1915 Past and Present of Shelby County, Iowa
Page Index:
Schomers |
Luxford |
Zimmerman |
Loehr |
Kohles |
Meyer |
Pickard |
Goeser |
Hannon |
Carl |
One of the promising and prosperous farmers just starting in life is Matthew Schomers, the owner of one hundred and sixty acres in Westphalia township. He has lived twenty-five years, or all his life, in the county where he was born. This is a tribute to his native county, because a man leaves the place of his birth in the hope of bettering himself. This county is universally recognized as one of the best agricultural sections of the state and the new generation of farmers will place it still farther in the front rank if they farm as progressively as Mr. Schomers. He realizes that farming methods are going through a transition and that the farmer of the future must adopt the new methods if he hopes to succeed. The farmer of today must learn scientific crop rotation and the value of fertilizing agents, both natural and commercial, if he desires success.
Matthew Schomers, the son of Michael and Mary (Finken) Schomers, was born December 28, 1887, on the farm where he now lives. His parents both were born in Germany and married before coming to this country. Michael Schomers' father died when he was only eighteen months old and later his mother married. After receiving a good common school education he worked upon the farm with his stepfather until time for his three years' service in the German army. His military training was put to a test in the Franco-Prussian war of 1870-1871, and he served with distinguished gallantry. After the war he returned home, married and farmed until he was twenty-eight years old. He then decided to come to America where his children might have better opportunities. In this country he first settled with his family in Mills county, Iowa, but a year later permanently located in Westphalia township on the farm where his son, Matthew, now resides. With his German thrift and management he prospered, and when he retired from active fanning, in 1910, he was one of the most substantial farmers of his township. He and his wife are now living in Harlan surrounded by all comforts and conveniences.
To Mr. and Mrs. Michael Schomers were born six children: Katherine, the wife of John Mischo; Annie, the wife of Alphonso Kuhl; Michael, who married Josephine Kuhl; Matthew, with whom this narrative deals; Sabina, single, and Matthew, who died in infancy.
The early education of Matthew Schomers was received in this township and later he took a course in Western Iowa College, now The Boyles College. When he came home from college he worked upon the home farm until his father moved to Harlan, in 1910. He then received a part of his father's farm, bought some additional land, and now has one hundred and sixty acres, of fine farming land in the county. His house, barns and other outbuildings are as fine as any in the county and he takes a great pride in keeping them very attractive. No young farmer in the county is making greater success in agriculture than Mrs. Schomers, and, a young man, he is on the sure road of a long life of prosperity and usefulness.
Mr. Schomers was married May 26, 1909, to Margaret Heese, the accomplished daughter of J. Charles and Elizabeth (Golobrith) Heese. The history of J. C. Heese, found elsewhere in this volume, contains further information concerning the Heese family. Mr. Schomers and his wife are earnest members of the Catholic church and contribute generously to its
support.
Mr. Schomers is a member of the Knights of Columbus and takes an active interest in this excellent Catholic organization. He is a Democrat but has never taken an active part in politics. Mr. Schomers is a fine type of the young, progressive and wide-awake farmer who is destined to keep the state of Iowa in high rank among the agricultural, states of the Union. Such men are the hope of the future.
Source: 1915 Past and Present of Shelby County, Iowa, pp. 1221 - 1222.
Contributed by: Marthann Kohl-Fuhs
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It can not be other than interesting to note in the series of personal biographies appearing in this history of Shelby county, Iowa, the varying conditions that have compassed those whose careers are outlined. The citizens of this county have come from the four corners of the. globe and practically every state in the United States. The history of Jacob A. Luxford is scattered over thousands of miles; his father was born in England, his mother in Switzerland, their marriage occurred in New York state and his birth in Illinois. His education was received in South Dakota and Iowa, his first farming for himself was done in Missouri, while he is now a prosperous merchant of Defiance in Shelby county, Iowa.
