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History of Sac
County
by William H. Hart -
1914
HENRICH, VALENTINE -----The
gentleman whose life history forms the theme of this
narrative is one of the many German settlers who have
made Sac county, Iowa, the prosperous community which it
is today. Landing in this country at the age of
nineteen, when his capital consisted solely of his
strong hands and a willing heart, he has attained to a
position of influence in this county, which has been
accomplished solely through his own efforts. The study
of the career of such a life should be an inspiration to
those of the coming generation who little realize the
privations and discouragements which often faced our
forefathers in settling up a new country.
Valentine Henrich, retired farmer
of Odebolt, Iowa, was born June 12, 1850, in
Hesse-Nassau, Germany. His parents, Philip and Elizabeth
Henrich, belonged to the High German class of their
native land and lived all of their days in the land of
their birth. Valentine Henrich came to America with a
group of friends in 1869, landing in New York City in
March of that year. He immediately went to Chicago,
where he worked for a year and a half at his trade of
carpentering. He then located in
Lee county Illinois, and worked as a farm laborer until
1875. He then married and began to rent land in Lee
county, Illinois, with the intention of later on going
farther west and purchasing a farm of his own.
Accordingly, in 1882, he came with
his family to Sac county, Iowa, and for the first two
years rented land in Richland township. Feeling that it
would be to his interest to own a farm of his own, he
purchased one hundred and sixty acres in section 8, in
Richland township, for twenty-fi\’e dollars an acre. He
went into debt for the total amount, built a small house
and started in to pay for his land. It was not an easy
task, for he had the grasshoppers, storms, drought and
many other discouragements to meet, but he stuck to his
farm with characteristic German determination and within
fifteen years had it all paid for. One thing which made
it difficult to pay off the debt any sooner was the fact
that he had to pay the high rate of eighteen percent,
interest on his borrowed money. As soon as he had his
farm paid for, he bought another quarter section in
Boyer Valley township for fifty dollars an acre, but
later traded this farm for one hundred and twenty acres
near Odebolt, and he is now the owner of two hundred and
eighty acres of well improved land in Richland township,
and realizes a very profitable return from his land
holdings. He also owns one hundred and sixty acres of
land in South Dakota. He moved to Odebolt in March,
1907. where he owns a modern home with all of the
conveniences of life.
Mr. Henrich was married November
25, 1875, in Sublet, Lee county, Illinois, to Caroline
Dinges, who was born March 30, 1855, in that county. To
this marriage there have been born seven children, all
of whom are living: Mrs. Christina Roeder, of Ida
county, Iowa, who has seven children Caroline, Albert,
Francis, Esther, Leonard, Raymond and Marguerite; Mrs.
Mary Zeigmann. who lives in Levey township, this county,
who has seven children, Albert, Leo, Gertrude, Joseph,
Bernard, Margaret and Lawrence; Peter, of South Dakota,
who is married and has eight children, Frances, Romaine,
Dorothy, Helen, Marguerite, Carroll, Floyd and Leo;
John, of Richland township, this county, is married and
has three children, Gertrude, Leona and Howard; John,
who died in infancy; Mrs. Josephine Mandernach, of
Richland township, has two daughters Hazel and Lorene;
Joseph, a farmer of Richland township, who has three
children, Leonard, Florence and Ellis; Gertrude, the
youngest child of Mr. and Mrs. Henrich is still with her
parents in Odebolt.
It is interesting to note that two
brothers of Mr. Henrich who came to this country have
likewise prospered, Balthazer is a prosperous farmer of
Minnesota, while Martin is equally flourishing in
LeMars, Iowa. They came to this county in 1881 and are
highly respected citizens of the communities in which
they are living.
Mr. Henrich gives his vote to the
Democratic party and subscribes to the principles as set
forth by the leaders of that organization. He and all
the members of his family are adherents of the Catholic
church and render to it their earnest and loyal support.
They are members of the St. Martin’s parish and take an
active interest in all the affairs of their church. In
1910 Mr. and Mrs. Henrich made a trip to Europe,
visiting in England, France, Switzerland and Germany.
They called on their old friends and relatives and had
the pleasure of seeing the famous “Passion Play” at
Oberammergau, in Austria.
HESS, HERMAN C. -----Among the
successful farmers of Sac county there is a surprisingly
large number of citizens of German descent. While many
nations have contributed to the population of this
county, there is no nation which has furnished more or
better citizens than has Germany. Wherever they have
settled in this county they have quickly identified
themselves with the various interests of their community
and have given to their adopted country the same loyal
support which they accorded to their native land before
coming to this country.
Herman C. Hess, a prosperous farmer
of Clinton township, this county, was born August 9,
1858, in Germany, on the isle of Ruegen in the East
Baltic sea. He is the son of August and Caroline
(Blisath) Hess. August Hess was born October 19, 1819,
and died in July, 1904. The wife of August Hess died
when Herman C. was less than two years of age, and
August Hess later remarried.
In 1873 August Hess and his family
came to America and settled in Cedar county. Iowa, and
three years later permanently located in Clinton
township, Sac county, Herman C. Hess received his
elementary education in the schools of Germany, but upon
coming to this country assisted bis father on the home
farm until his marriage, in 1885. Pie then built a home
on his farm in Clinton Township and in 1903 built a new
house with ah modern improvements.
He put out orchards, groves and other trees upon
his farm, thereby adding greatly to its value. He raises
all of the crops peculiar to this locality and in
addition supplements his income by marketing
considerable livestock each year.
Mr. Hess was married in 1885 to
Minnie Zein, the daughter of Christopher and Mary Zein.
The father of Mrs. Hess is dead and her mother is still
living at Wall Lake in this county. Mr. and Mrs. Hess
are the parents of seven children. William, Mary, Henry,
Caroline, Martin, Herman and Wilma. Mary, who is married
and lives in Minnesota, has one child, Marvin.
Politically. Mr. Hess is a
Republican, but has never felt that he had the time to
engage in politics, although he casts an intelligent
vote and takes an interest in the public questions which
are now confronting the American people. He and his
family are earnest members of the German Lutheran church
and give liberally to its support. Mr. Hess is a fine
example of the many German citizens who have been so
influential in making Sac county the prosperous section
it is today. He has many friends throughout the township
and county who admire him because of his honesty and
wholesome life.
HIERSCHE, F. R. -----Among the
retired farmers of Sac City who are living lives of
comfort after many years of hard labor, there is no one
who is more deserving of mention in this volume than F.
R. Hiersche. He is one of that large class of German
citizens who have made Sac county their home and he has
all those excellent qualities which characterize the
successful German citizens of the county. He was born
March 6. 1860, in Clinton county, Iowa, and is the son
of Rudolph and Sadie (Barton) Hiersche, natives of
Germany and New York state, respectively.
Rudolph Hiersche was born in 1844
in Germany and came to America in the spring of 1854. He
first settled in Clinton county, Iowa, and while living
in this county he was married, after which he continued
to live the life of a farmer in Clinton county until
1884. in which year he moved to Sac county and settled
in Lake View, where he became engaged in the lumber
business. In 1900 he went to Oklahoma, where he died on
March 31, 1902.
Mr. and Mrs. Rudolph Hiersche were
the parents of six children: F. R., whose life history
is here portrayed; Mrs. Hattie Cain, who lives in
Paullina, Iowa: Fred B., of Mankato, Minnesota: George
W., of Gerry, Oklahoma; Charles R., of Watonga,
Oklahoma, and Louis H. of Dale, Oklahoma.
F. R. Hiersche received his
education in the schools of Clinton county, this state,
and remained with his parents until his marriage, in
1883. He and his young wife then came in Clinton
Township, this county, where they purchased one hundred
and sixty acres of land in section 34. Two years later
they moved to Lake View, where Mr. Hiersche engaged in
the lumber business with his father. Later he went back
to his farm and managed it for three years, then sold
this tract and bought two hundred and forty acres in
Boyer Valley township, in sections 11 and 14. In 1911 he
moved to Sac City and retired from the active cares of
life.
Mr. Hiersche was married February
21, 1883 in Maquoketa, Jackson county, Iowa, to Clara
Bolton, a daughter of Isaac and Rebecca Bolton, who were
early settlers of Jackson county. Mr. and Mrs. Hiersche
are the parents of three children Earl F., a farmer of
Boyer Valley township, this county, and Irma B. and Lora
May, who are still under the parental roof.
Politically, Mr. Hiersche is
identified with the Republican party, but has confined
his political activities to the casting of his ballot
for his party’s candidate at election time. He and his
family are loyal members of the Methodist Episcopal
church and take an interest in all of the various
activities of their particular
denomination.
HIGHLAND, WALTER T. -----Among the
strong and influential citizens of Sac county the record
of whose lives have become an essential part of the
history of this section, the gentleman whose name
appears above occupies a prominent place and for years
he has exerted a beneficial influence in the locality
where he resides. His chief characteristics are keenness
of perception, a tireless energy, honesty of purpose and
motive, and everyday common sense, which have enabled
him not only to advance his own interests, but also
largely contribute to the moral and material advancement
of the community.
