Schell, Henry G.

DESGRANGES, HAASE, CHAPIN, GLEASON

Posted By: BCGS
Date: 12/8/2009 at 19:59:15

Henry G. Schell, a successful and enterprising representative of business interests in Waverly, is the proprietor of a grocery store and also handles flour, feed, etc. He is numbered among the worthy native sons of Bremer County, his birth having occurred in Washington township on the 14th of December,1872. His parents, Jacob and Louisa (DesGranges) Schell, were both natives of Germany, the former born in Baden on the 27th of June, 1827 and the latter on the 17th of January, 1833. Jacob Schell, an agriculturist by occupation, emigrated to the United States in 1849, locating near Buffalo, New York, where he continued to reside until after the close of the Civil war. The lady who became his wife crossed the Atlantic to America in 1854. In 1866 Jacob Schell came to Bremer county, Iowa, and for a time cultivated a tract of rented land in Warren township. Subsequently he purchased a small farm east of Waverly and resided thereon for a period of forty years. His demise occurred on the 27th of January, 1912, while his wife was called to her final rest on the 7th of April following. They had gained many friends in the community during the long period of their residence here, and their passing was the occasion of deep and widespread regret.

Henry G. Schell, the ninth in order of birth in a family of ten children, obtained his early education in the Goodspeed school of Washington township and subsequently continued his studies in the Upper Iowa University at Fayette. When a youth of seventeen he began clerking in a grocery store at Waverly, remaining in that position for about six years, on the expiration of which period he pursued a year's commercial course at Fayette. He then entered the grocery store of H.L.Haase and at the end of about six months embarked in the grocery business on his own account, opening a store in the building which adjoins his present establishment. In 1907 he purchased the lots adjoining and erected the building in which he has conducted business since the 27th of October, 1908. He carries an extensive line of staple and fancy groceries and also handles flour, feed, etc., enjoying an enviable and liberal patronage because of his straightforward methods and reliable dealings. He is a stockholder in the sugar factory and also in the State Bank of Waverly.

On the 28th of March, 1900, Mr. Schell was united in marriage to Miss Mabel A. Chapin, a native of Fremont township, Bremer county, and a daughter of Lyman and Orpha (Gleason) Chapin, natives of New York. They took up their abode near Lake Geneva, Wisconsin, and thence came to Iowa in the early '60's, the father devoting his attention to general agricultural pursuits in this state until he passed away on the 18th of December, 1910. The demise of his wife occurred on the 7th of May, 1913. Lyman Chapin served in the famous Crocker brigade from Waverly. Mr. and Mrs. Schell have a daughter, Marion Ruth, who was born on the 2d of July, 1905, and is attending school.

In politics Mr. Schell is an independent republican and at the present time is ably serving as a member of the city council. His religious faith is indicated by his membership in the Methodist Episcopal church, while fraternally he is identified with the Maccabees and the Woodmen. Both he and his wife have spent their entire lives in Bremer county and enjoy the friendship and esteem of all with whom they have come in contact.

History of Bremer County, Iowa Vol. II 1914