Challen Danforth
DANFORTH, FOSTER, HAKE, STURMAN
Posted By: Mary Welty Hart
Date: 8/8/2006 at 21:06:15
The Winterset Madisonian
Winterset, Iowa
August 11, 1915CHALLEN DANFORTH IS DEAD Early Pioneer in Madison County
Challen Danforth, one of the oldest residents of Madison county, died yesterday morning. He had been failing rapidly during the past two weeks and the end was not unexpected. His children had been notified of the seriousness of his condition and were all at his bedside when the end came. Surviving members of the family are his wife, the former, Lida Sturman; Mrs. Beulah Foster of Denver, Mrs. Ray Hake of Worland, Wyoming, Frederick, Alfred and Jay, who reside in this county.
He was born in Henderson county, Ill., Jan. 30, 1844 and came to this county with his mother in 1849, when but five years of age. He was one of the most successful business men of this community. His first business enterprise was in partnership with his brother in the hardware and tinning business. Later he engaged in the banking business and was one of the organizers of the Madison County bank.
Funeral services will be held at the home on Thursday afternoon at three o'clock. Burial was made at the Winterset cemetery.
_______________________The Winterset News
Winterset, Iowa
Wednesday, August 11, 1915
Page 1, Column 1DEATH SUMMONS CHAL. DANFORTH
WINTERSET’S OLDEST CITIZEN CALLED TUESDAY MORNING. DIES FROM CANCER.
LIVED IN WINTERSET 67 YEARS
Children All Present When Death Came. Was Old Soldier and Pioneer Merchant
Challen Danforth, a life time resident the Winterset, died at his home on North First street, Tuesday morning at 8:30. Death came after weeks of continual suffering, but it was not until recently that he was confined to the house. All his living children and grandchildren were at the home when he passed away. His death was due to cancer of the stomach, from which he suffered several years, undergoing an operation at Rochester for it only a few months ago. The funeral will occur at the home Thursday afternoon at two o’clock.
Chal Danforth was more prominently identified with Winterset’s business interests than any other man. He believed in the city and he invested in its property. Nine or ten buildings on the square belonged to him. One of the town additions was platted by him and his holdings are scattered over the town. His two hundred acre farm adjoins the city.
He had lived longer in Winterset than any other person, coming to the town 1849 when only four years old and was a continuous resident of it for 67 years. He was one of the very wealthy men of the city and his fortune is estimated between $225,000 and $300,000. Knowing that death was approaching, Mr. Danforth divided his estate among his children, after leaving Mrs. Danforth property and money to the amount of $100,000.
When his widowed mother came to Winterset with her brother, A. D. Jones, in 1849, she brought her two small sons with her. Challen and William, the latter now living in Scott Township south of the city. Mrs. Danforth was the first school teacher in Winterset. When Chal Danforth was yet a small boy he went to work in Sam Snyder’s little log grocery where Wilson’s market stands.
During the first years of the civil war he worked in Ayer’s dry goods store. He enlisted in Co. E. Forty-seventh Iowa in 1864, the last Winterset company organized and served until the close of the war.
When he came home he and “Bill” Danforth opened a small tin shop on the south side and later enlarged it into a hardware store. They were successful but Challen soon sold out to his brother and confined his business to real estate and loans. It owns several farms in this county and has an extensive tract of land in Wyoming.
Mr. Danforth was a member of the Masonic lodge and a charter member of Pitzer post G. A. R. He helped found the Madison County Bank and is one of its heaviest stockholders.
In 1872 Mr. Danforth was married to Lida Sturman, the daughter of a Winterset druggist. Five of the seven children born to them survive, Mrs. E. W. Foster, of Worland, Wyoming, Fred, Alfred and Jay of Winterset, and Mrs. Ray Hake of Worland, Wyoming.
Challen Danforth was truly a self-made man. He was an enthusiast on Iowa and his home town. He believed in them and was loyal to his beliefs. He was popular with all men and there never was a more affable “mixer” than he. He was courteous, kind and hospitable and owed his great success to being a shrewd judge of men. In the community in which he lived a long life time, in the town which he helped build and the county which he helped develop, no man was more highly esteemed or had more friends than Chal Danforth.
Gravesite
Madison Obituaries maintained by Linda Griffith Smith.
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