New York, Lewis Publishing Co. 1903
George P. Cramer
page 284
As the gentleman above named has been a resident of Iowa since 1849, three years after the state’s admission into the Union, he is entitled to the designation “early pioneer,” and also to the respectful consideration which attaches to that name everywhere. The variety of Mr. Cramer’s pursuits, his large experience with men and affairs, and the adventures that have befallen him during his long career make him an unusually entertaining companion, and a pleasant evening may be passed any time by one who induces Mr. Cramer to relate his experiences. He can tell stories of what happened while he was an officer of the law arresting criminals; he knows how to keep hotel from twenty years’ experience in that business; as proprietor of a transfer company he has come in constant contact with that irritable quantity called the traveling public. But above all, Mr. Cramer once had charge of a circus and was successful in its management. He sold his circus to Sells Brothers. Knowing that others will be interested in such a man, pains have been taken to obtain the main details of his life, which will now be unfolded in consecutive order.
The genealogy will be started with the grandparents on either side, both of whom were Pennsylvanians of some note in their day. Christopher Crane, the maternal grandfather, served as a soldier in the war of 1812, and paternal grandfather Cramer, who spelled his name with an initial K, was a minister in the Lutheran church. The latter had a son, Christian J. Cramer, who was born at the family home in Lancaster county, Pennsylvania, and after he grew up learned the trade of a harnessmaker. He married Barbara Crane, of Huntington, and later settled in Blair county, Pennsylvania, where he spent some years in the prosecution of his regular calling. It was while his parents resided in Blair county that their son, George P. Cramer, was born, March 16, 1834, and he spent the first fifteen years of his life in the place of his nativity.
In 1849 the family migrated to the distant state of Iowa by the somewhat crude and mingled methods of travel then in vogue, and after their destination was reached a home was established in the county of Fairfield, Jefferson township. They moved on a farm, but came to Albia in the spring of 1850. George P., not finding the opportunity he wanted near home, went over to Fort Des Moines and secured a job of hauling sawlogs. This, however, he kept up only two months and then began looking around for something more suitable to his taste. Albia, now the prosperous capital of Monroe county, was at that time a mere hamlet, but Mr. Cramer determined to cast his lot with what seemed to be a promising place and located there in the fall of 1849. Securing a clerkship in a dry goods store, he supported himself from his salary for two years. The father having reopened his harness ship at that place, the son joined him and spent two years as assistant manager and salesman. The termination of this period brought him to the completion of the nineteenth year of his age, at which time he made his first important business venture. Beginning as a buyer and shipper of live stock at Albia in 1853, his business grew with the town, and Mr. Cramer was one of the important dealers in this industry until 1866, when he closed out.
His next venture was in the dry goods business, which he conducted at Albia two years and disposed of for the purpose of organizing a circus. This move seemed to be out of his line and caused some wonder among Mr. Cramer’s friends, but he showed that he knew what he was doing and soon had his knights of the ring and sawdust, his accomplished equestrians, his fun-making clowns and other wonders going all over the country and showing to crowded tents. That he was making a success of it is amply proved by the fact that the great aggregation knows as Sells Brothers bought him out of 1870. After this exciting experience Mr. Cramer settled down to the more peaceful pursuit of hotel keeping, and for almost twenty-three years made the Cramer Hotel one of the most popular stopping places at Albia. In connection with the hostelry he conducted a bus and transfer company, of which he is still in active control. Though a lifelong Republican, having cast his maiden presidential vote for John C. Fremont, the party’s first candidate, his office holding has been limited to membership in the city council and service as constable and deputy sheriff.
On April 26, 1856, Mr. Cramer was married to Miss Rachel Webb, whose ancestry is deserving of more than a passing notice. Her great-grandparents, Adrian and Lucinda Webb, were Virginians, who removed to Ohio early in the nineteenth century. Among their children was a son named John, who served as a substitute for his father in the war of 1812 and drew a pension. He owned a farm in Preble county, Ohio, and there, on the 28th of September, 1818, was born to him a son named Jacob. The latter remained under the paternal roof until the completion of his twentieth year, when he went to Iowa and in the fall of 1838 located in Van Buren county. Not being satisfied with the situation, he “about-faced” and went to Rush county, Indiana, and a few years later to Jefferson county, in the same state.
In the spring of 1846 he returned to Iowa, took possession of a farm in Monroe county and operated it until elected clerk of the court, in which office he served three terms. In 1855 he went to California, spent two years there and in July, 1857, reappeared at his home in Albia after a tedious trip across the plains. In 1860 he took another trip west this time on a prospecting expedition, which lasted about eighteen months, and since then Mr. Webb has resided at Albia. In 1840 he was married to Sarah J., a daughter of David and Susan ( Donney ) Caldwell, natives of Kentucky, who died in Iowa. One of the children by this marriage was Mrs. Rachel Cramer, who was born in Rush county, Indiana, December 4, 1840, and died in Albia, Iowa, December 22, 1882, leaving three children.
W.P. Cramer, the youngest of these, was born in Jefferson county, Iowa, April 13, 1863, and died in Albia in 1895. The first child was Anna, now the wife of Sheriff John Doner, of whom a sketch is printed in another part of this volume. The second of the children was Emma, who married Thomas Mitchell and has one child. March 22, 1888, Mr. Cramer contracted a second marriage, with Melissa Garlinghouse, a native of Kentucky, by whom he has two children: George G., born July 12, 1889, and Elsie A., born December 27, 1891. The family enjoy cordial welcome in the best circles of Iowa society. He is also prominent in connection with the fraternal orders, having been a Mason for twenty years and a member of the Knights of Pythias almost from the incorporation of the organization, which he joined when there were only twenty-one in the state.