Almost from the beginning of Cedar county’s recorded history the name of Huber has been associated with the practice of law here and has been a synonym for professional integrity and ability during the years in which Henry L. Huber and his father have been active factors in the litigated interests of this district. Henry L. Huber was born about three and one-half miles southwest of Tipton, Iowa, September 7, 1856, his parents being John S. and Harriet A. (Newell) Huber.
The father was born near Lancaster in Fairfield county, Ohio, while the mother’s birth occurred near Delaware, that state. They were married in Delaware on the 6th of July, 1839, and in October of that year started from Ohio for the west, making the journey in a buggy drawn by a single horse as far as Geneseo, Illinois. Mrs. Huber remained there during the following winter, while Mr. Huber continued his journey on horseback, crossing the Mississippi river at Rock Island, after which he rode a day’s journey to the farm on section 9, Center township, on which his son, W. Scott, now resides. He purchased about three hundred and twenty acres of land from James W. Tolman and Harvey B. Burnap. In the spring of 1840 he returned to Geneseo for his wife, whom he brought to Cedar county. In the same year, however, they went to Marion, Linn county, where they resided for two or three years, during which time Mr. Huber engaged in the practice of law. He was a graduate of the college at Canonsburg, Pennsylvania, and one at Lancaster, Pennsylvania, after which he read law in Delaware, Ohio, and later formed a partnership with a Mr. Swisher for the practice of his profession there. He had been engaged in active practice for a year or two before he removed to the west and while following his profession in Marion, Iowa, was engaged in the prosecution of the Goudy robbery case, which was tried in the winter of 1842 or 1843.
He then went to Dubuque, where he remained for a short time, and in about 1845 or 1846 came to Tipton. That this was a pioneer district is indicated in the fact that he took up his abode in a log house which stood upon the present site of the City National Bank. There he remained for a few months, after which he located on the farm which he made his home until his death. However, he continued in the practice of law until 1861 in Tipton and was in partnership with William P. Wolf, under the firm name of Huber & Wolf. He was among the first lawyers of Cedar county and served as prosecuting attorney of the county for one or two terms, being elected on the whig ticket. He was regarded as a strong and able lawyer, ready and resourceful, strong in argument and scarcely if ever at fault in the application of legal principals.
In antebellum days he was a strong believer in the cause of abolition and made his home one of the stations of the famous “underground railroad,” whereby many a poor slave was assisted on his way to freedom in Canada. He voted with the whig party until its dissolution, when he joined the ranks of the new republican party that was formed to prevent the further extension of slavery. He held membership in the Universalist church at one time, while his wife was a member of the Methodist Episcopal church. He took an active interest in educational affairs and helped organize Sunday schools. At the same time he was an earnest advocate of the interests of the free schools and did all in his power to establish upon a substantial basis the system of public instruction in this county. As the years passed by he prospered and at the time of his death was the owner of about five hundred acres of valuable land. A part of that which he entered from the government is still in the possession of the family. He died on the farm on which his son Henry was born, passing away March 9, 1870, at the age of fifty-nine years, nine months and twenty-two days. His wife died in Tipton, Iowa, April 5, 1899, at the age of seventy-nine years.
In the family were ten children: John, who died in infancy; Nathan, who died in August, 1879; Caroline S., the wife of John Webb of De Witt, Nebraska; Frances Z., who died at the age of two years; Lysander, who died in infancy; Philip Rudolf, who is living in Missouri; Mary Katherine, the wife of T. J. Larrison, of Mitchell, South Dakota; Henry L.; Lucy M., the wife of R. M. Ellyson, living near Frankfort, South Dakota; and W. Scott, who occupies the old home farm in this county.
Henry L. Huber has resided in Cedar county throughout his entire life, his youthful days being spent upon the home farm, where he was born and where he early became familiar with the duties and labors that fall to the lot of the agriculturist. After mastering the branches of learning taught in the country schools, he attended the Tipton high school and also the Davenport Commercial College. He prepared for his profession as a law student in the office of Wolf & Landt and was admitted to the bar in 1884, after which he remained with his former preceptors for two years. He then formed a partnership with Judge W. N. Treichler under the firm style of Treichler & Huber, which connection was continued for about three years, since which time Mr. Huber has been alone. The zeal with which he has devoted his energies to his profession, the careful regard evinced for the interests of his clients, and assiduous and unrelaxing attention to all of the details of his cases have brought him a fair business and made him successful in its conduct. His arguments have elicited warm commendation not only from his associates at the bar but also from the bench. His briefs show wide research, careful thought, and the best and strongest reasons which can be urged for his contention, presented in cogent, logical form and illustrated by a style unusually lucid and clear.
On the 24th of October, 1889, Mr. Huber was united in marriage to Miss Mary B. Reichert, who was born in Tipton, Iowa, January 5, 1866, and is a daughter of J. C. Reichert, mentioned elsewhere in this volume. Mr. and Mrs. Huber have two sons and a daughter: Kirkwood, Bertha R. and Louis R.
Mr. Huber has been a lifelong republican, giving his support to the party since age conferred upon the right of franchise. Fraternally he is connected with the Masons, belonging to Cedar Lodge, No. 11, A.F. & A.M., and Siloam Chapter, No. 19, R. A. M. of Tipton. In his life he exemplifies the beneficent spirit of the craft and his strongly marked characteristics are those which make him a valued and popular citizen as well as an able lawyer.
