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1907 Past and Present Biographies

Jacob Winkelma

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Jacob Winkelman, deceased, who owned and operated two hundred acres of the best farming land in this county, was born in Switzerland in 1835. He was indebted to the schools of his native country for the educational privileges which he enjoyed, and having been brought up in that beautiful country early acquired an individuality and independence which characterized him throughout life. He was but seventeen years old when he crossed the ocean all alone, and having landed upon our shores his first home was in Champaign county, Illinois. In company with a cousin he later came to Greene county, Iowa, and located about three miles south of Jefferson. By his industry and thrift he was able to purchase forty acres of land, which be operated so successfully that little by little he added to his original purchase until before his death he was the owner of two hundred acres of land which owed its entire improvement to him. In 1895 he gave up active farming and bought a home in the western part of Jefferson. He sold this a little later and purchased a very beautiful residence one block southeast of the square.

Mr. Winkelman was married in 1859 to Nancy A. Rhoades, a native of Champaign county, Illinois, where she was born in 1840. She was the daughter of Walter and Mary Rhoades, both deceased, the mother having passed away thirty years ago, while the father’s death occurred some ten years prior to her death. These good people came to Greene county, settling in Greenbrier township, when Nancy was but fourteen years old. However, they remained there but one year, locating finally five miles southeast of Jefferson, where they bought one hundred acres of land, which they farmed up to the time of their death. They were here when the red man roamed over this country in his picturesque garb and early learned to make friends with the Indians. They were pioneers in every
sense of the word and when they first located here were obliged to haul their crops to Des Moines. Mrs. Win.kelman’s memory takes her back to the time when there was only one log store and house where Jefferson now stands, so that we may easily realize that she was well acquainted with all of the pioneer hardships. Her father and mother were the parents of ten children, six of whom survive: Phmbe, a resident of Duluth, Minnesota; Alfred P., an agriculturist of Greene county, Iowa; Elizabeth, the wife of William Adams, who isliving retired in Jefferson; Mary, the wife of Wesley Adams, who lives in Jamaica, Iowa; Nancy A., now Mrs. Winkelman; and Perry, a resident of Wisconsin.

Unto Mr. and Mrs. Winkelman were born ten children: Elizabeth, the wife of Dan Anderson, a farmer living near Scranton, Iowa; Frank, who was a resident of Cooper, Iowa, and is now deceased; Cornelia, the wife of Jasper Anderson, an agriculturist of Greene county; Edward, deceased; William, who lives in Lohrville and owns a farm near that place ; George, deceased; Mary, who married Ralph Bennett and resides three miles southeast of Jefferson; Lillian, deceased; Daisy, the wife of B. B. Carlisle, who owns a small farm at the edge of Jefferson and has been agent at the railroad oflice here for many years; and Dorothy, who lives with her mother in Jefferson. She received her education in the schools of this city and is a graduate of the high school.

In politics Mr. Winkelman afliliated with the republican party, but could never be prevailed upon to accept oflice, preferring to devote his undivided attention to his agricultural interests. He was faithful in the discharge of his duties of citizenship, however, and gave his support to every enterprise for the public good. He was widely and favorably known throughout the county, and in his death, which occurred in Jefferson in 1901, the community realized that it had lost a valued and useful citizen. He was an earnest Christian gentleman and a life-long member of the Methodist church.

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.

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