Home < 1907 Bios

Greene County IAGenWeb

1907 Past and Present Biographies

Michael Feith

Michael Feith. owner and operator of a coal mine in Greene county, and a resident of Washington township. was born on the River Rhine in Germany, February 6, 1858. His father, Eberhardt Feith, was also a native of Germany and was a coal miner, working in the government mines all his life. He is still living in his native country and his wife, who bore the maiden name of Mary Strow, also survives.

In the public schools of his native land Michael Feith acquired his education and for nine years he worked in the government mines there. In 1882 he came to the United States, settling first at Wheeling, West Virginia, where he was employed in the mines and rolling mills. He afterward went to Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, and for a year and a half worked in the mines. In 1884 he came to Angus, Boone county, Iowa, where he engaged in mining, and in 1890 he removed to Washington township, Greene county. Here he sunk a shaft on the farm of F. A. Free and for six years operated this mine, which was the only one then being developed in Greene county. He afterward leased eighty acres on section 32, Washington township, and later bought the land which he has developed. This tract has proved to be very rich in coal deposits and through the operation of his mining interests here he supplies not only the trade of local consumers, but also conducts a coal yard at Grand Junction and another at Paton. His business has constantly grown in volume and importance and his trade now makes him one of the prosperous residents of this part of the county. His early experience in the mines of his native country well qualified him for carryingr on the business in this locality and he is now successfully operating in coal, his land being underlaid by large beds of bituminous coal of good quality, for which he finds a ready sale.

In August, 1882, Mr. Feith was married in West Vrginia to Miss Mary T. Plein, a native of Germany, who came to the United States in the same year in which her husband crossed the Atlantic. They have become the parents of eight children: Michael J., Rosa, Matilda, Elizabeth, Margaret, Joseph, Katie and Karl. all yet at home.

Mr. Feith and his family are all members of the Catholic church. being connected with Grand Junction parish. In politics he is a democrat, but has never consented to hold office. For twenty years he has been a member of the Knights of Pythias fraternity at Angus and he belongs to the Improved Order of Red Men of Rippey. He justly merits all of the praise implied in the phrase “a self-made man,” for his unfaltering industry and labor, intelligently directed, constitute the basis of the success which he is now enjoying, making him one of the prosperous citizens of Washington township.

Transcribed from "Past and Present of Greene County, Iowa Together With Biographical Sketches of Many of Its Prominent and Leading Citizens and Illustrious Dead,"
by E. B. Stillman assisted by an Advisory Board consisting of Paul E. Stillman, Gillum S. Toliver,
Benjamin F. Osborn, Mahlon Head, P. A. Smith and Lee B. Kinsey, Chicago: The S. J. Clarke Publishing Company, 1907.

Site Terms, Conditions & Disclaimer