Bloomfield, Prentice C. 1843 - 1916 -
BLOOMFIELD, CUMMS, SELF, HUNT, PAINTER
Posted By: Bill Waters (email)
Date: 4/17/2014 at 11:36:41
PRENTICE C. BLOOMFIELD
One of the substantial citizens of Decorah, highly respected and esteemed by all who know him, is Prentice C. Bloomfield. He was born in New York, June 22, 1843, a son of Alvin and Phila (Cumms) Bloomfield, the father a native of New Jersey and the mother of Vermont. The father was a shoemaker by trade, which occupation he followed all his life in New York and there died in 1862. The mother survived him for nine years, passing away in 1871.
Prentice C. Bloomfield was reared and educated in New York State, which he made his home until twenty years of age, when he proceeded westward to Wisconsin, remaining there one year. Having heard of the favorable conditions prevailing in Winneshiek County, he then came to this section. He was a tanner by-trade and worked at that occupation in New York but upon coming to Iowa engaged in farming as farm hand and subsequently as renter. As such he engaged in agricultural pursuits for about four years, at the end of which period he came to Decorah, where he became connected with the lumber business, working for the same firm continuously for thirteen years. He then joined another lumber concern, with which he remained for seven years, and having learned the carpenter's trade in the meantime, has followed that occupation ever since. Thrift and industry have brought substantial results to Air. Bloomfield, his success having been attained by creditable means and as the result of qualities of character worthy of the highest commendation.
In September, 1872, the marriage of Prentice C. Bloomfield to Mary L. Self was celebrated. She is a daughter of Ozais and Emily (Hunt) Self, the father a native of Ohio and the mother of Massachusetts. Mrs. Bloomfield is a native of Illinois, in which state she was born in 1853. Her father was a farmer by occupation and followed his vocation in Illinois until 1854, when he removed to Winneshiek County, there buying eighty acres of land in Burr Oak Township, which he operated and improved until his death, passing away at an early age on October 24, 1867. The mother survived for over a third of a century, dying in August, 1903. Mr. and Mrs. Bloomfield are the parents of one son, Frank E., who is now in his thirty-ninth year and widely and favorably known in Decorah, where he holds a position from the government as city mail carrier. Since 1893 or for two decades he has been in the service of the United States—an indication of the faithful performance of his duties. In the course of his work he has been brought into contact with numerous residents of the city and there is none who would not say a kindly word of Frank E. Bloomfield, who makes friends wherever he goes, his genial, open-hearted kindliness winning readily the hearts of all with whom he comes in contact. He is popular with the employees in the post office and valued by his superiors, who recognize his high qualities of mind and character, his faithfulness to his charge and his honorable manliness.
An interesting record as regards the early history of Winneshiek county and which is worth recording here was made by William Painter, an uncle of the wife of our subject, he being the first settler in Decorah, coming here in the fall of 1848. His second son, George Patton Painter, was the first white child born in Decorah. Upon William Painter's arrival here, there were no white men, only Indians. He was a millwright by trade and built the first mill in Decorah, part of which is still standing and in operation. Mrs. Bloomfield was only one year of age when her parents moved here and she has lived in Decorah ever since.
Mr. and Mrs. Bloomfield make their home in a house which the former built in 1875, the residence being located at No. 406 Decorah avenue. Fraternally Mr. Bloomfield is a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, as is also his son Frank, and all three—father, mother and son—are members of the Rebekahs. Mr. Bloomfield served in the Decorah fire department for twenty-two years, giving thereby a tangible demonstration of his public spirit. Politically he is a republican and in religious faith the family affiliates with the Congregational church, in the work of which they take an active and helpful interest.
Source: History of Winneshiek County, Iowa Vol. II Chicago the S. J. Clark publishing Company 1913
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