Charles N. Voss ranks among the foremost of Davenport's younger business men who have risen by their own abilities and force of character from humble circumstances to positions of prominence and influence. He is a native of Neustadt, Holstein, Germany, and was born October 13, 1847, to Charles T. and Agneta (Schmidt) Voss, who married in 1846. His father, a carpenter by occupation, immigrated to the United States with his family in the early seventies. He settled in Chicago and was there engaged as a contractor and builder until his decease, which occurred in 1881. The mother died in 1873, They reared a family of nine children, of whom Charles N. is the eldest. He attended school in his native place and in 1867, at the age of twenty, left home with the determination to make his way in the world, and, alone, immigrated to the United States. During his boyhood he had acquired a thorough knowledge of the drygoods business, and upon his arrival in this country naturally turned his attention to that line of trade. He first went to the town of Petersburgh, Illinois, and for two years was employed as a clerk in a general store. Thence, in 1869, he went to Davenport, where he secured a clerkship with the prominent drygoods house of Messrs. Kehoe and Carhart, and continued in that capacity some three years. Going back to Petersburgh he remained there one year, after which he returned to Davenport and resumed his place with Messrs. Kehoe and Carhart. In 1873 he went to Chicago and spent one year clerking for Carson, Pirie, Scott & Company in their extensive retail store then located in the west division of the city on Madison Street. In the following year he accepted a position as teller with the Davenport Savings Bank, which he held till 1888, when he was made cashier of the same institution. After serving in that capacity two years he left Davenport, and purchasing an interest in a flouring mill at Avoca, Pottawattamie County, Iowa, removed thither. His milling venture proved a financial success, and in addition to it he purchased an interest in the firm of Messrs. J. W. and E. W. Davis, whose business was reorganized by his help and developed into what is now known as the Avoca Bank. Mr. Voss was cashier of this bank till 1890, when he sold his interest and returned to Davenport to become cashier of the Iowa National Bank. He resigned the position at the end of one year in order to take the position of cashier of the German Savings Bank, which he holds at the present time. Throughout his business career of twenty-five years Mr. Voss has been known as a man of clear foresight, sound judgment and unusual executive and financial ability, and he is justly regarded as one of Davenport's reliable and substantial business men. His correct and conservative business methods have inspired others with the utmost confidence in his abilities, and these with his enterprise, determination and ability to see and avail himself of favorable opportunities have led to a degree of success in which he takes commendable pride. He is public-spirited and alive to all worthy public enterprises, and takes an active interest in matters pertaining to the welfare of his city. He has never sought or held political office, having found in his legitimate business sufficient to employ his time and talents and gratify bis ambition. Prior to the prohibition movement in Iowa he supported the Republican party, but since then he has affiliated with the Democrats. He is frank and out spoken, yet dignified and courteous in manner, and in all his business or social intercourse bears himself as a genial, high-minded gentleman.
In 1873, on November 9, Mr. Voss married Miss Louise Hoering, a daughter of Mr. Jacob Hoering of Davenport, by whom he has four children, viz: Hertha, Otto, Agneta and Carl. They have lost one child, Emma, who died when one year old.
BIOGRAPHIES