John Schoenenberger (1915)
AKERS, BOLING, NICHOLSON, SCHOENENBERGER, TRAVIS
Posted By: Pat Hochstetler
Date: 3/18/2006 at 15:32:13
The Winterset Madisonian
Winterset, Iowa
Wednesday, April 28, 1915
Page 6, Column 3MORTUARY
Early Friday morning at his home in Walnut township, John Schoenenberger passed away after several weeks of suffering. At his bedside were his wife, his daughter, Mrs. Adelaide Nicholson, and his four sons, Ralph, Walter, Guy, and Iver.
The funeral services were held from the home Sunday afternoon and burial was made in the Rock City cemetery.
The deceased was born June 5, 1850, in Fairfield county, Ohio, the first child of Nicholas and Louise Schoenenberger. Four more sons and five daughters completed this family circle, all of whom attained maturity. Five of the children are all that now remain of this group. They are Mrs. Akers, of Des Moines; Mrs. Theresa Boling, of Lorimor; Henry Schoenenberger, of Winterset, and Edward Schoenenberger of Walnut township.
In 1855 the parents moved to Madison county, soon afterward settling upon their farm in Walnut township, and later building in Clanton bottom the stone house that has long been a landmark.
The early years of the deceased were not unlike those of other pioneer farm lads, and consisted of much hard work and few days at school. Born of German parents he did not learn to speak English until his twentieth year.
On March 10, 1875, he was married to Miss Lavina Travis, a schoolmate and the daughter of a neighbor. Throughout their married life they resided in Walnut township, the last thirty-nine years on the farm known as their home. To them were born five children, all of whom live in the county. There are also five grandchildren.
John Schoenenberger was intensely interested in the welfare of the community, having served his township and county almost continuously in offices that were arduous rather than lucrative. Madison county honored him by electing him to the Thirty-second General Assembly. He made good use of his opportunities and acquired his measure of success by hard effort. As husband and father he was of the highest type. Home and family were sacred to him. Religiously he was a man of simple faith, having confessed that his peace with God had long been made. His loss will be felt not alone by the family and friends but by the entire community.
_______________________The Winterset Madisonian
Winterset, Iowa
Wednesday, April 28, 1915
Page 1, Column 3J. Schoenenberger Called By Death - Well Known Citizen and Pioneer Dies at His Home in Walnut Township
John Schoenenberger, pioneer settler and prominent in the affairs of this county for many years, died at this home seven miles south of Winterset at 8 a.m., Friday morning. For several weeks, the seriousness of his illness has been known and the end was not unexpected. He was an unusually strong, robust man and was never attacked by illness of any kind until this spring when a complication of diseases, including ureaemic poisoning baffled all human efforts.
He was one of the most successful farmers of Madison County, stood high in the estimation of his fellow citizens and enjoyed the warm friendship and a wide acquaintance throughout the county and to some extent throughout the state.
With his parents, Mr. & Mrs. Nicholas Schoenenberger, he came here from Fairfield County, Ohio, in the year 1855, when he was but five years of age.
He was married to Lavina C. Travis on March 10, 1875, in Madison County. Surviving are his wife, four sons: Walter James; Ralph Travis; Iver Earl and John Guy, and one daughter, Adelaide (Adda) L. (Nicholson).
In addition to various local offices of trust and responsibility, he was elected to the lower house of the Iowa General Assembly in 1906, where he honorably represented this district. He was unusually successful in his occupation of farming and stock raising and the farm home in Walnut township was one of the finest in the county. In his death the county loses a splendid citizen and his family, an ideal husband and father.
The funeral services held at the home on Sunday afternoon was one of the most largely attended ever held in the county. The vast concourse of people assembled from far and near to pay the last tribute of respect to one they loved and honored, indicates the place he held in the hearts of his fellow men. The funeral discourse was delivered by the Rev. Fredrick Donovan and the body was laid to rest at the Winterset Cemetery.
________________________"John Schoenenberger."The Annals of Iowa 12 (1921)
John Schoenenberger was born in Fairfield County, Ohio, June 5, 1850, and died at his home near East Peru, Madison County, Iowa, April 23, 1915.
He came with his parents to Madison County in 1855, attended country schools and eventually became a very successful farmer and stockman. At different times he served as township assessor, clerk, trustee and school treasurer.
Although a Democrat, in 1906 he was elected representative from Madison County, which was strongly Republican, and served in the Thirty-second and Thirty-second extra General Assemblies. In 1912 he was his party's candidate for senator in the Adair-Madison District, but was defeated.
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Madison Obituaries maintained by Linda Griffith Smith.
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