. In accordance with the custom of the stock raisers of that locality he branded all of his stock, burn- ing the figures "thirty-one" on all of his cattle. In the spring of 1908 he re- turned to Shelby county and assisted his father on the home farm for the next two years. He then rented one hundred and sixty acres of his father's farm and has since been engaged in general farming and stock raising upon this farm. He feeds about one car load of cattle for the market each year and also sells about one hundred head of hogs annually.


Mr. Armentrout was married on November 30, 1904. to Mand Symons. She is the daughter of Charles and Martha ( Haworth) Symons and was born on January 13, 1886. in Des Moines, Iowa. Her parents are natives of Keokuk county, Iowa, her father being the son of Aaron Symons, a minis- ter of the Friends church, as was his wife, Martha Haworth. Mrs. Symons was the daughter of Dillon Haworth, a soldier of the Civil War and a printer for many years in Eldora, Iowa. Mr. and Mrs. Symons had a family of five children. Clayton. Nellie, Harry, Norine and Maud, the wife of Mr. Armen-


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trout. To Mr. Armentrout and wife have been born six children : Dallas, born February 9, 1906; Lois D., born July S. 1907; Helen. born February 29. 1909: Ansel. born May 1, 1910; Wilbur, born January 26, 1912; Woodrow. born January 2, 1914.


Politically, Mr. Armentrout is a Democrat but has never been active in political matters. He takes an intelligent interest in all measures which prom- ise to benefit his community in any way and is regarded as one of the repre- sentative citizens of his locality.


BARNEY W. GREGORY.


For more than three decades Barney W. Gregory has been identified with the agricultural and stock raising interests of Shelby county, lowa. By his own industry and perseverance he has acquired a well-improved farm of one hundred and fifty-four acres in Douglas township, on which he has been living for more than twenty years. He has been unusually -nie- cessful as a raiser of fine cattle and has made frequent exhibitions of his stock at county fairs throughout this section of lowa.


Barney W. Gregory, the son of Gilbert and Mary (Overholt ) Greg- ory, was born March 27, 1867, in Ontario, Canada. He was one of eight children born to his parents: Barney, deceased; William, of Nebraska: Almeda, of Clinton, Iowa: James, a farmer of Douglas township; Isaac. . farmer of Oklahoma: Barney, whose history is here presented: and two who died in infancy.


Gilbert Gregory and his wife were both born in St. Catharine, Ontario. Canada, and lived there until 1867, when they moved to Lake county. In- diana. A short time afterward the Gregory family moved to Porter county, Indiana, where they lived until 1872. In that year Gilbert Gregory brought his family to lowa and located in Jackson county, where he lived for ten years. In 1882 the family moved to Douglas township. Shelby county, lowa, where they have since resided. The widow of Gilbert Gregory is now making her home in this county with her son, James.


Barney W. Gregory was five years of age when his parents came to Jackson county, Iowa, and sixteen years of age when they located in Shelby county. He went to school some in Indiana and completed his education in the public schools of Harlan, in Shelby county, Iowa. After leaving school he farmed for his father on the old home farm and later he and his brother,


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CARNEY W. GREGORY AND FAMILY.


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James rented one hundred and twenty acres of the home farm and started farmiiss for themselves. They worked together for eight years and in 1824 Mr. Gregory bought his-present farm of one hundred and fifty-four acres in Douglas township. He has spent several thousand dollars improv- ing the farm and has enclosed it with a view of engaging extensively in cattle breeding. He handles thoroughbred Hereford cattle and has had many prize winning animals. He has a sale of his cattle every year, and in 1013 sold forty-seven head which averaged one hundred and seventy dollars apiece. In 1914 he had eighty head of thoroughbred Herefords on his farm.


Mr. Gregory was married March 2, 1892, to Ida Burke, the daughter of John T. and Clara J. ( Hardy) Burke. To this union six children have been born: Allen Roy. Blanche, George, Gladys, Grace and Ruth, all of whom are single and living with their parents.


Mrs. Gregory was born in Monona county. Iowa. Her father was born in Greensburg, Decatur county, Indiana. June 13, 1841, and her mother was born in Pennsylvania, July 7. 1847. John T. Burke was the son of Henry S. and Darinda (Spilman) Burke, both natives of Kentucky. When twenty-one years of age. John T. Burke went to Indianapolis, Indiana, where he attended the Purdy Commercial College. In 1865 he engaged in the mercantile business at Wolcott. Indiana. and a year and a half later located on a farm and took up the buying and shipping of live stock. In 1868 Mr. Burke went west and located in Monona county, lowa, near Char- ter Oak. where he farmed and shipped stock until 1880. In that year he came to Shelby county and bought one hundred and twenty acres of land three miles north of Harlan and kept adding to his land holdings until at one time he owned nearly a section of well-improved land in the county. He was an extensive buyer and shipper of live stock and a man who was successful in all of his ventures. John T. Burke was married to Clara J. Hardy on June 28, 1866. She was the daughter of Christopher and Eliza- beth (Guss) Hardy. To their union nine children were born: Clayton H., Ida, Elizabeth, Haslet. Christopher, Alice, Cora. Amy and John. Mr. Burke was a member of the Indiana Home Guards during the Civil War and was called out in the summer of 1863 to quell Morgan and his raiders.




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