USA > Iowa > Clinton County > Wolfe's history of Clinton County, Iowa, Volume 1 > Part 50
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Mr. Cressey has been twice married. the first time to Bertha Ruggeberg, a native of Clinton county, who died July 17, 1901. His second marriage was to Freda S. Seaborn, also of Clinton county, in May, 1903. Mr. Cressey is the father of the following children : Darrell L., born on February 23, 1890; Esther, born February 20, 1904: Gladys M. and Gertrude M., twins. born September 25, 1907: and Roberta, born October 20, 1908. They are a splendid family of young people.
Robert E. Cressey is a clean, straight-forward, honest business man. who has well learned and carefully applied business principles, to his profit and the great advantage of his customers. He is proud of his town of Lost Nation and has always been a man of marked public spirit, ready with a help- ing hand, with money, push, or whatever was needed in any enterprise which had the good of the community at heart. A town is fortunate which has such citizens as he, and it is such citizens who enable Lost Nation to have such good facilities for one of its size.
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PETER C. DUER.
Conspicuous among the representative business men of Waterford town- ship and one of the leading business men of Charlotte is Peter C. Duer, the able and popular cashier of the Farmers and Merchants Bank, formerly a successful merchant here. He has made his influence felt for good in his community, being a man of sterling worth, whose life has been closely inter- woven with the history of the locality in which he resides and whose efforts have always been for the material advancement of the same, as well as for the social and moral advancement of his fellow men.
Mr. Duer, like many of our most enterprising business men, is a native of Germany, having been born in the province of Schleogh, Holstein, that country, on March 16, 1860, and he spent his boyhood days and attended the common schools there. He is the son of N. C. and Elizabeth (Budersen) Duer, both natives of the same province in Germany, and there the father died in 1875. Soon afterward the mother and family came to America, landing at New York, but they came direct to Clinton county, Iowa, and located at Charlotte. Soon afterwards Peter C., of this review, found employment as clerk in a general store, and he assisted his mother in keeping the family together and in rearing them in credit and respectability. These children were named as follows: Marie, Mrs. Goldman; Peter C., of this sketch: Sarena M., who remained single, is deceased.
Peter C. Duer clerked in the store of John G. Gohlman at Charlotte for three years, then went to Sabula, Iowa, where he remained five years, then re- turned to Charlotte and engaged in the mercantile business in partnership with M. H. Illemann and they enjoyed a very liberal patronage. Mr. Duer assisted in the organization of the Farmers and Merchants Savings Bank and was made cashier of the same, and he has been the chief financier and manager of this popular and safe institution,-in short, its moving spirit,-since it was started, and has made a very pronounced success. Its officers and directors are made up of the solid men of this community, all of whom have the con- fidence of the depositors. Strict modern banking rules are observed; it is a bank of deposit and discount, buys and sells exchange and does a general bank- ing business. The statement issued by this bank on June 30, 1910, was a re- markable showing considering the short length of time since its organization, its resources being $108,953.16, and its liabilities the same.
Mr. Duer was married in 1888 to Ella C. Dickey, who was born in Clinton county, the daughter of John A. Dickey and wife. The father was born in Mercer county, Pennsylvania, where her grandfather had lived and
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died, John A. being the eldest of nine children, the mother bringing the fam- ily to Clinton county after the death of the father and here John A. spent the balance of his life. He was for many years a prominent farmer and a man whom everyone respected as a result of a well directed life.
To Mr. and Mrs. Duer one interesting son has been born, Leo P .. whose birth occurred on September 16, 1889. He received a good education and is living at home.
Politically, Mr. Duer is a strong Republican, but has never been an aspir- ant for political office. He is a man of fine characteristics, plain, straight- forward and honest. and everyone concerned is of the opinion that the direct- ors of the bank made no mistake in selecting him to manage its affairs, for he is safe and is popular with the people.
EDWARD MULVIHII.L.