Jacob A. Luxford, the son of William and Barbara (Yackey) Luxford, was born December 27, 1868, in La Salle county, Illinois. William Luxford received his education in England, where he was born and lived until he was grown. After leaving school he went to work in a flouring mill but later farmed and was following that occupation when he decided to come to America. He was twenty-two when he landed in New York with his brother and soon found employment in a flouring mill in the state of New York. After marrying in this state he moved to Illinois and followed farming for a few years and then located in South Dakota where he farmed for, five years. He then moved to Shelby county, Iowa, and located where the present town of Defiance is situated. He first bought a farm of eighty acres but later sold
it to the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul railroad at a good profit and acquired another farm of one hundred and twenty acres north of the town of Defiance. The fine trees which greet the traveler in front of Defiance were set out by William Luxford when he first came to the town. He continued to reside upon his farm north of town until his death in 1889, his widow surviving until 1897. He and his wife reared a family of five children: Ellen, who is the wife of George Fry; Laura (deceased), who was the wife of Webster Grace; Elizabeth, the widow of Frank Scott; Cora, the wife of Lewis Fry; and Jacob, the youngest of the family.
Jacob A. Luxford received his education in South Dakota and Defiance. He helped his father upon the home farm in this county after leaving school and in 1889, after his father's death, he went to the state of Missouri and bought a farm of one hundred and sixty acres in Barton county and operated it for the next thirteen years. He then returned to Defiance Iowa and in 1905 he and his brother-in-law started in the general merchandise business in Defiance under the firm name of Peterson & Company. In 1909, Mr. Luxford bought out his brother-in-law's interest and has since been in full control of the business. He carries a large and varied assortment of merchandise, such as is usually found in stores of this kind. Being a man of genial personality and square dealing, he has built up a big trade which is constantly increasing.
Mr. Luxford was married in 1891 to Julia Peterson, the daughter of Lewis and Bertha Peterson, and to this marriage have been born five children; Glen A., Cecil H., Elsie L., Eunice B. and Barbara. Mrs. Luxford's parents were natives of Sweden and early settlers in this county. Her father was a soldier in the Civil War and for many years an employee of the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul railroad. Mr. and Mrs. Peterson reared a family of four children: Julia, Cecelia, John and Luella.
Mr. Luxford is a stanch Republican but has never taken an active part in the affairs of his party. He is a member of the Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, Modern Woodmen of America and the Independent Order of Odd Fellows.
Source: 1915 Past and Present of Shelby County, Iowa, pp. 1223 - 1224.
Contributed by: Marthann Kohl-Fuhs
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The character of a community is determined by the lives of its stronger members. If its moral and intellectual status be good, if in a social way it is a pleasant place to live and if its citizens are known for their integrity, then the standards set by the leading men have been high and their influence powerful among those with whom they mingle. The late Emil Zimmerman was one type of The worthy German citizens who have contributed so much to the prosperity of this county. Although a quiet and unobtrusive man, with no ambition for public position or leadership, yet he contributed much to the material, civic and moral advancement of his county. His admirable qualities of honesty and attention to duty and the straightforward and upright course of his daily life won for him the esteem and confidence of his-
fellow men.
The late Emil Zimmerman, one of the best beloved pioneers of this county, was born in 1849 in Westphalia, Germany, and died in this county January 3, 1911. He was the son of John and Marie Anna Zimmerman, both of whom spent all their lives in their native land. Emil Zimmerman was given a good education in the schools of Germany and after leaving school began work in a factory. His work was so satisfactory that within a short time he was made foreman at the early age of twenty-four. He felt that there were greater opportunities for advancement in the United States and in 1873 came to this country. He bought a farm in Westphalia township, Shelby county, and began life under unfavorable circumstances. With the determination and energy which characterizes the people of his country, he set to work and in a few years was on the road to prosperity. Each year he became more prosperous and when he retired in 1910 he was the owner of seven hundred and twenty-five acres of land in this county.
Mr. Zimmerman was married to Bertha Heese in Westphalia and to this union were born thirteen children: Emil, who married Josephine Posch and has one child, Roman; John, who died August 4, 1882; Bertha, who is a Sister in St. Joseph Convent, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, known as Sister Jerome; Joseph, who is in the Jesuit college studying for the priesthood; Carl, who married Katherine Muenchrath, and has one child, Cletus; Anna, known as Sister Benita, who is a Sister in St. Joseph Convent, with her sister; Frank, single; Clara, who is with her two sisters in the convent at Milwaukee, where she is known as Sister Emelie; Bernard, a student at the Jesuit College, also studying for the priesthood; Marie, single; Elizabeth, who died November 15, 1897; Peter, a student at Jesuit College, and Adalaide, who is single and still at home.
Mr. Zimmerman was a Democrat but never took an active part in politics although a firm advocate of good government. He and the whole family are zealous Catholics and are very active in their church.
