Charles Christian Kaufmann holds important relations to the agricultural and financial interests of Cedar county. He is today actively identified with several banking institutions, while he is also successfully engaged in farming and stock-raising. He was born near his present home, which is on section 27, Sugar Creek township, on the 3d of April, 1859, and is a representative of an old and prominent family of German origin.
The male representatives of this Kaufmann family were given good educational advantages by bequeath of one of their ancestors, for upon the completion of their college course all their necessary expenses were refunded from the interest of a bequest made by one of the ancestors. When this bequest was made it was not customary for girls to receive a college education and hence they were given a hundred thaler at the time of their marriage. The paternal great-grandfather of our subject was a stock and grain dealer at Darenburg (about fifteen miles north of Halberstadt) in the province of Saxony (in West Prussia), who had one son, Gottlieb, and two daughters.
Gottlieb F. Kaufmann, born September 29, 1793, married Dorethea E. Kruse, born February 5, 1796, of Dadesheim (Kreis Halberstadt). She was a woman of an exceptional disposition for she was never known to be the least bit angry, and because she was always satisfied and in the most pleasant mood her neighbors told her husband that he had married in paradise. They resided at Dadesheim where Gottlieb carried on business as a cloth weaver. But finally his health failed and he was compelled to depend somewhat on his four boys for support. On March 9, 1847, he emigrated to America with his family and in the spring of the same year settled in Muscatine county, Iowa, near Moscow, but December 1, 1849, he bought a hundred and sixty acres in Cedar county from the government (S.W. ¼ of section 26, township 79 north of range 2), which now belongs to our subject. He died January 28, 1854, while his wife passed away March 25, 1877. To this union were born seven children, namely: Mrs. Henrietta Burkhardt, the descendants of whom are a prominent family near Cedar Rapids; Mrs. Dorothea Marhing, who settled near Iowa City; Fred, who became quite wealthy and died in Muscatine county; Henry A. the father of our subject; Mrs. Fredericka Duffey, who is still living on the place where her father settled; Christian, who settled at St. Louis; and Andrew H., who was also well-to-do and died in Cedar county.
Henry A. Kaufmann grew to manhood in his native country. He worked at the mason’s trade and although chose to do government arch work he received only twenty-five cents a day and then had to board himself. But the more he read about America as a land of opportunity and democracy the more he plead with his father to come to this country, for he hated royalty and class distinction and had always longed for freedom and equal rights. The Fuhrmeister family, now prominent near Cedar Rapids, who were close friends and who had been in America four years kept writing to them of the many advantages here, urging them to come, and the persistent and constant plea of Henry A. became so forceful that in 1847, Gottlieb, his wife and his descendants, thirteen in all, came to America for he believed that they should all go or none as he did not want them to be separated. But after they had been here a short time the ague overtook them, a shivering and shaking sickness which overcame practically all immigrants in the fall of their first year in this country. They could not talk English, there were no Germans near them, and this country was not as civilized and settled as they had expected to find it. Hence they became discouraged and wanted to go back to their fatherland. But Henry A. still persisted in believing that America was better than the old country. He said: “now you talk of the good times you had in Germany and complain about the disagreeable conditions and experiences here, but you forget about the advantages this country offers and the difficulty experienced in the fatherland in supporting a family. In this country there is an opportunity for advancement and progress and in a few years you can all be owners and will enjoy blessings you scarcely ever expected.”
The outcome made possible this family history. To that doctrine he clung until death for he often told his children they did not know how good they had it in this country. The above is a mere instance of the influence he had in his father’s family, which is still better illustrated by the following incident. As his father lay on the death bed he looked about for his counselor and chief adviser who was returning from Muscatine, where he had hauled a load of grain. Although feeble and almost unconscious he kept saying in a faint whisper, “Vo ist Hein?” (where is Hen.) Henry A. inherited his physical qualities and conservativeness from his mother, while he acquired his mental make-up and his energy from his father. To walk from one place to another seemed to be his favorite pastime and pleasure even in his later days. When he was sixty-two he walked twenty-eight miles one day, thirty-four the following day, and thirty the third day and then was ready for another jaunt like it. Surely when the minister said of him in his funeral sermon, “here lies the man of an iron body,” he was able to voice a statement which very seldom can be uttered, for there are only a very few who at the age of sixty-eight can stack eighty acres of good heavy grain in four days without feeling fatigued and who are never sick until death summons them.
