USA > Iowa > Clinton County > Wolfe's history of Clinton County, Iowa, Volume 1 > Part 60
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LEROI B. WADLEIGH.
The life of Mr. Wadleigh is so well known to the citizens of Clinton. and so interwoven with the history of the town and its development, as to need little mention here. Suffice it to say, that he was born of distin- guished and honorable parentage, and that in whatever situations he has been placed in life he has always acted in a manner worthy of that parentage; that he has always fulfilled his duty, and that his course of action has brought to him material success and the respect of his neighbors; that he has ever taken his full share in whatever enterprises he believed to be for the good of his city, and has greatly aided in its development.
LeRoi B. Wadleigh was born on August 20, 1833, in Meredith, New Hampshire, the son of Gen. John Wadleigh. The family trace their an- cestry back to early Scottish immigrants to this country. and for several generations in the mother country.
Mr. Wadleigh came to Clinton in 1863, and was for several years in the employ of the Chicago & Northwestern railroad. Then for eight years he was in the service of W. J. Young & Company. Later he became ex- tensively interested in the Clinton Lumber Company, of which he was the president. For several years he has been retired from active life. His
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largest property interests are at present in the Dakotas, where he is the owner of extensive tracts of land.
In politics, Mr. Wadleigh is a Democrat. Fraternally, he is a Mason, and has attained to the thirty-second degree in that order. He was married in 1856 to Mary C. Pollock, who has borne to him five children. Mr. Wad- leigh's connection with so many of the larger interests of Clinton shows his force as a business man. Personally, he is a thorough gentleman, agreeable and accommodating in social life, and, though advanced in age, is physically well preserved, and his mental vigor is as good as a man of fifty years.
NIS PETER WORK.
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The name of Nis Peter Work, one of the best known citizens of Clin- ton, Iowa, stands out prominently in the architectural world. He has by persistent endeavor and the application of right principles, properly exercised, forged his way to the front in one of the most exacting of vocations and has shown by his course and attitude toward his fellow men that he is de- serving of the large success that has attended his efforts and of the high esteem in which he is held.
Mr. Work was born March 22, 1861, in north Schleswig-Holstein, Ger- many, and he is the son of Peter and Anna Work, both natives of Denmark. His father was a corporal in the army. Both he and his wife lived and died in the old country. They were honest and hard-working people.
Nis Peter, their son. grew to maturity in his native land and attended the common schools there. At the age of nineteen years he came to America and located at Sabula, Iowa, where he worked as a laborer for a period of four years, then came to Clinton in 1884 and worked for the Northwestern railroad six years. He then began general contracting, which he continued successfully until 1908. In the meantime he had studied architecture and received a diploma from the International Correspondence Schools, and since then he has devoted his attention to this line of endeavor with marked success, maintaining offices in the Toll block. He erected the south part of Dane Hall, on Elm and Fourth streets. Clinton : built the sash and door factory in Fulton, Iowa, built a clothing store in Fairfield, Iowa. made the plans for the First United Presbyterian church at that place, also built a six- thousand-dollar residence there; he built Wolf's hardware store on Fourth
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street, Clinton, and three residences in Charlotte, Iowa. and has done much other work that stamps him as a leader in his line. That his work is emi- nently satisfactory and is meeting with general approval is attested by the many testimonials that his patrons are furnishing, verbal and written. In quoting two of these we will be able to learn something of how his work is . appreciated.
F. W. Jericho, proprietor of the drug firms bearing his name at Fair- field, Mt. Pleasant, Iowa, and the one in Moline, Illinois, in which he is in- terested, writes: "To Whom It May Concern: I take pleasure in recom- mending N. P. Work as a first-class, up-to-date architect. I have just finished a six-thousand-dollar dwelling of which he drew the plans, and I am more than pleased with same. There were no extras to pay for, so you may know the plans were complete and drawn up carefully." C. C. Risk writes as fol- lows of Mr. Work's ability as an architect: "I take pleasure in recommend- ing N. P. Work, architect, of Fairfield, Iowa, who drew the plans for my store front, and I am very well pleased with his work. More than that, I can recommend him as a painstaking, honest man and one that is willing at all times to give you good, valuable advice in the building line. Give him a call."
