Pflaum, John L. – 1840-1924

BALL, GWINN, PEARSON, PFLAUM

Posted By: Diana Wagner
Date: 9/7/2021 at 12:34:52

John Laurence Pflaum was born of a Bavarian family in Hamburg, Germany on July 4th 1840. Three days after his birth his parents came to America where they settled at Rochester, New York. In 1854 they moved to Iowa where they bought an unimproved prairie farm near Matonn and there built a log house and broke the sod.
He was married to Julia Anna Gwinn at Montezuma, Iowa, December 21st, 1864, thus at the time of his death he was approaching the sixtieth anniversary of this happy event. To this union there were born six children, namely Mrs. Howard Ball, Oliver and Emory Pflaum and Mrs. John Pearson, all of Colfax and also William and Oscar who died in infancy.
They moved to Odessa, Kansas where they lived for four years and then came to Colfax, Iowa, Halloween of 1894 where they bought a home where he spent the rest of his life. This home-site was upon a cornfield from which the corn had been gathered that season.
For more than twenty years he was engaged as a photographer, one year in Montezuma and the remainder in Colfax.
The end came peacefully at 5 p.m. on September 12th, 1924 at the age of eighty-four years, two months and seven days, following an illness of a little over two months. He leaves to mourn his death his widow, four children, seven grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.
The funeral services were held on Sunday afternoon at the M.E. church by the Rev. F. J. Neal and interment was made at the McKeever cemetery.
Source: Colfax (IA) Tribune; Thursday, September 18, 1924, page 4