Walter T. Highland, ex-trustee and
a prosperous farmer of Jackson township, Sac county,
Iowa, was born on June 4, 1847, in Bradford, Orange
county, Vermont. His parents were Thomas and Eliza
(Grow) Highland. In 1866 the Highland
family moved to Sauk county, Wisconsin, and ten years
later settled in Sac City, this state, where the father
and mother both died in 1902. Thomas Highland and wife
were the parents of two children, John M., of Sac City,
and W. T., whose history is portrayed in this
connection.
Walter T. Highland first came to
Sac City September 19, 1872, by immigrant wagon,
accompanied by his wife, and shortly afterward settled
in Jackson township on section 1. He purchased eighty
acres of land at ten dollars an acre, later adding
another eighty, for which he paid thirty-one dollars an
acre. This one hundred and sixty acres he improved in
various ways, built buildings, and resided on it until
1902, then sold it for eighty dollars an acre and bought
his present farm in Jackson and Cedar townships for
which he paid sixty dollars an acre. He also bought five
acres with good buildings, within the corporate limits
of Sac City, which cost him three thousand dollars. He
now owns ninety-two acres in all. and his land is
rapidly increasing in value year by year.
Mr. Highland was married on January
18, 1870, at Merrimac, Sauk county, Wisconsin, to Helen
M. Shell, the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. David Shell. She
was born in Waddington, St. Lawrence county, New York,
November 8, 1848, and removed to Sauk county, Wisconsin,
in 1850. To this union have been born two children,
Clyde W., who was born in 1878 and is now a farmer on
the home farm. Clyde was married in 1912 to Ethel Hayden
and has one daughter, Maurine. Ethel, the other child of
Mr. and Mrs. Highland, died at the
age of fourteen months and eighteen days.
Politically Mr. Highland is a
Republican and has always taken a prominent part in
local politics. He is a man of good judgment and
business ability and his fellow citizens have entrusted
him with various offices during the course of his
residence in this county. An indication of the respect
and esteem in which he is held in his township is shown
by the fact that he has been township trustee for
fifteen years in Jackson township. In addition he has
held other offices of trust, all of which he has filled
to the entire satisfaction of his constituents, due to
his faithful and efficient administration of the various
duties connected with them. He and his family are
regular attendants of the Presbyterian church and give
it their earnest support. Mr.
Highland is a fine type of the farmer, who is not
only able to attend to his agricultural interests, but
also takes an intelligent interest in the body
politics.
HILL, ULYSSES S. -----Among the
well-known farmers of Sac county, Iowa, is Ulysses
S. Hill, who, since
March 10, 1887, has resided on his farm of one hundred
and sixty acres in Wheeler township. Mr. Hill is
numbered among the progressive farmers of the county and
his home farm is in an excellent state of cultivation
and well improved. All barns and buildings are new. the
residence having been completed in November of 1908.
This is a handsome and commodious residence, consisting
of ten rooms and having all modern improvements. There
is a private gas plant, furnishing illumination for the
entire house, and there is also running water throughout
the baths, kitchens, etc. The house sits in the midst of
fine grounds, affording every pleasure and convenience
for the family, both indoors and out, and is in every
sense a most attractive home.
Ulysses S. Hill was born on April
3, 1865, in Clinton county, Iowa, being the son of John
and Ruth (Farrell) Hill, the former of whom was a native
of England and the latter born in Canada of English
parentage. John Hill, father of
the subject of this sketch, was born in 1823 and
emigrated to America in 1851. His early training in
England had been along agricultural lines, and to this
line of work he devoted himself upon arriving in this
country. He came almost directly to Clinton county,
Iowa, and there passed the remainder of his life, dying
in 1895. From the first he prospered, owing to native
ability and other excellent traits, and later purchased
a farm in Sac county. After taking up his residence in
this state, John Hill met Miss Farrell, who afterwards
became his wife, and to their union were born six
children, the oldest being Ulysses, the subject of this
sketch; then came Theodore, who resides in Clinton
county; Roland and Earl are in Colorado; Martha is the
wife of J. T. Irwin and lives in Boyer Valley township,
this county, while Pearl, who is Mrs. Blue, resides in
Cedar Rapids, this state.
Mr. Hill grew to manhood in Clinton
county, where when a youth he attended the schools of
the district and assisted the father in the work about
the farm. On February 17, 1887, he was united in
marriage with Lottie A. McMillan, also of
Clinton county, the daughter of John McMillan, and soon
thereafter he came to this county, taking up his
residence on the farm where he has since resided. In the
years he has lived here Mr. Hill has made marked and
valuable improvements on the place. His barns and other
buildings are especially fine, the large barn covering a
space of forty-eight by sixty-two feet and containing
many facilities. There is also a large corn crib
twenty-six by forty feet in size, having a capacity of
twenty-four hundred bushels. Mr. Hill carries on general
farming, raising about the usual crops, and in addition
to this line of work he also gives some attention to
stock raising. He has something of a reputation as a
cattle breeder, paying particular attention to
Shorthorns, having at the present time about thirty
head. He also produces for the market about fifty head
of Duroc-Jersey hogs annually and keeps eighteen head of
horses, being general purpose animals.
Mr. Hill is progressive in his ideas and conducts
his business along lines most approved by modern science
as related to farm work. These ideals, together with
indomitable energy and a determination to win out, have
placed him among the ranks of successful men of this
county and, while winning his way along financial lines,
he has so ordered his life as to win and retain the
regard due from his fellow men to a man of sterling
worth.
Mr. and Mrs. Hill have a family of
three children, namely: Ethel, Floyd and Darrell, all of
whom are at home, the latter attending school.
In politics Mr. Hill is aligned with the
conservative Republican party and takes a commendable
interest in that party's affairs as related to local
matters. He is an active member of the Methodist
Episcopal church and his fraternal affiliations are with
the body of Yeomanry. His career thus far has been a
consistent and honorable one, and because of his stanch
integrity and accomplishments he is entitled to hold the
confidence and good will of all who know him. He is one
of those solid men of brain and substance so essential
to the material growth and prosperity of a community and
whose influence has been willingly extended in behalf of
every deserving enterprise that has for its object the
advancement of the moral welfare of the
community.
HILLMANN, FRED -----Among the
enterprising young men of Lytton, Sac county, Iowa the
Hillmann brothers occupy a very prominent and
conspicuous place. They have built up an industry which
touches the life of every farmer in the township, and
the success which has attended their efforts has come
about because they have given the best of service to
their patrons. In the enterprising little town of
Lytton, which, by the way is the smallest town in the
state to own its own electric light plant, they have
built up a creamery which is the pride of the community
and these two establishments are no small factors in the
material advancement of the community in which they are
located.
Fred and George Hillmann, the sons
of Otto Hillmann. were born in 1887 and 1884,
respectively. Otto Hillman was a native of Germany and
came to America when a young man and settled near
Waterloo, in Bremer county, Iowa. In 1887 he came to Sac
City and opened a mercantile establishment with his
brother, in which business he remained for three
years. He then went to
Manson, Iowa, in 1890 and started a creamery and shortly
afterwards had two branch stations in the county known
as skimming stations. In 1894 he settled on
a farm south of Lytton and operated a creamery and for
the next ten years did a very profitable business. In
1907 he built the Hillmann creamery in Lytton which he
managed until his death, on December 2, 1907, since
which time his sons, Fred and George, have been
successfully managing the creamery. Otto Hillmann
married Ida Vogt, a native of Bremer county, Iowa, and
to this union were born six children: Alena, deceased
Esther, Priscilla, Ferdinand living at Omaha: George and
Fred who are at home with their mother.
The Hillmann creamery is the most
important establishment in Lytton, and one of the best
equipped creameries in the state. The building is
twenty-two by eighty feet in size and is equipped with
all the latest improved machinery for the making of
butter. It has a daily capacity of four thousand pounds
and is now manufacturing from one thousand to one
thousand five hundred pounds of excellent creamery
butter each day, and about one hundred tubs of butter
weekly. The Hillmann brothers take a great deal of pride
in their plant and keep it absolutely clean and sanitary
at all times, thereby giving their products a name which
guarantees it a ready sale in the best markets.
The Hillmann brothers are members
of the German Lutheran church, as are all the members of
the family. George is a member of the Ancient Free and
Accepted Masons, while Fred holds his membership with
the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. These young men
are fine examples of American citizens, and have a
bright business career before them. They have
established a business which is sure to grow and become
an increasing factor in the welfare of the community.
They are agreeable men to meet and have a host of warm
and loyal friends throughout the township in which they
live.
HIX, HENRY -----One of the few
native-born farmers of Richland township. Sac county,
Iowa, is Henry Hix, who, by thrift and economy, has
attained to a position of influence and prominence in
his home township. He is the descendant of German
parentage and has inherited those sterling
characteristics of the Germanic race which have made
them such valuable citizens in this county.
While he has been advancing his own material
interests, he does not neglect his part in that higher
life which makes a man the most valuable member of his
community.
