IOWA HISTORY PROJECT |
NORTHWESTERN
IOWA
ITS HISTORY AND TRADITION
VOLUME III
1804-1926
BIO'S K
Among those who stand as distinguished types of the world's workers is William J. Kass, an able and honored attorney of Sioux City, where he has long been numbered among the most successful members of the bar. As one of those who have lent dignity and honor to his profession, and who have been eminently public spirited in their efforts to advance the prosperity and welfare of the community, it is most consonant that in this work there be entered a tribute to his worth. mr. Kass was born in East Dubuque, Illinois, on November 2, 1875, and is a son of Nicholas and Elizabeth (Mich) Kass, both of whom were born in the grand duchy of Luxembourg, and came in childhood to this country with their respective families, the Kass family settling in Illinois and the Mich family in Wisconsin. Their marriage occurred in Kenosha, Wisconsin, and subsequently they moved to East Dubuque, Illinois, where the father engaged in blacksmithing. During this period he made some of the iron work for the noted Cooper wagons. In 1876 he went to Plymouth county, Iowa, where he bought a farm, which contained but few improvements. The following year, 1877, the grasshoppers completely ruined his crops and he again got out his anvil and bellows and took up blacksmithing as a means of supporting the family. In 1885 he sold his farm to Plymouth county, to be used as the county poor farm, and he then engaged in teh grain business for a short time in Le Mars, buying for the Gehlen Milling Company. Later he turned his attention to the agricultural implement business in partnership with a Mr. Priestly. About this time he also, in company with his eldest son, established the mercantile business of N. Kass & Son, at Remsen, Iowa, and in 1888 moved his family to that place. He also engaged in the grain business there in partnership with a Mr. Brucher, under the firm name of Brucher & Kass, a business with which he was identified until his death. The mercantile firm of N. Kass & Son had undergone several changes in ownership, always remaining in the family. Nicholas Kass transferred his interest in the business to his two sons, Nicholas and George, who conducted it under the name of Kass Brothers for a number of years. Later George sold his interest to Nicholas, under whose name it was continued for some years. About 1918 the business was incorporated as the Nicholas Kass Company, he having taken his sons into partnership and practically turned the management of the store over to them. He then founded other stores at Marcus and at Sanborn, Iowa, and holds a controlling interest in the three stores. To Nicholas and Elizabeth Kass were born eight children, six sons and two daughters, of whom four sons and a daughter survive, namely: Nicholas J., of Remsen, in the organization of which city he was one of the important factors, and who served many years on the school board of that place; George, a retired merchant of Fort Dodge, Iowa; Lewis J., a merchant at Tyndall, South Dakota; Emma, who lives in Los Angeles, California; and William J.
The last named attended the district schools of Plymouth county, the parochial schools of Le Mars and Remsen and the high school at the latter place. In 1894, at the age of eighteen years, he accepted the position of cashier of the Bank of Remsen, where he remained three years, resigning in the fall of 1898 to enter the law school of the University of Michigan, where he studied law and political science. He was graduated, with the degree of Bachelor of Laws, in 1901, and then returned to Remsen and entered into a law partnership with his brother, Jacob F., under the firm name of Kass Brothers. At the same time the firm opened a law office in the Toy building, in Sioux City, Jacob F. Kass looking after the Sioux City office for about thirteen years, William J. Kass remaining in the Remsen office. In 1914 he removed to Sioux City, the Remsen office being turned over to Frank A. Sievers, who had been admitted to the firm under the name of Kass Brothers & Cievers. In 1919 Albert G. Kass, who was born September 9, 1890, the son of Nicholas, Jr., and Margaret (Hoffman) Kass, entered the firm. Albert G. Kass had just returned from France, where he had served sixteen months as a lieutenant in the Eight Hundred and Ninth Pioneer Infantry. In 1906, William J. and Jacob F. Kass and others organized the First National Bank of Remsen, of which William J. Kass was made president, which position he still fills.
Albert G. Kass attended Iowa State University, where he was graduated in 1911, with the degree of Bachelor of Arts, was admitted to the bar in 1916 and then completed his course in the law school of the same university in 1917. He was married to Miss Ruth Drews, of Oshkosh, Wisconsin, in February, 1920, and they have a son, Robert D., born May 25, 1921. He is a member of Sioux City Lodge, No. 112, Benevolent Protective Order of Elks, and of the Knights of Columbus.
