FRED C. HEPP.
The following is a sketch of a plain, honest man of affairs who, by correct methods and a strict regard for the interests of his patrons, has made his influence felt in the town of Gray, this county, having won for himself distinctive prestige in the business circles of that pleasant village. He would be the last man to pose as a subject for romance or to court fanciful encomium; nevertheless, his life presents much that is interesting and valuable and which may be studied with profit by the young men whose careers are yet to be made. Mr. Hepp is one of those men whose integrity and strength of character inevitably force them into an admirable notoriety which their modesty never would seek; who command the respect of their contemporaries and their posterity and leave the impress of their individuality deeply stamped on the community where their labors have been performed.
Fred C. Hepp was born on February 21, 1860, in Bureau county, Illinois, the son of John C. and Margaretta (Sopf) Hepp, the former of whom was born in 1828 and died in the fall of 1895, and the latter in June, 1833, and died in June, 1882, at the age of forty-nine years and nine months. John C. Hepp was a native of Germany, who immigrated to Bureau county, Illinois, when a young man, and was married there. In 1865 he came to Iowa, settling in Poweshiek county, where he bought a farm. In 1872 he moved to Jasper county, Iowa, where he farmed until 1881, in which year he came to Audubon county, settling in Lincoln township, where he bought one hundred and sixty acres of land, on which he spent the rest of his life. To John C. and Margaretta (Sopf) Hepp were born eight children, namely: Fred C., the subject of this sketch; John E., a contractor in Audubon, Iowa; Amelia, who died in 1886; Carl, who died in Illinois; Delia, Charles and Ida, all of whom live on the home farm in Lincoln township; and Ida, who died while the family was living in Jasper county. John C. Hepp served in the German army during the rebellion of 1848 and came to America afterward. He enlisted in the Union army in the fall of 1863, serving until the close of the Civil War. He then moved to Poweshiek county and purchased land at two dollars and fifty cents an acre.
Fred C. Hepp remained on the home farm with his parents until he had reached manhood's estate and then came to this county, opening a blacksmith shop in the town of Gray in the spring of 1887. He established a hardware store in the same town in 1909 and has built up a large and lucrative business. From the point of years of service, he is the oldest blacksmith in Audubon county, having served at this trade for more than twenty-seven years. He began as a blacksmith on the farm when a boy, doing work for the neighbors. He has a large and complete stock of hardware and is considered one of the successful men of that section of the county.
On March 23, 1883, Fred C. Hepp was married to Elizabeth Staumbaugh, and to this union three sons and four daughters have been born, as follow: Mahlon, a graduate of Iowa State University, who is now principal of the manual-training department of the Minneapolis schools; Stella, who is the wife of William Thompson, a bank cashier of Correctionville, Iowa; Florence, a student in the Chicago Musical Conservatory, who has been a teacher in the schools of Audubon county for several years; Esther, who is a teacher in the Ross schools; George, who is attending manual-training school in Minneapolis, and Zola and Virgin, who are pupils in the schools of Gray.
Fred C. Hepp is identified with the Democratic party and was postmaster of Gray during Cleveland's last administration and served as mayor of Gray for two terms. Mr. and Mrs. Hepp and family attend the United Brethren church, although they are not members. Fraternally, Mr. Hepp is a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and of the Modern Woodmen of America. Mr. Hepp is widely known and deservedly popular in that part of the county. He is generous in his dealings with his neighbors and friends, genial in his manner and upright and honorable in all of the relations of life.
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Transcribed by Cheryl Siebrass, September, 2019 from History of Audubon County, Iowa Its People, Industries and Institutions With Biographical Sketches of Representative Citizens and Genealogical Records of Many of the Old Families, by H. F. Andrews, editor, Indianapolis: B. F. Bowen & Company, 1915, pp. 389-391.
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