"P" Biographies
PARSONS, J.M.
J.M. Parsons, a prominent attorney of Rock Rapids, was born October 16, 1858, at Jones, Iowa, where he spent his earlier years attending school, living at home until old enough to enter the state school at Ames, where he was a student for one year, finishing his school days at Cornell College.
In 1879 he began reading law with Shean & McCarn, at Anamosa, Iowa, and was admitted to the bar in 1880, after which he located in Rock Rapids. His settlement in Lyon county was in April, 1881. He gradually increased his legal practice until now he is considered one of the leading members of the bar in Lyon county. In all the leading cases tried in the county courts he has almost always appeared on one side or the other. He was on the celebrated bonded indebtedness case of Lyon county, a case that was carried up to the Supreme Court on several important and complicated points. It was full of fraud, in the attempt to beat the people, and Mr. Parson fought it in every court. In another part of this work will be found a true account of these bond cases, which, coming as it does from the pen of Mr. Parsons, will be found very interesting reading for the citizens of Lyon county.
Mr. Parsons was united in marriage, in 1883, with Miss Lutie M., daughter of D.C. Whitehead, one of the earlier settlers in Iowa. Her father was born in New Jersey, and admitted to the bar in that state. To Mr. and Mrs. Parsons came five children to bless their union: Harry O., Robert O. and George A., now students at Cornell College, and Alabel C. and Louise Hortense, at home.
In 1884 Mr. Parsons became editor and proprietor of the Review, a Democratic publication of Rock Rapids. During the heated political excitement that lasted from 1884 until 1889, the Review was always in evidence as an exceedingly well conducted and deeply interesting sheet. In 1889 Mr. Parsons retired from the paper that he might devote his undivided attention to his law practice, then assuming large proportions.
He has always taken a deep interest in politics, and in 1891 he was elected Mayor of Rock Rapids, being twice re-elected. Since 1894 he has been on the school board, and is at the present time serving the city in that capacity. At every Democratic state convention since 1884 he has appeared as a delegate, that year being temporary chairman of that body. He also served as permanent chairman of that body several times. He was a delegate to the National Democratic convention at Kansas City in 1900, and a delegate at large to the St. Louis convention in 1904, serving on the committee on credentials. He was nominated for Attorney General in 1898, and in 1903 was a candidate for Congress.
Mr. Parsons owns several hundred acres of land which he rents. In Masonic circles he has risen very high, affiliating with Blue Lodge, No. 406, Lyon Chapter, No. 111. Commandery Petros, No. 54, and is a thirty-second degree Mason, Des Moines Consistory, and has taken the Shrine KCCH degree of the thirty-third degree, at Washington, D.C. He belongs to the order of Elks at Sioux City, and has been railroad attorney for the Illinois Central since 1886, and for the B.C.R. & N.R.R. since 1901. He has participated in several murder trials in Lyon and other counties and is regarded as one of the leading attorneys in Northwest Iowa.
Mr. and Mrs. Parsons attend the Congregational church, of which she is an honored and active member. His father, Silas Parsons, came to Iowa in 1836. He was born on the Roanoke river, in Virginia.
We take pleasure in presenting a portrait of Mr. Parsons on another page of this volume.
PEACOCK, JAMES H.
James H. Peacock, a prominent citizen of Larchwood, Lyon County, and well and favorably known in connection with the banking business at that point, was born at Manchester, England July 21, 1871. His father, James Peacock, who was a builder and contractor, died January 12, 1904.
The subject of this sketch grew to manhood in his native land, where he attended the local school until he reached the age of eighteen years, when he sought a home in the New World, landing in the city of New York in 1889, and reaching Larchwood May 13th of that year. Here he found employment for a year and a half on a ranch. He then secured a position in the Larchwood Bank. This was in December 1891, and his progress from that time has been rapid.