Politically, Mr. Work is independent, preferring to vote for the man rather than the party. Religiously, he is a Lutheran, and belongs to the Masonic order, also the Dane Society of Clinton. He takes an interest in church and fraternal work and is always ready to do his part.
Mr. Work was married on September 28, 1882, to Marie May, of Sabula, Iowa, and this union has resulted in the birth of the following children : Nissen and Peter are living in Clinton; Marie is the wife of Ray Mulkins, of Fairfield, Iowa.
CHARLES ALBERT BLAKE.
In the present article is presented the partial history of a family who have been for some time prominent in the affairs of the region in which they have resided and the members of which have in many ways proved their worth and excellence. They are men and women of a high stamp and caliber, and, in their neighborhood, to be known as one of the family of Blake is sufficient.
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CHARLES A. BLAKE
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W. C. Blake was born in Pennsylvania, April 4, 1851, son of Johnson and Mary Jane (Parker) Blake, both natives of Pennsylvania. Johnson was a farmer and in 1852 removed with his family to Clinton county, Iowa. He located in Berlin township and there followed farming until his old age, when he removed to Calamus and there spent his last days. During the war he served in Company I of an Iowa infantry regiment and established a good rec- ord as a soldier. His wife died in 1873, and he in 1895. They were the par- ents of nine children. Both of them were members of the Free Will Baptist church. Johnson Blake was a stanch Republican, and was active in politics. He was much respected wherever known.
W. C. Blake attended the public schools of the county and took up farm- ing at an early age. He owns two hundred ninety acres northwest of Cala- mus, very fertile land, on which he has put up all the improvements. His farming was general in character. In 1909 he retired to Calamus, and is now a teamster. He was married in 1876 to Aurora Dubois, a native of New York state, who bore him two children, Charles and Mary. She died September .21, 1908. He was married again on October 12, 1909, to Anna Goodel, of Clinton, Iowa. He is a member of the Modern Woodmen of America. He is a Republican, but has never cared for office. He is a man who has made many friends, and is very popular.
Charles Albert Blake was born in Olive township, Clinton county, Iowa, October 14, 1877, the son of William C. Blake. He was brought up on the farm one mile west of Calamus, and attended the public schools. He then graduated from the schools of Calamus, and attended the Northern Illinois College, at Fulton, Illinois, graduating from the latter in 1902, with the de- gree of Bachelor of Philosophy. For five years he remained on the farm with his father and in 1907 became cashier of the Farmers' Savings Bank, which position he has since efficiently filled, and is also interested in the furniture and undertaking business, under the firm name of Hayes, Blake & Company. He owns a farm of one hundred and fifteen acres two miles west of Calamus. In politics he is a Republican. He is treasurer of the Farmers and Business Men's Mutual Telephone Company. In fraternal relations he is a member of the Odd Fellows. He and his family are members of the Methodist church, and he has been for a number of years superintendent of the Sunday school.
Mr. Blake was married on August 18, 1909, to Edith Kuebler, daughter of Conrad Kuebler, mentioned elsewhere in this work. Mrs. Blake is a highly accomplished lady, having, after graduating from the public schools of Cala- mus, attended the State Normal School, graduating in 1903. She taught school in Cherokee county and was engaged in the Calamus schools three
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years prior to her marriage. To Mr. and Mrs. Blake a son, Charles Albert, Jr., was born November 2, 1910. Mr. and Mrs. Blake reside in an elegant home, where their many friends always receive a hearty welcome.
C. A. Blake is a man of strong Christian character, which is exempli- fied in his daily life and in his business. He has been successful in business, and is quite influential in his town.
CHARLES S. BOHART.
As a business man fully in touch with the progress of the times, Charles S. Bohart, the prime moving factor in the popular and well-known firm of Bohart & Company, of Clinton, Iowa, takes high rank, being broad-minded. modern and painstaking in his methods, and always honest in his relations with his fellow men, so that the large success that has attended his efforts is well merited, and the fact that he has risen to such a high position in the commercial world while yet a young man would indicate superior ability. energy and integrity.
