FRANK KREAMER.
Not too often can be repeated the life history of one who has lived so honorable and useful a life as Frank Kreamer, the present efficient postmaster of Exira, Iowa. As a private citizen and as a public official, he has been a pronounced success. There are individuals in nearly every community who, by reason of their ability and force of character, rise above the heads of the masses and command the esteem of their fellow men. These individuals are characterized by perseverance and a directing spirit, two virtues that never fail. They always make their presence felt and the vigor of their strong personalities serves as a stimulus to others. To this enterprising and energetic class, Frank Kreamer very properly belongs.
Frank Kreamer was born in Cass county, Iowa, on August 23, 1879, the son of George and Elvina (Cahoon) Kreamer, both natives of Pennsylvania. George Kreamer left Pennsylvania when a young man with his parents, and located in Illinois, where he farmed with his father. When the Civil War broke out, he enlisted in the Forty-sixth Illinois Regiment, Volunteer Infantry, and served about a year. He then returned home and after his marriage came to Iowa, settling in Cass county, where he purchased a farm, remaining there until 1891, in which year he moved to Exira, this county, where he purchased a grocery store, in partnership with F. L. Odell, the business being conducted under the firm name of Kreamer & Odell for nine years, at the end of which time Mr. Kreamer retired, his death occurring in 1904. His wife had preceded him to the grave in 1893. They were the parents of four children, Ida, who married F. L. Odell; Edna, who married Clarence Maisling; Salome, who married Frank Shranger, and Frank, who is the subject of this sketch.
Frank Kreamer received his elementary education in the schools of Cass county, and at Exira, and was graduated from the Exira high school, after leaving which he attended Ames College for three years. After leaving college, he enlisted as a soldier in the Spanish-American War, enlisting at Des Moines, Iowa, in Company F., Fifty-second Iowa Volunteer Infantry, in which he served six months, being mustered out on November 30, 1898. Upon his return home he went west, where he remained for a few years, after which he returned to Exira, where he had charge of a mail route for three years, at the end of which time he engaged in the coal and feed business for one year, and on August 1, 1911, became postmaster of Exira and is still occupying that position.
On August 8, 1908, Frank Kreamer was married to Maude Hamlin, daughter of Nathaniel Douglas and Elva (Crane) Hamlin, to which union three children have been born, Elva, Mona and Kathleen.
Mr. Kreamer is a member of the Ancient Free and Accepted Masons. He is an ardent Republican and is influential in the councils of that party in this county. He is a good citizen and well deserves the words of commendation, confidence and esteem which have been bestowed upon him by his fellow citizens.
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Transcribed 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. 319-320.
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