Henry A. Kaufmann followed the stone-mason’s trade in this country until the 2d of December, 1850, when he entered forty acres in Sugar Creek township (N.E. ¼ of S.E. ¼ of section 27, township 79 north of range 2), which is still in possession of the family. He made this his home and thereby became the first German settler in Cedar county and after that gave practically his entire time and attention to agricultural pursuits. So successful was he in this occupation that he owned about seventeen hundred acres at the time of his death, which he divided among his three sons. His property was acquired through his own industry, perseverance and good management, for he was a man of excellent business ability and sound judgment. In January, 1870, he became an active member and in 1874 a deacon in the German Methodist Episcopal church, which he ably filled until his death, and at times took charge of the church services. In politics he was a republican.
On the 24th of May, 1855, he married Miss Gustina Miller, who was born February 19, 1832, in Bredenbeck (about twelve miles west of Hanover) in the province of Hanover, Germany, and was the daughter of Frederick and Sophia (Raza) Miller. Her father’s parents came from England. Her father was an exceptional mechanic, for after learning his trade as cooper, which took three years, he made his masterpiece and out of one faucet in a hogshead drew seven different ingredients. As a result he was awarded first prize in his trade and was at once promoted to the rank of master. He believed in religious toleration and on account of hypocrisy which existed in the church and the favoring of the nobility he finally migrated to America for he was stern, fearless and accommodating. Gustina possessed the qualities of her father and in 1846 crossed the Atlantic with her parents and landed at Galveston, Texas. But the ravages of the yellow fever caused them to migrate five weeks after they had been there to New Orleans, where they resided for nine months and then proceeded up the Mississippi to Muscatine county, Iowa, settling near Moscow in the spring of 1847. She was exceptionally industrious, full of pluck and push, always lending a helping spirit, and was her husband’s right hand. She died at the home of our subject on the 20th of April, 1909, while Henry A. passed away at the same place June 18, 1894. To this union were born three children, namely: Henry F., now a resident of Cozad, Nebraska; Fred E., a resident of Sugar Creek township; and Charles C. whose name introduces this review.
Throughout life Charles C. Kaufmann has made his home in Sugar Creek township and his time and energies have mainly been devoted to agricultural pursuits. His present home is a comfortable brick residence, erected by his father in 1876. He inherited the characteristics of his parents and received his education in the rural schools and at the Iowa Wesleyan University. He is accommodating, trustworthy and reliable, and hence his father always took him into his full confidence. He persuaded his father not to give away his deed to his children twelve years before he did until a few days before his death and his father always consulted him whenever he was about to make a loan or to buy land. Although his father was very conservative and would weigh and consider carefully, yet C. C. did practically all of his business in his late years. He declined several thousand dollars which his father wanted to give him for the loss of his eye as he did not think it just to his other two brothers. In 1885 he went to the University of Gottingen in Germany, the leading oculists at that time, seeking relief for his right eye, which had been injured by the explosion of a powder flask in 1867. While there he spent some time at the home of his ancestors, but on his return more fully appreciated the advantages of his own country, for here one is not hampered by caste or class and can attain prominence through his own efforts.
Mr. Kaufmann inherited some property, but belonging to a family in whom thrift thrives he has added to this as he has prospered in his undertakings and is now the owner of several valuable farms, aggregating about sixteen hundred acres, all of which is in Cedar county except one hundred and sixty in South Dakota and forty in Muscatine county. He continues to operate the home place, consisting of five hundred acres, while he rents the remainder of his farm land. Besides this property he owns the fair grounds at Wilton and city property in Durant and Muscatine. He is today prominently identified with the banking business, being president of the Farmers Saving Bank at Wilton since its organization in 1904, he and S. T. Evans being the founders of the same. He is also a stockholder in the Atalissa Savings Bank, the Downey Saving Bank and the Union Savings Bank. He is a man of exceptional business ability, who has met with far more than ordinary success in all his undertakings.