Henry Hix, of Richland township,
was born May 30, 1876, in Boyer Valley township, this
county. His parents, John and Margaret (Reitzel) Hix,
were both natives of Germany. John Hix came to America
when a young man and settled in Sac county, Iowa, where
he married Margaret Reitzel and shortly after their
marriage they moved to Boyer Valley township, where he
died in 1880, leaving his widow with seven children:
Mrs. Eva Dusenberg, of
Garner, Iowa: George, of Storm Lake, this state:
Charles, a resident of Sac City; Conrad, of Storm Lake;
Henry and Edward, twins, who both live in Richland
township, this county, and Caroline, who is living with
her mother in Odebolt. Mrs. Hix and her children moved
to Richland township about 1890 where the mother lived
until she moved to Odebolt. in the spring of 1908.
Henry Hix has had charge of the
home farm since he was grown to maturity, and in
addition to farming the eighty acres of the home farm he
has purchased eighty acres of his own adjoining the old
home place, for which he paid one hundred dollars an
acre in 1906, and has had the satisfaction of seeing it
greatly advance in value since it has come into his
possession. He is a successful
farmer by virtue of the fact that he combines his grain
and stock raising in such a way as to net him the
largest returns.
Mr. Hix was married January 6,
1908, to Anna Buehler, the daughter of Sebastian and
Mary Buehler who were old pioneers of Richland township,
and to this marriage have been born a son, Marion, born
July 4, 1910, and a daughter, Louise, born March 12,
1913. The history of the Buehler family is found
elsewhere in this volume, under the sketch of Sebastian
Buehler, deceased.
Mr. Hix has identified himself
politically with the Republican party and, although
deeply interested in the chief political questions of
the day, he has never been an aspirant for office at the
hands of his party. He and the members of his family are
loyal adherents of the German Methodist Episcopal
church, and render to it their earnest and zealous
support at all times. Fraternally, he is a
member of the Royal Highlanders.
HOFT, HENRY -----Germany has
contributed more good citizens to Sac county than has
any other foreign country. They are among the most
substantia! and enterprising people of the county. Henry
Hoft is one of the large number of Germans who came to
this country before the War of the Rebellion and upon
the outbreak of that terrible struggle threw his heart
and soul into the Union cause and fought for his adopted
country with all the fervor of our native sons. He
offered his services and his life, if need die during
those dark days and after that fearful war was over he
returned to habits of peace, became one of Sac county's
most honored citizens and has lived more than a half
century in this state and more than thirty years in Sac
county.
Henry Hoft, a retired farmer of
Wall Lake, Iowa, was born in Holstein, Germany, March 9,
1840. His parents, John and Katerina Hoft, were born,
reared and married in their native land, coming to this
country when their son, Henry, was twenty-one years of
age. Before Henry Hoft came to this country with his
parents in 1861, four sisters and one brother,
Margaretta, Louise, Lena and August, had already settled
in this state in Clinton County. Accordingly when John
Hoft and wife, together with their son, Henry, came here
in 1861, they settled in Clinton county.
Although Henry Hoft had been here
only one year after the War of the Rebellion had begun,
he enlisted for service in the Union army in August,
1862, in Company Twenty-sixth Regiment Iowa Volunteer
Infantry, and served until the close of the war.
Participating in the Grand Review at Washington in the
summer of 1865. The regiment in which he went to the
front was attached to the command of General Sherman and
Mr. Hoft participated in all the battles from
Chattanooga to the end of the war under Sherman's
command. He passed through such terrible battles as
Chattanooga, Lookout Mountain, Missionary Ridge, Dallas,
Resaca, Atlanta, the seige of Savannah and many minor
skirmishes which marked Sherman's march north through
the Carolinas to Johnson's final surrender in April 1865
near Grovesboro, North Carolina.
After the war was over Mr. Hoft
returned to Clinton county, Iowa, and took up his trade
as a carpenter. In 1869, three years
after his marriage, Mr. Hoft decided to move to Sac
county, in order to take advantage of the cheap land in
this county. Accordingly he
purchased one hundred and twenty acres in Viola
township, this county, and started out to carve his
fortune in this county. German citizens have always
proved to be excellent farmers and Mr. Hoft is no
exception to this rule. The thrift and economy which
characterizes these German citizens are marked
characteristics of Mr. Hoft. and as the years went by he
added from time to time to his land holdings until he
owned five hundred and fifty acres of land in this
township. In the spring of 1910 he felt that the
increasing years had made it necessary for him to retire
from active farming, so he sold all but two hundred
acres of his land and retired to Wall Lake to spend the
remainder of his days in ease and comfort.
Mr. Hoft was married on November 8,
1866, to Betty Geise, the daughter of Peter and
Katherine Geise, who were natives of Germany.
Mrs. Hoft was born December 6, 1847, in Germany
and came with her parents to America in 1854. They
settled at Comanche, Clinton county, this state, and
were among the first settlers of that county. She was in
Clinton county when the first house was built in
Clinton. To Mr. and Mrs. Hoft have been born
six children, Alvena, Louisa and Amel, who are all
deceased; Louis, who resides on the home farm; Mrs.
Clara Wilhoite, of this township, and Mrs. Ella
Rowedder, of Newell, Iowa.
In politics Mr. Hoft has always
adhered to the policies of the Republican party, while
in his fraternal relations he is identified with the
Independent Order of Odd Fellows and the Grand Army of
the Republic post of Wall Lake. More than half a century
has elapsed since he came to this country from Germany
and his devotion to his adopted country has never been
questioned in any way. Sac county is proud to honor such
citizens as he. and this biographical volume is pleased
to set forth in this manner the history of one who has
contributed in no small way to the material, moral and
educational welfare of the community.
HOPKINS, CHRISTOPHER M. M. D.
-----In delving into the past history of Sac county, it
is found that in the building-up period of the county's
growth there were a few talented professional men who
devoted the better part of their lives in behalf of
their fellow men. The pioneer physicians, for instance,
were men of hardihood who braved the terrible storms and
chilled of the severe winters to alleviate the
sufferings of the settlers and unselfishly gave of the
best that they were able in healing the sick and
relieving the suffering. Their careers in the main were
exemplary, for while there were not many educated
medical men who ministered to the sick and ill during
this earlier period, these physicians were men of energy
and wide experience who were able to take advantage of
the opportunities presented for the exercise of business
talents and who had the good fortune to amass a
competence aside from the pecuniary reward for the
practice of their profession, which, very often, was of
small consequence in comparison with the labor and
hardships involved in practicing in a new country.
Dr. Christopher M. Hopkins,
deceased, was a notable representative of this class of
pioneer physicians, and his record as a citizen and
physician of eminence and more than ordinary attainments
is thrice worthy of representation in this volume,
dedicated to the pioneers long since departed and about
whom hangs a halo of honor and glory for the noble tasks
which they accomplished singly and in concert for the
redemption of a wilderness.
Doctor Hopkins was born in the year 1853 on a
farm in DeKalb county, Illinois. He was the son of
Thomas M. and Julia A. Hopkins, the former a native of
New York and the latter a native of Missouri. The
parents were early pioneer settlers in DeKalb
county.
Christopher M. Hopkins was educated
in the common schools of his native County, attended the
high school and entered the Chicago Medical College, it
being early decided by himself and his ambitious parents
that he should become a physician. During his school
days it developed that he was an apt and diligent
scholar, who imbibed learning easily, so it was natural
that his career should thus be decided for him. Later
developments proved the wisdom of his choice in seeking
to become a member of the oldest and holiest of all
professions. After his graduation from the Chicago
Medical College, he first essayed the practice of his
calling in the town of Lake City, Iowa, whither he came
in the year 1876. One year later, in 1877 he came to the
new town of Wall Lake and here made his permanent
home. The town was then in
the infancy of its growth and of necessity the young
doctor had an extensive country practice among the
farmers. He was the earliest pioneer doctor of the
southern portion of Sac county and the very first
physician to locate in Wall Lake. At that time there
were but very few houses in the embryo city, but it had
great expectations for growth inasmuch as the railroad
had just entered the town site.
Doctor Hopkins practiced medicine
here continuously until the year 1890, when he removed
with his family to Omaha. He resided in the metropolis
for three years and then returned to Wall Lake. For some
time his eyesight had been failing him and medical
treatment received in Omaha had failed to prevent the
gradual failure of his powers of vision. Consequentlv.
on his return to Wall Lake he decided to abandon his
practice and there upon engaged in the implement and
machinery business. In this vocation he achieved a
considerable degree of marked success. It is not often
that a professional man. who has spent the best years of
his life in the practice of his profession, can, on the
attainment of middle life, abandon his calling and enter
the realms of business and achieve success, but Doctor
Hopkins was one of those individuals who were endowed
with unusual talents which enabled him to succeed in
spite of misfortune. He likewise turned his attention to
land investment. Like other wise men in his time, he
foresaw the inevitable rise in land values and invested
heavily in lands, which are still held by Mrs. Hopkins
and which have steadily increased in value as the years
have passed. He left an estate of over six hundred acres
of good land, the greater part of which is now owned by
his widow. The demise of Christopher M. Hopkins occurred
on June 11, of 1901.