Charles J. (or Carl) Zimmerman, the fifth child of Emil and wife, was born March 5, 1887, in Westphalia township, in this county. He was given a good education in the local schools and later attended Champion College at Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin. After leaving college he returned home and worked upon the farm with his father until the latter's death in 1911. He was married January 10, 1911, to Katherine Muenchrath, the daughter of Fred and Anna (Ruthrup) Muenchrath, and to this union has been born one child, Cletus. His wife's parents were born in Germany and Osage county, Missouri, respectively. Mr. Muenchrath is a prosperous retired farmer now living in Earling. He and his wife reared a large family of children: George who married Marie Heese; vary, the wife of Henry Greave; Henry, who
married Dora Goeser; Joseph, single; Bernadine, the wife of Otto Beiker; Katherine, the wife of Mr. Zimmerman, and Anna and Elizabeth, who are
single.
Charles (or Carl) Zimmerman is a young man of keen business ability and is highly respected and honored by everyone of his associates. He is making a success of farming and promises to be one of the leaders of his county.
Source: 1915 Past and Present of Shelby County, Iowa, pp. 1224 - 1225.
Contributed by: Marthann Kohl-Fuhs
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This is pre-eminently the age of the farmer. Never before has he received equal attention from state agricultural colleges and the Department of Agriculture at Washington, D. C. The government is now employing experts to investigate every phase of farming and their reports are distributed in bulletins, free to the farmers of the country. Some rather startling facts have been discovered. The average farmer knows too little about his business, government statistics show. The government experts tell us that nine-tenths of the farmers of the country are unable to tell by actual figures whether their farms are paying fair interest on the money value represented by the land, or merely a fair labor wage. Still fewer are able to state accurately what profit is made on a crop or whether apparent profit is not actually a loss. There is no doubt that farming can, like any other business, be made profitable by the use of careful methods. Iowa has excellent agricultural colleges and an increasingly large number of young men are attending them, which means better farmers, better homes and better living conditions.
Jacob Loehr, one of the most progressive farmers of Westphalia township, was born November 11, 1876, on the farm where he is now living. He is the son of Fred W. and Anna (Langenfeld) Loehr, natives of Wisconsin and Germany, respectively. His father was reared in Wisconsin and remained with his parents until his marriage. When he married Anna Langenfeld, he brought his young bride to Shelby county and purchased a farm in Westphalia township. the same on which their son, Jacob, now reside. They were among the pioneers of the county and endured all the trials and hardships of a new country. They gradually improved their land and in the course of a few years were on the road to prosperity and independence. Upon his retirement from active farm life in 1912, Fred W. Loehr was one of the
most substantial farmers of his township. He and his wife are enjoying their days now in Westphalia where they have a handsome home. To Mr. and Mrs. Fred W. Loehr have been born ten children: Querin, who married Rosa Petsche; Dorothy, the wife of John Wilwerding; Jacob, whose history is here recorded; Johana, the wife of Louis Sternburg; Nicholas, who married Lenora KuhI; Katherine, the wife of Anthony Schmitz; Michael, single; William, who married Katherine Hytehoff; Louis, single; Mary, the wife of Franklin Kuhl.
Jacob Loehr was given a good education by his parents and after leaving school assisted his father upon the home farm until his marriage in 1900. He then bought one hundred and twenty acres of land in this township. To this he has added from time to time until he now has a fine farm of two hundred and eighty acres of land in this township. He has a beautiful home. excellent barns and outbuildings and in everything his farm is well improved. He raises large crops and handles much live stock each year.
Mr. Loehr was married April 30, 1900, to Josephine Petsche, born of Austrian parents. To this happy union there have been born six children: Fred, Edwin, Elenora, Dorothy, Zeno and Helen. Mrs. Loehr's father was a merchant in Austria, a business which he followed a short time after coming to this country. He then bought a farm in this county where he lived until his death. Mr. and Mrs. Petsche were the parents of nine children: Rosa, Josephine, Mary, John, Anna, Cecelia, Michael, Verona and William. The Democratic party has always had the hearty support of Mr. Loehr, but he has never taken part in its activities. He and his family are all loyal
members of the Catholic church and give to its support. Mr. Loehr is a man of genial disposition and has a large circle of friends and acquaintances in the county.
Source: 1915 Past and Present of Shelby County, Iowa, pp. 1226 - 1227.
