Varenkamp, John M.

VARENKAMP, BOAT, LOUDER, ROTEN, RENAUD, WISE, STRATTON, VANDERKROL

Posted By: Volunteer Transcriber
Date: 10/23/2009 at 07:41:51

Varenkamp, John M.

If there is one thing which distinguishes the American businessman over those of any other country, it is the faculty with which any and all occupations are readily taken up by him and made successful. In the older countries it is customary for sons to follow the father's pursuit. "Follow your father, my son, and do as your father has done," was a maxim, which all sons were expected to adopt. It is in such countries as the United States that full swing can be given to the energies of the individual. A man may choose any business or profession he desires, and he is limited only by competition. He must meet the skill of others and give as good service as they or he will not get the positions. Such adaptations to any work or business is well shown in the career of John M. Varenkamp, a successful merchant at the village of Sully, Jasper County, who is of foreign descent. He has turned his hand to various things and proved that farming was not the only occupation which he could make successful.

Mr. Varenkamp was born in Marion County, Iowa, March 3, 1872, the son of Edward C. and Gertrude (Boat) Varenkamp, the father born in the Netherlands and the mother in Marion County, Iowa. The father is at present editor of the Pella Weekblade, printed in the Holland language. He came to Iowa when about twenty-four years old and worked on a farm for some time, then bought land and up to five years ago devoted his life to agricultural pursuits, since which time he has been managing in a very able, manner the newspaper referred to above; he has lived in Pella for the past twenty-one years. Early in his career in this country he spent three years in Nebraska and Dakota. He is a man of influence, general education and praiseworthy characteristics in general. He belongs to the Second Reform Church at Pella. His family consists of the following children: Mrs. Hattie Louder, Mrs. Anna Roten, Mrs. Lydia Renaud, Mrs. Mary Wise, Mrs. Emma Stratton, Nella, Fred and John M.

The maternal grandmother, Henriett Boat, came to Pella, Iowa, in the early forties with a colony of one thousand two hundred Hollanders, early settlers there. John M. Varenkamp of this review attended school at Pella, Iowa, and after leaving school he worked on a farm for about seven years. He went to Nebraska and herded cattle and sheep for some time, then worked in a flouring mill fourteen months in Pella. Desiring to learn the mercantile business, he clerked seven years, during which time he mastered the ins and outs of the same, and in January 1899, he bought out Cornelius Boat, a half interest in the Boat Brothers general store in Sully, Jasper County, and he and A. C. Boat have since carried on the business in a most successful manner, enjoying a wide and every growing patronage with the surrounding country. They carry a large, well-assorted, carefully selected stock of general merchandise and their prices are always right, according to their many customers. They have a neat and well-arranged store building. Theirs is the oldest store in Sully.

Mr. Varenkamp has taken considerable interest in local affairs and has ever manifested a desire to do what he could in behalf of the community's welfare. He was appointed postmaster at Sully on December 22, 1902, and has served in this capacity continuously to the present time in a manner that has reflected much credit upon himself and to the department and the people. He is a member of the Reform Church at Sully, and, politically, he is a Republican.

Mr. Varenkamp was married on March 23, 1898, to Nettie Vanderkrol, who was born in Mahaska County, Iowa, the daughter of G. Vanderkrol, a substantial farmer of that county. To this union one child was born, Gertrude H. The wife and mother was called to her rest on July 8, 1909, in a hospital at Des Moines. Past and Present of Jasper County Iowa B. F. Bowden & Company, Indianapolis, IN, 1912 Page 1044.