H. J. P. Müller, 1899 Biography

MÜLLER, MUELLER, BALLOW, DEVINE, LILLIE, WALZ

Posted By: David Reineke (email)
Date: 1/6/2005 at 21:41:45

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:

H. J. P. Müller

Here we have the pleasure of providing the interesting biography of a man who has the honor of being able to designate himself the first German pioneer in Carroll County. Mr. Müller came to Carroll County back in 1864, when the county had existed as independent for just nine years. At that time, he came here from Indiana with his honored wife in a “prairie schooner” (wagon with a cloth roof) and settled on the prairie in Carroll County, in the vicinity of Dedham, where he built a log cabin, in which he lived with his family until 1871.

Mr. Müller was born near Fort Wayne, in Allen County, Indiana, on 30 August 1841. He attended school until he was 14 years old, and then, at the suggestion of his parents, who wanted to give their son good education, he traveled to Germany and entered the “Gymnasium” [grammar school] in Meppen, Hannover. After four years of continuous studies, he returned to his parents at their home in Indiana. He devoted himself mainly to the teaching profession, holding school in the winter and giving instruction in the German language. In the spring of 1862, he moved to Goshen, Elkhard [Elkhart] County, Indiana, where Mr. Müller was in charge of the Catholic parish school. Since, for a time, he had the acquaintance of a virtuous young lady, Miss Martha Anna Ballow, they were married on 22 November 1862. It is worth noting here, that the lady is a full niece of the assassinated President James A. Garfield. The young couple then stayed with the father of the young woman in Hountertown [Huntertown], Indiana, and as the old man was already elderly, he passed away on 9 August 1863.

Mr. Müller conducted school in the winter, and farmed in the summer.

On 11 April 1864, the young couple from Hountertown [Huntertown] took to the road. At that time, the land here in the west was not as settled as it is today, and railroads traveling in various directions were unthinkable. Therefore, Mr. Müller outfitted a large wagon with cooking gear and bedding, and with a Winchester rifle and a good dog, said goodbye to the home in Indiana. From Indiana, they went northwest through Illinois to Iowa and halted in Carroll County, which at that time was still almost completely prairie and populated by Indians who hunted wild game.

Barely recovered from the hardships and fatigue of such a strenuous journey, Mr. Müller began farming operations. At first he leased a piece of land, but by 1866, he acquired his own piece of land of 100 acres. It is situated on the county line, and it borders on Guthrie and Audubon Counties. Mr. Müller immediately built a log cabin, inside which was a spacious room, 12 feet wide and 16 feet long, and here he lived with his wife, the niece of a United States President, happily and contentedly, and bore steadfastly the harsh privations of a worldly existence. The closest mill was 35 miles away and the roads were very difficult and often quite terrible, so people used to grate corn on potato graters and even sometimes on improvised graters fashioned from sheet iron, in order to get flour to bake bread and cake. But they struggled through bravely and honestly, and when the stream of immigrants into Carroll County grew stronger, the comforts of life were gradually brought in.

In the course of time, the steadfast and reliable man had the honor to serve in various township offices, but he is still the same steady and weather-tanned man who, in the course of his life, has often faced danger. Only his property meanwhile has changed significantly, because out of a 100-acre farm came 320 acres, and from the historic log cabin came a splendid residence in 1871. Other solid buildings also adorn the inner yard of the valuable farm. This happy marriage has produced 11 children, named: Clemens Victor; James William; Wilhelmina, wife of Mr. Devine; Ida, wife of Mr. Chas. Lillie; Esthella, wife of Mr. Dom. Lillie; Harry; Clementine, wife of Mr. Geo. Walz; Leona; Charley; Bernadette; and Amanda. The last four children still reside with their parents.

NOTES: The article refers to Mr. Müller as the first German pioneer in Carroll County. It may be more accurate to call him one of the early German-American pioneers, since there were at least a couple of German settlers in Carroll County as early as the mid-1850’s, and Mr. Müller was born in Indiana.