Mr. Peacock was married May 9, 1900 to Miss Minerva L. Snider, a native of Waterloo, Canada, where she was born December 25, 1879. They have one child, Pauline. Mr. Peacock is a Republican and has served on the town board. At present he is clerk of the township. He has given close attention to his business affairs, kept all his business engagements with strict fidelity, and proved himself reliable under all conditions. No sacrifice is too much to oblige his patrons, and he has hosts of friends throughout the county.
He is now cashier of the Larchwood Savings Bank and ranks high among the leading businessmen of the day.
PEILE, ROBERT MOORE
Robert Moore, Peile, now one of the venerable residents of Rock Rapids, where his years and character command popular respect and esteem was born in County Kilkenny, Ireland, March 7, 1832, and lost his parents while still very young, from cholera.
The young orphan was liberally educated, and attended college in County Waterford for seven years, quitting school when he had reached the age of nineteen years. On the first of November 1850 he left his native land and sailed for Boston. His first home was near Mendota, Illinois, where he taught school for two years. He was among the first to herd cattle in this country, beginning with nine hundred head, and at one time had as many as twenty-seven hundred under his care. In June 1861 he was out riding on the prairies and was struck by the great tornado of that year, which swept across a wide area and wrought vast destruction. In Illinois he held several township offices, and bought and sold many thousand acres of land, improving many farms, and bringing them up to a high state of cultivation. During the Civil War he was influential in recruiting men for the service at the front.
In 1886 Mr. Peile sold out in Illinois, and moving to Lyon County became the agent for Close Brothers, and sold many hundred acres of their Lyon County lands for them. He also bought land here on his own behalf, which he held until it doubled in price and would then sell it. He still owns a fine farm near Rock Rapids, which he works himself. About nine years ago he bought a fine residence in Rock Rapids, into which he moved his family, and which he still occupies. Mr. Peile stands high among his neighbors.
Mr. Peile was married May 31, 1853 to Miss Mary Landers. She died February 14, 1872, and he contracted a second marriage June 17, 1874, when Miss Lydia J. Banning became his wife. He had four children by his first wife, and four by his second: Maria married Arthur Sanborn, of Concordia, Kansas; Ellen, who married William B. Sutliff, and lives at Burr Oak, Kansas; Katie, the wife of Ivan Hubbell, of Madison, South Dakota; John J., a traveling salesman; Minnie E., a teacher in Rock Rapids; Lydia J., a teacher in Madison-both are graduates of the South Dakota State Normal school at Madison; Robert M., a clerk in Norfolk, Nebraska; Myrtle, the youngest, is at home.
Mr. Peile is a member of the Church of England, to which his parents belonged, and is a nephew of the late Robert Moore Peile, after whom he was named, who changed the order of the letters to designate the different families. Mr. Peile still has the seal ring made of heavy gold and carnelian with the cut of the arms of the family. He also had a solid silver heavy drinking cup. He also has a solid gold cane with an address from the people of Reynold Township when he left to come to Lyon County, showing how much they esteemed him as a good citizen and neighbor.
Dr. Robert Moore Peile, of Ireland, died at the advanced age of ninety-three in 1858. He was educated as a physician, and became inspector general of hospitals for the forces in Ireland, and senior surgeon to the Richmond Hospital and the House of Industry, a position he held for fifty years. He was also consulting surgeon for Dr. Stephens' Hospital, and was regarded as the father of modern surgery in Ireland. Dr. Peile retired from service in 1847 with the rank of inspector general with a reputation as a most skillful surgeon and successful operator, especially in cases of lithotomy, for which he had devised instruments of his own, now well known to the profession, such as Peile's lithotomy and staff. He was good to the poor, affectionate to his family, and courteous to all. The family belonged originally to the same line from which Sir Robert Peil, of England, sprang, and Robert Moore Peile of Rock Rapids, traces his line through the Irish branch.
PENNING, JOHN J.
John J. Penning is well entitled to have his name written among the better and more prominent class of agriculturists, whose industry, good business sense, and general knowledge of their vocation have combined to put them at the front. His pleasant farm graces Garfield township, and he is widely known as one of the enterprising men of the vicinity. His home has been in Lyon county for many years although his residence in Garfield township has been quite limited.
