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 June 26, 2020

Carroll county has been signally favored in the class of men who have occupied her public offices, for they have usually been distinguished by a spirit of devotion to the public good and have displayed capability in the discharge of their various duties. A worthy representative of the office-holders at the present time is William Langenfeld, who by election in the fall of 1908 was made the custodian of the public funds and has since filled the position of county treasurer. His birth occurred in the Rhein province of Germany on the 24th of November, 1855, his parents being Henry and Catharine (Schneider) Langenfeld, who were likewise natives of that country. His paternal grandfather, Henry Langenfeld, was a farmer by occupation and passed away in Germany when more than ninety years of age. The maternal grandfather, John Schneider, also followed general agricultural pursuits throughout his active business career and died in Germany when more than eighty years old.

Henry Langenfeld, the father of our subject, was a soldier in the German army during the war of 1848. General agricultural pursuits claimed his attention throughout his entire business career and proved a gratifying source of income to him. In 1869 he crossed the Atlantic to the United States, settling near Mendota, La Salle county, Illinois. In 1898 he took up his abode near Muenster, Texas, where his demise occurred in 1908, when he had attained the age of eighty-two years. His wife died near the same place in March, 1911, at the age of eighty-two years. Both were communicants of the German Catholic church. Unto them were born five children, two of whom are yet living, as follows: William, of this review; and Christina, the wife of Henry Henscheid, who resides near Muenster, Texas.

William Langenfeld attended the common schools of his native land until he accompanied his parents on their emigration to America as a youth of thirteen years. In 1874 he came with them to Carroll county, Iowa, the family home being established in Roselle township. In 1877 he had become identified with educational interests and taught school during the winter months for ten years, while in the summer seasons he worked at farming. For a period of three years he resided in Arkansas. On returning to Iowa he became station agent for the Northwestern Railroad Company at Halbur, holding that position for nine years. On the expiration of that period he came to Carroll and was connected with the German paper here for two and a half years. Subsequently he was employed for a short time as station agent at Lehigh by the Great Western Railway. On the 1st of January, 1904, he became deputy county treasurer, while in the fall of 1908 he was elected county treasurer, having held that office continuously since. His previous experience as deputy well qualified him for the duties that devolve upon him and which he is most capably discharging.

On the 9th of January, 1883, Mr. Langenfeld was united in marriage to Miss Gertrude Rohlman, who was born in Germany and in the ‘70s came to America with her parents, Bernhard and Bernardina (Huesman) Rohlman. They came direct to Carroll county, Iowa, settling in Roselle township, where both Mr. and Mrs. Rohlman passed away. Mr. and Mrs. Langenfeld have five children, namely: Minnie; Emma, who is the wife of John Martes and resides on a farm near Adair, Iowa; Joseph; Anna; and William.

Mr. Langenfeld gives his political allegiance to the democracy, while in religious faith both he and his wife are Catholics. Their lives have been upright and serviceable, and the firm hold they have on the regard and good will of their community is not only fixed and lasting but well founded on demonstrated merit.

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