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 |