For
Muscatine County Iowa
1911
| Biographies For Muscatine County Iowa 1911 | |
Source: History of Muscatine County Iowa, Volume II, Biographical, 1911, page 621
HENRY UMLANDT. Henry Umlandt, president and general manager of the Automatic Button Company of Muscatine, Iowa, comes of good German ancestry. He was born in the province of Hanover, in the village of Hamelwordenermoor, Germany, February 4, 1869, and is a son of Matthias and Anna ( Oest ) Umlandt. The father has always been a laboring man and, desiring to secure better advantages for his children than he himself had enjoyed, he came to America in 1882 and located at Muscatine, where he has since resided. The mother departed this life in 1901, at the age of fifty-three years. Our subjects grandfather, Henry Umlandt, was a farmer of Germany and lived to be seventy years of age. He reared a large family including Matthias, Jacob, Mary, Catharine and Margaretta. The maternal grandfather, Henry Oest, was also a farmer. There were two children in his family, Anna and Peter, and he and his wife died in middle life. Eleven children were born to Matthias and Anna Umlandt, nine of whom grew to maturity : Henry, our subject; Claus, deceased; Peter, of Muscatine; John, a farmer of Muscatine county; William, also of Muscatine; Minnie, the wife of Herman Dietrich, of Muscatine; Mary, now Mrs. Henry Martin, of Muscatine; Elizabeth, the wife of Clarence Beitel, of Grace Hill, Washington county, Iowa; and Anna, the wife of James Boston, of Muscatine.The subject of this review arrived in America at thirteen years of age and grew to manhood in Muscatine. He received a common-school education in Germany and had the advantage of two months in the public schools of Muscatine. His services were necessary in the support of a large family and he soon laid his books aside and began working for wages in the sawmills of the Hershey and Musser Lumber Companies. Several years later he became the driver of a grocery delivery wagon and later of a beer wagon. He tended bar for four years and for six years ran a retail liquor establishment. In the meantime, however, he had entered the button business and in 1899 became associated with John Weber in the organization of the Automatic Pearl Works. In the early part of 1903, the business having greatly prospered, the firm was incorporated as the Automatic Button Company. Mr. Weber retired from the firm and the company now has the following officers: Henry Umlandt, president and general manager; Peter Umlandt, vice president; William Umlandt, treasurer; and H. H. Hack, secretary. The company originally manufactured one hundred gross of buttons a day, but it now has a capacity of seven thousand gross per day and employs about five hundred persons. The products of its plants are sold in all parts of the world and its name is know in every civilized country. Mr. Umlandt is prominently connected with a number of mercantile organizations. He was one of the original promoters of the Muscatine Building & Loan Association and is the treasurer of the Fairview Land & improvement Company, the Muscatine Motor Company and of the National Association of Pearl Button Manufacturers. He is the president of the Muscatine Produce & Pure Ice Company and in his affairs has shown a clear judgment which places him among the leading business men of the state.
On the 30th of January, 1895, Mr. Umlandt was united in marriage to Miss Matilda Franz, a daughter of William and Wilhelmina Franz, who had five children, Charles, Ernestina, Emma, Elizabeth and Matilda. Three children bless the union of Mr. and Mrs. Umlandt, Harold William Franz, Carl Henry and Arthur Matthias. Mrs Umlandt having passed away March 10, 1900, our subject was again married, June 15, 1904, the lady of his choice being Miss Lillian Hagermeister, a daughter of Carl and Lena ( Hegeman ) Hagermeister. Her father is now living but her mother departed this life in the spring of 1905. They were the parents of four children, Dora, Lillian, Carl and one who died in infancy.
Mr Umlandt is a public-spirited man and an earnest advocate of public improvements. He is recognized as a citizen who is always willing to perform his part in advancing the welfare of the community. Politically he is in sympathy with the democratic party, although he has strong independent proclivities, which he generally exercises at times of election.He is a stanch advocate of the public school system and is now serving most acceptably as a member of the school board of Muscatine. A man of liberal spirit, he is a generous contributor toward all worthy objects, and his influence may be depended upon in the advancement of every laudable cause.
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