EGLOFF, William Jacob, M.D.

EGLOFF, BRANDIE, HUNT, BASSETT, LONG, DUBOIS, SMITH

Posted By: Sharon R Becker (email)
Date: 2/3/2014 at 12:50:26

HISTORY of CERRO GORDO COUNTY, IOWA
WHEELER, J.H. Vol. II. Pp. 574-76. Lewis Pub. Co. Chicago. 1910

BIOGRAPHY ~ WILLIAM JACOB EGLOFF, M.D.

Cerro Gordo county has reason to find satisfaction in the sterling personnel and marked technical ability of those who represent the medical profession within her borders, and numbered among the leading physicians and surgeons of the county is Dr. Egloff, who is engaged in the active practice of his profession in Mason City, with offices in his fine building at 121 East State street. He is one of the loyal and public spirited citizens of his native state, commands a secure place in popular esteem and confidence, and his success in his chosen profession has been of unequivocal order.

Dr. Egloff was born at Cedar Falls, Black Hawk county, Iowa, on the 25th of January, 1863, and is a son of William and Marie A. (Brandle) Egloff, both of whom are now deceased. The father was born in Alsace-Lorraine, which was at that time still a province of France, from which country it was wrested at the time of the France-Prussian war. William Egloff was reared and aducated (sic) in his native land and there became a citizen of prominence and influence in which connection it may be noted that he held the office of judge, through appointment by the government. In 1856 he immigrated to America, and within the same year he took up his residence at Manchester, Delaware county, Iowa. He was a lawyer by profession, but after coming to Iowa he turned his attention to agricultural pursuits, with which he was actively identified for a number of years. He moved from Delaware county to Black Hawk county, where he remained until 1871, when he came to Mason City and entered the employ of the Iowa Central Railroad, with whose local service he continued to be indentified until his death in 1881, at the age of sixty-seven years. His wife was born at Passau, in the kingdom of Bavaria, Germany, where their marriage was solemnized. After he had established his home in America his wife joined him, and she passed the closing years of her life in Mason City, where she died in 1895, at the age of seventy-two years. The parents of Dr. Egloff were devout communicants of the Catholic church and in politics the father gave his allegiance to the Republican party. He was a man of fine intellectuality and he ever commanded the implicit confidence and esteem of all with whom he came in contact. Of the children Dr. Egloff was the tenth in order of birth, two died in infancy, and concerning the others the following brief data are entered: Marie E. is the widow of Samuel J. Hunt and is a popular teacher in the schools of Salt Lake City, Utah; Leontine, is the wife of Lucius M. Bassett, who is principal of one of the public schools in the city of Chicago; Minnie, is the wife of John B. Long, of Kimball, South Dakota; Pauline, is the wife of Albert A. DuBois and they reside in the state of Oregon; Eugene C., was freight agent for the Illinois Central Railroad at Cedar Rapids, Iowa, at the time of his death; Joseph was the owner and operator of a flour mill at Mound City, Kansas, at the time of his death; Max G. a retired railroad man, resides at Cedar Falls, Iowa.

Dr. Egloff was eight years of age at the time of the family removal to Mason City, to whose schools he is indebted for his preliminary educational discipline. In preparation for the work of his chosen profession he went to the great western metropolis and entered the Chicago Medical College, which is now the medical department of Northwestern University. He completed the prescribed course in this well ordered institution, in which he was graduated with the degree of Doctor of Medicine in 1887, as president of his class. In May of the preceding year he had successfully passed the required examination before the Illinois state board of health and he had initiated the practice of his profession prior to graduation. During 1886-7 he was engaged in the dispensary of the Chicago & Northwestern Railroad Company in Chicago, and he then returned to Mason City, where he became associated in practice with Dr. Chauncey H. Smith, to whom a memorial tribute is given on other pages of this work.

Dr. Egloff has given himself with all of zeal and earnestness to the work of his noble and exacting profession and he has not been denied a generous measure of success and prestige. He is recognized as a skillful and resourceful physician and surgeon and he keeps in close touch with the advances made in both departments of his profession. He is a valued member of the Cerro Gordo County Medical Society, the Austin Flint-Cedar Valley Medical Society, the Iowa State Medical Society, and the American Medical Association. From 1904 to 1908 he was councilor of the Iowa State Medical Society for the Fourth congressional district of Iowa, and during the last year of his incumbency he was chairman of the state board of councilors. In 1910 Dr. Egloff was elected first vice president of the Iowa State Medical Society and in the same year he was appointed one of the five members representing the state society at the second national conservation congress held in the city of St. Paul, Minnesota, in October of that year. He is also identified with the American Association of Railway Surgeons, being district surgeon for the C. & N. W. Railway and local surgeon for the C.M. & St. P. Railroad. In politics the Doctor is found aligned as a staunch supporter of the cause of the Republican party, and he is identified with various social organizations of representative order.

On the 12th of February, 1889, was solemnized the marriage of Dr. Egloff to Miss Harriet E. Smith, who was born and reared in Cerro Gordo county and who is the daughter of the late Dr. Chauncey H. Smith, who is the subject of an individual memoir elsewhere in this volume and with whom Dr. Egloff was formerly associated in practice. Dr. and Mrs. Egloff became the parents of four children: Marie Agatha, who was born January 12, 1896, died in infancy; Max Allen, who was born on the 21st of March, 1898, is attending the public schools as is also William Chauncey, who was born on the 16th of March, 1901; and Martha Janet was born March 16, 1910. The family is one of prominence and distinctive popularity in connection with social affairs in Mason City, and as a citizen Dr. Egloff is liberal and progressive, giving his support to the measures and enterprises tending to advance the general welfare of the community.

NOTE: Dr. Egloff died on September 8, 1930. Harriet Estelle (Smith) Egloff was born July 26, 1868, and died on July 2, 1938. Marie Agatha Egloff died on January 19, 1896. William Chauncey Egloff died on May 19, 1958. They were interred at Elmwood-St. Joseph Cemetery, Mason City IA

Max Allen Egloff, U.S. Army Veteran, died on November 27, 1956, and was interrred at Arlington National Cemetery, Arlington VA.

Transcription and note by Sharon R. Becker, February of 2014