IAGenWeb Project - Clayton co.

John Q. Rupp

John Q. Rupp has been one of the successful exponents of agricultural industry in his native county and though he has now relegated to others much of the active work and management of the place, he still resides upon his fine homestead farm, which is situated in Monona township, on rural mail route No.1 from the village of Monona. John Quintain Rupp was born on a farm in Giard township, and the date of his nativity was September 18, 1858, the family name having been identified with the annals of Clayton county for more than sixty years. Mr. Rupp is the only child of John Sebastian Rupp and Elizabeth (Sutter) Rupp, the former of whom was born in Germany, on the 24th of March, 1834, and the latter of whom was born at Milan, Ripley county, Indiana. John S. Rupp was about four years of age at the time of his parents' immigration to America and the family home was established in Indiana. In the old Hoosier state he was reared and educated and there he gained his early experience in connection with the practical responsibilities of a workaday world. He was for some time employed in a distillery at Lawrenceburg, Indiana, and in 1855, shortly after reaching his legal majority, he came to Iowa and numbered himself among the pioneer settlers of Clayton county. After having been in the employ of others for a period of about three years he purchased a farm in Giard township, the land having been wild and having been reclaimed and brought under effective cultivation through his well-directed efforts. He became one of the prosperous farmers and highly esteemed citizens of Giard township and continued his residence on his homestead farm until his retirement to Monona, where he died August 3, 1891, his widow having passed to eternal rest on the 9th of December, 1915, and having remained with her only child, the subject of this review, on the home place that had been endeared to her by the associations of many years. Both she and her husband held membership in the Methodist Episcopal church, and in politics he was staunchly aligned in the ranks of the Democratic party. John Q. Rupp continued his studies in the public schools of his native county until he had duly availed himself of the advantages of the Monona high school, and his independent career was initiated when he left the home farm and found employment on a neighboring farm. He did not, however, remain long in the employ of others, but rented a farm in Monona township, where his energy and ambition brought to him a more satisfactory and profitable field of enterprise. Later he came into possession of his father's old homestead, which comprises eight acres of fertile and well improved land, and which is devoted to diversified agriculture and stock growing. He has added materially to the permanent improvements on the place and has made it one of the valuable farms of his native county. A Democrat in his political allegiance, Mr. Rupp has shown a loyal interest in community affairs and has served in the offices of township trustee .and township assessor. He has a secure place in the confidence and goodwill of the community, is affiliated with the Monona lodge of Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, and both he and his wife hold membership in the Methodist Episcopal church in the same village. On the 7th of January, 1886, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Rupp to Miss Emma C. Lenth, who likewise was born and reared in Clayton county, a daughter of Joseph Lenth, an honored pioneer of Monona township. Mr. and Mrs. Rupp have one child, Bernice, who was born February 19, 1888, and who is the wife of Louis Kurth, of Giard township, their one child, Vivian, having been born on the 30th of August, 1912.

source: History of Clayton County, Iowa; From The Earliest Historical Times Down to the Present; by Realto E. Price, Vol. II; pg. 359-360
-submitted by S. Ferrall

 

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