Contributed by: Marthann Kohl-Fuhs
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The possession of four hundred acres of land in Shelby county is a sure evidence of the success of the owner. John Kohles, one of the many excellent German farmers of this county, has accumulated a farm of many acres as the result of long and successful labor in the mercantile business, marked by good management, honest dealings and close application to his business. As a farmer he has been no less successful than in business pursuits, as his fine farm bears ample witness. The life of such a man presents many interesting features, and the purpose of this review is to set forth the main incidents for the benefit of his children and the coming generations. John Kohles, the son of George and Katherine (Bauman) Kohles, was born March 1, 1846, in Bavaria. His father was a farmer in his native land
and died there in 1869. George Kohles and wife were the parents of two sons, Otto and John.
John Kohles was educated in the schools of Frauendorf, Germany, and after leaving school, worked upon his father's farm until the latter's death in 1869. He was then twenty-three years old, and after carefully considering the opportunities for advancement in his own country and comparing them with those of America, he decided to come to this country. He first located in Illinois, where he farmed for a few years by the month. He then married and brought his young wife to Pottawattamie county, Iowa, and bought one hundred and sixty acres near Wheeler's Grove. In 1879, he sold this farm, moved to Shelby county and started a general merchandise store at Westphalia. He continued in business at this place until 1892, when he disposed of his store and located in Neola, Pottawattamie county, in the same business. Here he remained until 1896, and then sold his store and located in Earling, Iowa, where he lived for three years. Later he bought a farm of eighty acres in Grove township, kept this but a short time and sold it, buying the four-hundred-acre farm in Union township on which he is now living. Since acquiring this farm in 1899, he has built a handsome country home, erected new barns and improved the farm in many ways. He is an extensive stock raiser and derives the largest part of his annual income from this source.
Mr. Kohles has been twice married. His first wife was Anna B. Duessel and to this union were born six children: George, Henry, Michael, Mary, Anthony and Paul. George married Carrie Block and has five children, John Arthur, Marie, Louisa, August and Hermena. Henry, who is deceased, married Julia Kramer; Michael married Mary Freeser, and has one son, Clarence John; Mary is the wife of Charles Wingert and has three children, Isadore, Anna and Gerald; Anthony married Lena Wattier and has one son, Sebastian; Paul married Mary Hendricks, and has one daughter, Pauline. After the death of his first wife July 30, 1891, John Kohles married on October 4, 1892, Eva Herbst, the daughter of Peter and Elizabeth Herbst, and to this second union have been born nine children, all of whom are living with their parents: Peter, Frederick, John, Ludwena, Matthew, Joseph, Sylvia, Henry and Rita. The parents of Mr. Kohles' second wife were born in Germany, and married before coming to this country. Peter Herbst was a stone mason in his native land and followed that trade after coming to the United States in 1892. He and his wife are still living in Westphalia, where they first located after coming to America. Mr. and Mrs. Herbst are the parents of ten children: Eva, the wife of Mr. Kohles; Katherine, the wife of Fred Brummer; Anna, the wife of Henry Lackers; Eberhart, who married Emma Rissen; Matthew, who married Mary Sontag; Peter, who married Mary Thielan; John, unmarried; Gertrude, who married Herman Schmidt; Edward, who married Anna Stark, and Katherine, the wife of William
Thielan.
Mr. Kohles has been identified with the Democratic party since acquiring the right to vote in this county, and has always been interested in politics. While living in Westphalia he served as postmaster, and was the second post-master the city ever had. He and his family are members of the Catholic church, in whose welfare they are greatly interested. Personally, Mr. Kohles is a genial man, and esteemed by all who know him. He has lived a busy and useful life, rightly meriting a place among the representative men of his county.
Source: 1915 Past and Present of Shelby County, Iowa, pp. 1228 - 1230.
Contributed by: Marthann Kohl-Fuhs
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Among those who stand as distinguished types of the world's workers is Dr. Valentine John Meyer, who is one of the able and honored physicians and surgeons of northwestern Iowa. A man of fine intellectual and professional attainments, of most gracious personality, of strong and noble character, and one who has labored with zeal and devotion in the alleviation of human suffering, he is clearly entitled to representation among the progressive and enterprising citizens of Shelby county. He is devoted to his chosen vocation and has lent honor and dignity to the medical profession, having due regard for the highest standard of professional ethics and
exhibiting marked skill in the treatment of disease.
