JOSEPH NORING

From many and various sources came those who now make up the population of Iowa, but none, however, have brought more substantial qualities or proved more loyal citizens than those who have come from or trace their lineage to the fatherland. Joseph Noring is one of Germany’s contributions to the citizenship of this great commonwealth, his birth occurring near Mulhausen in that country, May 16, 1854. His parents, Joachim and Anna (Kaiser) Noring, who were also natives of that village, have both passed away. The former, who was born November 5, 1824, thinking to find greater business opportunities for himself and better advantages for his children in the new world, crossed the Atlantic in 1864, landing in Castle Garden, New York, on the 26th of October. He did not tarry on the eastern coast but made his way at once to Iowa, arriving in Davenport on the 3d of November of that year. The family made their home in that city until February, 1865, when they came to Cedar county and located on the farm in Iowa township which has since been the home of our subject. Ere leaving the fatherland Mr. Noring was married three times. His first wife, who in her maidenhood was Anna Kaiser, passed away in December, 1858, leaving beside her husband her two children: Dorothea, who was married in 1876 and passed away in the following year in Germany; and Joseph, of this review. Following the death of his first wife Mr. Noring wedded Margaret Hucke, who also died in Germany, and for his third wife he chose Katharine Hucke, a sister of his former wife, whose death occurred in Cedar county in 1894. By his second marriage he had three children, namely: Edmond, residing in Kelley, Iowa; Mrs. Caroline Anderson, of West Liberty; and Mrs. Margaret Strause, who makes her home in Burlington, Iowa. After many years devoted to agricultural pursuits Joachim Noring retired from active life, and two years prior to his death took up his home in Muscatine, where he passed away on the 7th of April, 1884.

Joseph Noring was a young lad when, with his father and stepmother, he crossed the Atlantic to the new world, but he still retains pleasant memories of his native land, where the first ten years of his life were spent. His education, which had been began in Germany, was completed in the country schools of Iowa, and, although his opportunities were somewhat limited in early life, by broad and comprehensive reading he has since acquired a general knowledge the extent of which ranks him among the best informed men of the locality in which he resides. Nor was his practical training neglected during the period of his boyhood and youth, for he was early given work to do upon the home farm, his tasks becoming heavier and more important with the passing years, and so, in the broader school of experience, he learned valuable lessons which well prepared him for the responsible and practical duties that devolved upon him when he entered the business world on his own account.

Wisely choosing the occupation to which he had been reared, he made agriculture his life work and with the passing years his efforts in this direction have been rewarded with substantial success. He has continuously lived upon the old homestead farm, which he has operated independently since the death of his father. This consists of one hundred and twenty acres located on section 30, Iowa township, and he also owns another tract of one hundred and twenty acres on section 17, which he rents, and twenty-five acres of timber land on section 11. His entire attention, however, is given to the operation of the home farm, which he has brought to a high state of cultivation, and in addition to general farming he also engages in stock-raising, which is proving an important feature in his business interests. A man of good business ability, he has learned the secret that success lies in indefatigable energy, close application, wise management and progressive methods, and these qualities have been salient elements in the attainment of the gratifying degree of prosperity which is today his.

On the 5th of January, 1882, Mr. Noring was united in marriage to Miss Helena Gall, a native of Muscatine county, where her birth occurred March 4, 1860, and a daughter of John and Catharine Gall. The parents, who were born in Germany, came to America in the early ‘50s, and here both passed away, their deaths occurring in Cedar county, Iowa. In their family were two daughters and three sons. Unto Mr. and Mrs. Noring were born the following children: Blanche, who is the wife of William Bagel, of Iowa township; Ella, Harry and Carlton, all at home; two who passed away in infancy; and Catharine, whose death occurred at the age of twenty-two years.

Although the conduct of his personal interests has demanded much of Mr. Noring’s attention, yet he has ever found time for the performance of those things which are at once a duty and a privilege to the loyal American citizen, and although of foreign birth Cedar county has no more faithful representative than this adopted son. A stalwart republican since age conferred upon him the right of franchise, he has taken an active and helpful interest in the growth of that party in the community, and, a stanch champion of the cause of education, he served for two years as president of the school board of independent district No. 9. He is a man of broad and comprehensive general knowledge, his opinions being largely accepted as authority among his fellowmen. Endowed by nature with a remarkable memory, he has a most unusual capacity for remembering dates.