Frank Faul
Frank Faul, of Denison, clerk of the district court, is a citizen in whom public trust is well placed, for he is ever found loyal and progressive in citizenship, discharging his duties with a sense of conscientious obligation that makes him a valued official. He has long figured prominently in connection with journalism and was widely known as the owner and publisher of Der Demokrat. Indeed, his activities have reached out to various interests, many of which have had bearing upon the general welfare, and in all he has maintained a progressive attitude.
A native of Illinois, Mr. Faul was born in Freeport, May 22, 1860. The family name indicates his German ancestry. His parents, Christian and Elizabeth (Shoch) Faul, were both natives of Germany and in early life the father learned the machinist's trade in his native land. He came to America in the '50s, settling first at Buffalo, New York, while later he resided at Chicago before removing to Freeport. Eventually he became a resident of Council Bluffs. Iowa.
For thirty-five years he was in the employ of the Chicago & Northwestern Railroad Company as a machinist and for seven years worked on the Wabash in the line of his trade. He died in Council Bluffs in March, 1910, as the result of an accident, when seventy-seven years old. He was still active in business at that time, a sound, robust and well preserved man. His widow is still a resident of Council Bluffs and is a member of the Lutheran church, to which Mr. Faul also belonged. In their family were six children, Frank, Frederick, Martha, Albert, Henry and Kate. Of these Frederick and Martha died in Council Bluffs.
Frank Faul was a lad of nine years when his parents removed from Illinois to Iowa, so that his education was largely acquired in the schools of Council Bluffs, where, passing through consecutive grades, he eventually became a high school student. He also attended the German day school and in due time was graduated from the high school. He then began to learn the printer's trade, which he followed for many years. In December, 1880, he came to Denison and for seven years worked on the German paper published by Mr. Meyers.
In 1887 he joined with several others in forming a stock company for the publication of a German paper called Der Demokrat. Some time later Mr. Faul purchased the interests of the others and became sole proprietor of this paper, which is published weekly in the interest of the democratic party. It is an attractive journal, ably edited, and has both a large circulation and advertising patronage. Mr. Faul also conducted a general job printing business, in which the work done was a high expression of the printer's art, but he disposed of the paper January 1, 1911.
On the 1st of December, 1883, occurred the marriage of Frank Faul and Miss Ernestina Brinkmann, who was born in Lunden, Schleswig-Holstein, Germany, a daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Peter Brinkmann. Her father came to America in 1882 with his second wife, having previously lost his first wife in Germany. By his first marriage there were four children: Ernestina, now Mrs. Faul; Carolina, the wife of Christian Otto; Bendix, deceased; and John. After crossing the Atlantic Mr. Brinkmann settled in Crawford county, Iowa, where his second wife died in January, 1910. There were three children by that marriage: Emma and Frieda, who are yet living; and Peter, who died in infancy.
Unto Mr. and Mrs. Faul have been born three sons and three daughters: Otto, who married Eva Cooley, of Wall Lake, and has two children, Evelyn and Gretchen; Elizabeth, a teacher of Crawford county; Henry, who is a printer in his father's office; Frankie E., who is attending the State Normal School at Cedar Falls, Iowa; and Alfred and Ruby, who are now attending the public schools.
Mr. Faul belongs to the Knights of Pythias lodge, the Odd Fellows society and the Improved Order of Red Men and is prominent and popular in these different organizations. For fifteen years he has held membership with Sidoni Lodge, No. 393, I. O. O. F., and for a decade has been its secretary. He likewise belongs to Dowdall Lodge, No. 90, K. P., and Ute Tribe, No. 91, I. O. R. M. He is particularly prominent in the German-American societies of Crawford county and since its organization in 1880 has been connected with the Germania Society, of which he is now president. He is also treasurer of the German Brotherhood, with which he has been identified for a quarter of a century.
He belongs to the Commercial Club and is deeply interested in its projects of exploiting the advantages of Denison and of upbuilding the city along substantial and progressive lines. For thirty years he has been a member of the fire department, for a quarter of a century secretary of the hook and ladder company, was treasurer of the consolidated fire department and is now its president. His political allegiance is given to the democracy and in 1900 he was elected clerk of the district court, which position he filled for four years. Then, after an interval of two years, he was again elected to the office in 1906 and is still acting in that capacity. Mr. Faul stands as a high type of progressive American manhood and citizenship. He is an advocate of practical reform and progress and has not only cooperated in the movements for the general good but has taken the initiative in introducing many projects, the worth and value of which have been proven by time.
Source: History of Crawford County, Iowa. Vol. II. Chicago: The S. J. Clarke Publishing Co., 1911.