SLAGLE, F. H.

SLAGLE, CRABB, DOWNES, KINGSLEY

Posted By: Jean Kramer (email)
Date: 7/26/2003 at 18:54:58

Biography reproduced from page 80 of Volume II of the History of Kossuth County written by Benjamin F. Reed and published in 1913:

F. H. Slagle, who has been actively identified with educational interests as a school teacher for a quarter of a century, held the office of superintendent of schools in Kossuth county for four years. Since 1909, however, he has been engaged in building houses in Algona, where he has already erected and now owns eight residences and has two more under course of construction. His birth occurred in Goodhue county, Minnesota, on the 13th of March, 1865, his parents being Peter L. and Sarah (Crabb) Slagle, both of whom were natives of Ohio. In the paternal line the family traces its ancestry back to Germany, where the name was spelled Schlegel. The mother of Mrs. Sarah (Crabb) Slagle was a Downes and a relative of Sir Isaac Newton. Peter L. Slagle, the father of our subject, made his way to Minnesota with ox teams in 1853 and took up and proved a homestead in association with his father-in-law, Francis Crabb. During the period of his residence in the Gopher state he enlisted in Company D, Eleventh Minnesota Volunteer Infantry, and served in the Union army throughout the last year of the Civil war. He remained in Minnesota until 1869, in which year he again set forth in a prairie schooner, locating eventually in Algona, Iowa, where he rented land and raised his first crop on what is now the east end of State street. Subsequently he purchased a tract of wild land in Irvington township, three miles east of Algona, and erected thereon a slab house. F. H. Slagle, who was still but a small child when the family took up their abode therein, slept on the table during the first night, there being no floor in the house. At the end of six years’ residence in Irvington township Peter L. Slagle removed to Algona and into the house now occupied by our subject. He was a harness maker by trade and always worked at that occupation in town but also carried on farming on a small scale. In politics he was a republican and fraternally was identified with the Masons and the Independent Order of Odd Fellows of Algona. The period of his residence in this county covered four decades and his demise, which occurred in Algona on the 28th of February, 1909, was mourned by an extensive circle of friends and acquaintances. His wife was called to her final rest in 1907. Both Mr. and Mrs. Slagle were buried in Riverview cemetery at Algona. Their children were five in number, as follows: Charles H., who acts as station agent at Ruthven, Iowa; Elmer H., a railway mail clerk residing in St. Paul, Minnesota; F. H., of this review; George H., who passed away at the age of sixteen years; and Waldon H., who is a resident of Algona, Iowa.

F. H. Slagle obtained his early education in this county, receiving his first instruction in a private house on the old Stacy farm situated a mile and a half east of Algona. The lid of a chest served as his desk and he sat on half of an old nail keg filled with rags. Amid these crude surroundings he became familiar with the rudiments of English learning under the direction of Miss Julia Stacy. After having completed the public-school course in Algona he followed the profession of teaching for three years and then became a college student in York, Nebraska, while subsequently he spent two years in Cornell College of Mount Vernon, Iowa. In 1891, having completed the philosophical course and normal work at the same time, he was graduated from that institution. He then resumed the profession of teaching in Nebraska and later continued his labors as an instructor in Iowa, being identified with educational interests altogether for twenty-five years. During four years of that time he served as county superintendent of schools and for a similar period was employed as a government teacher in the Philippine Islands, having charge of a training school during the last two years of his residence there. He went to the islands by way of Honolulu and Japan and returned to the United States by way of Egypt, Italy, France and England, spending considerable time visiting various parts of these countries. He returned to his native land in 1907 and during the year 1909 taught school for one term in this county. Since that time he has been busily engaged in the erection of houses and now owns eights residences in Algona and has two more under course of construction. In Burnett county, Wisconsin, he owns a resort with a mile of lake front. Success has crowned his efforts in the fields of endeavor in which he has directed his energies and he has long been numbered among the prosperous and representative citizens of his community.

In 1908 Mr. Slagle was united in marriage to Miss Carrie Kingsley, by whom he has one child, Cirilla. While in the Philippines Mr. Slagle educated two boys, one of whom, Cirillo by name, was his favorite protégé. It was in memory of this lad that he named his little baby girl Cirila, the feminine of Cirilo.

At the polls Mr. Slage casts his ballot in support of the men and measures of the republican party, for he believes that its principles are most conducive to good government. His religious faith is indicated by his membership in the Methodist Episcopal church, while his wife belongs to the Congregational church. Fraternally he is identified with the Masons of Algona and both he and his wife belong to the Order of the Eastern Star. His life is exemplary in all respects and he has ever supported those interests which are calculated to uplift and benefit humanity, while his own high moral worth is deserving of highest commendation.