ZEIGLER, Sanford - 1912 Bio (1859-1945)

ZEIGLER, SNOOK, FOWLER, COOK, LEATHERS, BOWERS

Posted By: Joey Stark
Date: 10/6/2007 at 19:20:37

History of Jefferson County, Iowa -- A Record of Settlement, Organization, Progress and Achievement, Vol II, Published 1912, S. J. Clarke Publishing Co., Chicago
Pages 477-479

Sanford ZEIGLER has been a lifelong resident of Jefferson county and is today one of the enterprising business men whose energy and determination have constituted the basic elements of his success, which has brought him to a leading position in commercial circles. He was born about five miles northwest of Fairfield, in Center township, July 13, 1859. His father, Casper ZEIGLER, was born in Ohio in 1837 and was brought by his parents to Iowa in 1846 when a little lad of nine years, the journey being made in one of the old time moving wagons known as prairie schooners. His parents were Samuel and Katherine (SNOOK) ZEIGLER, and the former is of Swiss origin. Samuel ZEIGLER was born in Switzerland and after his emigration to America settled in Ohio, where he conducted a store and upon his removal to Iowa brought his stock of goods to this county, where he traded them for produce. At the time of his arrival Jefferson county was still a pioneer district, with much of the land unclaimed and uncultivated. He entered a tract in Center township from the government and at once began to break the sod and till the fields, continuing the further cultivation of the property until his death. In his family were three sons and five daughters: Amy; Margaret; Esther; Barbara, who is the widow of George FOWLER, and resides upon the farm in Center township which her husband entered from the government; Elizabeth, the wife of Andy COOK, of Kansas City, Missouri; Casper; Samuel, now living in California; and Benjamin, a resident of North Dakota.

Casper ZEIGLER was reared on the old homestead farm in this county and with the family experienced the usual hardships and privations of pioneer life. In early manhood he went to Colorado largely for the benefit of his health, and spent a number of years in that state, engaged in mining. About 1870 he returned to Jefferson county and later purchased a farm in Keokuk county, whereon he died in 1873. His wife bore the maiden name of Mary Ann LEATHERS, and was born in Kentucky in 1842. She was only six years of age when her parents came to Iowa, settling in Keokuk county, after which they went to Mahaska county, where the marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Casper ZEIGLER was celebrated. Her death also occurred in Keokuk county, in April, 1907. By her marriage she has become the mother of three sons: Sanford; Samuel, living in What Cheer, Iowa; and George W., of Missouri.

Sanford ZEIGLER has resided continuously in Jefferson county except for a period of about nine years. He was eight years of age when the family went to Colorado and he remained in that state and in Keokuk, where he lived for one year, until he reached the age of seventeen. He then returned to Jefferson county and resided upon the home farm until twenty-seven years of age, when he came to Fairfield and entered the poultry business, with which he has since been connected. He has since extended the scope of his business, becoming a dealer in grain and eggs and as the years have passed has built up an extensive and profitable enterprise. His sales annually reach a large figure and he has in Fairfield an elevator with a capacity of thirty thousand bushels, enabling him readily to handle the grain which he purchases. In addition to his town interests he owns forty acres of land, constituting a well improved farm, and also an orchard of thirty acres one mile north of the city, mostly planted to apples. He is likewise a director of the ZEIGLER Canning Company and his two brothers own a half interest. He is likewise a director of the Fairfield Gas & Electric Light Company and thus into various fields he has extended his efforts and the success which has attended him indicates the soundness of his judgment, his unfaltering energy and his keen sagacity. He is a man of determined purpose, who brooks no obstacles that can be overcome by persistent, earnest and honorable effort and gradually he has worked his way upward to success, being now numbered among the leading and prosperous business men of his adopted city.

In 1889 Mr. ZEIGLER was married to Miss Ella BOWERS, who was born in Pennsylvania in 1866, and came to Iowa with her parents, John and Permelia BOWERS, who were natives of Germany and died in Farmington, Van Buren county, Iowa. Mr. and Mrs. ZEIGLER are the parents of nine children: Sanford J., Margaret, Raymond, Ariel, Harold, Evelyn, Ruth, Clarence and Florence.

Mr. ZEIGLER has always manifested deep concern in the welfare and upbuilding of this county and his labors have at various times been effective forces for advancement and improvement. As president of the Jefferson county Fair Association he did much to stimulate effort on the part of the agricultural community to produce better crops and raise higher grades of cattle. For the past three years he has been a member of the board of education of Fairfield, for three years served as county commissioner and for eleven years was a member of the city council, at the end of which time he resigned. While serving as alderman he was the champion of many measures which have proven of inestimable value in promoting the interests of the city and in all public affairs he has manifested the same loyalty and progressive spirit that have characterized the conduct of his private business interests. His political support is given to the republican party and his religious faith is that of the Methodist Episcopal church. He is also prominent in fraternal circles having in Masonry attained the Knight Templar degree and also that of the Mystic Shrine. He likewise belongs to the Knights of Pythias, the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks and the Royal Arcanum. His life has been a busy, useful one, and he has become an important factor in the commercial circles of Fairfield, his prosperity being well deserved, for in him are embraced the characteristics of an unbending integrity, unabating energy and industry that never flags.

*Transcribed for genealogy purposes; I have no relation to the person(s) mentioned.