Jacob F. Kass was born in East Dubuque, Illinois, January 31, 1873, and secured his education in the public and parochial schools at Le Mars. After clerking in his father's store a year, he studied law in the office of F. M. Roseberry, at Le Mars, and in the following year entered the law school of the University of Michigan, where he was graduated with the degree of Bachelor of Laws in 1895. He then formed a partnership with his former preceptor, becoming a member of the firm of Zink & Roseberry, which in a short time became Zink, Roseberry & Kass. In 1897 he opened an office of his own in Remsen, being alone until his brother, William J., became associated with him in 1901. He then moved to Sioux City, from which time he was actively identified with legal business here until his death, September 7, 1925. He was a democrat in politics and was twice a delegate to national conventions of that party. He was a communicant of the Epiphany Cathedral Roman Catholic parish at Sioux City and was a member of the Knights of Columbus. He belonged to Sioux City Lodge, No. 112, Benevolent Protective Order of Elks, the Sioux City Country Club, the Germania Club and the University of Michigan Alumni Association. He was a director of the First National Bank of Remsen and of the Le Mars Savings BAnk.
William J. Kass was married in 1907 to Miss Catherine Hiegel, of Tipton, Iowa, and to their union were born two children, namely: Florence, who is a student in Sacred Heart College, Lake Forrest, Illinois; and William Jacob, who is in the grade schools. Mr. Kass is a member of Sioux City Lodge, No. 112, B. P. O. E., and the Knights of Columbus, and also belongs to the Sioux City Boat Club, the Sioux City Country Club and the University of Michigan Alumni Association. He is a communicant of the Roman Catholic church. As a lawyer Mr. Kass is the peer of any of his colleagues of the Woodbury county bar and during the years of his identification with the practice of law here he has always enjoyed the fullest measure of confidence and respect.
The standing of any community depends largely upon the character of those who represent it in official capacities, and in this connection George Martin Kellogg has established a remarkable record, serving for many years as chief of the fire department of Sioux City. He was born January 28, 1861, near Dubuque, Iowa, and comes of sturdy pioneer stock. His parents were George W. and Sarah Ellen (McMillan) Kellogg, the former a native of Ohio and the latter of Iowa. The father drove an ox team across the plains and first located in Sioux City but later took up a claim across the river and for many years resided upon his farm, converting it into a fertile tract of land. He was a progressive agriculturist and also a successful lawyer. He practiced for a considerable period at Elk Point, South Dakota, and later opened an office in Sioux City, Iowa, where he spent the remainder of his life. He was regarded as one of the foremost members of the legal fraternity of this city and enjoyed a large and desirable clientele. He was selected for public honors and for three terms was a member of the South Dakota legislature. Yankton was the capital at that time and he also served as territorial auditor as well as justice of the peace. He responded to death's summons on July 14, 1911, and had long survived his wife, who passed away in 1873.
Mr. Kellogg attended the rural schools of South Dakota and completed a course in the Elk Point high school. He was reared on the home farm and aided in its operation until he reached the age of eighteen years, when he came to Sioux City. He worked for six years for a grain and implement firm and during three years of that period acted as foreman. For a year he operated the Peavy Grain Elevator at Luverne, Minnesota, and then returned to Sioux City. He traveled for three years, buying fur and hides, and was next in the employ of the Standard Oil Company, filling the positions of shipping clerk and bookkeeper. On May 18, 1889, he became chief of the fire department at Sioux City and for five years was connected with this branch of municipal activity. he engaged in other work for a year and then returned to the fire department, with which he has since been identified. Merit won him promotion to the office of chief and under his able administration the department has been maintained at a high standard of efficiency. He is a strict disciplinarian but at all times just and considerate in his attitude toward his subordinates, and has secured their cooperation and good will. He is devoted to the interests in his charge and has performed his duties in such a manner as to earn the high encomiums of his fellow citizens.
