ALFRED CHRISTIE REEDER

View Portraits of
A. C. Reeder and Mrs. A. C. Reeder

A member of the Reeder family scarcely needs introduction to those who peruse this volume, so long and prominently have the representatives of the name been connected with the history of Cedar county. During the entire period of their residence here they have stood for progress and improvement, cooperating in many movements for the general good and at the same time winning success in the conduct of growing and important business interests, and Alfred Chrisite is no except to the rule.

He was born in Goshen, Clermont county, Ohio, June 14, 1838, and is a son of George and Sophia (Stroup) Reeder, in whose family were seven children, Alfred C. being the youngest. In the paternal line the family is of English lineage and in the maternal line of German descent. The father was born in Virginia but his marriage was celebrated in Ohio, where the family lived for a number of years. The grandmother, Mrs. Rosetta (Wagner) Reeder, was a native of Virginia and during the period of the Revolutionary war she cooked and served a meal to General Lafayette. Her death occurred in Cedar county in 1852, when she had reached the age of ninety-three years, and her remains were interred in Bethel cemetery. She related many interesting incidents concerning the Revolutionary war and the years which preceded it. In early womanhood she gave her hand in marriage to Jacob Reeder, also a native of Virginia, who died in Ohio in 1845, when ninety-four years of age. He was a slaveholder in his native state, but in 1821 he removed with his family to Ohio and freed his slaves. He continued a resident of that state until his demise, after which his widow came to Cedar county in 1851, her death occurring in 1852. It was in the former year that George and Sophia (Stroup) Reeder arrived in Cedar county, settling in Center township about three miles northwest of Tipton. The old homestead which the father first secured and which he developed and improved is now in possession of his son Alfred and has been owned continuously by the family since1850.

Afred C. Reeder was a youth of twelve years when the family came to Iowa. He resided with his parents until after the outbreak of the Civil war, when on the 6th of August, 1862, he responded to the country’s call for troops, enlisting from Tipton as a member of Company C, Twenty-fourth Iowa Volunteer Infantry, under Captain Silas Johnson. He served for three years as a corporal and took part in all the engagements of the regiment except that at Jackson, Mississippi, being ill at the time. He received an honorable discharge at the close of the war and with a most creditable military record returned home. Of the four who started the organization of Company C, only Mr. Reeder and George G. Chandler now survive, the others being S. G. Johnson and James Carpenter, who were killed at the battle of Champion Hills. Mr. Reeder still has in his possession all the equipment that belonged to him during his service and also the certificate of membership in the church to which he belonged, presented him by his pastor on leaving for the front.

Mr. Reeder had been reared to the occupation of farming and early became familiar with all the duties and labors that fall to the lot of the agriculturist, so that after his return from the war he resumed farming and was associated with his brother George W. in the operation of the old homestead for several years. The brother then married and removed to a farm of his own, but Alfred C. Reeder remained upon the homestead and continued its cultivation until he retired to private life in the fall of 1893, removing to Tipton, where he erected his present fine residence. He had one hundred and sixty acres of the old homestead, which he carefully cultivated year after year, gathering therefrom abundant harvests. He still owns that property and he also has two farms in Kossuth county, one of one hundred and sixty acres and the other of one hundred and twenty acres. His land is rich and valuable but does not comprise all of his invested interests. For about thirty years he was engaged in the live-stock business with his brother J. W. Reeder and they became recognized as among the foremost live-stock dealers of this part of the state. Mr. Reeder is one of the directors of the Cedar County State Bank, which he aided in organizing. He is a man of sound businessjudgment and keen discernment and success has uniformly attended his efforts whether put forth in his own behalf or for the benefit of the community, in the welfare of which he has taken deep and abiding interest.

On the 12th of March, 1874, Mr. Reeder was married to Miss Eva Elizabeth McCune, who was born in Richland county, Ohio, July 22, 1852, and in February, 1863, came to Red Oak township, this county, with her parents, William and Elizabeth (Dorcas) McCune, who were native of Pennsylvania, in which state the father was reared, while the mother spent her girlhood in Maryland. They were married in the Buckeye state and came to Cedar county in 1863, settling upon a farm in Red Oak township, which continued to be their home until their demise. The mother, who was born April 20, 1825, passed away on the 5th of October, 1875. The father, who was born March 21, 1813, died July 25, 1881. In their family were seven children, four daughters and three sons: Bethania became the wife of William Sissler but both are now deceased; Mahala is the wife of Dr. E. T. Rigby, a resident of Davenport; John is living in Chicago; Charles makes his home in Des Moines; Mrs. Reeder is the next of the family; Avery is living in Davenport; and Mrs. Alice Kemp is deceased.

The marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Reeder was blessed with five children but three of the number died in infancy. G. Abraham, born June 25, 1875, resides in New York city, being now national secretary of the Army and Navy Young Men’s Christian association. He was the first Y. M. C. A. secretary to accompany the American fleet. He resided on his father’s farm here until he entered college subsequent to his graduation from the Tipton high school in June, 1892. He then became a student in Cornell College at Mount Vernon, Iowa, in the fall of 1893 and was graduated in 1897, completing the classical course. He afterward went to Evanston, Illinois, and entered the Garrett Biblical School, completing a course in 1901 with the degree of S. T. D. He next joined the Methodist Episcopal conference of upper Iowa, but after preaching for one year his health failed and he was taken to the Pacific coast. A year was devoted to rest and recuperation and he then entered the California conference, preaching two years at Colfax, California, and three years in San Francisco in the Hamilton church. Another year was then devoted to rest, during which time he went to the Holy Land and spent six months in the district made sacred as the seat of much new testament history. On his return to America he again resumed the pastorate, and was given an appointment but acceded to the request of the Young Men’s Christian Association that he take up his present work, serving as national secretary since November, 1909. He was married in July, 1894, to Miss Mamie Able, of Postville, Iowa. Elizabeth Christie, the only daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Reeder, is a graduate of the Tipton high school class of 1896. She took up the study of music as well as a collegiate course at Cornell, where she spent five years, and was graduated in 1902. She was married September 8, 1903, to William Dennis, of Marion, Iowa, and they have two children, George Reeder and Margaret Elizabeth.

The Reeder family has always vied with the Rigby family in seeing which would graduate the larger number from Cornell College at Mount Vernon, and on the roll of its alumni appear the names of fourteen Reeders and fifteen Rigbys. Other Reeders, however, attended the college but were unable to complete the course on account of their health. Eighteen out of twenty-two of the Reeder children are graduates of the Tipton high school. These children are of the third generation in this county, their fathers having been brothers. The farm which the father purchased and developed into the homestead property is now owned by Alfred C. Reeder, who resided thereon until he took up his abode in Tipton, while the other three brothers bought farms adjoining the old homestead. All four of the sons reared their families on those adjoining farms and when they retired to Tipton the three living brothers built their homes together on Seventh street. They are among the best residences of Tipton and their owners are among the most public-spirited and progressive citizens.

Alfred C. Reeder has been a lifelong republican and has served as trustee of Center township for several years. He has also been a director and secretary of the school board of Center township, which position he filled for several years. He has been a devoted member of the Methodist Episcopal church since 1856 and he has been one of its trustees and class leaders. Mrs. Reeder has been a member of the Methodist Episcopal church since 1872. He is connected with the Grand Army of the Republic, belonging to William Beaver Post, No. 110, of Tipton; is also a member of the Legion of Honor and thus maintains pleasant relations with his old army comrades. He is as true and loyal to his country today as when he followed the old flag upon southern battlefields and is recognized throughout the community as a high type of American manhood and chivalry.