A progressive and skillful agriculturist of Sharon township, Clinton county, and a man who, while advancing his own interests, does not lose sight of the rights and interests of his neighbors and the community in general, is Edward Mulvihill, who was born in Liberty township. this county, on May 10, 1864, the son of Edmund and Ellen (Wolfe) Mulvihill, both born in county Kerry, Ireland, the father in 1828. In 1831 the father emigrated to America and located in Illinois, and there he farmed a while, then, in 1852, crossed the plains of the West to the gold fields of California, where he re- mained two years, returning to Illinois in 1854, and there he was married. In 1857 he came to Liberty township, Clinton county, Iowa, where he bought a farm of four hundred acres from the government, which he improved, living there ten years, and then, growing tired of living in a low country, he sold out and moved to Sharon township in 1865, and here bought one hundred and twenty acres, to which he later added until he had two hundred and eighty acres. He was very successful as a general farmer and was a strong char- acter who was respected wherever he went. His death occurred in 1903. He was a faithful member of the Catholic church, and his family consisted of the following children : Jerry, Mrs. Mary Agnes Cavey, Maurice, Ellen, Edward, of this review, John, Mrs. Katie Murray, James (deceased), Thomas S. and William Henry.
Edward Mulvihill attended school in Sharon township and grew to ma- turity on the home farm. After leaving school he worked around for him-
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self for some time. He accumulated rapidly, being a hard worker and a man who managed well, and in 1904 he purchased a fine farm of two hundred acres, which he has been constantly improving and which now ranks with the best in the township. He has a large, commodious and well-located dwelling and substantial outbuildings, and he carries on general farming in a highly successful manner. He also devotes considerable time to stock raising, being regarded as an excellent judge of live stock; he feeds several loads of cattle each year, and owing to the high grade stock he keeps he finds a very ready market for what he offers for sale.
Mr. Mulvihill is a Democrat politically and a loyal Catholic. He was married on January 17, 1905, to Margaret O'Hara, who was born in Wyom- ing township, Jones county, Iowa, where her family are well known and highly respected, being the daughter of John O'Hara, a farmer and early settler there. This union has been without issue.
Mr. Mulvihill is an excellent example of the enterprising and genial second generation of Irish people in America. He is a clear-headed, suc- cessful business man, a hard worker, cautious and straightforward in his rela- tions with his fellow men, so that he has their confidence and respect, also their good will. Fraternally, he is a member of the Knights of Columbus.
ERASTUS ALONZO WADLEIGH.
Self-assertion is believed by many people to be absolutely necessary to success in life, and there are good reasons for the entertainment of such belief. The modest man very rarely gets what is due him. The selfish, aggressive man elbows his way to the front, takes all that is in sight, and it sometimes seems that modesty is a sin, with self-denial the penalty. There are, however, exceptions to all rules and it is a matter greatly to be regretted that the exceptions to the conditions referred to are not more numerous. One notable exception is the honorable gentleman whose life history we here present, who possesses just a sufficient amount of modesty to be a gentleman at all times and yet sufficient persistency to win in the business world and at the same time not appear over bold, and as a result of these well and happily blended qualities Mr. Wadleigh has won a host of friends in Clinton county, where he has been well known for many years as a man of influence, integrity and business ability. He is now living in honorable retirement after a life of unusual usefulness and success.
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E.A. WADLEIGH
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THE NEW YORK PUBLIC LIBRARY
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Erastus Alonzo Wadleigh is the scion of a sterling old New England family, he himself having been born at Sutton, New Hampshire, on March 7, 1827. He is the son of Eliphalet Wadleigh, who was the son of Benjamin and Mary Wadleigh. Benjamin was a native of New Hampshire. He be- came a prominent farmer and was a man of great influence in his community, very ably serving as probate judge of Merrimack county for several terms. He was eighty years of age at the time of his death, and Mrs. Wadleigh was seventy years old when she died. Eliphalet Wadleigh was also a farmer, who, after the death of his wife in 1837, went to New York and later to Mis- souri, where his death occurred thirty years ago.
