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 November 1, 2020

After spending his entire life in Iowa Joseph C. Schwaller of Carroll is especially interested in this state and has proven one of its worthy and progressive citizens. He was born on a farm near Gutenberg, Clayton county, Iowa, July 21, 1855, and is a son of Joseph and Elizabeth (Weber) Schwaller, the former of whom was born in Switzerland and the latter in Germany. The father came to America in 1862 and was naturalized as a citizen as soon as he could secure the papers. After improving his farm and thus largely enhancing its value he disposed of it and in 1874 bought one hundred and sixty acres in Roselle township, Carroll county. Subsequently he purchased forty acres adjoining, thus becoming the owner of one of the beautiful farms of the township. He and his wife are now living in Carroll with the subject of this review. They are both sincere members of the Catholic church. Of seven children in their family five grew to maturity, namely: Joseph C.; William, deceased; August, of Fordyce, Nebraska; Henry, who now lives upon the old homestead; and Elizabeth, of Carroll. The grandparents on the paternal side both died in Switzerland, but the grandparents on the maternal side came to America. They lived for a number of years in Ohio, but finally located in Clayton county, Iowa, where they spent their declining years. There were five children in their family.

Joseph C. Schwaller was educated in the district and parochial schools and the Gutenberg High School. He lived in Clayton county until nineteen years of age and then came to Carroll county with the other members of the family. He taught school a number of terms but was not entirely satisfied with this vocation and accordingly learned the watchmaker and jeweler’s trade, which he has ever since followed. In 1902 he built a beautiful residence at No. 520 South Clark street in Carroll, into which he moved in December of the same year. He maintains his place of business in his private home. He came into possession of the old homestead which he sold to his brother Henry, but has not entirely relinquished his agricultural interests, as he owns three and twenty acres of land east of Lethbridge in Alberta province, Canada. For twenty years or more he filled the position of secretary of the Mutual Fire and Tornado Insurance Company of Carroll county.

Mr. Schwaller still enjoys single blessedness but has never taken kindly to hotel life and appears well satisfied with his own home, which is supplied with every comfort and convenience that could be desired. He is a member of the German Catholic church and politically is in sympathy with the democratic party. He is a quiet, unassuming man, and is highly respected on account of his irreproachable character. Although his place of business is in the extreme southern part of the city he received more work in watch repairing than he can readily perform.

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