John J. Penning was born in the kingdom of Hanover, Germany, in 1849. His father, John E. Penning, removed with his family to this country in 1851 and settled on a farm in Madison county, Illinois, near Alton. There John J. was reared to manhood and afforded such schooling as the times admitted. He was trained a farmer, and developed ability for hard work which has since stood him well in hand. When he was twenty-one he struck out into the great world for himself and began a successful career as a farmer on his own land. After seven years he moved to Christian county, Illinois, where he continued farming until 1891, making a very decided success of his various enterprises at that time.
Mr. Penning was married in 1885 to Miss Kate Johnson, also of German birth and rearing. Her parents were farmer people in Christian county, Illinois. Mr. and Mrs. Penning are the happy parents of a family of three children: Louis, Noah and Onme.
In 1891 Mr. Penning came to Lyon county, Iowa, and bought a farm in section 22, Doon township, after having been settled for some two years in the village of Doon, where he had conducted a hardware store for about a year. Disposing of the store property at the end of that time he bought his present farm in sections 30 and 31 in Garfield township. This farm had but few and small improvements but since it has been in the hands of Mr. Penning he has added greatly to its equipment. He has put in a complete set of farm buildings, a house 16 by 30, a barn 30 by 42, a chicken house, a hog house, and other sheds and structures as the place requires. His farm comprises one hundred and forty-four acres, and is divided b the Rock river, so that it presents admirable features for stock farming, which are being rapidly utilized, although grain farming has been very successful under Mr. Penning's careful management.
It is said that Mr. Penning built the first good house in the village of Doon, which was then a very small hamlet. He has from the first taken a leading part in local affairs, and is now serving as trustee from the township of Garfield.
PETERS, CHARLES F.
Charles F. Peters, farmer and stock raiser, has a handsome home on section 26, Dale Township, and is widely known as an upright and progressive citizen, an honest man, and a true friend and neighbor. Born in Prussia, May 7, 1850, he was the youngest of a family of fifteen children born to David and Fredrica (Nellethen) Peters, both of them died in the old country. Of this large family of children, Charles F. is the only living son, while he has three sisters still living who keep their residence in the old country.
His father died when Charles F. was seven years old, and he was given a good education. At one time in his boyhood he thought he would be a herd master, but when he learned his salary attached to that position was only $18 a year, his ambition weakened. His mother was a shrewd businesswoman and had a keen ambition for his future. It was at her instigation that he joined a neighboring family and embarked for the New World. After a voyage of seventeen days on the steamship "Baltimore" he landed at Baltimore, and made his way to Ashton, Illinois, where he found the harvest in full blast. This was in July 1868 and Mr. Peters found work at once. The next year he hired out to a farmer for $160. and continued working for the farmers for five years. Much of this time he was with English families and while his knowledge of the vernacular became very good; he had saved a thousand dollars. At this time he began trading horses quite extensively, and operating a threshing machine, but by several unfortunate deals he lost all he had saved. About this time he was married, and the following season his corn and hogs brought him big prices. Taking all the money he could command he got on the train and came to Lyon County where he purchased the southwest quarter of section 26, Dale Township in August 1882. He paid for this land $14.50 per acre. He remained in Illinois until the spring of 1884 when he removed with his family to his Lyon County possessions. In the fall of 1884 he borrowed a small sum of money at the bank for which he had to pay 24 percent. This was his first taste of money borrowing, and it was a lesson worth learning. He was a hard worker, and he had good crops, so that he soon had money to invest, which he put into lands rather than in buildings. In 1895 his wheat went thirty bushels to the acre. Starting in with but one cow he realized the advantage of the bottom range land near his place at that time open for the public benefit. He invested in twenty steer calves, which grew up with, but little expense, and when they were sent to market they brought a profitable price. From this time until the ranges along Otto Creek were all bought up he kept as many cattle as he could. He made a fine start financially in this manner, buying, feeding, and selling.