Dr. Valentine J. Meyer, the son of A. and Henrietta (Stahl) Meyer, was born January 31, 1877, in Somonauk, Illinois. Both of his parents were natives of Germany, and came to this country shortly after their marriage and settled in Somonauk, Illinois, where the father was engaged in the general mercantile business until his death in 1890, his widow surviving him only one year, passing away in 1891. They were the parents of six children: Emil, Amanda, William, Julius, Carolina and Valentine John. Emil, Amanda and Caroline are deceased.
Dr. Valentine J. Meyer graduated from the common and high schools of Somonauk, Illinois, and immediately after his graduation from the high school, entered the medical college at Keokuk, Iowa, where he took the complete course and graduated in the spring of 1902. He first located in Portsmouth, Iowa, and remained there until 1909, when he began the practice of his profession in Defiance, where he has since remained. He is classed among the best physicians of this section of the state and has a large and ever increasing practice throughout the county. He is a student of all matters pertaining to his chosen profession and keeps fully abreast of the advance made in this calling.
Doctor Meyer is a Republican, but the nature of his profession precludes him from taking an active part in politics. Fraternally, he is a member of the Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, belonging to the Bluff City lodge at Council Bluffs, Iowa. He was formerly a member of the pension examining board of his county. He is a member of the Iowa State Medical Society, a member of the American Medical Association and Missouri Valley Medical Society. Doctor Meyer is still a young physician and his success in the past insures a prosperous career for him in the future.
Source: 1915 Past and Present of Shelby County, Iowa, pp. 1230-1231.
Contributed by: Marthann Kohl-Fuhs
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Iowa has been especially honored in the character and careers of her active men in agricultural pursuits. In every section have been found men born to leadership in this most important avocation, men who have dominated because of their superior intelligence, natural endowment and energy. It is always profitable to study such lives, weigh their motives and hold up their achievements as incentives to greater activity and higher excellence on the part of others. These reflections are suggested by the career of a Shelby county citizen who has forged his way to the front ranks of the favored few, and who by a strong inherent force and decided ability, and gifted with the powers of leadership of his fellow men, stands as one of the leading men in this section of the state. For over thirty-four years he has been one of the
active figures in the civic and industrial life of Harlan and Shelby county and sufficient credit can not be given him on account of the important part he has played in the development of Shelby county.
Luther H. Pickard is one of the most widely known of the citizens of Shelby county and has done more perhaps than any other single individual toward placing Shelby county in the front ranks of the greatest counties of a great. state. Mr. Pickard, secretary of the Shelby County Fine Stock Exchange, proprietor of "Linn Hill Park Stock Farm" and a Union veteran, comes of an old New York family of French origin, the original French name. being Picquard.
Mr. Pickard was born on a farm in Stephenson county, Illinois, in 1844. He was a son of Squire O. and Sarah A. (Way) Pickard, natives of New York and Connecticut. His forbears on his father's side were French, and early settlers in the colonial period. The founders of the family in America came from France and settled in the Mohawk valley of New York. S. O. Pickard left the ancestral home when a young man and settled in Ohio as early as I835. From Ohio he journeyed to Illinois and owned a farm in Stephenson county. He moved on west thirty years later and came to Iowa and settled near Marengo, where he resided until 1878. when he finally founded a permanent home in Shelby county. During his later days he resided in Harlan at the home of his son where he died. Sarah Way Pickard,
his wife, died in 1872. They were the parents of nine children: Mrs. Harriet L. Leigh, of Freeport, Illinois; Luther H.; Edwin C., of Rock Rapids, Iowa; Mrs. Amelia A. Hann, of Ft. Collins, Colorado; B. L., of Los Angeles, California; Charles W., a resident of Indianola, Iowa; F. W., a farmer in Douglas township, Shelby county, and manager of the "Linn Hill Park Stock Farm"; Mrs. Olie Hastings, of Quinn, South Dakota.
When nineteen years of age, L. H. Pickard left the parental roof in 1863, in response to President Lincoln's call for volunteers and enlisted in Company A, Ninety-second Regiment Illinois Mounted Infantry and served for a period of one and one-half years in defense of the Union. His service until the close of the war was principally on detached duty, which consisted during the earlier part of his enlistment in escorting recruits to the front, he being detailed on recruiting duty for, a time. He belonged to what was known as the transfer department of Illinois. Later on he became private secretary to Captain E. C. Raymond who was in charge of the transfer department.