Upon the death of his mother, Erastus A. Wadleigh, of this review, went to make his home with his grandparents. He received a common school education and worked on the farm until he was twenty-one years of age, when he went to Boston and worked in a wholesale drygoods store, having turned his attention to a business career. After spending one year in the Hub City, he went to Fisherville and remained there three years in a store. Then, fol- lowing the tide of emigration which was -setting in heavily for the West, he emigrated to Clinton, Iowa, which place he reached in October, 1856. In April, 1857, he began work as agent for the Chicago, Iowa & Nebraska Rail- road Company (now the Northwestern) and continued as such for a period of twenty-five years, giving eminent satisfaction to this company. He then tendered his resignation and interested himself in the Lyons Paper Company, becoming president and manager, in which capacity he built up a large and satisfactory business, remaining in this line of business for four years, then sold out and looked after some outside interests for a year. He then pur- chased a warehouse on Second street, and dealt extensively in hides, furs, wool, grain, etc., enjoying a large trade and becoming widely known as a dealer in these lines. In 1906 he sold out to H. U. Crockett and retired, and he is now living in a modern, commodious and elegant home on Sixth avenue, spending the evening of his life in serenity, surrounded with every comfort as a result of his former years of thrift and industry. He has been very suc- cessful in his business affairs and is eminently deserving of the large success that has attended his efforts.
Politically, Mr. Wadleigh is a Republican, and he was councilman for two years, and a member of the school board for twelve years. He is well known in the Masonic order, having attained the coveted thirty-third degree in this time-honored order, which is certainly criterion enough of his high char- acter and standing in the community. He was secretary and recorder of the
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Scottish Rite bodies for over eighteen years, and for thirty years he was treasurer of the Ancient Order of United Workmen.
Mr. Wadleigh was married on June 25, 1855, to Emmiline Emmons, a native of Vermont, her birth having occurred there in April, 1827; she was the representative of an excellent old family and was a woman of many estimable traits. She passed to her rest in April, 1880. One child was born to Mr. and Mrs. Wadleigh, whom they named Frank. He was given the advantages of an excellent education, having passed through the common schools, then attended the Iowa State University, and later spent two years at Ann Arbor, Michigan, in the university there. He now holds a very responsible and important position with the Rio Grande Railroad Company, being general passenger and ticket agent at Denver, Colorado. He is a young man of enterprise and large business acumen.
EDWARD RUTENBECK.
The subject of this sketch is of German lineage. and in his personality are combined many of the sterling qualities for which his ancestors were noted. Carl Rutenbeck, his father, was born in Westphalia, and came to America about 1854. settling at Port Byron, Rock Island county, Illinois. He removed thence a few years later to Clinton county. Iowa, where he took up eighty acres of government land, which he afterwards increased to one hundred and seventy acres. He cleared and improved a part of his land, made a good farm, and lived a quiet though eminently honorable life. being con- sidered one of the most substantial citizens of the community in which he resided. He married, in this state, Henrietta Guth, who was probably born in Clinton county, her parents moving to this country from Germany and spending the remainder of their lives in Iowa. They reared a family of three children, all living and well settled in life, the subject of this review being the third in order of birth.
The early life of Edward Rutenbeck on his father's farm was conducive to sound, healthy growth. so that when he arrived at manhood's estate he was well fitted for the duties and responsibilities which awaited him. In the district school near his home he received his educational training, and when he planned for his future he selected agriculture as the calling most congenial to his taste, the wisdom of which choice has since been apparent in the success which he has achieved. Shortly after attaining his majority, he began his life
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work, and a few years later purchased a fine farm of three hundred and twenty acres in Berlin township, where he has since devoted his time and at- tention to general agriculture and stock raising, his present high standing among the leading farmers of the county being readily conceded by his neighbors and fellow citizens. Mr. Rutenbeck is a man of progressive tend- encies and has done much to advance the material interests of his township and induce the farmers of his community to take larger and more intelligent views of their vocation. He is essentially a man of the people, with their welfare at heart, and while intent in looking after his own affairs he has not been unmindful of the affairs of others, especially his neighbors, with whom he has always lived on terms of amity, and permitted no opportunity to pass unimproved whereby their interests might have been subserved. He is a Democrat in the full sense of the word, takes an active part in political mat- ters, and renders his party efficient services as a worker in the ranks while campaigns are in progress. He is well known in Masonic circles, holding membership with Harbor Lodge at Lost Nation, and in mingling with his fel- lowmen he endeavors to reduce to practice the sublime principles and precepts upon which the brotherhood is based.