In January, 1885, Mr. Kellogg married Miss Mary Jackson, and on December 26, 1921, their union was severed by her death. She was the mother of one child, George Martin, Jr., who was born July 7, 1890, and is now a well known attorney of Chicago. Mr. Kellogg owns the home farm, which he rents, and has also invested in city real estate, having valuable holdings. He is a thirty-second degree Mason and a Noble of Abu-Bekr Temple of the Mystic Shrine. He has passed through all of the chairs in the lodge of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and is a past grand patriarch of Iowa. He is a past exalted ruler and a life member of the local lodge of the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks, has attained high standing in these fraternal organizations and is also a Rotarian. He casts his ballot for the candidates of the democratic party and is a consistent member of the Methodist Episcopal church. Mr. Kellogg has devoted the best efforts of his life to the upbuilding of Sioux City's fire department, with which he has been connected for a period of thirty-five years, and the reputation that results from duty well and faithfully performed is his just reward.
Dr. Samuel Kline is an able and successful physician of Sioux City, who has gained not only an enviable reputation in the line of his profession but has also shown keen sagacity and sound judgment in managing material affairs, having expressed his faith in the future of Sioux City by his judicious investments in real estate here. Dr. Kline is a native of Russia, born on the 14th of April, 1880, and received his preliminary educational training in the public schools of that land. Subsequently he began a course in theology but when twenty years of age his plans were interrupted through the oppression of the Russian government, and, with a determination to locate where there was unrestricted opportunity for individual effort and advancement, he came to the United States landing at New York city in October, 1900. He went direct to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, where he remained two years, taking special studies and education himself in the English language. In 1902 he came to Sioux City, where he continued his studies under private tutors for two years longer, when he took up the study of medicine in the Sioux City College of Medicine, from which he was graduated with the degree of Doctor of Medicine, in 1908. During the last two years of his course he was made a member of the teaching staff of the college, serving with eminent satisfaction to faculty and student body. Immediately after his graduation, Dr. Kline entered upon active practice, opening offices in the Davidson building, and has built up a large and remunerative practice. He has specialized in internal medicine and has gained a high reputation as a consulting physician. In 1914 Dr. Kline made his first real estate investment here and, with unbounded faith in the city and its splendid possibilities, he has continued to invest from time to time until today he is numbered among the heavy holders of real estate in this city.
In 1908 Dr. Kline was united in marriage to Miss Dora Kurwitz, a native of Russia, and they are the parents of three children, Earl, Bernard and Marvin. The Doctor is a member of the Woodbury County Medical Society, the Iowa State Medical Society and the American Medical Association. He is a member of the Sioux City Chamber of Commerce, while his religious affiliation is with the B'nai B'rith congregation. He has never had occasion to regret his determination to come to the new world and, prompted by a laudable ambition, has steadily worked his way upward until he now occupies an enviable position, both socially and professionally.
William A. Klinger, one of the leading builders of northwestern Iowa, is president and treasurer of W. A. Klinger, Inc., constructing engineers of Sioux City. His birth occurred on the 3d of June, 1888, his parents being August Henry and Mary Theressa (Spangler) Klinger, the former born in Prussia, Germany, in 1854 and the latter in Jefferson, Wisconsin, in 1859. He received his early education in the graded schools of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and continued his studies in the West Division high school of that city, from which he was graduated in 1906. His professional training was acquired in the college of engineering of the University of Wisconsin, which in 1910 conferred upon him the degree of Civil Engineer. He did not leave the institution until two years, later, however, remaining therein as an instructor in the college of engineering. In 1912 he became president of Steinhagen & Klinger, Inc., constructing engineers of Milwaukee, where he thus continued in business until called to the federal service in November, 1917. The concern built warehouses, bridges, docks, etc., being awarded important contracts for heavy concrete construction work of all kinds.
