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1907 Past and Present Biographies
Daniel GonderDaniel Gonder, who is the only representative of the family in Greene county, spent his boyhood days on the home farm and in his early youth pursued his education in one of the old-time log schoolhouses. The father died when the son was only eleven years old, but he remained with his mother until he had attained his majority, when, in 1847, he offered his services to the government in defense of the country’s interests in the Mexican war, enlisting in 1847 as a member of Company B, Second Ohio Volunteer Infantry, with which he served until the close of the war. After the close of hostilities Mr. Gonder returned to Ohio and was employed as a farm hand until 1850, when he began farming on his own account, continuing his residence in the Buckeye state until 1856, when he removed to McLean. county, Illinois. There he resided for twenty-eight years, or until 1884, when he came to Greene county, Iowa. Here he resumed agricultural pursuits, making his home in Washington township until he retired from active business life in 1900. At the present time he owns one hundred and sixty acres of finely improved land in Beaver township, Boone county, Iowa, and is also interested in real estate in Rippey. While his business record in its essential features has been less spectacular than that of many others, it has been none the less useful and none the less honorable. His life work has been characterized by the faithful performance of duty day after day and thus as the years have gone by he has won a measure of prosperity which is well merited and is now enabled to live retired. In 1850 Mr.-Gonder was married to Miss Mary Ann Leeding, who was then a resident of Licking county, Ohio, but was born in Cambridgeshire, England. They became the parents of nine children: William, a resident farmer of Beaver township, Boone county; Mrs. Harriet Little, residing at Ladd, Illinois; Francis, deceased; James H., whose home is in Beaver township, Boone county; Robert L., deceased; twins who died in infancy; Mary, the wife of J. N. Gilmore, who is now mayor of Rippey and one of its most prominent citizens; and George W., who resides in Evansville, Indiana. Daniel Gonder was reared in the faith of the democratic party and remained a staunch advocate of its principles until the administration of Franklin Pierce. He then became a republican and has since been a stalwart champion of the principles of that party. In the different localities where he has lived his worth as a citizen has been recognized, and he has been called upon to serve in several public offices. He was elected one of the commissioners of McLean county, Illinois, and for the past fourteen years he has served as justice of the peace in this county, his decisions being strictly fair and impartial, while all of his duties have been discharged with promptness and fidelity. Mr. and Mrs. Gonder hold membership in the Christian church, in the work of which they have taken an active and helpful part, Mr. Gonder serving as one of its elders for a number of years. He is an ordained mimster and in connection with his farming interests he engaged in preaching for over forty years, but is not now actively connected with the work of the ministry. His interest in the church, however, has never abated and he gives valued aid and co-operation to the work of the congregation with which he is connected. His life has been indeed honorable and upright and he is known throughout the community as a consistent Christian man. He belongs to the Masonic lodge at Rippey, and for more than ten years he was master of a lodge in McLean county, Illinois. He also belongs to the Odd Fellows society of Rippey, in which he has served as chaplain. He has been a member of various farmers’ organizations for the advancement of agricultural interests and has always been public spirited, endorsing every enterprise and measure tending toward the betterment of his fellowmen and the community at large. There are indeed few of the veterans of the Mexican war still surviving. Mr. Gonder has this honor, and, moreover, he is one of the venerable citizens of Greene county, having long since passed the Psalmist’s allotted span of three score years and ten. His life has been so honorable, his purposes so manly, his actions so sincere and trustworthy that those who know him regard his record as a model for emulation, and no history of this community would be considered complete without the life record of Daniel Gonder. |
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 |