George Eaphriam Oertel

OERTEL, ROBINS, JONES, WRIGHT

Posted By: Marie Salisbury <marie@mariesalisbury.com>
Date: 9/2/2009 at 12:35:01

Hon. George E. Oertel, who is serving as Mayor of Moville and who has been closely identified with public interests and business activity in the town for a number of years, is a native son of Woodbury county, his birth having occurred November 28, 1872, in a little log cabin which stood upon his father's farm in Grant township, about two and a half miles from Oto. His parents were John and Lydia (Robins) Oertel. The father, born in Germany, was probably only about a year old when brought to America by his parents, who settled north of Oto in the '50s, being among the pioneer settlers of northwestern Iowa. There John Oertel was reared amid the wild scenes of frontier life early became familiar with the arduous task of developing and cultivating new land. One of his early business experiences was in a butcher shop in Sioux City, then a town of two or three hundred inhabitants. During the greater part of his life, however, he followed farming and stock-raising, becoming the owner of one hundred fifty-five acres of good land on section 30, Miller township, and one hundred and twenty acres in Grant township. When he started out in life for himself he had only a wagon, team and harness, and all he possessed came to him as a result of his own labor and diligence. His wife was a native of Pennsylvania and they were married in Woodbury county. Mr. Oertel died when about thirty-eight years of age and was buried in Oto cemetery, and his wife passed away in 1892, when about thirty-nine years of age. They were the parents of five children, of whom three are now living.

George E. Oertel was reared upon his father's farm and educated in the public schools. He assisted in the work of the old homestead until seventeen years of age, when he went to Oto and for two years clerked in a restaurant which his mother conducted. He afterward learned the barber's trade there and a year later he left the county. He was later employed in various ways and in various places for four or five years and then came to Moville, where he has since remained. Here he became a real-estate and insurance agent, in which business he has since continued, and he has also engaged in dealing in farm implements as a member of the firm of Oertel & Jones, his partner being T.F. Jones. His close application to business here, his progressive methods and modern business ideas have been resultant factors in his success and made him one of the leading representatives of trade interests in Moville.

In October, 1898, Mr. Oertel was married to Miss Hattie Wright, a daughter of H. Wright, one of the early settlers of the county, and they now have two children, Lorne J. and Clayton. Both Mr. and Mrs. Oertel are widely known socially and Mr. Oertel is equally prominent in public affairs in Moville. In 1901 he was appointed by the city council to the position of mayor to fill a vacancy and at the ensuing election was chosen for office on the Citizen's ticket. In the discharge of his duties he is prompt, efficient and reliable and his administration is businesslike and progressive.

from Past and Present of Woodbury County, p. 734

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