Mr. Rutenbeck was married January 31, 1900, to Frances L. R. Schwartz, of Clinton county, daughter of Frederick W. and Emma (Rock- rohr) Schwartz, natives of Germany and the state of Wisconsin, respectively, and among the early pioneers of Clinton county. Mr. and Mrs. Rutenbeck have been blessed with four children, two daughters and two sons, whose names are as follows: Edna Emma, Alma Louisa, Lawrence William and Arnold Albert. Mr. Rutenbeck manifests a pardonable pride in his family and spares no effort to make the home life of his children happy. This inter- est is by no means without avail, as they are dutiful and kind and fully appre- ciate all he is doing to render their lot pleasant and agreeable. The domestic circle is indeed a joyous one and the spirit of hospitality and good cheer which pervade the home makes it a favorite resort of the best social element of the community.
WILLIAM ROEHLING.
The subject of this sketch was born February 12, 1873, in Clinton county, Iowa, and is a son of William and Sophia (Kuhlmann) Roehling, both natives of Germany, the father a Prussian by birth, the mother born in Hanover. These parents came to the United States when young. were married in this
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country. and for some time thereafter Mr. Roehling supported himself and wife by daily labor. Later he came to Iowa and entered eighty acres of land in Clinton county, which he improved in due season and at intervals bought other land until his holdings at this time amount to four hundred and eighty acres, the greater part in an excellent state of cultivation, with up-to-date improvements. After devoting a number of years to his agriculture and live stock interests, and acquiring a handsome competency, Mr. Roehling rented his farm, and moved to Lost Nation, where he is spending the closing years of an active and successful life in honorable retirement.
William Roehling, who is one of a family of five living children, was reared on the home farm in Sharon township, where he early learned the worth and dignity of labor, and laid broad and deep the foundation for his subsequent career as an enterprising and successful tiller of the soil. He ac- quired a practical education in the public schools and, taking up farming when a young man, bought two hundred and forty acres of the family home- stead, which he afterwards increased by an additional forty acres, since which time he has given his attention to agriculture, and met with success com- mensurate with his industry and energy.
Although a young man, Mr. Roehling has kept abreast of the times in all that relates to the science of agriculture, and being a careful observer of soils and their adaptability to the different productions of this latitude, he seldom, if ever, fails to realize large returns from his time and labor. While primarily interested in the cultivation of the soil, which he prosecutes according to the most improved methods, he also raises considerable live stock, which he finds one of the most important branches of farming. By his industry, thrift and excellent management, he has so managed his affairs as to acquire a comfortable competency and place himself in easy circum- stances, being at this time one of the well-to-do men of the township in which he resides, and occupying a prominent place among the public spirited citizens of the county.
Mr. Roehling is a Democrat and, though well informed on the leading questions before the public, and familiar with the issues between the two great parties, he is not a politician, nor has he ever entered the lists as an aspirant to office. Reared under the influence of the Lutheran church, he has ever remained true to the same, and by his daily life he exemplifies the beauty and worth of a live religious faith.
On the 12th day of June, 1895. Mr. Roehling was united in marriage with Anna Busch, of this county. Mr. and Mrs. Roehling have an interesting family of five children, whose names are as follows: Esther, Marvin, Alma.
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Laverne and Harry, all of whom are living and, with their parents, constitut- ing a mutually happy home circle. Mr. Roehling inherits many of the ster- ling qualities which distinguished his ancestors, and is held in high esteem in the community honored by his citizenship. Honest in his dealings, upright in his daily conduct, he has always been actuated by noble purposes, and therefore his life has been fraught with much good to his fellow men. The success which he has already attained indicates a future of still greater achievements, and that such may prove the case is the earnest desire of the large circle of friends with whom he mingles.