After the war was over, Mr. Pickard's health seemed to be on the decline and he was told by the army surgeon that his lungs were affected. Accordingly he came to Iowa and lived in the open on the parental prairie farm and spent four seasons in breaking prairie and doing hard farm labor. His health was regained as a natural result of the open air life and plenty of work and he then engaged as salesman of agricultural implements and farm machinery in the employ of R. L. Dunlap, of Iowa City. In 1873 he became a traveling salesman in the same line and soon had charge of a considerable crew of salesmen in the employ of the Farmers Manufacturing Company, of Cedar Rapids. He remained with this firm for two years and then established a hardware store in the town of Marengo, Iowa. He was successful
in his business venture despite strong competition and after one and one-half yeafs in the retail business again took employment as traveling salesman after selling out his interest in the hardware store. For several years he was general superintendent of agencies for a large manufacturing firm and traveled in Missouri, Kansas, Colorado, Nebraska and Utah.
In the spring of 1882 he established a permanent residence in Harlan, having invested in a farm in Douglas township two years previous to this. His fine estate consists of three hundred and sixty acres and is known as "Linn Hill Park Stock Farm." There were formerly forty acres of timber where the residence is situated and most of this forest is still standing. Since the early eighties, Mr. Pickard has been a breeder of fine live stock and breeds fine horses, Hereford cattle and Poland China hogs. He has been a regular exhibitor at the county and state fairs, exhibiting his cattle and hogs at the county shows and showing his horses at the state exhibits. At differ-
ent times he has shown five suckling colts which have won first premiums at the State fair. Mr. Pickard did not immediately make a permanent residence in Harlan but traveled for his former firm until 1889, maintaining his family residence in Harlan, beginning with 1882. Since that year he has devoted all of his time to his personal affairs.
For a period of five years Mr. Pickard was a director of the State Board of Agriculture. He was the main organizer of the Shelby County Fine Stock Exchange which has done much to advertise Shelby county, and assisted in making it the banner fine stock county of the state. He and D. B. Sheller and others organized the Shelby County Fair Association in 1892 and Mr. Pickard served as president of this association until he was elected a member of the State Board of Agriculture. The Shelby County Fine Stock Exchange was organized in the year 1902 and Mr. Pickard is the efficient secretary of the flourishing organization. He and other influential citizens
organized the Commercial Exchange of Harlan, an association composed of the "live wires" of the city, which is continually boosting Harlan and pushing municipal improvements at all times. Mr. Pickard was also connected with the organization of the local Chautauqua Association which has become a very successful enterprise.
Mr. Pickard was married in 1869 to Mary F. Johnston, a native of Zanesville, Ohio. To this union have been born the following children: Lulu May, deceased, a former teacher in the Des Moines schools; Mrs. Edith Bell Booth, wife of C. D. Booth, dealer in implements and autos, Harlan; Mrs. Daisy Barkley, of Ft. Collins, Colorado; Mrs. Myrtle Mayer, of Defiance, Iowa; Veta, a trained nurse in the Methodist Episcopal hospital at Omaha; Leigh H., accidentally killed by a horse at the age of thirteen.
Mr. Pickard is a Republican and has always taken an active part in political affairs since becoming a resident of Shelby county. While he has never had ambition for political preferment as regards public office, he has served a number of years as secretary of the County Central Committee and for the greater part of a decade was Republican county chairman. He has taken an active and interested part in state politics as becomes a citizen of his wide and favorable acquaintance throughout the state. Since 1893 he has been successfully conducting a real estate and loan business in Harlan with offices in the Shelby County State Bank building.
His home is his lodge and club and he belongs to no society but the Grand Army of the Republic and for a term or so served as secretary of the Western Veterans Union. He and his family are affiliated with the Congregational church of Harlan. It is such records as the foregoing that render a work of this kind concerning Shelby county and her people exceedingly valuable, and a perusal of the foregoing paragraphs concerning this estimable citizen can not but furnish inspiration and serve as a guide to those of a younger growth who have yet to find a foothold on the ladder of success. The motto learned from the account of Mr. Pickard's life might well
be "Whatever you do, do it with all your might, and puts your whole soul into the doing of the task."
Source: 1915 Past and Present of Shelby County, Iowa, pp. 1232 - 1235.
Contributed by: Marthann Kohl-Fuhs
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Among the younger farmers of Shelby county, John Goeser, who manages his father's farm of two hundred acres in Westphalia township, occupies a prominent place. From his boyhood, he has aspired to be a farmer, and his present success shows his thorough knowledge of agriculture. Farming has radically changed within the last twenty-five years and the successful farmer of today must have a wide variety of information not necessary to his father. In the years of successive farming, the soil becomes impoverished from continuous cropping and if crop rotation and scientific fertilization are not practiced it becomes impossible to raise profitable crops. The successful farmer of today must make a study of his soil to keep it fertile, or he must use commercial fertilizer to get results.