In 1896 Mr. Peters built himself a comfortable home, and he now has a set of five barns, the main one being 48 by 80 feet, with 20-foot posts, and a stone basement, making altogether the finest structures in this part of the county. His cattle barn is 42 by 64 feet, with 18-foot posts. The entire place appears to be cared for with close attention, the buildings and fences are painted, and every endeavor is made to maintain the farm in a condition that shall be a credit to the country. The grain barns have a capacity for ten thousand bushels, and loading is done from spouts. An abundant water supply completes a stock farm that cannot be surpassed, and farther improvements are contemplated in the very near future.
Mr. Peters is a Republican, and is known throughout the county as a man of influence. In religion he is a member of the German Lutheran Church. In 1878 he was married to Miss Christina Gartz, a native of Prussia, by whom he has had four children: Frederick, a normal school student at Spencer, Iowa; Charles, Jr.; William, a graduate of the commercial department of the Mount Morris College, of Illinois; and Lillian, a student of the same school. These children have all received superior educational advantages, and their parents spare no pains or expense to make their home attractive in every manner.
Mr. Peters met with a railroad accident in which he was badly hurt, and came near losing his life. It was in 1900 and he was going to Chicago with a shipment of cattle, when there was a rear end collision, and he was pinioned fast in the wreckage. The car took fire, and he was badly burned before his rescue from danger by a friend. For about two months he was in the hospital, and has never fully recovered the use of his right arm, which was very badly burned.
PETERSON, JAMES
James Peterson, a prosperous farmer of Garfield Township, Lyon County, is a notable representative of the vast numbers of the energetic and hard working men and women that the Scandinavian kingdoms have contributed to the making of the most desirable citizenship of the northwest. They are people of the most pushing character, with noble ambitions, and are willing to endure great privations if only at the last they may see a home and a farm and a modest competence for all their industry and economy.
Mr. Peterson was born in Denmark in 1849, his birthplace being the farm on which his father lived and died. He was a member of a large family of children, three of whom only are now living. Until he became of age he lived in Denmark, where he was reared to hard work and given such educational advantages as the schools of the day afforded. In 1869 he set his face westward, and crossing the ocean first set his foot on the soil of the North American continent at Quebec, Canada. Hastening on toward the land of his hopes soon found him at Racine, Wisconsin, where for two years he found employment at farm labor. In the fall of 1871 he came to Sioux County, Iowa, where he was among the very earliest settlers. He took a homestead in section 18, Sheridan Township, of that county, and he still retains this land. Here he put up a sod house, in which he kept "bachelor's hall" for two years. Here he had an ox team, but could not use them for a time. Here he was long engaged in farming, and soon built up a good home and farm, owning when he left Sioux County in 1891 some seven hundred acres, well equipped with ample and convenient buildings, machinery, and everything needed to successful cultivation of these broad acres. During 1891 and 1892 Mr. Peterson lived in the village of Hull, but the following year settled in the village of Doon, where he bought an interest in the local flour mill. There he spent some two years as a miller. Then disposing of his mill interests, he bought his present farm property in section 28, Garfield Township. Upon this place extensive improvements were made consequent upon his removal to it and making it his home. Among the present substantial and attractive buildings may be mentioned a country residence, 16 by 27, and 14 by 16; a barn, 40 by 80, a granary; a hog house; a cow barn 40 by 80; and a corn crib, together with all other buildings and sheds the economical and successful cultivation of the farm may demand. Mr. Peterson is largely interested in both stock and grain raising, and in both lines has met with much success. Beside his landed property mentioned above, Mr. Peterson owns land in South Dakota.
Mr. Peterson was united in marriage in 1875 with Miss Sarah A. Cornforth, a native of Illinois, and a daughter of John Cornforth, who was born in England. He was a railroad engineer, and was killed during his service as a soldier in the Civil War. She taught school in Iowa before her marriage. Mr. and Mrs. Peterson are the happy parents of a family of three children: Herbert J., John W., and Irene Myrtle.
