KOCH, Julius

KOCH, BRANDT, BIDSTRUP, HOMERING

Posted By: Gordon Felland (email)
Date: 3/25/2010 at 22:11:02

Julius Koch has been a resident of Mitchell county since 1869 and has figured prominently in connection with its business affairs. Alert, energetic and progres­sive, he has watched and utilized opportunities that others have passed heedlessly by. In his business life he has been a persistent, resolute and energetic worker, possessing strong executive powers and keeping his hand steadily upon the helm of his interests, while at all times he has been strictly conscientious in his dealings with debtor and creditor alike. He is now well known as the president of the Citizens Bank at St. Ansgar.

A native of Prussia, he was born on the 26th of January, 1847, and was a little lad of but nine years when brought to the United States by his parents, Gottlieb and Regina Koch, who settled first at Watertown, Wisconsin. The father was a baker and miller by trade but after locating in Wisconsin turned his attention to farming. In 1865 he removed to Dane county, Wisconsin, where the family resided for fifteen years. At a subsequent period Gottlieb Koch and his wife took up their abode at Columbus, Wisconsin, where one of their sons was pastor of a church, and there the death of the father occurred in 1883, while his widow, surviving him for about fifteen years, departed this life in 1898. In their family were ten children but only two of the number ever came to Iowa: Julius; and Mathilda, now the wife of Henry Brandt.

Julius Koch took up his abode in Mitchell county, Iowa, in 1869, being at that time a young man of twenty-two years. He had spent the period of his boyhood and youth in Wisconsin and was indebted to its public school system for the edu­cational privileges which he enjoyed. He engaged in farming and in the real estate business for fifteen years after he came to this state. In 1883 he removed to St. Ansgar, where he turned his attention to commercial pursuits, be­coming connected with the lumber trade. He bought out the lumberyard of John Rehms and conducted the business successfully for six years. On the expiration of that period he established an implement store in St. Ansgar and carried on the business in connection with his son for thirteen years. In 1900 he established the second bank of St. Ansgar, known as the Citizens Bank, and has since been its president. During the intervening period, covering seventeen years, he has, largely developed the business of the bank, which is regarded as one of the safe moneyed institutions of the county. His policy is one which will bear the closest investigation and scrutiny and throughout the entire period he has tempered progressiveness by a wise conservatism.

On the 22d of February, 1869, Mr. Koch was united in marriage to Miss Laura Bidstrup, a native of Wisconsin, who later came to Mitchell county, Iowa, and to them have been born two children: O. H., who was born January 21, 1870, and has been associated with his father in various business undertakings; and Walter, who was born April 30, 1881, and died April 7, 1893. The elder son is a pro­gressive and enterprising young business man, alert to opportunities, which he carefully utilizes, and has thus made steady progress in the business world. He is now associated with his father in the bank and is a courteous and obliging bank official who is ever willing to extend the aid of the bank to any of its patrons to a point that will not endanger the interests of others. On the 18th of September, 1895, he was united in marriage to Miss Mary Homering, of Merrill, Wisconsin, and they have become the parents of two children, Lloyd and Laura, twins, who were born on the 5th of August, 1900. In addition to his banking interests O. H. Koch is secretary of the light and power company and is treasurer of the lumber and grain company, of which he is a stockholder.

In his political views Julius Koch is a republican and has always been a stanch advocate of the party principles. For fifteen years he served as a member of the city council, exercising his official prerogatives in support of many plans and measures for the general good and doing everything in his power to advance the interests of the city. For six years he was a member of the school board and the cause of education has also benefited greatly by his cooperation. His religious faith is that of the German Evangelical Lutheran church. He does everything in his power to promote advancement and improvement in every possible way. He was one of the organizers of the Farmers Lumber & Grain Company and acted as its president for five years. In 1905 he assisted in the organization of the Farmers Cooperative Lumber & Grain Company, in which he took stock, was elected its president which office he still holds, and remains a strong financial backer of the undertaking. He is keenly alive to the possibilities of every new avenue opened in the natural ramifications of trade. His sound judgment enables him to pass over the pitfalls into which unrestricted progressiveness is so frequently led and he has been enabled to focus his energies in directions where fruition is certain. His business characteristics might be summed up in these words: a progressive spirit ruled by more than ordinary intelligence and good judgment; a deep earnestness impelled and fostered by indomitable perseverance; a native justice expressing itself in correct principle and practice.

Source: History of Mitchell and Worth Counties, 1918, Iowa, Vol. II, page 144