Beck, J. P.

BECK, HOFFMAN

Posted By: Linda Ziemann, Plym. CC (email)
Date: 2/21/2005 at 17:09:51

J. P. BECK

J.P. Beck, one of the well-known and successful merchants of Remsen, was born in Des Moines, Iowa, on August 6, 1865, the son of M.M. and Catherine Beck. When J.P. Beck was two years of age, his parents moved to Ossian, Iowa, and there he received his education in the public school. At the age of sixteen he attended the Chicago Pharmacy College and later came with his father to Plymouth county and located at Remsen, where he worked for his father, who had purchased the Frank Miller store. He remained with his father until the latter retired from the business, he and J.H. Ahman then purchasing the business and continuing the same under the firm name of Beck & Ahman. This partnership continued for ten years, at the end of which time Mr. Beck bought the store, which he has since continued, under the name of the Beck Retail Commercial Union store, and has met with a large measure of success.

The father of J.P. Beck was born in Germany and there received his education in the public schools and there grew to manhood. He remained in his native country until 1848, when he decided to come to America. He settled in Missouri, where he worked at the carpenter trade for some time, and then moved to Polk county, Iowa, where he engaged in farming until 1867, when he moved to Ossian, Iowa, and there engaged in farming, remaining there until 1881, in which year he located at Remsen, where he engaged in the general mercantile business. He started in a small way with a store but twenty-four by forty feet in six. In 1906 he erected a brick building that was twenty-five by one hundred feet, and later increased the space of the store to fifty by one hundred feet. At the time Mr. Beck engaged in business in Remsen, there were but two general stores in the town, and today his original place of business is the oldest and one of the most substantial places of business in the town. To Mr. and Mrs. Beck the following children were born: Mrs. Lena Schweback, Mrs. Doctor Schultz, F.Z., and J.P. The family has long been active in the social and the religious life of the community and is held in the highest esteem. Mr. Beck took a prominent part in the development of the township and had much to do with the civic life of the community.

J.P. Beck was united in marriage in 1888 to Susie Hoffman, the daughter of Nicholas Hoffman and wife, and to this union seven children have been born, Joseph, Adolph, Raymond, Clarence, Nora, John and Rosa. Adolph Beck married Regina Wenner.

J.P. Beck has always taken an active interest in the affairs of the community and was for eight years treasurer of Remsen. He and his family are active members of the Catholic church and have long been prominent in the social and religious life of the community. For many years Mr. Beck has been a member of the board of trustees of his church, and is an active member of the Knights of Columbus, of the Catholic order of Foresters, of which he is treasurer; of the Roman Catholic Mutual Protective Society and of the Luxemburg Bunderbund of America, of which he is also treasurer. He is also a stockholder and a director of the Farmers' Savings Bank of Remsen and vice-president of the Remsen Tank Line Company, and is interested in the Wynot cash store, at Wynot, Nebraska, and in the Thomas Grocery Company at Le Mars. He was one of the organizers of the Retail Commercial Union, and is one of the directors and has served as president of the company, a concern that has developed into one of the largest buying concerns in the United States. Mr. Beck is also one of the organizers and is at present one of the directors of the Des Moines Wholesale Grocery Company, a concern that is doing an immense business in that section of the country.

J.P. Beck has long been identified with the Democratic party and has been active in the local affairs of the township and of the county, where he is held in the highest regard, being regarded as one of the most substantial and influential citizens of the community. He has had much to do with the business interests of the district and has been one of the prominent factors in the general progress and the development of the community.

BOOK SOURCE:
History of Plymouth County, Iowa
Indianapolis, Ind.: B. F. Bowen, 1917