Poppingo, John

POPPINGO, BEHR, BURSING

Posted By: Roseanna Zehner
Date: 7/25/2006 at 11:35:53

POPPINGO, JOHN

John Poppingo, one of the foremost public spirited and worthy citizens of Lyon county, is a native of Germany, where he was born in 1852, a son of Jacob and Molly Poppingo. The family came to America in 1865, and first settled in Ogle county, Illinois, where the mother died the following year. The father died in Butler county, Iowa, in 1877.

John Poppingo had to get out early in life, and hustle for himself. He was one of six children, four of whom are yet living, and when he had reached the age of fourteen years, he went out to work by the day, studying as he could get time and opportunity. Working this way up to manhood he not only became somewhat forehanded but he also gained for himself a very valuable education, the more so that it was hammered out on the anvil of necessity, and was all practical.

The subject of this sketch and Miss Kate Behr were married September 1, 1879. She was born in Germany, and is the mother of seven children, all of whom are still living. Her parents were Conrad and Frances Behr. Her mother died in Germanyand, but her father came to this country and died in Illinois. They had six children, five of whom are yet living. To Mr. and Mrs. Poppingo have come the following children: Jacob O.; Conrad W.; Grace, married to George Bursing, a farmer of county; George H.; Martin E.; Jennie M.; Leslie R.

After their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Poppingo lived on rented land until 1888, when he bought a quarter section three miles northwest of Rock Rapids, Iowa. At the time he bought it was mostly wild land, and here he has made one of the finest farms of Riverside township. To the original quarter section he has added 100 acres, and since then has added twenty acres more, making two hundred and eighty acres all told, and has put up a modern house, barns, granaries, and such other buildings as the profitable operation of the place demanded.

Mr. Poppingo is a thorough American-German, a prominent member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and has been president of the school board for some years. He is a self-educated man, and is considered by all as a man of much intelligence. His politics are Republican, and he cast his first vote for R.B. Hayes. He started out in life with a capital of health and his two hands. With the help of his good wife he has beaten his way through manifold trials and difficulties, and now stands in the front rank of social and business circles. Mrs. Poppingo is a member of Rebekah Lodge, No. 49, of Rock Rapids.

Source: Compendium of History Reminiscence and Biography of Lyon County, Iowa. Published under the Auspices of the Pioneer Association of Lyon County. Geo. Monlun, Pres.; Hon. E. C. Roach Sec’y; and Col. F. M. Thompson, Historian. Geo. A. Ogle & CO., Published, Engravers and Book Manufacturers. Chicago, 1904-1905

Transcribed by Roseanna Zehner, Darlene Jacoby and Diane Johnson