Mr. Peterson held various township offices while residing in Sioux County, being trustee six years, and also road commissioner and school director. This last office he is now filling in Garfield Township. While in Sioux County he passed through the "grasshopper times," of which his recollections are alike interesting and painful. During their prevalence he lost six crops by the grasshoppers, sometimes seeing them so thick that they would sweep a field bare in two hours. For years he worked out to pay family expenses and keep up the farm, which he was determined should not be dropped. At different times he was employed on seven or eight different railroad lines in Iowa, Minnesota and the Dakotas. He did not expect to make money. To keep alive was enough for any man in those days. Today he has reason to congratulate himself on his unbroken faith in the great northwest, for it has paid him grandly.
PIERCE, HERBERT BURDICK
H.B. Pierce, one of the more prominent citizens of Rock Rapids, Iowa, was born in Sterling, Illinois, October 12, 1858, a son of Reuben J. and Roena (Burdick) Pierce. The father was born in Oswego, New York, July 5, 1827, and for many years was engaged as a carpenter, but has been for the past twenty years a dealer in books and stationery at Ida Grove, Iowa. Free and liberal handed, he has never accumulated any great sum of money, but is of a character respected and beloved by all who know him. His father was killed by a premature discharge of an anvil used in celebrating Independence day at Fulton, New York, July 4, 1831. His maternal grandfather, Sherman, was a private in the American army during the War of 1812, His wife, the mother of H.B., was born in Madison county, New York, June 23, 1833. She was the daughter of Thomas Burdick, who was born in Brookfield, New York, in 1801, and Polly Wright, who was born in 1797. Her grandfather, Smith Wright, was born in England in 1758, and he was enrolled as a member of the Colonia Militia during the Revolution at Woodbridge, New Jersey. He was one of the pioneers in central New York, clearing a farm in 1815 in Oswego county.
Herbert B. Pierce received his earlier education very largely at his mother's knee, and when seven years of age he accompanied his parents in their removal to Clarence, Cedar county, Iowa. This was in 1865, and here he attended the public schools for nine years, graduating from the Clarence high school. He remembers gratefully the instruction he received from William T. Stubbs, formerly of Maine, and now residing at Foxcroft, Maine, one of the most noted teachers of the day. Mr. Pierce attended Simpson College, at Indianola, in 1876-7, intending to take a thorough normal course training, but after three terms attendance, he was compelled to quit school by severe illness. After traveling for a time as a salesman on the road he became principal of the schools in Ida Grove, where he demonstrated signal ability as a teacher, but ill health again drove him from the school room, and he spent the summer of 1881 in New York. That year he was on the Republican ticket for county superintendent of schools, of Ida county, Iowa, but was beaten by the narrow margin of two votes. He was made deputy recorder and held the position for a year, and was admitted to the Carroll county bar September 28, 1882. He opened an office in Rock Rapids October 12, 1882, for the beginning of his professional career, and was associated with the firm of Buxton, Clark & Company, he being the junior member of the firm. A year later Mr. Buxton retired, and the firm was continued as Clark & Pierce. In 1885 Mr. Clark retired and was succeeded by V.G. Coe, of Clarence, Iowa, the firm continuing under the name of Pierce & Coe. In 1891 Mr. Coe withdrew, and Mr. Pierce has since conducted his business under his own name, building up a large patronage, especially in loans and real estate.
Herbert Burdick Pierce
On October 31, 1883, Mr. Pierce was married to Miss Ida L. Eastman, of Clarence. She had been his class in the high school from 1870 to 1874. She is a lady of superior attainments, and has been of much assistance to her husband. Her father, Joseph E. Eastman, who was a wagon maker, died in 1897; her mother is a resident of Rock Rapids. To this union have come two children: Homer Jay, and Ralph Edwin. Mrs. Pierce has artistic ability of a high grade and has achieved notable success as a decorator of china.
