Zarley, Charles W.

ZARLEY

Posted By: Karon Velau (email)
Date: 7/3/2021 at 11:59:11

History of Warren County, Iowa from Its Earliest Settlement to 1908, by Rev. W. C. Martin, Clarke Publishing Co., Chicago, Illinois, 1908, p.956

CHARLES W. ZARLEY
Charles W. Zarley, who was well known in Indianola as a leading photographer, representative business man and good citizen, was born in Iowa City, Iowa in 1861, and departed this life in September 1906. His parents were Robert and Eliza (Lake) Zarley, both of whom were natives of Ohio. At an early age the father came to Iowa and settled upon a farm at Liberty Center. He worked diligently and perseveringly to improve and develop his property, which became a profitable one in the course of years. He was also superintendent of the county farm for a time and afterward removed to Indianola, where he took up his abode about 1882. Both he and his wife were numbered among the members of the Methodist Episcopal Church and politically Mr. [Robert] Zarley was a Republican. He died in the year 1904, while his wife survived until August 1907. Their family numbered four children. The youngest were twins, one of whom died in infancy.
The other, Charles W. Zarley, at the usual age entered the public schools and passed through consecutive grades in the acquirement of a practical English education. When his schools days were over he took up the study of photography under the direction of Mrs. Schooley and afterward worked in a gallery for three years. In 1889 he established a gallery on his own account and it is still conducted by his widow. He was quite successful in his chosen profession, doing excellent work, realizing fully the value of light, shade and pose. He kept abreast with the latest improved methods known to the photographic art and won very desirable success in this undertaking.
Like his father, Charles W. Zarley was a Republican but though interested in the success of the party, he never sought nor desired office. In 1890 he married Miss Eliza Lumnamaker, who was born in Warren County, Illinois in 1867, a daughter of Lewis and Martha (Hereford) Lumnamaker. The father was a farmer by occupation and on coming to Iowa settled upon a farm in Lincoln Township, Warren County, in 1868. There Mrs. Zarley spent her girlhood days and reached adult age, her educational privileges being those afforded by the county schools. The father removed with this family from the farm to Indianola in 1883 and in the city she attended the graded schools. After her marriage she learned photography and assisted her husband in his work and since that time she has conducted the business with marked success.
Mr. Zarley was a progressive citizen, interested in all that pertained to the welfare of the community, was a reliable business man and a courteous, genial gentleman, who won many friends. His best traits of character, however, were reserved for his own fireside and in his family he was a devoted husband and father. Mrs. Zarley has displayed excellent business ability in conducting the photographic gallery and finds in this calling a congenial pursuit. She is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church and has a wide and favorable acquaintance in Indianola.