Mr. Bohart was born May 11, 1876, in Center township. Clinton county, Iowa, and is the son of Ballantine R. and Margaret (Shambaugh) Bohart. The father was born in Center township, this county, on January 9. 1855, and he was the son of Jacob Bohart, who was born near Scranton. Ohio, and was one of the early settlers of Clinton county. Iowa. He first had an interest in a saw-mill at Camanche, Iowa, which he later sold to W. R. Anthony, of Camanche. Later he bought a large farm, and sold it. and moved to a one and one-half section of land in Center township. He was a hard worker and amassed a fortune in stock raising and buying and selling farms. He married Susan Ballantine, a native of Iowa. Ballantine Bohart was reared on a farm and spent his entire life in farming and fancy stock raising, until 1895, and in mercantile pursuits until 1907. when he went to Colorado for his health. They are members of the United Presbyterian church and Mr. Bohart is a Republican in politics. He married, on Septem- ber 2, 1874, Margaret Shambaugh, a daughter of John and Eva A. Sham- baugh, who came to Clinton county in the forties from Pennsylvania. hav- ing driven through in wagons, there being no railroad farther than central Illinois.
Charles S. Bohart received a common school education and he later .
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spent two years at Coe College, Cedar Rapids, Iowa, making an excellent record for scholarship. He started in life for himself by clerking awhile in Clinton, then went to Chicago and was with the firm of J. C. Bohart Commission Company in the Union stock yards; he then moved to Elvira, Iowa, where he remained three years and was engaged in the general mer- chandise business with his father. In 1899 he came to Clinton and launched in the wholesale grocery and flour business under the name of Bohart & Company, his father financing the company. It was a success from the first and by the judicious management of Mr. Bohart it has grown to large proportions. In an advancing way Mr. Bohart has been manufacturing a great deal of his own goods. While he has met with reverses, he is not made of the fiber that bends easily and he has succeeded in bringing this business up to its present sound and growing status. He is a man of in- domitable will and always aims to be "four square to the wind," honest in all his dealings with his fellow men, and has taken first rank in the local business world. In 1905 he arranged the building of his present offices on Fifth avenue. The company is housed in a modern, substantial three-story building .. This company of food specialists is in every way deserving of the large patronage it is receiving and the great prestige it is gaining. It is incorporated.
Mr. Bohart is purely a business man, preferring to devote his attention exclusively to his business affairs, and this is the keynote of his success. He has remained single and he takes only a passing interest in politics or public life. He is a good mixer, is well liked, genteel, pleasant and educated, keeping well advised on business and current topics.
NICHOLAS EDWARD INGWERSEN.
There can be no greater honor or privilege than to conscientiously serve one's country during its days of peril. It requires something more than patriotic zeal for a man, especially if he be foreign born, to forsake home, business, the pleasures of social or public life and voluntarily assume the hardships of the camp and the field, much less risk one's life in the brunt of battle. The younger generation today are apt to not give the respect due the brave "boys in blue" who saved the nation's integrity and did so much for them. The gentleman whose name introduces this sketch is one of those
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whose name is to be found on the scroll of honor in this connection. But that is not the only reason why he is eligible for mention in this history. He has been a conspicuous figure in the business life of Clinton county for several decades in connection with the lumbering and agricultural industries and he is one of the pioneers here.
Nicholas Edward Ingwersen, of No. 222 Fourth street, Lyons, Iowa, was born December 25, 1833, in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany, a province just south of Denmark. He is the son of Joseph and Elizabeth Ingwersen, who spent the early part of their lives there and who brought their son, Nicholas Edward, in 1852, to America, he being then twenty-one years of age. The family came west and located on five hundred acres of valuable land in Cen- ter township, Clinton county, Iowa. There the father developed an excellent farm and became well established; he farmed here until his death, in 1865, his wife surviving until 1880. They were members of the Lutheran church and were highly respected in their community. Seven children were born to them, named as follows : Paul J. died in Germany ; Henry C. died in Lyons, Iowa; B. B. lives in Clinton; Nicholas Edward, of this review; C. H., for many years a sheriff. died in Chicago; August died in Lyons, Iowa, in 1905; Helen, who married Doctor Recht, died twenty years ago.