Doctor Hopkins' wedded life began
June 20, 1877 when he espoused for his life helpmeet
Viola Reynolds who survives him. Mrs. Hopkins was born
June 6, 1860, at Lake City, Calhoun County, Iowa. She is
the daughter of James and Olive (Hutchinson) Reynolds,
natives of Cass county, Michi gan and who were early
settlers in Calhoun County James Reynolds was a soldier
in the great Rebellion and gave his life in defense of
the Union. He enlisted in 1861
as a soldier in the Thirty-Sixth Iowa Volunteer Infantry
Regiment and died at Bird's Point. Missouri, in 1862.
Doctor Hopkins was the father of three children, as
follows: Alice K., a graduate of the De Kalb State
Normal School and who resides with her mother; Roscoe C,
who was educated in the Iowa State University and
resides at home: Julia, who died in February. 1893, at
the age of seven years.
Mrs. Hopkins, with her son and
daughter, resides in the beautified home erected by her
husband during his latter years in Wall Lake and
carefully looks after the interests left in her charge.
Her home is the abode of refinement and culture and she
is active in church work and social affairs and is loved
and respected by her friends and neighbors, as was her
talented and lamented husband, whose memory is revered
by those who knew him in life.
Doctor Hopkins was a Republican in politics; he
served two terms as coroner of his county, and was a
member of the Missouri Valley Medical Association and
the Iowa State Medical Association. He was affiliated
with the Presbyterian church and assisted in the
building and organization of the Presbyterian church at
Wall Lake, to which he was a liberal donator. He was a
Mason, having taken many degrees, including that of the
Knights Templar commandry at Sac City.
HOSKINS, PERRY S. -----An
enumeration of the representative citizens of Sac
county, Iowa, would be incomplete without specific
mention of the well known and popular gentleman whose
name introduces this sketch. A member of one of the old
and highly esteemed families of the central part of the
state and for many years a public-spirited man of
affairs, he has stamped the impress of his individuality
upon the community and added luster to the honorable
name which he bears, having always been scrupulously
honest in all his relations with his fellow men and
leaving no stone unturned whereby he might benefit his
own condition as well as that of his neighbors and
friends, consequently he has long ago won the favor of a
great number of people of the county where he maintains
his home.
Perry S. Hoskins, a prosperous
farmer of Cedar township. Sac county, Iowa, was born
August 16, 1858, in Marshall county, Illinois, the son
of C. W. and Elizabeth (Tanquary) Hoskins, both of whom
were natives of Pickaway county, Ohio. In 1865 a colony
of Ohio people, numbering fifteen families in all and
including Abner Hoskins, the grandfather of P. S.
Hoskins, left Ohio, and settled in Marshall county,
Illinois. The Tanquary's were among the families who
made this change of residence. Here the Hoskins family
lived until 1899, when they moved to Sac county, Iowa,
where the parents died. C. W. Hoskins and wife were the
parents of six children: P. S., whose history is here
given: Mrs. Laura McCully, of Marshall county, Illinois;
Cornelius, of Cedar township; Ed, who lives in Buena
Vista county, Iowa: Abner of Portland, Oregon, and
William, of Marshall county, Illinois.
P. S. Hoskins received his
education in the public schools of Illinois, and when
twenty-four years of age married and began farming for
himself. For the first few
years he rented land, then his father-in-law gave him
and his wife seventy-five acres of land with the
condition that he should improve and develop it. This he
did to a very satisfactory degree and later sold it and
came to Sac county, arriving here on February 19,
1907. He immediately bought
a farm of two hundred and sixteen acres in the northeast
quarter of section 18, and the north fifty-six acres of
the southeast quarter of section 18 in Cedar township,
paving ninety dollars an acre for it. At that time this
was the highest priced land in the county, its value
being enhanced because of the natural fertility of the
soil and also because it had already been partly tiled.
His land is now easily worth two hundred and twenty-five
dollars an acre. He has improved the tract in every way
by erecting new buildings and fencing and draining it.
Since going on this farm he has placed over six hundred
rods of tiling, an improvement which has more than paid
for the original outlay. In 1913 he had sixty-nine acres
in corn, which averaged about sixty bushels to the acre.
He sells annually about two carloads of cattle and
stock. He brings to his work a fair knowledge of all the
phases of farming and by means of farmers' institutes
and agricultural magazines, keeps in close touch with
all the latest developments in farming.
Mr. Hoskins was married in 1882, to
Adeline Ingram, the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Seth
Ingram, who were both natives of West Virginia, and to
this marriage there have been born two children, Lillian
and William, the former of whom is still at home with
her parents, while William is farming in Cedar township,
this county, on his father's farm.
Politically, Mr. Hoskins is a
Republican, but owing to the comparatively short time
which he has been in the county, and the arduous duties
connected with his agricultural interests, he has never
felt that he had the time to mix much in the game of
politics. Fraternally, he is a member of the Independent
Order of Odd Fellows, subordinate lodge and
encampment. He also belongs to
the Rebekah lodge and the Modern Woodmen of
America. Enough has been said
concerning his career in this state and county to show
what can he accomplished by a man who determines to make
a success of farming. There is no better farming
territory in the world than in this county and certainly
the farmers of this section have proved equal in ability
to the farmers of any other spot in the world. Mr.
Hoskins is maintaining his reputation as one of the best
farmers who have ever followed that vocation in this
county.
HOVER, ALEXANDER -----Among the
self-made men of Sac county, Iowa, who have arrived at
their present state of prosperity solely through the
work of their own hands, there is no more worthy
representative than Alexander Hover, of Eden township.
Left an orphan at a tender age, he has had to make his
own way all his life and for this reason deserves a
great amount of credit for the life he has lived.
Alexander Hover was born in New
York city on April 11, 1851, and his father died when he
was five years of age, while he lost his mother when he
was only a babe of two years, so that when a very young
lad he was left without parental care. Upon the death of
his father he was placed in an orphans' home in New York
city and two years later was sent to Morrison, Illinois,
with Rev. J. M. Snyder, a Methodist minister. He lived
with Mr. Snyder for six years,
and during this time was given a good common school
education and the best of care. When seventeen years of
age he started out to work for himself, working by the
day on farms. When twenty years of age he left the
Snyder home and went to Minnesota, but in less than a
year he left Minnesota and went to Clayton county, Iowa,
where he lived with C. E. Angier, for whom he worked a
couple of years. In 1873 Mr.
Angier came to Sac county and Mr. Hover
accompanied him and worked for him after he arrived
here. In 1875 he worked for J. H. Angier, and in the
spring of 1876 he again started to work for C. E.
Angier, with whom he remained until 1879.
Mr. Hover was married in 1880 and
moved upon his present farm on April 14th of that year. He was
married to Amanda Van Buskirk, the daughter of Mr. and
Mrs. Samuel Van Buskirk, of Cedar county, this state,
and to this marriage has been born one daughter, Marion,
who is now with her parents.
Mr. Hover bought forty acres of
land in 1876 at six dollars and seventy cents an acre,
and later added forty acres, for which he paid seven
dollars an acre. He purchased his last forty acres in
1893, and for this he had to pay fifty dollars an acre.
This was all raw prairie land in the beginning, and Mr.
Hover has cultivated and improved it until it is now a
very valuable farm. He has set out many trees and has a
nice grove of evergreens. He has a fine home, which was
remodeled in 1904. In 1901 he built a large and
commodious barn and from time to time has added good
corn cribs and other outbuildings.
Although a Republican in politics,
Mr. Hover has never actively identified himself with his
party. Of late years Mr. Hover has retired from active
farm operations and rents his land. Unlike many farmers,
he prefers to live upon his farm, although he has
retired from the active management of the land. Mr.
Hover's career is a noteworthy one, in view of the fact
that he started out penniless and has attained to his
present prosperity solely through his own efforts. His
life is an inspiration to the young men of the coming
generation who are similar placed at the beginning of
their careers.
HOWARD, WILLIAM J. -----It is
the progressive, wide-awake man of affairs that makes
the real history of a community, and his influence as a
potential factor of the body politics is difficult to
properly estimate. The example which such men furnish of
patient and forceful purpose and steadfast integrity
strongly illustrate what is within the power of each to
accomplish, and there is always full measure of
satisfaction in adverting even in a casual way to their
achievements and the lending of their influence in
giving strength and solidity to the institutions which
tell so much for the prosperity of the community The
well-known businessman of whom the biographer writes in
this connection has achieved distinctive success in the
different spheres of effort to which his talents have
been devoted, and as a citizen, interested in all that
concerns the advancing of his county and the development
of its resources, he deserves a deservedly conspicuous
place in the esteem and confidence of the public.
