William E. Eggers
As a man who has materially assisted in the development and progress of the agricultural and commercial interests of Crawford county, William E. Eggers holds a prominent position among the residents of Arion, which owes much to his individual endeavors in the behalf of its welfare.
He was born in Jackson county, Iowa, near Green Island, September 3, 1863, a son of Frederick Eggers. (For ancestral history of the Eggers family, see sketch of P. J. Eggers in this volume.) When the father moved from Jackson county he was the possessor of two wagons, five horses and some cattle, and it fell to the lot of his son William E. to drive and take care of the cattle. Their journey was by way of Cedar Rapids, which was at that time but a mere village, and they forded the river there, although the water was high enough to reach the bottom of the wagon box.
William E. Eggers acquired his early education in the Lyman public school under the tutelage of Ayl Marshall. He remained on the home farm until attaining his majority, when he rented some land from his father and began the pursuit of agriculture on his own account. He later decided to embark in the live-stock business, purchasing his first carload of cattle from the man who forjnerly owned the place whereon he now resides, and from that time he has been an extensive feeder and shipper of high grade stock. His first personal acquisition of land was on section 13, Paradise township, comprising one hundred and twenty acres, and in 1895 he bought his present property, consisting of two hundred acres, which has the benefit of all the modem improvements that go to make an up-to-date farm.
Aside from these holdings he owns two hundred and eighty acres in Knox county, Nebraska. Mr. Eggers has been an important factor in the organization and maintenance of Arion's most prominent public institutions, to which he has contributed liberally of both his time and financial assistance. He is a stockholder in the Denison Hospital, one of the charter members of the Arion State Bank, of which he was a director and bank examiner, at present filling the office of vice president, and he was one of the organizers of the Crawford County Fair Association, in which he is a stockholder and a member of the board of directors and now president.
The marriage of Mr. Eggers occurred March 22, 1893, when he was united to Miss Carrie Lanser, a resident of Crawford county, and to them the following three children were born: Arthur, now sixteen years old; Ellen, fourteen years old; and Sears William, eleven years old.
The democratic party has always had the support of Mr. Eggers and for six years he has held the office of township trustee, and has been reelected for another term. Fraternally he is connected with Arion Lodge, No. 5560, Modern Woodmen of America, of which he is a charter member. In his religious faith he follows the teachings of the Lutheran church. He has always remained a resident of his native state, and his success today is the result of his early ambition to make a place for himself among his fellow citizens. Broad-minded, possessing a genial and courteous nature, his many friends extend to him the high regard which he so well merits.
Source: History of Crawford County, Iowa. Vol. II. Chicago: The S. J. Clarke Publishing Co., 1911.