WILLIAM ROGERS.
The career of the subject of this sketch affords a striking example of the old adage "That much depends upon being well born." Inheriting, as he does, the amicable qualities and sterling worth of his Scotch and Irish ances- try. he exemplifies the same in his daily life, while his loyalty to principle and earnest efforts to realize the noble purposes by which he has ever been actuated have gained the respect and confidence of all with whom he comes in contact. William Rogers is a native of Clinton county, Iowa, and was born April 25, 1868, on the farm in Sharon township which he now owns and occupies. His father, William Rogers, Sr., was born in Edinburgh, Scotland, came to America when a young man, and settled in Vermont, where he mar- ried Ann Quinn, of Armagh, Ireland, who also came to this country in early life. In 1846 William Rogers moved to Chicago, Illinois, and, leaving his wife in that city, proceeded westward as far as Clinton county, Iowa, where he bought a farm of one hundred and sixty acres. Bringing his family to his new home as soon as possible, he at once began clearing and improving his land and in a few years had a fine farm under cultivation. On this place, which in due time became one of the most beautiful and attractive rural homes in Sharon township, William Rogers, Sr., and his wife spent the re- mainder of their lives, his death occurring in 1873, and hers in July, 1909, when nearly eighty-four years of age. They were an estimable and praise- worthy couple, whose friends were as the number of their acquaintances, and of their ten children, all except two are living.
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The youthful years of William Rogers, Jr., spent on the home farm in Sharon township, were uneventful, having been devoted to labor in the fields during the working seasons and in the winter time he pursued his studies in
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the district schools. Later he entered the Oxford high school, from which he was graduated in due time, following which he spent a few years in farm- ing. Having become a skillful electrician, he followed that profession for some time in Clinton county, and from here went to Omaha, Nebraska, where he spent the ensuing seven years in electrical work.
Returning to Clinton county in 1906, Mr. Rogers bought the interest of the other heirs in the homestead and became sole owner of the farm. There he has since lived and prospered, ranking at this time among the lead- ing farmers and stock raisers of the township and occupying a prominent place as a man of affairs. Enterprising and energetic, he has labored to excellent advantage, and by exercising sound judgment and judicious fore- thought, has managed his interests so as to place himself in independent cir- cumstances. Though primarily a farmer, and making every other considera- tion subordinate to his calling, he has not neglected his responsibilities to the community nor been remiss to the duties of citizenship. By all legitimate means at his command, he has labored to promote the material prosperity of his township and county, and his efforts to advance the interests of his neigh- bors and fellowmen have been no less numerous or effective. He is pro- nounced in his allegiance to the Republican party, but has neither taste nor inclination for public preferment, the honors and emoluments of office having never appealed to him. His one object has been to live the life of an honest, upright tiller of the soil, and to dignify his station, and that he has succeeded in this laudable ambition is amply indicated by the success he has achieved and the large place which he holds in the esteem and confidence of his fellow citizens. He belongs to Covert Lodge No. 11, Knights of Pythias, at Omaha, Nebraska, the Methodist Episcopal church holds his religious creed, and all charitable and benevolent measures have his influence and support.
Mr. Rogers, on June 16. 1897, contracted a matrimonial alliance with Annabelle Simon, of New York, daughter of Delano and Mary B. (Field) Simon, natives of New York and Massachusetts respectively. Mr. and Mrs. Simon moved to Queens county. New York, in 1883, and since that time have lived retired lives in that part of the Empire state. He was long a farmer, and quite successful, and when the Civil war broke out he enlisted in Company F, Fifty-second New York Infantry, with which he served for a period of four years. Mrs. Rogers was educated in the Sheridan high school, in her native state, and is a lady of fine mind, varied culture and beautiful life and character. She has borne her husband three children, whose names are William Byron, Helen Nadine and Larena Doris.
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