Detloff, Henry

DETLOFF, PECH

Posted By: Linda Ziemann, Plym. CC (email)
Date: 2/21/2005 at 17:22:48

Henry Detloff

The late Henry Detloff, for years one of the best-known pioneer farmers and stockmen of Plymouth county and one of the most extensive landowners in Elgin township, was a native of Germany, but had been a resident of this country since 1869 and of Plymouth county since 1876. He came to this country, a poor German boy, practically empty-handed, but by careful management succeeded far beyond the measure of most men and at the time of his death in the fall of 1915 was the owner of eleven hundred acres of excellent land and had long been regarded as one of Plymouth county's most substantial citizens. His widow, who still survives him, is now living at Le Mars, where she is very comfortably situated at her pleasant home at 1401 Eagle street.

Henry Detloff was a Pomeranian, born in the province of Pommern, Prussia, May 12, 1846, son of John and Ricka Detloff, the latter of whom died when he was a small boy. John Detloff was a shepherd in his native Pommern and followed that gentle calling until some time after the death of his wife, when he came to America and settled near Bloomington, Illinois, where he spent the rest of his life farming. To him and his wife five children had been born, of whom but two are now living, Mrs. Ricka Bealah and Mrs. Minnie Ward. Henry Detloff received his schooling in his native land and there early learned the wagon-making trade, which he followed until he entered the army at the age of nineteen. At the end of six months of service he was promoted to the rank of lieutenant and served in that capacity until the completion of the required three years of service. In 1869, shortly after the completion of his military service, Henry Detloff came to the United States and joined his father at Bloomington, Illinois, in the neighborhood of which city he worked as a farm hand until the next spring, when he rented a farm in that vicinity and there remained until 1876, in which year he came to Iowa and settled in Plymouth county, where he spent the remainder of his life. In the meantime, in the summer of 1872, Mr. Detloff had married and upon coming to this county established his home on the quarter section of land he had bought in Elgin township, four and one-half miles north of Le Mars. For that quarter section he paid eight dollars an acre, the same being raw prairie, and he lost little time in breaking the sod and bringing the land under cultivation. Upon taking possession of his new place he built a small two-room house and during his second year there planted a grove. During the dread visitations of the grasshoppers throughout this section he suffered almost total losses, in common with all the other early settlers hereabout, but he had courage and pluck and "stuck to the job", presently beginning to see his way clear, and from that time on prospered in his undertakings. As he prospered he built a new house and substantial farm buildings, brought his farm up to a high standard of cultivation and gradually enlarged his land holdings until he became the owner of eleven hundred acres of excellent land, of which he farmed five hundred and twenty acres, leaving the remainder for a range for his cattle, in which latter line he also became quite successful, long having been regarded as one of the most thrifty stockmen in that part of the county. Mr. Detloff was a Republican and from the time of taking up his residence in this county ever gave his thoughtful attention to local civic affairs, serving for some time as township trustee and for years as director of his local school district. He was one of the active supporters of the German Methodist Episcopal church and for years was a member of the board of trustees of that body. Mr. Detloff died on October 31, 1915, and his passing was widely mourned among his large circle of friends and acquaintances, for he was a good citizen and one of the county's most influential pioneers.

It was on August 24, 1872, at Bloomington, Illinois, that Henry Detloff was united in marriage to Pauline Pech, who was born in Germany, a daughter of Ferdinand and Dora Pech, also natives of that country, who were the parents of five children, Robert, Gus, Ferdinand, Pauline and Augusta. The elder Ferdinand Pech was a millwright in his native land and died there when his daughter, Pauline, was two years of age. In 1871 his widow and the other members of the family came to the United States to join the son, Gus, who had come here some little time before and had settled at Bloomington, Illinois, and it was there that Pauline Pech met and married Henry Detloff. To that union ten children were born, namely: Martha, who married Henry Reints, of Elgin township, this county, and has five children, Henry, William, Carrie, Lena and Minnie; Bertha, who married William Heinrich, of Seney, this county; Matilda, who married Samuel Uthe, of Le Mars; Anna, who married Matt Myers, of Sioux City; Marie, who married Hugh Dailey, of Paullina, in the neighboring county of O'Brien, and has four children, Marion, Robert, James and Kenneth; Dorothea, who married Edward Roecter and has five children, Alton, Dwight, Fred, Pauline and Marjorie; Henry, who married Carrie Durban and has one child, a son Charles; Edward, who married Della Webber and has one child, a son Robert; Arthur, who married Hettie Reints, and Minnie, deceased. Mrs. Detloff, as was her husband, is a member of the German Methodist Episcopal church, and the children were reared in that faith.

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