Sonnkalb, Charles F.W.
CHARLES F.W. SONNKALB. To the energy and good judgment of the young farmers of Clayton County much credit is due for the prosperous appearance of the estates and the buildings thereon. While Mr. Sonnkalb is still a young man, he has already gained a position among the industrious agriculturists of Grand Meadow Township. His entire life has been spent in this locality and he was born on a farm near where he now resides, May 14, 1869. He is the owner of a valuable property consisting of two hundred and fifty acres, a portion of which has come to him by inheritance, and the remainder by purchase. A glance over the farm would convince the most careless observer that he makes of his vocation both an art and a science, and it is equally evident that a lady of good judgment and refined tastes is in charge of the household affairs. The father of our subject, Charles F.W. Sonnkalb, Sr., was born in Saxony, Germany, in 1825*, and there grew to manhood. Accumulating some money he emigrated to the United States in 1855, and settled upon a farm near the one now owned by our subject. He was an industrious, energetic man, and added to his possessions until he became well-to-do. In 1892, while riding on a load of straw, he fell from the wagon, receiving injuries from which he died a month later, aged sixty-seven years. His wife, Mrs. Loretta Purdy (Range) Tuttle, was born in Pennsylvania, and was of Dutch descent. Her first husband, John Tuttle, was killed in the army during the Civil War, leaving two children, George, a resident of Spirit Lake, Iowa, and Dorcas M., deceased. Our subject is his father's only son, but he has three sisters, the eldest of whom, Theresa, is married and lives near Cresco, Iowa; Milda married John Leui, Trustee of Grand Meadow Township; Bertha, the youngest of the family, is unmarried and lives on the farm with her mother. Shelaus, a brother of our subject's mother, served four years in the army during the Rebellion, and was wounded in the service; surviving the hardships of war he later fell a victim to consumption, contracted while in the army. In the neighboring schools our subject received a liberal education. After his father's death he bought out all the heirs to the estate, excepting his mother's interest, which she still owns. In 1892 he was united in marriage with Miss Elizabeth, daughter of Jacob Leui, one of the wealthiest farmers of Grand Meadow Township, to which place he came from Switzerland. They are the parents of one child, Nellie Louisa, who was born in 1893. Mr. Sonnkalb gives his attention closely to agriculture, and is making a success of his chosen vocation. In political views he follows in his father's footsteps and advocates Republican principles. Socially he holds membership in the Ancient Order of United Workmen. ~source: Portrait
and Biographical Record of Dubuque, Jones and Clayton
Counties; Chicago: Chapman Pub. Co., 1894; pg 422 ~~ * Note: 3/23/2023 - from Phyllis Peterson:
The birth year (1825) given for Charles F.W. Sonnkalb SR
in this biography is incorrect. Census records indicate
he was born in the 1810s. Other records: |