Francis J. Von Ach was born May 30, 1857, in the City of Daven port, Iowa, and was the son of Dr. Ferdinand and Crezencia (Benzer) Von Ach. His father was born in Austria, and his mother in Switzer land.
Dr. Von Ach was a graduate of a Vienna medical college and practiced in his native land before coming to America, in the year 1848. He came direct to Cincinnati, Ohio , where he opened an office and began practicing his profession. He remained in that city about five years, when he learned of the inducements that Davenport offered for another physician, and he decided to move his family to this city. In those days the only transportation to Iowa was by water or overland, hence he came by boat by way of the Ohio and Mississippi to his destination. Arriving here he opened an office and his practice grew very rapidly until he was one of the leading practitioners of this vicinity.
He was considered a superior authority on all matters pertaining to obstinate and chronic cases of diseases of long standing and was often consulted by other members of the profession. He was a classic scholar and one of the most thorough mathematicians in the State. In 1862 Dr. Von Ach bought a drug store in Coal Valley, Illinois, and moved his family to that place, where he enjoyed a lucrative practice until his death, which occurred in 1884.
Francis J. Von Ach was educated in the public schools of Coal Valley. At about the age of fifteen he entered the employ of Cable & Company of that town as a delivery clerk, working in that capacity for one year. After that he was gradually promoted until he was placed in charge of the drygoods department, which position he held for ten years. He was also for a long time assistant postmaster at Cable, Illinois. By economy and frugality he saved some money and decided to embark in business on his own account. He accordingly entered into partnership business with a Mr. Greenwood, under the firm name of Greenwood & Von Ach, and the firm was in existence about eighteen months. Disposing of his interest in this business he then accepted a position with a clothing house in Rock Island, where he had clerked for a short time only when he was solicited to go to Orion, Illinois, to take charge of the drygoods department of the Orion Mercantile Company. He accepted the position tendered him and remained at Orion four years, when he joined the army of commercial travelers and started on the road. Having had several years' experience in the drygoods business he was successful from the start as a salesman, and has built up an enviable reputation among the commercial men of the country. For the past eight years Mr. Von Ach has traveled for the wholesale drygoods house of A. Steffen of Davenport, and enjoys the full confidence of his employer.
May 25, 1882, Mr. Von Ach was united in marriage to Miss Emily, daughter of John and Kate (Flory) Greenwood, to whom two children have been born. Katie, the eldest, is taking music and is a very apt student; Florence, the younger, is but three years of age. On May 18, 1889, the traveling men of Davenport organized the Tri City Travelers' Association, which is now a flourishing organization, having a membership of over eighty members and still growing. Mr. Von Ach was a charter member of this organization and was one of its promoters. In 1892 he was elected president of the association after filling the office of vice-president the previous year — and is now serving his third term in that office.
He is a member of the Masonic fraternity, Knights of Pythias, and a charter member of a new order known as the Princes of Iran, an organization of which no one can become a member unless he is a Mason, Odd Fellow, Knight of Pythias or Red Man. It is the second conclave in the United States, and an order with over one thousand members in good standing. Mr. Von Ach was one of the first to join the Iowa State Traveling Men's Association, his number being 1260, the order having now over twelve thousand members.
BIOGRAPHIES