Carroll County IAGenWeb

HISTORY OF CARROLL COUNTY IOWA

A Record of Settlement, Organization, Progress and Achievement

VOLUME II ILLUSTRATED

CHICAGO THE S. J. CLARKE PUBLISHING COMPANY 1912

Transcribed by Sharon Elijah August 20, 2020

Wilson H. Dankel, who is cultivating eighty acres of section 8, Union township, being born in Lebanon county, Pennsylvania, on the 6th of January, 1860. The parents were natives of Pennsylvania, the father, Harry Dankel, being a cooper by trade, in connection with which he also farmed. He was reared in Lebanon county, where he passed away at the age of sixty-seven years, while his wife was only forty-seven at the time of her demise. They were both of German extraction and affiliated with the Lutheran church. Their family numbered seven: Jane, the wife of Dan Garmon, of Palmyra, Pennsylvania; Alfred, who is a resident of the same place; James, who is living in Richland township, Carroll county; George, a resident of Glidden; Wilson, our subject; William, who lives in Palmyra; and Lizzie, the wife of Elmer Jones, of Richland township.

Wilson H. Dankel was reared on his father’s homestead in East Hanover township, Lebanon county, to whose district schools he is indebted for his education. He remained at home until he had attained his majority, then came to Illinois, where he worked for three years as a farm hand in Bureau county. In 1884 he removed to Iowa, settling in Carroll county where he rented some land of Judge Payne, which he cultivated for several years. This venture proved so lucrative that he was able to buy his present homestead in Union township, which he has operated continuously ever since.

On the 14th of March, 1894, Mr. Dankel was married to Miss Addie Livingston, a daughter of Lewis and Gabrilla (Merrick) Livingston. As they have no children of their own, they adopted a son into their family named Lynn. Mrs. Dankel was born in Carroll county, her parents being among the very early pioneer settlers. Mr. Livingston was a native of Pennsylvania and his wife of Jackson county, Iowa. In his early manhood he took up his residence in this state where he continued to make his home until his demise, which occurred in Glidden on the 16th of September, 1909, at the age of sixty-seven years. Mrs. Livingston, however, is still surviving. The paternal grandparents were John and Elizabeth (Foulk) Livingston, natives of Pennsylvania, where he died in middle life. His widow then came to Iowa, attaining the venerable age of eighty-four years before she passed away. To them were born five children: Aaron; Alexander; Lewis; Washington, who died in childhood; and Lucinda, the wife of John Taylor. The maternal grandparents of Mrs. Wilson H. Dankel were Mahlon and Nancy (Pool) Merrick, the former of whom passed away in Jackson county at a venerable age, while the latter is still living. They were the parents of the following children: Ethalinda, the wife of Philip Weaver; Frances, who married Michael Kaiser; Gabrilla, the widow of Lewis Livingston; Emma, the wife of Frank Head; and Dana, the wife of William Prandy. To the union of Mr. and Mrs. Lewis Livingston there were born seven children: Addie, the wife of Wilson H. Dankel; Blanch, the wife of Henry Reever; William A.; Bernice, the wife of William Cuthbertson; and Edgar, Bertha and Charley, all of whom reside in Carroll county.

In religious belief Mr. and Mrs. Dankel affiliate with the United Brethren church, and fraternally he is identified with the Modern Woodmen of America, while in politics he is a democrat. He is one of the enterprising and capable agriculturists of Union township, who is held in high esteem as a citizen.

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