Nicklaus, Jacob 1821-1866

NICKLAUS, SPOILADER

Posted By: Audrey Haught, volunteer
Date: 6/9/2015 at 02:45:53

Died at his residence in Elkader, on the June 7, 1866, of consumption, Jacob Nicklaus, aged 44 years.

He was born on the 21st of November, A.D., 1821, at the village of Bleckweiler near Blais Cassel in the Bavarian Province called the Rheinpfaltz.

He attended the common schools of his country from his early boyhood, and mastering the ordinary branches taught there at the age of 17, he entered the University of Munchen, a Catholic institution of learning at the Capital of Bavaria, where, after a thorough preparatory and scientific course and at the earnest solicitation of his mother and friends, he pursued the study of Theology for about four years.

In 1848 when many of the liberty-loving young men of Germany took up arms against the tyrants and oppressors of their country, he too, was found in the ranks of the little army of freedom. But when after a short and spirited contest against overwhelming forces and through treachery, the little band of Patriots were forced to succumb to the greater number, he, after a few days spend with some friend in the city of Strassburg, France, became, with others, an exile from his native land and arrived in the United Sates – the land of his adoption – on the 4th day of May 1849.

First working on a farm and gathering what he could of the English language, he then went to Cincinnati, and became a traveling agent for the Cincinnati Republikaner, a German Newspaper, and for nearly three years traveled extensively in the States of Ohio, Virginia, Kentucky, Illinois and other States as far South as New Orleans, and finally came to Guttenberg in the county in 1853, and in 1854 in the town of Logan, Ohio, married a Miss Augusta Spoilader, who now mourns his loss.

He continued to reside in Guttenberg, acting as notary public and land agent until 1859, when he was elected Treasurer and Recorder of the county by the Republican party, which office he held until the first of January 1866, and finally declined another election on account of ill health, not doubt brought on by too close confinement in his office duties.

Almost every man in the county knew him personally, and none knew him that did not respect him. In his official duties he was untiring and obliging, always ready to do any and everything in his power to accommodate his constituency. He was honest, frank and straightforward in all his dealings with his fellow men, and all agree that benevolence, honesty and integrity were among his cardinal virtues.

In his family he was ever kind and affectionate, seeming to study their comfort rather than his own.

He was a member of the Masonic fraternity, and of the Lodge in this place, and received, by his request, the honors of a masonic burial, on Sunday last, by the brethren of this Lodge, assisted by many Brothers of the different Lodges in this vicinity and also by a large concourse of friends and neighbors, all of which hereby tender their lasting sympathy for his bereaved widow and little ones.

Clayton County Journal: June 13, 1866

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An imposing scene, the burial of our much lamented Ex-Treasurer, Mr. Jacob Nicklaus, was attended by more than one hundred and fifty members of the Masonic fraternity, from various parts of the county. McGregor, Monona, Strawberry Point, beside most of the members of the Elkader Lodge, were largely represented. The ceremonies were well conducted and consequently highly imposing. The tribute paid to an esteemed deceased brother was just and deserved.

There was not man in the county who was deeper in the affections of the people than Mr. Nicklaus. The mourning therefore is universal while the sympathy for his bereaved family is unbounded.

Clayton County Journal: June 13, 1866