John Goeser, the son of Joseph and Kate (Langenfeld) Goeser, was born May 5, 1883. His parents were both natives of Germany and came to this country after their marriage, settling on the farm where their son, John, is now living. Joseph Goeser lived on this farm until 1909, when he. retired to Westphalia, where he died June 9, 1914, at the age of seventy-three. Joseph Goeser and wife were the parents of fifteen children: Anthony, Jacob, Peter, Nicholas, Johanna, Maggie, Theresa, Katherine, Frederick, John, Mary, Joseph, Querin, William, Dora. Six of these children are deceased: William, Frederick, Mary, Johanna, Joseph and Peter. Anthony married Kate Loeschen: Jacob married Lena Kenkel; Peter married Theresa Schulta; Nicholas married Mary Sontag; Maggie and Theresa are nuns in
St. Francis Academy at Milwaukee, Wisconsin; Querin married Lena Schneider, while the two youngest daughters, Katherine and Dora, are living with their mother in Westphalia.
John Goeser received all of his education in the schools of Westphalia. After leaving the school room, he assisted his father on the home farm until his marriage in 1907. He then rented a farm of one hundred and twenty acres, until a year later when he took the management of his father's farm. This farm comprises two hundred acres of excellent land and is well equipped for up-to-date farming. Mr. Goeser divides his time between raising crops and live stock, making his farm yield the maximum results from his efforts. He keeps well informed on scientific agriculture and is considered one of the most progressive farmers of his township.
Mr. Goeser was married September 3, 1907, to Cecelia Kenkel, the daughter of Theodore and Mary (Peters) Kenkel, and two children were born to them; Edwin G., born March 25, 1909; Laurence I., born September 28, 1911. Mr. Goeser's parents were also natives of Germany and prominent farmers of this county, where her father died about twenty-five years ago. Mr. and Mrs. Kenkel were the parents of two daughters, Lena and Cecelia, the latter the wife of Jacob Goeser.
Mr. Goeser is affiliated with the Democratic party, but the heavy responsibilities of his own interests prevent him from being active in political matters. He has never held any public office, although he gives his hearty support to the candidates of his party. He and his wife are members of the Catholic church, and he is a member of the Knights of Columbus. Mr. Goeser is still young and the success which has attended his efforts in the past indicates that he has a long and prosperous life before him. He has so conducted himself as to win the approbation of his fellow citizens, and while primarily engaged in advancing his own interests, he never neglects to give
his support to all measures which promote the general welfare of the community in which he lives.
Source: 1915 Past and Present of Shelby County, Iowa, pp. 1237 -1238.
Contributed by: Marthann Kohl-Fuhs
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The life history of every man presents different features, and as some philosopher has said, it is the variety of men which makes for civilization. In such a country as the United States, where every man is free to follow his own bent, there is a greater chance for variety than in a country like China, where the only difference between many millions of men is their names. The boy who is hoeing potatoes when he is fifteen years of age in. this country may be a congressman when he is thirty and president of the United States when he is sixty, a thing which has happened more than once in the history of our country. The rail splitter of today is the president of tomorrow, and the small boy who tinkered with an electric battery in the dingy baggage car becomes the greatest inventor the world has ever known. This is the reason why people have come from every corner of the globe to the United States. The career of Charles M. Hannon, which is here briefly reviewed, indicates
that he has been a man of energy and ability.
Charles M. Hannon, the son of T. J. and Mary E. (Harris) Hannon, was born in Hancock county, Illinois, April 1, 1856: His father was born in the state of Mississippi, and when a mere youth started to work upon the boats running between Cincinnati and New Orleans as a dishwasher. He graduated from the dishwashing department to more lucrative work and continued to work upon the boats on the river for a period of ten years. He then located in Hancock county, Illinois, where he worked for William Harris, the uncle of his wife. There he became acquainted with Mary E. Harris, whom he later married, and proved to be a young man of such worthy qualities that upon the death of his uncle, he received the uncle's farm, and he continued to live upon this farm for several years. In 1876 he decided to sell it and move farther west. He located in Defiance, Iowa, where he purchased a farm and after living upon it a few years, retired from active work. He
and his wife, both of whom are still living, were the parents of nine children: Charles M., whose history is here recorded; Lottie, the wife of William Young; George, who married Carrie Fairfield; John, who married Lola Bennett; Josephine, the wife of William Porter; Lillian, the wife of C. E. Yates; Edith is the wife of Arthur Brundige; and two, Ella and William, who are deceased.