William J. Howard is a native of
Illinois, born April 23, 1858, on a farm in La Salle
county. His parents were William and Hannah (Daley)
Howard, who were born, reared and married in Ireland and
emigrated to America in 1851, settling on a farm in La
Salle county, Illinois. William Howard died in the month
of September, 1858, and the rearing of a family of four
children devolved upon his widow. The children of this
union were: Edward who was killed on the railroad about
the year 1877: Mrs. James W.
Douglas, of Schaller, Iowa; and Mrs. Mary
Knepper, of St. Louis, Missouri.
The mother was married the second time and bore
five children whom she reared.
W. J. Howard attended the district
schools in the neighborhood in which he was reared and
resided in La Salle county until he was twenty-three
years of age. In 1881 he came to Sac county, equipped
only with a strong constitution and an ambition to
succeed and prosper with the country's growth.
He located on a farm five miles southwest of the
town of Schaller, in Ida county, on which he resided for
one and one-half years. He them came to the new and
growing town of Schaller and became a component and
active part of its citizenship. He learned the art of
telegraphy, but conceived a dislike to this occupation,
then sought and obtained employment in the implement
concern conducted by Searles & Bevelhymer. Within a
few months after entering their employ, he purchased the
interest of Mr. Searles, and one and one-half years
later he bought out Mr. Bevelhymer, thus becoming the
sole owner of what he has since developed into a
thriving and prosperous business. He has been
continuously engaged in the hardware and implement
business in Schaller, with the exception of short
periods when he disposed of the business to others, and
again eventually repurchasing it. The mercantile
establishment of Mr. Howard occupies a large building,
fifty-six by eighty feet in dimension, and consisting of
two floors on the main street of the city.
Mr. Howard's activities have been varied and of a
very useful order during his residence in Schaller.
Besides conducting his agricultural implement
establishment, he has twice been engaged in the hardware
business. He was one of the
original promoters of the Schaller Savings Bank and
owned the controlling interest for some years, which he
traded eventually for land. Jn the fall of 1898 he
assisted in the reorganization of the State Bank of
Schaller, of which concern he had been a director and of
which he has served as president since 1908. He also
assisted in the organization of the Schaller Opera House
Company, which erected the local opera house.
This was a venture which has resulted in
supplying the citizens with a place of amusement, but
has resulted in practically no revenue for the builders,
who were actuated by a patriotic desire to provide such
a place for the benefit of the town rather than as a
speculative undertaking. He was also one of the
promoters of the Schaller Gas Light and Fuel Company. He
is a Progressive Republican, with advanced ideas along
the lines of popular government. Mr.
Howard has served one term as school director and
has been a member of the city council for a long period
of sixteen years. He is keenly interested in the
development and growth of his adopted city and readily
lends moral and financial support to every undertaking
calculated to assist in making the town a better and
more comfortable place of abode for its residents.
Mr. Howard is prominently
identified with several leading fraternal societies and
ranks high in the councils of the Free and Accepted
Masons, Odd Fellows and the Knights of Pythias. He is a
member of the local blue lodge. Ancient Free and
Accepted Masons, the Knights Templar and the Mystic
Shriners at Des Moines, being a stockholder in the
handsome Shriner building in Des Moines. Mr. Howard has
filled all the official chairs in the Knights of Pythias
lodge and is a member of the state grand lodge of
Pythias. as well as being like
connected with the grand lodge of Masons. He is also a
member of the grand lodge of Odd Fellows, and is a
member of the Eastern Star auxiliary of the Masonic
fraternity.
During his entire experience Mr.
Howard has never lost sight of the possibilities of a
great increase in land values in this section of the
country, and is the owner of three hundred and twenty
acres of lands in Ida county; three hundred and twenty
acres in Yellow Medicine county, Minnesota, and seven
hundred and twenty acres in Lyons county,
Minnesota.
Mr. Howard was married January 28,
1886, to Mattie Hodges, daughter of John Hodges, of
Jackson county. They have had three children born to
them, two of whom are living: Mrs. May Skinner, of
Schaller, whose husband conducts a hardware store;
William, deceased; James L., who is associated with his
father in the implement and vehicle business.
It is with gratification in the
performance of a pleasant task that the biographer
concludes this brief testimonial in behalf of this
leading citizen of a beautiful and growing city, and
acknowledges the fact that the foregoing lines fail to
do more than common justice to the excellent and manly
qualifications possessed by Mr. Howard, whose career and
sterling attributes entitle him to recognition in this
history of Sac county.
HOWARD, WILLIAM OVERTON -----It
is a well recognized fact that the most powerful
influence in shaping and controlling public life is the
press. It reaches a greater number of people than any
other agency and thus has always been and. in the hands
of persons competent to direct it. always will be a most
important factor in moulding public opinion and shaping
the destiny of the nation. The gentleman to a brief
review of whose life these lines are devoted is
prominently' connected with the journalism of
northwestern Iowa and at this time is editor and
publisher of the Wall Lake Blade, one of the most
popular papers of Sac county, Iowa, comparing favorably
with the best local sheets in this section of the state
in news, editorial ability and mechanical
execution.
William Overton Howard, the son of
George Overton and Susan Frances (Seay) Howard, was born
March 10, 1874, at Drakesville, Davis county, Iowa.
George Howard was born in Ohio and was a shoemaker by
trade. He died when William
was four years of age. The mother was a native of Iowa,
her parents coming originally from Tennessee. After the
death of the father, Mrs. Susan Frances Howard moved to
Clarinda, Iowa, to reside with her father. Rev. Isaac M.
Seay, a pioneer Baptist minister of Iowa.
William, who is the only living child of his
parents, was reared and educated in Clarinda, and when
twelve years of age entered the office of the Page
County Democrat. He was quick to pick up the printer's
trade, and by the time he was sixteen years of age had a
sufficient knowledge of the business to establish the
Bradyville News, and became the youngest publisher in
the state of Iowa. Several months later young Howard
entered the trade as a journeyman and spent ten years in
Minnesota, where, for a time, he was in the employ of
Brown & Bigelow, art calendar publishers at St.
Paul. In 1910, he located at Forest City, Iowa,
where he purchased the controlling interest in the
Forest City Summit. Three years later he sold his
interest in this paper and purchased the Wall Lake
Blade, a paper which he is still publishing. He is a
Progressive Republican and naturally expresses his
political views in his paper. In a newspaper of this
kind particular attention is always paid to local news,
and his paper is recognized as one of the best and
cleanest newspapers in that section of the state. He
gathers all the news of importance, puts it into
excellent reading form and has the necessary
typographical skill to give it to his readers in good
shape.
Mr. Howard was married New Year's
day, 1897, to Sadie Peterson, will I was a native of
Norway. They were married while Mr. Howard was working
in Minnesota, and to this marriage have been born three
sons and one daughter: Harold Madison, born May 6, 1898;
Morton Overton, born July 3, 1899; Francis Elmo, born
June 22, 1901, and Ruth Mildred, born September 17,
1904.
Fraternally, Mr. Howard is a member
of the Ancient Free and Accepted Masons and the
Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and has always taken
an active interest in the affairs of these fraternal
organizations. He is a man of vigorous mentality and
forceful expression in his paper and is never afraid to
express his views upon any question which affects the
welfare of his community, and always tries to make a
stand on the right side of every question. and when he
once makes up his mind to follow a particular policy he
sets it before his readers in clean and convincing
style. He is a man of genial personality, and although
he has been in the community but a short time, but he
has won a host of friends who admire him for his many
good qualities of head and heart.
HUELMAN, THEODORE -----Iowa has
the reputation of being the greatest farming state in
the Union and its corn experts are known wherever corn
is raised throughout the world.
Professor Golden, the famous corn expert, has a
reputation which extends throughout the United States,
as well as those countries of Europe where corn is
raised. A man of Sac county, Iowa, today who owns a farm
has the best investment which money can give, and one
which yields the safest returns on the investment. Sac
county's farmers are as progressive as may be found in
any other state in the Union and among these Theodore
Huelman takes his place as one of the representative
agriculturists of his county.
Theodore Huelman, of Eden township,
this county, was born May 2, 1858, in Jackson county,
Iowa, the son of Henry and Margaret (Anderson) Huelman.
who were both natives of Germany, and who emigrated to
this country early in its history. They first lived in
Cincinnati, Ohio, and later removed to Galena, Illinois,
where Henry Huelman worked in the lead mines of that
place. From Illinois they moved to Jackson county, this
state, where Henry Huelman died in 1898, and his wife a
few years later. Five children were born to Mr. and Mrs.
Henry Huelman: Mrs. Margaret Markers, who lives in
Jackson county, Iowa; Mrs. Elizabeth Thola, who is a
resident of the state of Washington: Andreas, Joseph,
and Theodore, of whom this narrative speaks.
Theodore Huelman was reared and
educated in the schools of Jackson county, Iowa, and was
given an excellent education. He studied both German and
English in the public schools, and has been a reader of
the current topics of the day ever since leaving the
school room. When he was twenty-three years of age he
married and located in Clinton county, this state, where
he remained until he came to Sac county, in 1892, when
he purchased a farm of one hundred and sixty acres, and
he now operates this farm, together with three hundred
and twenty acres, which is owned by Mrs. Huelman. He has
a fine modern home, which was erected in 1906, and also
good barns and outbuildings on his place, making it one
of the best improved and valuable farms of the
township.
