ENGLER FAMILY HISTORY

The first hotel in Early, Iowa was known as the Engler House and was built and conducted by John Engler, Sr., grandfather of Denzil and Cecil Engler.  He came to Sac County in 1880 and lived on a farm north of Early.  About three years later he built the hotel and operated it for a time.  He was the father of Catherine (Mr. Michael Dahm), Elizabeth (Mrs. G.H. Hartman), J.F. Engler, Regina (Mrs. J.H. Brinkman), and Adam Engler.

In 1894, John F. Engler was married to Lola M. Hay.  They lived in Sac County most of their married lives. He was a harness maker by trade.  About 1910 they purchased the corner building (which was a drug store at the time) and opened a cafe.  In the first years the cafe was the only place in town to buy fresh fruit, bread and oysters.

The family consisted of three boys; Floyd, Denzil, and Cecil.  Floyd served in the navy in World War I and later worked for Pfaff Baking Co. in Fort Dodge.  He   married Madge Mulholland, who with her sister, Lucille, had a millinery shop in Early.  Floyd and Madge had two children; Jean (Mrs. Gordon Scott) of Storm Lake and Jack (John) of Fort Dodge. Denzil Engler was a mechanic for George Wadsley Implement until his retirement.  He married a home town girl, Ella Scothorn.  They had a son Robert, now living in Clinton, Iowa. Cecil Engler worked for several oil companies and eventually was a partner with Elmer Evans in Quality Oil Company.  Elmer later sold his share to Leland (Hi) Huston and Artie Simpson. The Quality Oil Company was dissolved in 1970.  Cecil married Etoile Hein (a Sac City girl) and they had two children; Tom of Fort Dodge (married to Jean DeGarmo, an Early girl), and Ila (Mrs. Eugene Beers) of Storm Lake.

John F. Engler died in 1936 and Mrs. Lola Engler continued in the cafe business until she sold it in 1945.

(Contributed by Carol Engler)

I got this school room picture taken in Early Iowa in about 1915 or about that time. The two people with the x on them are Ella Scothorn and Denzil Engler . They later married in 1918.  I do not know anyone else in the picture. Maybe others well see someone they know.