On the 24th of May, 1888, was celebrated the marriage of Mr. Kaufmann and Miss Pauline L. Riessen, who was born a mile southeast of Durant in Muscatine county, June 1, 1869, her parents being Paul F. and Christine D. H. (Nielsen) Riessen. Her father was born September 12, 1838, in Battensdorf North Kirsch on the island of Fehmern, which belongs to the German empire, while her mother was born December 31, 1839, in Kiel, Schleswig-Holstein, her parents having migrated there from Denmark. The descendants of the Riessen family are well-to-do and live mostly around and in Walcott, Iowa. In early life Mr. Riessen came to America with his parents. He was a hard worker and through industry and persistence accumulated a good sized estate; he spent his last years in retirement from life’s activities in Durant. To Mr. and Mrs. Riessen were born six children, namely: Mrs. Pauline L. Kaufmann, Mrs. Kate Ehle, Mrs. Fanny Kohlhase, Mrs. Martha Von Spiegel, Paul F., and Hugo. Mrs. Riessen died in Durant, April 25, 1897, while Mr. Riessen passed away at the same place on the 16th of August, 1907.
Mrs. Kaufmann is a woman of a pleasing and modest disposition, who has aided her husband materially in his many undertakings. She has always made the home the center of attraction and has brought hope and cheer to its members. She believes that the home should be the center of influence for it will then attract husbands where they belong and will mould and shape the character and thoughts of its members, which should be its leading function. She also takes an active interest in church affairs and tries to train the children so they enjoy going to Sunday school and church services. To Mr. and Mrs. Kaufmann have been born the following children: Charles Beecher, a student at Harvard; Gottlieb Paul, who died in infancy; Esther Druzilla; Joseph; Ruth; Elsie May; Paulina Olivia Francis; Edith Adelia; Priscilla, who died in infancy; Togo Oyama; and Lydia Leona.
Charles Beecher Kaufmann graduated from the Durant high school, May 27, 1904, and from the Wilton high school, May 31, 1906. He was given the honor scholarship from the Wilton high school, which entitled him to free tuition at the university during the four years of his college course. While at the university in Iowa City he was prominent in forensic activities, especially in oratory. He won first place in two of the preliminary oratorical contests and in the final preliminary Northern Oratorical League contest won second place, receiving two out of the five firsts. He was the S. U. I. alternate the year Iowa won first place at Minneapolis in the Northern Oratorical contest when the Universities of Illinois, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, Iowa, Northwestern and Oberlin College participated. He taught extemporaneous speaking at the university during the last year of his college course and through his coaching caused many others to win honors, among them being: Jesse J. Fishburn (a cousin on the Kaufmann side), a member of the University Championship Debating Team in 1910; Paul S. Collier (his room-mate), winner of the N. O. L. contest, May 6, 1910; and Lewis Penningroth, of Cedar county, second place in the Freshmen Oratorical Contest, the only one of the contestants to receive two firsts. While at the university he was honored by being given one of the leading roles in the annual Philo-Octave play; elected president of the Philomathean Forensic Society, the leading literary society; class representative of the senior class; president of the Forensic league, composed of the various forensic organizations; and a member of the Forensic council, composed of five faculty and four student members, which has control of the forensic activities of the university. Although he was the junior orator in 1909 and the youngest member in the graduating class (only twenty), yet he was chosen to present the class memorial, a bronze tablet for the old capitol building (the first capitol of Iowa), to the president of the university at the annual class day exercises. On June 15, 1910, he graduated from the State University of Iowa with the degree Bachelor of Arts. During his vacations he has delivered several addresses and sermons, for which he is well known in both Muscatine and Cedar counties. At present his is pursuing a law course in Harvard University at Cambridge, Massachusetts, the oldest and most prominent school in America.
Charles C. Kaufmann since reaching his majority has affiliated with the republican party and keeps well posted on the questions and issues of the day, but has never cared for the honors or emoluments of public office, as his entire time and attention are taken up with his extensive business interests. Nevertheless he has served the community and township in various educational and political activities, as he believes it is the duty of every citizen to serve his country no matter in what position or situation. He is now the president of the Wilton Fair Association and also has filled and still occupies other positions of trust. He teaches his children the doctrine—enjoy yourselves, do nothing your parents should not know, and always be a man. He hates a sluggard and liar, never forgets a favor, and will do justice though it my provoke enmity. He is a man full of determination and power and will stand by a friend at all times. Mr. Kaufmann is a man of prominence in the community where he resides and occupies an enviable position in business circles, for he is a man of sound judgment and an exceptional judge of people.