Mr. Huelman was married in 1881 to
Elizabeth Fink. whom was a native of Wisconsin, and the
daughter of Mr. and Mrs. John Fink. Mrs. Huelman's
father died several years ago, and her mother afterward
married Henry Nurre, who resided in Clinton county,
Iowa, and whose son, Joseph, came to Sac county. Joseph
Nurre was one of the largest individual land owners in
the county, and died some years ago in Oregon. Mr. and
Mrs. Huelman are the
parents of two children, Joseph and Mary.
Politically, Mr. Huelman is a Democrat, but has
never been fascinated by the game of politics,
preferring to devote his time and energies to his
agricultural interests. His family are loyal members of
the Catholic church and contribute liberally of their
substance to its support. Mr. Huelman is a man who
attends strictly to his own affairs, and by his genial
and unassuming manner has won a host of friends in the
community where he has lived for the past twenty
years.
HUSER, THEA -----Our nation
owes much of its progressiveness to the infusion of the
Germanic element amongst its population, for in all
walks of life they have been found efficient, energetic
and patient, enduring with fortitude the hardships of
pioneer life and doing their full share in the work of
pushing forward the wheels of progress wherever they
have located. There is scarcely a locality in the Union
that has not felt their strong and ameliorating
influence, consequently they have ever been most welcome
here and all honor is due them.
Thea Huser, a prominent stock buyer
and farmer of Cedar township.
Sac county, Iowa, was born in Germany on April
29, 1864. His parents were David and Christina (Zirike)
Huser. The Huser family came to America in 1873 and
settled in Des Moines, Iowa, but shortly afterwards
moved to a farm in Polk county, near Des Moines, where
the mother died on March 16, 1878. David Huser died at
the home of his son in Sac county on April 27, 1895.
David Huser and wife were the parents of nine children,
six of whom are living in the United States: Frank, of
Des Moines; Mrs. Christian Ashing, of
Chamberlain, South Dakota: Mrs. Minnie Beadle, of Butte,
Montana: Harry, of Teco, Washington: Henry, of Missoula,
Montana, and Thea.
Thea Huser received a very limited
education in his native land before coming to this
country, and owing to the fact that his parents were
very poor, upon their arrival in this country he had to
start out to help support the family, so the
nine-year-old Thea was bound out to a neighboring
farmer, who paid him three dollars a month and gave him
his board and clothes. As he grew older his
wages increased and he saved every possible cent that he
could. He did all kinds of honest work and was never
afraid to tackle anything which would give him an honest
wage.
He came to Sac county on his
marriage in the spring of 1895 and bought one hundred
acres of land in Cedar township, paying thirty-six
dollars an acre for the land. He has put all of the
improvements on the place which it now has, and in 1902,
in partnership with David Lewis, he bought a half
section of land in Jackson township for forty-three
dollars an acre. The next year he sold this and bought
one hundred and thirty acres at sixty-five dollars an
acre. In 1907 he bought forty acres in Jackson township,
at seventy-seven dollars and a half per acre, and later
bought an adjoining forty for eighty dollars an
acre. In the same year,
1909, he and C. F. Brobeil purchased three hundred and
twenty acres in Cedar township, for which they paid one
hundred and five dollars an acre. As a result of all of
his buying and selling of real estate he now owns four
hundred and seventy acres, which lie in three farms. In
addition to his large agricultural interests, he buys a
large amount of live stock every year and feeds it on
his own farms, and has averaged for the past two years
over two hundred head of live stuck annually, his sales
amounting to from twenty to twenty-five car loads each
year. He has improv ed his farm in every way and has
spent thousands of dollars in tiling and ditching his
land. His home farm at the present time is worth two
hundred and fifty-dollars an acre and could not be
purchased at that price.
Mr. Huser was married in 1895 at
Ankeny, Iowa, to Minnie Swartfager, of Des Moines, Iowa,
who was born near Des Moines on November 27, 1861 the
daughter of Frank and Anna Swartfager, natives of
Germany and Pennsylvania, respectively. To this marriage
has been born one son, Harry, who is now aged thirteen
years. Politically, Mr. Huser is a Republican, but his
business interests have prevented him from taking an
active part in the affairs of his party. He and his wife
are zealous members of the Presbyterian church and are
interested in the various activities of that
denomination.
Mr. Huser takes an active interest
in everything pertaining to agricultural affairs, and is
one of the stockholders of the Sac County Fair
Association. He is at present the president of the
association and is doing everything within his power to
make the fair a real benefit to the farmers of his
county. Personally, Mr. Huser is a very likable man and
has a host of friends throughout the county. It is
evident that his selection as president of the Sac
County Fair Association is the result of his popularity
among the farmers of the County who recognized in him a
man who was deeply interested in agricultural
affairs.
 HUSTON, DAVID S. -----Many
citizens of Sac county, Iowa, have come from the good
old Keystone state of Pennsylvania and wherever they are
found in this county they are among the most prosperous
citizens. It is a fact that it is the most venturesome
and the most ambitious people who have the courage to
make their homes in a new country, and this accounts in
great measure for the splendid prosperity which has come
to Sac county in its history. The fact that its citizens
are men of courage and determination, who came here to
better their condition, has given this county a
citizenship which has made for prosperity in every
particular.
David S. Huston, a prosperous
farmer of Boyer Valley township, in Sac county. Iowa,
was born March 25, 1864, in Perry county, Pennsylvania.
His parents, John W. and Mary Jane Huston, were natives
of Pennsylvania, who came to Sac county in 1882. They
purchased eighty acres of land north of Early in this
township, and later bought two hundred and forty acres
in Cook township and later bought eighty acres which
David afterwards purchased.
In their old age Mr. and Mrs. John W. Huston
moved to Early, where they both died in 1909, his death
occurring on September 5th and hers on March 30th. Mr.
and Mrs. John W. Huston were the parents of six sons,
all of whom are living: David S., with whose history we
are concerned; Edward T. a resident of Cook township,
this county; Abner B., of Early; Frank, a farmer of
Boyer Valley township; Charles, of Spencer, Iowa, and
George, of Cook township, this county.
David S. Huston was eighteen years
of age when his parents came from Pennsylvania to Sac
county. He received his education in the schools of his
native state and as soon as he came to this county he
began to work on his father's farm. When he was
twenty-one years of age he began farming for himself,
and eight years later bought eighty acres from his
father in Cook township. As soon as he was married, in
1888, he located on his mother's farm of eighty acres in
Cook township, where he lived for eleven years. In 1899
he began buying his present farm of two hundred and
forty-two acres, paying fifty-five dollars an acre for
two hundred and forty-two and one-half acres in 1899 and
one hundred and sixteen dollars for one hundred acres in
1909. This land is now worth two hundred dollars an
acre, because of the many improvements which he has put
upon the land, as well as the natural increase which has
come to all of the land in this section of Iowa. In 1910
he erected a new barn, forty by seventy feet, in order
to care for his stock in a better manner. He prepares a
large amount of stock for the markets each year, and
averages two car loads of cattle and one car load of
hogs annually. Mr. Huston has lately
made substantial additions to his fine home near Early,
having added verandas, cement walks, and raised the
elevation of the residence and completely wired his home
and barns for electric lights. With the installation of
a furnace for heating purposes, he has now completely
modernized his home. Electric power is now utilized in
doing the work about the home.
His many improvements have cost to exceed one
thousand six hundred dollars.
Mr. Huston was married on September
6, 1888 to Mary L. Ruffcorn, of Delaware township, in
this county, and to this union there have been born four
children: Mrs. Olive Simpson, whose husband is a farmer
in Boyer Valley township: Vaughn H., who was born March
30, 1899: David and Leland, born January 18, 1906, and
Harriet Avis, born February 18, 1909.
The last three children named are still under the
parental roof. Mrs. Olive Simpson is the mother of one
child Dale Orlando, born May 16, 1914.
Politically. Mr. Huston is an
independent, although his leanings are toward the
Democratic party, and, like millions of other voters in
1912, he voted for Woodrow Wilson, believing that the
principles advocated by Mr.
Wilson were such as to insure the greatest
prosperity to our country. Fraternally, he is a member
of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and takes an
active part in all the work of this fraternal
organization. Mr. Huston is a kind and obliging
gentleman, who is an independent thinker on all
topics. He has always had the
interest of his community at heart and has never failed
to identify himself with any enterprise or measure which
he felt would rebound to the best interests of his
locality.
On September 4, 1913 the Wachs
family reunion was held at Mr.
Huston's home and descendants and members of the
Wachs family to the number of fifty-three were present.
On the same evening friends to the number of two hundred
and forty gathered at the home to assist Mr. and
Mrs. Huston in celebrating
their twenty-fifth wedding anniversary. The next Wachs
family reunion will be held in Oklahoma.