Nicholas E. Ingwersen was educated in his native land and grew to maturity there. After coming to this county on the date mentioned above, he worked on his father's farm until the commencement of the Civil war. when he enlisted in Company E, Twenty-sixth Iowa Volunteer Infantry, in August, 1862, under Col. Milo Smith. He was ordered to Helena, Arkansas. and was subsequently in the battle of Arkansas Post, also Missionary Ridge, Vicksburg, Lookout Mountain and Atlanta, and in many minor engagements. He was with Sherman on his march to the sea. On the day of Lee's sur- render he took the smallpox and was taken to Newbern, South Carolina. After remaining there two months, he was taken to Canton and honorably discharged on June 15, 1865. Although his clothes were frequently pierced by the bullets of the enemy, he was never wounded. According to his com- rades, he made a very faithful and gallant soldier, bravely facing the vicissi- tudes of camp and field, march and hospital. When possible he was always at the front or on the firing line. He was promoted for meritorious service and was sergeant when mustered out.
After his military career, Mr. Ingwersen returned to Clinton county and resumed farming. He partly inherited and partly bought the old home place in Center township, and he farmed very successfully up to 1896, then
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entered the lumber business, under the firm name of Ingwersen, Berbeck & Company. He severed his connection with the firm in 1909, and is now presi- dent of the E. J. Ingwersen Manufacturing Company, which, under his able and judicious management, has grown to large proportions and its business is rapidly increasing. Politically, he is independent, leaning toward Democracy, and in religious matters he is a Lutheran.
Mr. Ingwersen was married in November, 1865, to Lena Rowedder, who was born in 1841 in Holstein, Germany, from which country she came to America in 1852, when eleven years old and here grew to maturity and mar- ried Mr. Ingwersen. This union resulted in the birth of seven children, namely: Mark J. lives at Elvira, Center township, this county; August S. lives in Lyons; Tony was the wife of Carl Schoenjan and she died in 1905; Margaret is living at home, as is also Hattie; Freda died in Lyon in 1905.
JULIUS DETLEF.
The early environment of Julius Detlef, a hardware merchant of Grand Mound, Clinton county, was such as to develop a strong, independent and sturdy manhood which, no doubt, has been responsible for his subsequent success in life. Prosperity, of late years, has, it seems, attended every worthy effort he has made, with the result that before the evening of life advances upon him he finds himself and family very comfortably situated, and the future, whatever it may have in store for him and his, inspires no shadow of fear in his breast.
Julius Detlef was born in Germany in 1859, the son of Daniel and Metha (Harmes) Detlef, both natives of the Fatherland, where they grew to ma- turity, were educated and married and from which country they emigrated to America in 1869, when their son Julius was ten years old. The family located in Davenport, Iowa, where the father found employment as a brick- layer. The family moved about two months later to Grand Mound, Orange township, Clinton county, where they soon had a very comfortable home. Both parents are now .deceased. Daniel Detlef spent most of his life as a farmer and he became the owner of a good farm here of one hundred and sixty acres, of which he improved eighty acres. He and his wife were the parents of six children. They were members of the Lutheran church.
Julius Detlef was educated in the common schools of Clinton county
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and when very young began working in the fields during crop seasons and he devoted his early life to farming, but he always had a desire to enter the mercantile field and while yet on the farm he began laying plans how he could do so. Finally the opportunity presented itself and he embraced it. He and Henry Moeller, in 1882, formed a partnership in the hardware business at Grand Mound, Clinton county, under the firm name of Moeller & Detlef, and they have continued to do a very satisfactory business, having a well stocked and neatly arranged store, which is patronized by farmers from a wide range of adjacent territory. They keep an excellent stock of all kinds of farming machinery and general hardware, and their desire to please and render honest service at all times has brought them increased prestige and a larger business from year to year.
Mr. Detlef was married in 1889 to Johanna Boehl, a daughter of a highly respected family. This union has resulted in the birth of the follow- ing children : Harry, Hilda, Myrtle and Elsie, all at home.
Mr. Detlef is a member of the Lutheran church, and in politics he is independent, preferring to vote for the man best fitted, in his estimation, for the office sought, than the party. Fraternally, he belongs to the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and the Ancient Free and Accepted Masons and he stands high in each, endeavoring to live up to the teachings of these orders in his everyday life.
WILLIAM LEIMBACH.
Among the citizens of Lyons and Clinton county none stand more de- servedly higher for the display of characteristics in the conduct of their lives than does the gentleman whose name heads this review, who is one of the strongest and most substantial of those people of German descent who have made this country the home of their adoption, and have won suc- cess by their masterful application of the racial qualities which everywhere give to the people of his race an advantage in the strife of life.
