SEILER, FRANK H.

SEILER, SHERMAN, WALDRON, BOURQUIN, BOURQUIN, HOFFMAN, NEIMIER, KEELER, MCDOUGAL, BUCK, FARRELL, RYAN, MCDONALD, SHAW, OKEEFE, MALLOY, ONEIL

Posted By: Jean Kramer (email)
Date: 7/31/2003 at 21:48:40

Biography reproduced from page 709 of Volume II of the History of Kossuth County written by Benjamin F. Reed and published in 1913:

Frank H. Seiler is the senior member of the firm of Seiler & Mountford of Algona, which he established in 1911 for the sale of the Ford automobile. His birth occurred in Rochester, Minnesota, on the 20th of March, 1866, his parents being George Frederick and Clara Irene (Sherman) Seiler. His grandmother on the maternal side also bore the name of Clara Irene. His paternal grandfather served as an officer of the Saxon Hussars in the German army. George Frederick Seiler, the father of our subject, was born in Germany on the 2d day of December, 1823, and was therefore a young man of twenty-three years when he crossed the Atlantic to the United States in 1846. His demise occurred at Rochester, Minnesota, on the 2d day of July, 1891, while his wife passed away at that place on the 19th of June, 1872, when forty-seven years of age. They were parents of eleven children. Mary, a native of Schenectady, New York, gave her hand in marriage to Francis Waldron, who was killed in the Civil war. She became the mother of seven children and died in May, 1910. George, who was born in Schenectady, New York, and is living retired in California, wedded Miss Sadie Bourquin. John, born in Schenectady, New York, was for many years a stockman of Nebraska and passed away at Sioux City, Iowa, in April, 1910, at which time he was a widower. Henry, who is a native of Schenectady, New York, and resides in Montevideo, Minnesota, wedded Miss Mary Bourquin, by whom he has two children. Charles, who was born in Rochester, Minnesota, and is now a retired farmer residing at Mora, Minnesota, married Miss Elizabeth Hoffman and has one child. Clara, who was born in Rochester, Minnesota, and now resides at Northville, North Dakota, is the wife of Henry Neimier, by whom she has seven children. Margaret, who is a native of Rochester, Minnesota, and now resides in the state of Washington, is the wife of Monroe Keeler and the mother of two children. Edward, who was born in Rochester, Minnesota, and now makes his home at Montevideo, Minnesota, married Miss Emma McDougal, by whom he had ten children. William, a native of Rochester, Minnesota, now makes his home at Cass Lake, that state. Amelia, born in Rochester, Minnesota, is the mother of two children and the wife of Frank L. Buck, with whom she resides in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Frank H. Seiler grew to manhood in the city of his nativity and subsequently spent a few years in western Minnesota, later establishing his home in Minneapolis and traveling for the Minneapolis Iron Store Company of that place. In 1910 he came with his wife to Algona, Iowa, while still a representative of the Minneapolis Iron Store Company, and here began dealing in automobiles on a small scale. In 1911 he established the firm of Seiler & Mountford for the sale of Ford cars and in this connection has since been accorded an extensive patronage.

On the 19th of June, 1899, Mr. Seiler was united in marriage to Miss Eleanor Farrell, who was born in Red Wing, Minnesota, and who was a resident of Waupun, Wisconsin, at the time of her marriage. Her parents are James and Mary (Ryan) Farrell, the former a native of Pennsylvania and the latter of Ireland. Mary Ryan was brought to this country when a child and was married in Waupun, Wisconsin. The parents now reside near Goodhue, Minnesota. To Mr. and Mrs. Farrell were born ten children, as follows: Elizabeth, who is the wife of John McDonald and lives in St. Anthony Park, Minnesota; William Henry, who wedded Miss Minnie Shaw, of Princeton, Minnesota, and who is a wholesale potato dealer of that place; James, who was killed in a street car accident at the age of twenty-four years; Mrs. Eleanor Seiler; John Henry, who wedded Miss Mary O’Keefe and resides in St. Paul, Minnesota; Thomas F., an agriculturist residing at Goodhue, Minnesota; Mary Ann, who is the wife of Clarence Malloy, a farmer of Goodhue, Minnesota; Alice, living in Goodhue, Minnesota; Charles, who wedded Miss Elizabeth O’Neil and who is a farmer of Goodhue, Minnesota; and Lucy, who also resides at Goodhue, Minnesota. Both Mr. and Mrs. Seiler attend and support the local churches. They are well and favorably known in Algona and have gained the warm regard and esteem of all with whom they have been associated.