IBEL, JACOB J. -----Among the
citizens of Cedar township, Sac county, Iowa, who have
built up comfortable homes and surrounded themselves
with valuable landed estates and personal property, few
have attained a higher degree of success than he of whom
this chronicle speaks. With few opportunities except
what his own efforts were capable of mastering and with
many discouragements to overcome, he has made an
exceptional success in life and has the gratification of
knowing that the community in which he resides has been
benefited by his presence and his counsel.
Jacob J. Ibel, of Cedar township,
this county, was born August 13, 1872, in New York
state, and was the son of Henry and Anna Margaret
(Schueler) Ibel, both of whom were natives of Germany.
His parents were reared in Germany, but came to this
country before they were married, and were later married
in New York, near Ilion. Henry Ibel was a carpenter in
his native land, Init when he came to this country in
1873 he followed the vocation of a farmer. Henry Ibel
and his family arrived in Iowa on December 24, 1873, and
first located temporarily at Cedar Rapids. Later they
bought a farm in Benton county, but shortly afterwards
sold it and moved to Linn county, this state. Mr. and
Mrs. Henry Ibel have retired from their farm and now
live in Cedar Rapids. They are the parents of five
children: Mrs. Anna Phelps, who lives near Covington,
Iowa; Mrs. Katie Schrimper, of
Cedar Rapids; Mary, who is at home; Mrs. Louisa Ring,
who resides on the old homestead farm in Linn County and
Jacob J., whose history is here portrayed.
Jacob J. Ibel was educated in the
public schools of Benton county, Iowa, in the district
known as the Hamilton district. He was married when he
reached the age of twenty-three and then farmed for
three years in Linn county, this state. From there he
moved to Poweshiek county, this state, where he followed
farming pursuits near Grinnell. He bought his first farm
in Calhoun county in 1900, buying one hundred and sixty
acres for thirty-seven and one-half dollars an acre. In
1901 he sold this farm for fifty dollars an acre,
clearing twelve and a half dollars on each acre in less
than one year's time. He then purchased ninety-eight
acres in Calhoun county, for fifty-six dollars an acre,
and after farming it for one year, moved to Linn county
Iowa but returned in 1908 and sold his Calhoun county
farm for eighty-two and one-half dollars an acre. His
next move was to the state of Washington, where he had a
one-hundred-and-sixty-acre wheat ranch, but he got
enough of Washington in one year, and in 1910 he
returned to this county and bought his present farm of
one hundred and twenty acres in June 1910, for
ninety-six dollars an acre, and has refused one hundred
and fifty dollars an acre for the land since that time.
Mr. Ibel has made a success of his farming operations,
and in 1913 had forty acres of corn which had a good
average of forty bushels to the acre. He usually has for
sale twenty head of hogs each year and ten head of
cattle, and finds this no inconsiderable part of his
annual income.
Mr. Ibel was married February 19,
1896, to Johanna M. Kimm a native of Benton county, this
state, and the daughter of Rev. Jacob Kimm, a minister
of the New Jerusalem church. Rev. Jacob Kimm was a
soldier in the Civil War, enlisting in Company E, One
Hundred and Fifty-second Regiment, New York Volunteer
Infantry, and lost his left leg while in the service in
the battle of the Wilderness. At the close of the war,
Mr. Kimm came to Benton county, Iowa, and afterwards
owned a farm in Iowa county. He is now living in the
state of Washington, his wife, Magdalena Eubel, a native
of Germany, having died April 9, 1897. Rev. Jacob Kimm
and wife were the parents of ten children: Leonard, Mrs.
Anna Harthill, both of Washington; Mrs. Johanna Ibel;
Milo, also of Washington; Lewis, deceased; Mrs. Rosa
Barr, who lives at Storm Lake, Iowa; Winfield, Milford
and Jesse, all of Washington, and Ida, deceased. Mrs.
Ibel's father was married October, 1898, to Sarah Davis,
and to this second union were born three children, two
of whom are living, Kenneth, Kermit, and Elmer,
deceased. An uncle of Mrs.
Ibel's, J. H. Kimm, now living in South Dakota, reared
seventeen children, nine of whom formed the famous "Kimm
Baseball Nine." Mr. and Mrs. Ibel are the parents of two
children, Benton J., born June 1, 1898, and Marion C,
born January 21, 1900.
Politically, Mr. Ibel reserves the
right to cast his vote for those men whom he considers
the best qualified to hold the offices of his locality.
He votes for the best men irrespective of party
affiliations, feeling that in doing this he is
fulfilling the highest ideal citizenship, and he is
right, for it is the independent voter who is always the
most intelligent voter of the community.
Mr. Ibel was reared in the Lutheran church and
now subscribes to the belief of the New Jerusalem
denomination. His support may be depended upon for the
furthering of any cause calculated to advance the
county's interests for the political, industrial,
educational, religious or moral welfare, and among his
many commendable traits Mr. Ibel makes and retains
friends easily, as does his estimable
wife.
IRWIN, CHARLES W. ------The
life story of every successful man contains a lesson
which in itself is an inspiration. While each man, in
all probability, works out his destiny along a different
line than that followed by others, the summing up of the
aggregate indicates that energy, good judgment, native
ability and ambition are the principal requisites for
achievement. This is taken for granted by the
philosophic student and the biographer and is the
conclusion which has been reached by a study of the life
records of many men of consequence.
However, while there may be a similarity in the
successes and methods employed individuals in general,
while attaining the goal as they are engaged in the same
vocation, each individual chronicle brings out a
specific lesson which better explains the character of
the man and proves that he is endowed with a distinctive
ability somewhat different from the others. In Charles
W. Irwin, agriculturist and banker, recently of Clinton
township but now a resident of Sac City, we find
embodied the highest essentials of citizenship and
progressive ability. The life story of Mr. Irwin is an
interesting one and is a presentation of what can be
accomplished by the individual who steadily sets his
mind to the attainment of a certain object and
accomplishes results which are gratifying to his own
ambition and which in the doing have likewise benefited
his fellowmen.
Charles W. Irwin was born April 22,
1858, on a farm in Mercer county, Pennsylvania. He is
the son of William H. and Mary (Waugh) Irwin, the former
a native of Pennsylvania and the latter a native of
Ireland. In the year 1867 the Irwin family removed from
the old home in Pennsylvania and located in Clinton
county, Iowa. The children are as follows: George A.,
deceased: L. E. Irwin, a resident of Sac City; Charles
W.; Waller D., a farmer in Wall Lake township; Mrs.
Letta M. Vaughn, of Sioux City; William H., of Clinton
township: James T., a farmer in Boyer Valley township;
A. J., a resident of Odebolt : Mrs. Eva Jane Davenport,
of Richland township.
L. E. Irwin was the first member of
the family to come to Sac county, locating here in 1878:
C. W. followed two years later: then came the other
members of the family. It was only natural that the
parents should dispose of their holdings in Clinton
county and eventually come to Sac county for their final
resting place, so as to lie near their children and
grandchildren. In 1895 they came
here and made their residence in Odebolt, where William
H., Sr., died on December 21, 1911. The mother still
holds her home in Odebolt but resides with her daughter
in Sioux City the greater part of the time.
Charles W. while the son of a
pioneer settler of Clinton county, is likewise a pioneer
himself in Sac county. In March of 1880 he came to
Clinton township and purchased eighty acres of unbroken
prairie land at five dollars an acre. He and his brother
L. E. farmed their lands together for a period of ten
years, bringing it up to a good state of cultivation and
gradually adding to their holdings until at the time of
the dissolution of their partnership in 1890 each
received two hundred acres as his share of the general
holdings. Each brother has alike prospered and both are
large landed estate holders at the present time.
At the present time Mr. Irwin has
over eight hundred acres of the best land in Sac county.
There are two hundred and forty acres in his home farm.
The total acreage comprises five hundred and sixty acres
in Clinton township and two hundred and forty acres in
Boyer Valley township. There are four sets of good farm
buildings on his land, for a good many years ]\Ir. Irwin
has been a large stockman, rarely selling the products
of his farms, but preferring to feed the grain and hay
into livestock production and shipping his cattle and
hogs to the markets by the carload. This plan of farming
is conceded to be the surest way of insuring the
fertility of the soil, and is in many respects the most
profitable in the end. Mr. Irwin makes a practice of
buying feeders and stockers and fattening them for
market. He disposes of four car loads of cattle from his
home farm each year. His total production of cattle for
any one year will exceed eight carloads, while the total
production of hogs will reach four carloads.
Mr. Irwin has been connected with the State Bank
of Lake View since its organization and is at present a
director of the bank; he has also been connected with
the Early and Gushing banks. He has always taken an
active and interested part in the Sac County Fair
Association, having served as a director since 1911, and
has been superintendent of the poultry department of the
annual county fair for some time. Mr. Irwin has the
distinction of being one of the pioneer promoters in the
establishment of the first mutual telephone line systems
in Sac county. In 1890 he and twenty other citizens
organized themselves into the first independent mutual
telephone company in Sac county and since that time the
mutual companies have multiplied until the county is
practically gridironed with telephone systems.