William Leimbach was born near Cassel, province of Hesse, Germany, on Christmas day, December 25, 1833. His parents died in Germany years ago. William attended the common schools of the village where he was born and there received the fondation of a good education. During his boyhood he served as an apprentice to a wagonmaker. His older brother, Conrad, had served three years in the army, and William was given notice to appear for examination prior to serving his four years in the army. But
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he had a natural antipathy for military service and his brother having wearied of the service, they, in the spring of 1852, took "French leave," and came to America to try Dame Fortune's wheel here. They landed in New York after seven weeks on the water, and then went to Cleveland, Ohio. There William applied the skill he had acquired in the days of his apprenticeship and worked two years as a wagon and buggy maker, during which time he endeavored to further his education by attending private school three evenings a week. He was considered by his employer and fel- low workmen as one of the best and most expert men in the shop. In 1857 he went to Chicago by steamship with a phaeton and two open buggies, which, on account of the hard times, he had taken as part of his wages. Failing to sell them in Chicago, he came to Dubuque, Iowa, and there had the same experience. He then came to Lyons, where he finally disposed of his vehicles, and shortly afterwards bought a vinegar factory on Water street. In 1859 he bought the wooden building east of the old bank building on Main and Second streets, and moved his factory there. Here he car- ried on a wholesale liquor and vinegar business, also rectified spirits, and, by the exercise of good judgment and close application, he was very success- ful, built up an extensive patronage and became well known for his integ- rity and progressive methods. He was one of the original stockholders in the First National Bank.
In 1888 Mr. Leimbach retired from active business, and has since lived in his handsome, substantial and well-furnished home at No. 210 South Fourth street, surrounded by all the comforts of life as a result of his early years of thrift.
In political matters Mr. Leimbach has been independent, and in religious matters he is an adherent to the German Lutheran faith. He has lived a well-regulated life and now in his seventy-seventh year he is hale and hearty and well preserved, his notable intelligence showing no signs of diminution by age and his activity and interest in public affairs are unimpaired. He is well liked by all who know him and has a host of warm personal friends. He is a pleasant, genial and kindly disposed gentleman whom to know is to admire and respect.
In the month of April, 1860, Mr. Leimbach was married to Mary Clark, of Fulton, Illinois, who was born in St. Louis in 1844. Their union was blessed by the birth of one daughter. Mary, now living with her parents. She is a lady of many winning traits and is popular with a wide circle of acquaintances.
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Among the qualities which have helped Mr. Leimbach to gain his pres- ent standing may be mentioned his habit of unfailing punctuality in keeping appointments, his deliberation in judgment, which has protected him from rash ventures and has made his decisions of rare discrimination, and his possession of those attributes of disposition which attract to their possessor the esteem of their fellows. He is a man of very charitable disposition, much of a philanthropist, and always doing something to help some one. In every way he is a citizen of whom his city is proud.
ESEK B. CHANDLER.
All honor is due a man who, starting in life with few advantages other than a strong heart and willing hands, surmounts obstacles one by one and be- comes a progressive and useful citizen, a man in whom his fellows repose the utmost confidence and respect and who does a great deal of good for the community where he is laboring for his own advancement. Such a man is Esek B. Chandler, of Clinton, Clinton county.
Mr. Chandler was born in Perry county, Illinois, May 2, 1844, and is the son of John D. and Mary (Olds) Chandler. The father was a wool-card maker at Akron, Ohio, and later in life farmed in Perry county, Illinois, near Egypt. From there he moved to Whiteside county. Illinois, when the son, Esek B., was an infant, and there continued farming. He was a hard work- ing man and was successful as an agriculturist, rearing his family in comfort and respectability. His early death was a severe setback to his family. and the son, the subject, was left to hustle for himself at a tender age. This aroused in him an independent spirit and fostered a fortitude that the vicissi- tudes of future years could not subdue, so he is entirely responsible to himself for what success he has achieved, being a splendid example of the American self-made man. He lived in Albany, Illinois, with his mother, sister and brother until he was twenty-one years old, though he had, in the meantime, served his country in her dark days, having enlisted in the Union army when only seventeen years of age and was in the service nearly four years as a member of Company F, Fifty-second Illinois Volunteer Infantry. After serving two years as a drummer, he was promoted to drum major and served with a fidelity that earned the praise of his officers. He participated in the battle of Shiloh, also Corinth, and was with Sherman on his march to the
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