Charles M. Hannon was educated in the schools of Hancock county, Illinois, and after leaving the school, farmed with his father until he was twenty-four years of age, when he married and brought his young wife to Crawford county, Iowa, where he purchased a farm of one hundred and twenty acres and lived on it for six years. He then disposed of his farm and engaged in the drug business at Astor, Iowa, during 1886-87. Then he sold out and came to Defiance and became connected with the Booth Implement Company of Defiance. He became manager in 1906 and has since been connected with this company. He has managed the business of the company in a satisfactory manner. At the same time, he has become a prominent factor in the civic life of his home city.
Mr. Hannon was married December 24, 1879, to Anna Bell Barr, the daughter of George and Effie Barr, and to this union have been born two children; Leora and John W. Leora married Lyle Williams and has two children, Neal and Donald. The first wife of Mr. Hannon died September 8, 1886, and he afterward married Mrs. Samantha (Weiner) Wright, the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Michael Weiner, and to this second marriage has been born one daughter, Daisy.
Mr. Hannon has been identified with the Democratic party, and has served his party on numerous occasions. He has been assessor for eight years, constable for nine years, marshal for five years, and is now a council-man. In all of these various official positions he has done his work conscientiously and faithfully, and served his constituents to the best of his ability.
Source: 1915 Past and Present of Shelby County, Iowa, pp. 1238 - 1239.
Contributed by: Marthann Kohl-Fuhs
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The history of any county deals with the lives and activities of its people, especially those who have forged to the front, the progressive men. In Harlan there are represented more than a hundred different occupations, every one necessary to the life of the people. Among the prosperous men is William H. Carl, who has been engaged in business in this city for the past forty years. This record is. indeed remarkable and Mr. Carl is justly classed among the representative men of his city.
William H. Carl, proprietor of a furniture and undertaking establishment in Harlan, was born in Wapello county, Iowa, in 1849. He is a son of Daniel and Elizabeth (Tinsley) Carl,. natives of Perry county, Pennsylvania, and Kentucky, respectively. His father was born in 1819, and served with a New York regiment throughout the Mexican War, in artillery at Fortress Monroe with the United States regular army for five years and on being mustered out of the service in 1847, came immediately to Wapello county, Iowa, where he engaged in farming. He continued this vocation for several years and then retired to Blakeburg, in the same county, where he continued to reside until his death, in 1903. He held several different offices in the county, and was justice of the peace for twenty-eight years. Daniel
Carl was married in 1848 to Elizabeth Tinsley, who was born in Kentucky in 1825, and died in Wapello county, this state, in 1900. Daniel Carl and his wife are both buried in Blakeburg, Iowa.
William H. Carl is one of five children born to his parents. He was educated in the schools of Wapello county, and when he was fourteen years old began working for himself. He learned the carpenter trade and worked at that until 1879. In 1879 he, with W. H. Griffith, engaged in the furniture business with the money he had saved from his wages as a carpenter. The firm name of the establishment was Griffith & Carl. He has been in the undertaking and furniture business down to the present time, and his son, Edwin, is now associated with him in partnership. The store carries a large and complete stock of the latest designs in furniture, and does a large business in Harlan and the surrounding community. In addition to his business interests in Harlan, Mr. Carl owns land in North Dakota.
Mr. Carl was married in 1880 to Amy C. Bergstresser, who was born in Pennsylvania in 1857, and to this union four children have been born: Claude, deceased ; Edwin, a graduate of the Harlan high school and Boyles College, now an embalmer; Florence, a graduate of the Harlan high school, and a school teacher; Donald; a graduate of the Harlan high school and Vocational College at Harlan, now clerking in his father's store.
Mr Carl is a Democrat, but has never been active in politics, devoting all his time and attention to his extensive business interests. He is a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and has always been actively interested in the welfare of that organization. He is one of the oldest business men of the county, and during his two score years in the county has won the esteem and affection of a large circle of friends and acquaintances.
Source: 1915 Past and Present of Shelby County, Iowa, pp. 1242-1243.
Contributed by: Marthann Kohl-Fuhs
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