Mr. Pierce is an active and public spirited citizen, taking part in many movements for the public good, and belonging to several orders and fraternities, by which he is brought in close touch with his community. In Masonic circles he has attained high standing and is enrolled at Rock Rapids in the blue lodge, chapter and commandery. He is also a member of Paliadium, Lodge No. 91, Knights of Pythias, where he has passed through the various official chairs, and has been representative to the grand lodge. He is a member of Rock Rapids, Lodge, No. 480, Independent Order of Odd Fellows. In church matters he is an enthusiastic Methodist, and has served on the official board for the last twenty years. For thirty-five years he has been a member of the church, and he has seen his local church grow from small beginnings until in 1896 it was able to erect a magnificent structure, costing $15,000, he being a member of the building committee. In Sunday School and Epworth league work he is very active and is known as a close student of the Bible, having had charge of one Bible class for over twenty-one years.
Mr. Pierce is a staunch Republican, and in 1885 was elected a member of the county board of supervisors, and the same year was the Republican candidate for circuit judge, on the part of the Lyon county Republicans. The district convention, however, named D.D. McCallum, of Sibley. He is a member of the board of education of Rock Rapids, and president of the board of trustees of the city library. In 1888 he was elected justice of the peace, a position he held for six years. Mr. Pierce was very efficient in securing its fine system of water works for Rock Rapids, and for four years was its superintendent. He is the owner of farms comprising some eleven hundred acres of the best land in Lyon county, and is also the proprietor of some fine farms in Brookings county, South Dakota and elsewhere. He has seen Lyon county land advance from six to seventy dollars in value, and has loaned over one and a half million dollars on Lyon county farms without losing a dollar or being compelled to resort to foreclosure in a single case. A portrait of Mr. Pierce will be found on another page.
PENNING, JOHN J.
John J. Penning is well entitled to have his name written among the better and more prominent class of agriculturists, whose industry, good business sense, and general knowledge of their vocation have combined to put them at the front. His pleasant farm graces Garfield township, and he is widely known as one of the enterprising men of the vicinity. His home has been in Lyon County for many years although his residence in Garfield township has been quite limited.
John J. Penning was born in the kingdom of Hanover, Germany, in 1849. His father, John E. Penning, removed with his family to this country in 1851 and settled on a farm in Madison county, Illinois, near Alton. There John J. was reared to manhood and afforded such schooling as the times admitted. He was trained a farmer, and developed ability for hard work which has since stood him well in hand. When he was twenty-one he struck out into the great world for himself and began a successful career as a farmer on his own land. After seven years he moved to Christian county, Illinois, where he continued farming until 1891, making a very decided success of his various enterprises at that time.
Mr. Penning was married in 1885 to Miss Kate Johnson, also of German birth and rearing. Her parents were farmer people in Christian county, Illinois. Mr. and Mrs. Penning are the happy parents of a family of three children: Louis, Noah and Onme.
In 1891 Mr. Penning came to Lyon county, Iowa, and bought a farm in section 22, Doon township, after having been settled for some two years in the village of Doon, where he had conducted a hardware store for about a year. Disposing of the store property at the end of that time he bought his present farm in sections 30 and 31 in Garfield township. This farm had but few and small improvements but since it has been in the hands of Mr. Penning he has added greatly to its equipment. He has put in a complete set of farm buildings, a house 16 by 30, a barn 30 by 42, a chicken house, a hog house, and other sheds and structures as the place requires. His farm comprises one hundred and forty-four acres, and is divided by the Rock river, so that it presents admirable features for stock farming, which are being rapidly utilized, although grain farming has been very successful under Mr. Penning’s careful management.
It is said that Mr. Penning built the first good house in the village of Doon, which was then a very small hamlet. He has from the first taken a leading part in local affairs, and is now serving as trustee from the township of Garfield.