It was in November, 1917, as above stated, that Mr. Klinger entered the federal service and was assigned to the Emergency Fleet Corporation, being the eighth man called by the government when the concrete ship program was inaugurated. He engaged in the design and construction of reinforce concrete ships at Brunswick, Georgia, and Mobile, Alabama, and at the close of the war was chief of construction in the Mobile (Ala.) yards, where fourteen hundred men were employed and where eight ships were on the ways at one time. In 1919 Mr. Klinger came to Sioux City, Iowa, where he has since remained in the general contracting business as president and treasurer of W. A. Klinger, Inc., and has done all kinds of construction work, including the erection of buildings, bridges, etc. Among the larger contracts which he has executed, totaling some millions of dollars, are the following: the Warnock building, which is the outstanding structure of its type in Sioux City and is generally regarded as its best built building; the double deck reinforced concrete hog pens at the stock yards; the rebuilding program of the Sioux City Stock Yards; the Swift produce plant in Sioux City, Iowa; the Swift produce plant in Huron, South Dakota; the Commodore apartments in Norfolk, Nebraska; Hotel Norfolk in Norfolk, Nebraska; the Bellevue Apartment Homes in Sioux City - the last word in apartment buildings; the Shoare Zion synagogue of Sioux City; and the Frances-Orpheum building, now in course of construction, which is valued at one million, four hundred and fifty thousand dollars and which is the finest theatre in Iowa. Mr. Klinger enjoys the distinction of having built the three largest projects for which permits have been issued in Sioux City. He was chosen president of the central branch of the Associated General Contractors of America in 1926. He is not only at the head of the Sioux City concern which bears his name but is also president of the Norfolk Building Company and is a director of the Citizens Industrial Loan Company.
On the 9th of October, 1915, in Sioux City, Iowa, Mr. Klinger was united in marriage to Miss Ada James, who was born in Park City, Utah, on the 8th of December, 1889, and who represents an old American family which was founded in the state of New York many generations ago. Mr. and Mrs. Klinger are the parents of a daughter and a son, namely: Helen Jane, a maiden of nine summers; and William James, who is seven years of age.
Mr. Klinger maintains an independent attitude in politics and is widely recognized as a public-spirited, enterprising and progressive citizen. He has been a director of the Sioux City Chamber of Commerce since 1924, served as president of the Sioux City Kiwanis Club in 1921 and was appointed a member of the Iowa Agricultural and Industrial Commission by Governor Hammill to represent construction interests of the state. His religious faith is indicated by his membership in the First Presbyterian church of Sioux City, while in Masonry he has attained the thirty-second degree of the Scottish Rite, belonging to Landmark Lodge, No. 103, A. F. & A. M.; Sioux City Consistory, No. 5, S. P. R. S.; and Abu-Bekr Temple, A. A. O. N. M. S. He is likewise a member of Lodge No. 112 of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, is a director of the Young Men's Christian Association of Sioux City and a member of the Greater Sioux City Committee. His appreciation for the social amenities of life is manifest in his membership in the Sioux City Boat Club, of which he is a director, the Sioux City Automobile Club and the Sioux City Country Club.
In the newspaper field of the United States, Iowa journalism has long enjoyed a high degree of prestige, a number of its great city papers ranking with the best in the country, while her country papers have, in literary style and typography, held their own in quality with any in the country. Among the strong and influential papers of Monona county, none takes precedence over the Mapleton Press, edited and published by Herman H. Knoch, who has by voice and pen stood as a stanch exponent of all that is best in community life. Mr. Knoch is a native son of Iowa, having been born at Remsen on the 5th of January, 1895, his parents being Henry C. and Minnie (Rosenbradk) Koch, both of whom were natives of Germany. They went to Remsen in 1888 and the father has since been engaged in farming there. He is well known and influential in his community, having held several township offices and served as a member of the school board. He and his wife are the parents of two children, the younger Arthur F., being engaged in the practice of dentistry in Remsen.
The elder, Herman H. Koch, attended the public schools of Remsen and then had one year's work in the school of journalism of Marquette University, Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He began his career as a reporter on the Sioux City Journal in 1914, remaining there one year, and then spent a year on the Des Moines News and a similar time with the Sioux City Tribune. Going to Des Moines, he acted as assistant to Senator C. F. Lyttle in legislative work during 1917, after which he returned to Sioux City. On June 18, 1917, he enlisted for service in the World war, becoming a member of Field Hospital Corps One Hundred Thirty-three, with which he was stationed successively at Camp Eaton in Sioux City, Camp Cody in New Mexico, and Camp Dix in New Jersey. On October 3, 1918, he was sent overseas, arriving in FRance two weeks before the signing of the Armistice. Shortly afterwards he was returned home and was honorably discharged on January 31, 1919, at Camp Grant, Illinois. On resuming civil life, Mr. Koch again became associated with the Sioux City Tribune, and upon the death of John C. Kelly, in 1920, was made city editor, which position he held three years. He then came to Mapleton and bought the Press, which he is still publishing, and which he has developed into one of the best country papers in northwestern Iowa. Mr. Koch possesses a pleasing and interesting literary style, the human interest element characterizing his stories when possible, and he has so managed the Press as to make of it a valuable property.
