Korf, H. C.

KORF, WESEMAN, ROURKE, BABCOCK, WORMLEY

Posted By: Volunteer Transcriber
Date: 9/10/2009 at 17:59:57

Korf, H. C.

Among the earnest young men whose depth of character and strict adherence to principle have gained for him the admiration of his contemporaries, H. C. Korf, well known attorney of Newton, Jasper County, is numbered, and in his professional career he has shown a tenacity of purpose, an indomitable energy and that self-reliant courage whose natural concomitant is definite success.

Mr. Korf is one of the native sons of this County of whom she should be justly proud. His birth occurred on April 25, 1876. He is the son of Henry and Wilhelmina (Weseman) Korf, the father a native of Germany and the mother of Freeport, Illinois. The former came to America in 1848 when eight years of age, accompanied by his parents, who located on a farm near Freeport, Illinois. Henry Korf grew to maturity in Illinois and was educated there, remaining on the home farm during his youth. He came to Jasper County, Iowa, in 1867, locating on a farm in Malaka Township, where he became well established, developed a good farm and where he lived until 1906, when he retired and moved to Newton, where he now resides, spending his declining years in the midst of plenty and in comfort as a result of his long life of hard work and good management. He is a member of the Presbyterian Church, and he and his wife have many friends throughout the county. They are the parents of seven children, namely: H. C., of this review; Mrs. Hermina Rourke, of Marion, Ohio; Mrs. Marie J. Babcock, of Des Moines, Iowa; Amanda is in the law office with her brother, H. C.; L. G. lives in Newton; E. T. is a civil engineer and lives at Ogden, Utah; E. O. is a student at the State University.

H. C. Korf grew to maturity on the home farm and there he assisted with the general work during the crop seasons during his early life, receiving in the meantime, his primary education in the country schools and at Hazel Dell Academy at Newton, later attended Highland Park College at Des Moines, also took a course at the State University, graduating from the law department in 1899, having made a very commendable record there, and in the same year he was admitted to the bar, soon afterwards beginning active practice at Newton, where he has since remained, building up a very satisfactory clientele and taking a very high rank among the men of this profession in central Iowa. He has kept well informed on all the important court decisions and revised codes, being at all times an assiduous student. He has been most successful in all his legal work and he stands second to none of his contemporaries in a locality noted for the high order of its legal talent. Owing to his marked ability and his public spirit, he was soon singled out for positions of public trust, and for a period of four years he was city attorney of Newton, the duties of which important office he discharged in a manner that reflected credit upon himself and proved the wisdom of his constituents in selecting him for the place. This was from 1903 to 1907.

Mr. Korf was married on August 9, 1905 to Patience E. Wormley, of this county, where she was born, reared and educated, being the representative of an excellent early family here. This union has been graced by the birth of one child, Wilimenia, born June 30, 1910.

Mr. Korf is a director in the First National Bank and the Newton Savings Bank; he is secretary and director of the Jasper County Telephone Company, and is also a stockholder in a number of local manufacturing concerns and he has an interest in several large farms, joint ownership in a number of large landed estates, in this state, and a large tract in Minnesota and Nevada.

Mr. Korf has been very successful in a business way, being a man of rare executive ability, soundness of judgment and able to foresee with remarkable accuracy the future result of a present transaction. Politically, he is loyal to Republican principles, and fraternally, he is a member of the Knights of Pythias. He is one of the trustees of the Congregational Church, of which Mrs. Korf is also a member.

Mr. Korf has led an exemplary life and has the confidence and good will of all who know him, and he is regarded as one of the most substantial and representative citizens of his county, as well as a lawyer of unusual capability. He has been the artificer, very largely, of his own fortunes, and though he has encountered numerous obstacles, his courage has never flagged and he has shown himself to be one thoroughly appreciative of the dignity of honest toil and endeavor. He has done much to improve the agricultural prosperity of the County as well as encourage improvement along various lines, and, judging from his past honored and praiseworthy record, it is safe to predict that the future has much of good in store for him and his fellow men a still greater need of his services. Past and Present of Jasper County Iowa B. F. Bowden & Company, Indianapolis, IN, 1912 Page 536.