POGREBA, ANDREW
Andrew Pogreba, the assistant road-master of the Garretson and Iowa Division of the Great Northern Railroad, was born in Germany November 30, 1855, where he attended school, finishing his attendance on the schoolmaster before he was fourteen years old. After this he went to Berlin where he learned the baker's trade, but though he regarded this as an honorable occupation, he felt himself possessed of powers and gifts for something very much higher. At the age of eighteen he crossed the ocean and landed in the United States at New York March 21, 1874 in search for this higher occupation. Here he drifted into work on the great railroads, and by this his whole course of life was entirely changed. For by his connection with the railroads was developed his ability to handle men. The green German trackman was selected for promotion, and from a common laborer his promotion was rapid. He soon became section boss, where he at once showed his ability to handle men. He was soon put in charge of a large gang of men working on steam shovels, often having from fifty to a hundred men engaged in the construction of new railroads or the remaking of old tracks. He was held responsible for the amount of work the men did, and it was a matter of exact record. The work must show for itself and so much work must be done. The boss must show it or step down and out. In all these trying places Mr. Pogreba was always equal to the demands upon him, and presently became assistant road master.
With the thrift and economy of his ancestral blood, he saved his money, and was able to leave the railroad and go into a general mercantile business in North Dakota, which was in his personal care until it was destroyed by fire. After this disaster he resumed his connection with the railroad, again becoming assistant road-master of the Garretson and Iowa Division of the Great Northern Railroad, a position he is now creditably filling. For some time Mr. Pogreba's headquarters were at Doon in Lyon County, but his headquarters have since been removed to Sioux City, Iowa.
Mr. Pogreba was married September 8, 1879 at the age of twenty-three years, to Miss Emma Torgerson, by whom he has a family of eight children: Anna, Leo, John, Peter, Norah, Minnie, Eliza and Aggie. All are living at home. He and his family are members of the Catholic Church and they have been at all times very progressive and among the best people in whatever locality they have lived.
POHLMAN, GEORGE S.
George S. Pohlman is regarded as one of the leading farmers in Garfield Township and his name has gone throughout Lyon County as one of its most reliable and valuable citizens. He is a hard-working and industrious man, takes an active and intelligent interest in public affairs, and by his thrift and industry has become prosperous.
Mr. Pohlman was born in Will County, Illinois, near Joliet, in Jackson Township in 1865. His father, William Pohlman, was born in Germany, and coming to this country before he was of age, devoted his life to the cultivation of the soil. He died in October 1893. In 1885 he bought the farm in section 8, Garfield Township, having given much time to sightseeing before settling down, and selecting Lyon County as a most promising and desirable region for a home.
George S. Pohlman was reared on the Will County farm in Illinois and was trained to a farm life. His education was largely obtained in the local schools and was supplemented by a year and a half at the Northern Indiana Normal School. His business career began as a farmer in Will County where he carried on a farm until his coming to Lyon County. Mr. Pohlman was married in 1900 to Miss Margaret Heggie. She was a native of Scotland and came with her parents to this country in 1881. Her father, John Heggie, was a boilermaker, and had his home in Joliet. Before her marriage with Mr. Pohlman she was a very successful schoolteacher in Illinois. Mr. and Mrs. Pohlman are the happy parents of two children, Grace and Gordon.
The farm on which Mr. Pohlman located in Lyon County in 1900 was but slightly improved and all the substantial buildings have been the work of his own hands. Here he has built a handsome and roomy house 14 by 26 feet, two stories high with an addition 20 by 24 feet one and one half stories high. The granary, barn, and other buildings meet every requirement, and the entire place shows the best of handling.
Mr. Pohlman is a member of the Republican Party, and is now holding the position of township trustee. In all public affairs his voice is heard with attention and his advice given much consideration.
POPPINGO, JOHN
John Poppingo, one of the foremost public spirited and worthy citizens of Lyon county, is a native of Germany, where he was born in 1852, a son of Jacob and Molly Poppingo. The family came to America in 1865, and first settled in Ogle county, Illinois, where the mother died the following year. The father died in Butler county, Iowa, in 1877.
John Poppingo had to get out early in life, and hustle for himself. He was one of six children, four of whom are yet living, and when he had reached the age of fourteen years, he went out to work by the day, studying as he could get time and opportunity. Working this way up to manhood he not only became somewhat forehanded but he also gained for himself a very valuable education, the more so that it was hammered out on the anvil of necessity, and was all practical.