On March 20, 1923, in Sioux City, Mr. Koch was married to Miss Mabel R. Eichhorn, daughter of John and Catherine Eichhorn, who long were residents of Remsen but the father is now deceased. Mrs. Koch is a member of the Order of the Eastern Star, the American Red Cross Society, the Woman's Club and the Women's Auxiliary to the American Legion. Mr. and Mrs. Koch are the parents of a daughter, Gloria Jean.
Politically Mr. Koch is an independent republican, while, fraternally, he is a member of Quarry Lodge, A. F. & A. M., at Mapleton; Sioux City Consistory, No. 5, A. A. S. R.; the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks and the Order of the Eastern Star. He was one of the founders of Monahan Post, No. 64, American Legion, at Sioux City, of which he was the first adjutant and the first full-year commander, and is still a member of the executive committee. While commander of that post he organized the Monahan Post Band, which has won three championship contests among American Legion bands in the United States. Since coming to Mapleton, Mr. Koch has organized a band here which is rapidly coming to the front. He is a member of the Mapleton Country Club, the Iowa State Editorial Association and the National Editorial Association, as well as the Community Club of Mapleton, of which he was president in 1924. His religious faith is that of the Lutheran church. Personally, Mr. Koch is a man of forceful individuality and splendid public spirit, kindly and cordial in all his social relations, and he has gained a high place in teh esteem of his fellowmen.
With the wonderful advances that have been made in the healing art in recent years, radiology has become a most important adjunct to medicine and surgery and in the hands of a skillful operator is of great curative value. In this field of operation Dr. F. H. Kuegle, of Sioux City, has gained a wide and favorable reputation and is conceded to be the leading radiologist in this section of the country. Born in Columbiana county, Ohio, on the 22d of January, 1878, Dr. Kuegle is a son of Henry and Melinda (Summers) Kuegle, who were natives of the same locality, where their respective families were among the first settlers. His paternal grandfather Frederick Kuegle, was a native of Germany, while his maternal great-grandfather, John Summers, went to Ohio from Bucks county, Pennsylvania. Henry Kuegle was a stonemason by trade but in later years engaged in the hardware business at Leetonia, Ohio.
In the public schools there Dr. Kuegle secured his elementary education, and then entered Nebraska State University, from which he was graduated with the degree of Bachelor of Arts in 1899. he then matriculated in teh John A. Creighton Medical College, at Omaha, Nebraska, and was graduated with the degree of Doctor of Medicine in 1905. He served an interneship of more than a year in Mercy Hospital, at Council Bluffs, Iowa, after which he engaged in the general practice of medicine at Madison, Nebraska. One year later he was appointed assistant superintendent of the Nebraska State Hospital, at Ingleside, in which capacity he served two years. In 1909 he engaged in the general practice at West Point and Dodge, Nebraska, and in 1910 was appointed assistant superintendent of the Colorado State Hospital at Pueblo. During the years 1911 and 1912 he again served as assistant superintendent of the Nebraska State Hospital, and in 1913 was in general practice at Cairo, Nebraska. From 1914 to 1918 he served as radiologist at the Nicholas Senn Hospital, at Omaha, Nebraska, and from August, 1918, to October, 1919, was a captain in the United States Medical Corps, being stationed at the Letteman General Hospital at the Presidio, San Francisco. On December 2, 1919, Doctor Kuegle came to Sioux City and has since devoted himself exclusively to radiology, in which science he has specialized since 1914.
In 1912, in Omaha, Nebraska, Doctor Kuegle was united in marriage to Miss Theresa Russell, who is a native of Pennsylvania. He is a member of Landmark Lodge, No. 103, A. F. & A. M.; Hastings Chapter, No. 21, R. A. M., of Hastings, Nebraska; and Mt. Nebo Commandery, No.11, K. T., also of Hastings. The Doctor is a man of strong and forceful personality, is devoted to his profession, and has made steady advancement, being accorded a position of leadership.