Sylvester Urbany, 1899 Biography

URBANY, ALBERS, MCCUNE

Posted By: David Reineke (email)
Date: 3/18/2006 at 19:20:56

I translated the following biography from Der Carroll Demokrat, a German-language newspaper published in Carroll, Iowa, between about 1874 and 1920. It was originally published in a special 25th Anniversary Edition of the paper on Friday, 20 September 1899. Information in brackets and notes at the end are my own explanations. It reads as follows:

Sylvester Urbany

The subject of our present description is Mr. Sylvester Urbany, of whom we present an excellent portrait. He has operated a successful shoe business for many years, which by virtue of its excellent location on the main business street in Carroll, because of the large selection of all kinds of footwear, from the ordinary plow shoes to the finest ballet shoes and patent-leather boots, because of the fine quality and durability of his goods, and because of their astonishingly low prices, he is known favorably throughout the county. Those are also advantages which draw customers and build a significant business. Therefore, Mr. Urbany has the widest customer base in the whole county, and anyone who once speaks with the friendly and always good-humored store-owner, gladly comes back.

Mr. Urbany has been employed in the shoe business since his childhood years. He first went into the well-known shoe business of Mr. C. A. McCune in Carroll. Here, he learned thoroughly the sales management of this type of large business. But especially, he learned something that is very important in this business—the quality of leather and the durability of the workmanship. He added more and more to this knowledge, and later when the business was taken over by another man, he acquired the complete trust of the owner.

Equipped with this knowledge, he opened his own shoe business in 1892 and learned about profit, which came from his basic knowledge of merchandise. His merchandise therefore is always known in the entire county on account of its quality and durability, and his business has increased so that can boldly assert that it is the most booming shoe business in Carroll County.

Mr. Urbany was born on 13 June 1866 in Hobscheid, Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, Europe. As a 13-year-old boy, he came to America, where his reverend brother, Father Johann Urbany, was pastor at the local Catholic parish in Lansing, Iowa, and where he found a hearty welcome and continued his education. After a year, he came to Carroll with his brother, who had been transferred to St. Joseph’s Parish by the Reverend Bishop. He completed his elementary education here at the local parochial school, and then he dedicated himself to the occupation in which he has since achieved such success.

In 1888 Mr. Urbany married Miss Elisabeth Albers, a very respected and cultured young lady, and the marriage was blessed with four children.