The subject of this sketch and Miss Kate Behr were married September 1, 1879. She was born in Germany, and is the mother of seven children, all of whom are still living. Her parents were Conrad and Frances Behr. Her mother died in Germanyand , but her father came to this country and died in Illinois. They had six children, five of whom are yet living. To Mr. MrsLyon . Poppingo have come the following children: Jacob O.; Conrad W.; Grace, married to George Bursing, a farmer of county; George H.; Martin E.; Jennie M.; Leslie R.
After their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Poppingo lived on rented land until 1888, when he bought a quarter section three miles northwest of Rock Rapids, Iowa. At the time he bought it was mostly wild land, and here he has made one of the finest farms of Riverside township. To the original quarter section he has added 100 acres, and since then has added twenty acres more, making two hundred and eighty acres all told, and has put up a modern house, barns, granaries, and such other buildings as the profitable operation of the place demanded.
Mr. Poppingo is a thorough American-German, a prominent member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and has been president of the school board for some years. He is a self-educated man, and is considered by all as a man of much intelligence. His politics are Republican, and he cast his first vote for R.B. Hayes. He started out in life with a capital of health and his two hands. With the help of his good wife he has beaten his way through manifold trials and difficulties, and now stands in the front rank of social and business circles. Mrs. Poppingo is a member of Rebekah Lodge, No. 49, of Rock Rapids.
PRIESTER, MATHIAS
Mathias Priester, at present one of the supervisors of Lyon county, and amuch respected resident of Rock Rapids, was born in Prussia, on the Rhine, and remained at home with his parents until he reached the age of fourteen years. At this time he became an apprentice at the trade of cabinet making, at which he spent three years. After this he was employed as a journeyman until February 22, 1866, when he started for the United States, crossing the ocean on the sailing vessel, "The City of London," sailing from Liverpool. It was then the largest vessel on the ocean, and required seven weeks to make the run to New York. The voyage was hardly begun before the cholera broke out, and in a week six hundred people were buried from the boat. Mr. Priester brought his own food, and so escaped an otherwise almost certain death.
On the way from New York to Cassville, where he had friends, Mr. Priester spent a few days in Chicago, where he worked as a laborer. In Wisconsin he was employed for a time on a farm, and then went west to Guttenberg, Iowa, where he was employed as a carpenter for four years and eight months under B.H. Overbeck. At the end of this time he married and set up in business for himself as a contractor and builder, being engaged in this manner for some two years, and for about the same time was foreman in a saw mill. His health failed on account of the malaria on the river, and he was obliged to go into the interior.
Mr. Priester settled in Lyon county in 1884, and here he purchased one hundred and sixty acres of land in Allison township, for which he paid ten dollars an acre. This land he held for seventeen years, greatly improving it, and then selling it for fifty-five dollars an acre. He had built a house, and barn, as well as other necessary improvements. He moved to Rock Rapids, where he had purchased a home for his family at the corner of Green and Third stress. Here has been his home to the present time.
Mr. Priester has always been a Democrat, and in 1899 was the candidate of his party for the position of supervisor. He was successful in the election, and again in 1902 made the race. The district was normally strongly Republican, and yet he received ninety-three majority at his first election, and forty-three at the second. In 1903 he was made chairman of the county board. For six years he has been a school director, and for four years secretary. He has served one term as township assessor, and another as town clerk of Allison township. Mr. Priester is a member of the Catholic church, and entertains liberal views regarding other communions.
The wedding ceremonies of Mr. Priester and Elizabeth Backus occurred May 12, 1870. She was a daughter of Peter and Anna Mary Backus. Her father was a prosperous farmer, who died in 1888 at the age of sixty-three; her mother died in 1899 at the age of seventy-one. Both were natives of Germany. To Mr. and Mrs. Priester are still living three children: John, a farmeran , who married Miss Anna Wiltrock, a daughter of Henry Wiltrock, a successful farmer, who is still living; Edward H., engineer; and George C., who is at home with his parents
Webization by Kermit Kittleson - Aug. 2006
