Eberhard, Charles D.

EBERHARD, HOLCH

Posted By: Linda Ziemann, Plym. CC (email)
Date: 2/21/2005 at 17:24:44

Charles D. Eberhard

Charles D. Eberhard, a well-to-do and prominent farmer of Liberty township, Plymouth county, Iowa, was born at Galena, Illinois, in 1861, being the son of David and Barbara (Holch) Eberhard, both of whom were natives of Germany, the father having been born in Baden-Baden and the mother in Wurtemburg.

David Eberhard received his education in the public schools of his native land and lived there until 1856, when he came to the United States with his father, Michael Eberhard, who settled in Illinois, where he established a home on a farm, and were he died some years later. In 1860, David Eberhard was united in marriage to Barbara Holch, who had come to America some years before and, with her parents, had settled at Galena, Illinois. Eight years later, Mr. and Mrs. Eberhard came to Plymouth county, Iowa, and here Mr. Eberhard took a pre-emption of forty acres, for which he paid one dollar and twenty-five cents per acre, and a homestead of eighty acres, all of which was in section 12, Liberty township. He built a small one-room shanty on the pre-emption, where he lived until the fall of 1869, at which time he had proved up on the forty acres, and then moved the house over on the homestead. In the spring of 1869, he returned to Illinois and brought the family to the new home on the plains. The trip was made overland, with a wagon and four horses. The family brought provisions to last them for a year and were thus prepared to devote their time to the development of their farm. The first year saw thirty acres of the tough prairie sod broken and ready for cultivation, but there were no crops to gather until 1871. Then for some years the greater part of his crops were destroyed by the grasshoppers.

The family lived in the first house for eleven years, when a better, though small, frame house was erected. Mr. Eberhard continued to engage in general farming, with success, until 1892. He purchased more land and was the owner of two hundred acres when he retired to Merrill, where he died in 1905; the wife and mother died in 1904.

David and Barbara Eberhard were the parents of the following children: Charles D., Elizabeth, Bertha, John, Amelia, Herma, Julia, Henry, Jacob and one that died in infancy. Bertha is the wife of Ernest Stohsner and lives at Santa Clara, California; John is with a telephone company at Lane, South Dakota; Amelia married William Haden, of Merrill, Iowa; Julia is the wife of L. E. Ansmon, of Wessington Springs, South Dakota; Henry is at Ash Creek, South Dakota, and Jacob is farming near Hinton, Iowa.

Charles E. Eberhard received his education in the old sod school house near his fathers homestead. He remained at home until he was twenty years of age, when he went to California, where he resided for nine years. In 1890 he returned to Plymouth county and assumed the management of his father's farm, in partnership with his brother, John. For three years this partnership continued, when Charles D. managed it for the next five years alone. He then purchased the entire farm, of two hundred acres, at sixty-five dollars per acre, since which time he has made many improvements. In 1913 he remodeled the house and today has one of the splendid two-story houses of the township. He has a fine barn, forty-two by one hundred feet, with a hay capacity of one hundred and twenty tons. His buildings are all practically new and are kept in the highest state of repair. In 1900 he purchased two hundred acres of land in sections 11 and 12, for which he paid one hundred dollars per acre, and now values it at two hundred dollars per acre, and on the home place he will not place a value.

Mr. Eberhard is engaged in general farming and stock raising and is active in the operation of the larger part of his large farm, only a part of it being rented. He raises a large number of both cattle and hogs, in addition to the many that he buys for fattening purposes. In addition to his many cattle, he generally has some one hundred and sixty head of hogs and twenty-two horses.

On March 6, 1894, Charles E. Eberhard was united in marriage to Minnie Kalas, and to this union the following children have been born; Harold, Walter, Carl, Rudolph, Willard, Eldon and Ruth. Mr. and Mrs. Eberhard are active members of the Evangelical Lutheran church, of which Mr. Eberhard is a liberal supporter. They have long been active in the social life of the township and are held in the highest regard by all who know them. Politically, Mr. Eberhard is identified with the Republican party and has had much to do with the civic and business life of the township and the county. For eight years he served as clerk of the township and was for a number of years clerk of the school board.

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