In October. 1882, Charles W. Irwin
was wedded to Sarah C. Crozer, who was born on May 6,
1858, the daughter of Reason Crozer, an early settler of
Wall Lake township, whose wife was Hannah Hawlev. Reason
Crozer was a native of Columbiana county, Ohio, the son
of Thomas and Sarah Crozer. Reason Crozer was born
August 22, 1830, and died August 25, 1896. The marriage
of Mrs. Irwin's parents occurred in Cedar county, Iowa,
September 9, 1854. Hannah Hawley Crozer was born August
20, 1835, the daughter of Caleb and Catharine Hawley, of
Stark county, Ohio, and came to Cedar county, Iowa, in
1851 with her parents. The Crozer family came to Sac
county and settled in Wall Lake township in 1879. The
children if this pioneer family were as follows: James
Emmet, deceased; Mrs. Sarah Catharine Irwin; Orison E.,
a resident of Marengo, Illinois; Louis, of Salem.
Oregon; Charles, of Minnesota; Thomas, a citizen of
California; Edna, deceased; Albert, in Pawnee Station,
Kansas; Wilfred, at Newberg, Oregon. Mr. and Mrs. Irwin
have reared five sons and a daughter, as follows: Mrs.
Edna May Davis, residing on a farm in Boyer Valley
township; Jesse Leroy a farmer in Clinton township;
George R., Louis E., Frank D. and Orla E. residents of
Clinton township.
Politically Mr. Irwin is a
Progressive Republican, who feels that the highest
principles of government can best be brought about by
placing the best and airiest men in office and the
enactment of wise progressive legislation.
His influence is always found on the right side
of all movements having a tendency to bring about the
betterment of wrong conditions. He is a Mason of high
degree, being a member of the Lake View Lodge, and the
chapter and commandery at Sac City, as well as Za-Ga-Zig
Temple of Mystic Shriners at Des Moines. He is
versatile, well read and broad minded, and his children
are a credit to themselves and their parents and are
becoming valued and stable members of the community
through the wise moral guidance and example given them
by their father and mother. Mr. Irwin is widely and
favorably known throughout Sac county for his liberality
and progressiveness and his energetic interest in
movements having a pronounced intent of bettering and
making more comfortable the lives of his fellow citizens
in this prosperous county. Probably no citizen of the
county has a wider circle of good and fast friends or
has a higher standing than he of whom this chronicle is
written.
IRWIN, JAMES T. -----Among the
representative farmers of Sac county is the subject of
this sketch, who is the owner of a fine landed estate in
Boyer Valley township and is carrying on the various
departments of his enterprise with that discretion and
energy which are sure to find their natural sequence in
definite success, having always been a hard worker, a
good manager and a man of economical habits, and, being
fortunately situated in a thriving farming community, it
is no wonder that he stands today in the front rank of
the agriculturists of this favored locality.
James T. Irwin, a prosperous farmer
of Boyer Valley township, Sac county, Iowa, was born
December 4, 1868, in Clinton county, Iowa. His parents,
William Henry and Mary (Waugh) Irwin, were both natives
of Pennsylvania and settled in Clinton county, Iowa, in
about 1866. Here they remained on a farm until the
spring of 1895, when they moved to Sac county, where the
father died December 22, 1910; the mother is still
living and makes her home with her children. To William
H. and Mary Irwin were born nine children: George,
deceased; Edward, of Sac City; Charles W., of Clinton
township, this county; Walter, of Wall Lake township:
Mrs. Aletta Vaughn, of
Sioux City: Mrs. Jennie Davenport, of this county:
William, of Clinton township; James T., whose history is
herein portrayed and Austin, of Odebolt.
James T. Irwin was educated in the
public schools of Clinton county and remained on the
home farm until his marriage in 1895. His parents then
moved to Sac county, while he remained on the old home
farm in Clinton county for the next three years. In 1898
he moved to Sac county and bought one hundred and sixty
acres of forty-dollar land in Boyer Valley
township. To this he added
eighty acres, which he purchased in 1907 for one hundred
and eight dollars an acre. He has improved his farm in
various ways by the erection of new buildings and thee
building of a great deal of fencing as well as the
installation of a system of drainage. He has practically
rebuilt all his barns and out buildings and in 1904
erected a new ten-room house, which is modern
throughout. He has his own private electric plant, which
furnishes him power and lighting for his own use. a
convenience which is enjoyed by few farmers in this
section of the state. His farm is very productive in
both grains and livestock and his annual shipment of
stock includes a car load of cattle and one hundred head
of hogs each year.
Mr. Irwin was married in 1895 to
Martha D. Hill, the daughter of Mr.
and Mrs. John Hill, of Clinton county Iowa. To
this marriage have been born four children: Ralph J.,
born December 11, 1895: Earl H. born February 6, 1900;
Helen M., born September 11, 1907. and William Henry,
born April 7, 1911.
Mr. Irwin is a Republican of
progressive tendencies and has always kept himself well
informed on the various political issues which confront
the American people. The family are members of the
Methodist Episcopal church and render it such assistance
as is in their power. Mr. Irwin is a fine type of the
self-made man who has taken advantage of conditions and
by his energy and persistence made a home for himself in
this region of the United States.
IRWIN, NESTOR B. -----The
country today is more dependent upon the work of the
farmer than ever before, and with the increase in
population the work of the farmer is becoming
increasingly important. As the country becomes older and
as the soil in any particular locality becomes depleted
in fertility, it becomes more important that the farmer
know something about scientific farming.
As long as the soil was fertile anyone could
raise good crops, but after a number of years have
passed by, the same farmer, using the same methods,
would barely be able to make a living. Today in the
older sections of our country the farmer has to feed his
soil, the same as feeding his livestock-in other words,
scientific farming has become a necessity. Originally,
the state of Iowa had as fertile land as could be found
any place in the United States,. yet the time is sure to
come when the fertility of the soil will be depleted if
skillful crop rotation and scientific methods are not
used to keep the soil to its highest state of
productivity.
Nestor B. Irwin, a progressive
farmer of Coon Valley township, Sac county, Iowa, and a
man who has adapted himself to the advanced methods of
agriculture, was born July 6, 1856, in Des Moines
county, Iowa. His parents, Robert and Mary (Bailes)
Irwin, were natives of Ohio, and came to Tama county,
Iowa, in 1868, where they lived until their death, the
mother dying in 1898 and the father two years later. Mr.
and Mrs. Robert Irwin were the parents of six children:
M. A., of Lake View, Iowa; N. B., with whom this
narrative deals; Emmor, of Colfax, Iowa; George, of
Albert City, Iowa; Mrs. O. D. Taylor, of Marshalltown,
Iowa, and Mrs. Edward Cobb, of Green Mountain, this
state. The two youngest were born in Tama county,
Iowa.
Nestor B. Irwin came from
Burlington to Tama county, Iowa, with his parents when
he was eight years of age, and received his education in
Tama county. When he was twenty-one years of age he came
to Sac county and worked for a while. His father, who
was a large land owner, gave him eighty acres in this
county, and he worked on this farm for sometime, but did
not make a permanent home in Sac county until his
marriage, February 26, 1890.
After his marriage he settled on the farm which
his father had given him in this county in 1890, and
since that time has made all of the improvements which
he now has. He has built a new and modern home, erected
barns and good outbuildings, and brought the farm to a
place where it is giving a handsome return annually. In
addition to the eighty acres which he owns in Coon
Valley township, this county, Mr. Irwin also has one
hundred and sixty acres in Minnesota. He recognizes the
value of systematic crop rotation and is always on the
alert for any new methods by which he thinks he can
increase his returns from his farm.
Mr. Irwin was married February 26,
1890, to Laura Fike, who was born in Benton county,
Iowa, the daughter of Moses and Emeline (Yeager) Fike,
both of whom are natives of Pennsylvania. Her parents
came to Benton county, Iowa, in 1850. The father of
Moses Fike was Christian Fike, an early pioneer of
Benton county and one of its largest land owners. He
reared a family of thirteen children and gave to each
one of his children a farm. Moses Fike died in 1911, his
wife having died when Mrs. Irwin was a child. Mr. and
Mrs. Moses Fike were the parents of six children: Mrs.
Caroline Collins, who lives in Colorado: Laura, the wife
of Mr. Irwin: Samuel, of Vancouver, British Columbia ;
Frank, of Kingfisher, Oklahoma : George, of Woodward,
Oklahoma, and Edwin, of Colorado. Mr. and Mrs. Irwin
have no children.
The Republican party has always
claimed the support of Mr. Irwin, and although he is
well informed upon the current issues of the day, he has
never been an active party man. Public office has never
held any charms for him, having always preferred to give
all of his time to his agricultural interests.
He and his wife are attendants of the Methodist
Episcopal church, and give of their means to its
support. Mrs. Irwin is a member of the Ladies' Aid
Society. Possessing a splendid business ability, Mr.
Irwin has been successful in material way, and because
of his sterling qualities he is numbered among the
representative men of the community in which he
lives.
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