NEEDHAM, FRANCIS S. -----Banking is a business and profession which calls for talent of a high order. To succeed in this oldest of commercial pursuits requires a high degree of intelligence, a great measure of personal integrity, a modicum of absolute honesty, and a broad sense of citizenship which enables one to capably judge human nature, and at the same time retain the confidence and respect of those with whom he is daily thrown in contact in the course of the conduct of his business. Francis S. Needham is a true type of the broadminded banker who has achieved a standing and eminence in the banking world through his own efforts, beginning in a small way. From a reasonably small beginning in the banking business he has risen to the control of several of the leading banking concerns of Sac county, and enjoys a prestige among his fellow citizens rarely exceeded. Mr. Needham occupies the important position of president of the Farmers Savings Bank, of Sac City, the State Bank of Early, the Schaller Savings Bank and the Lake View State Bank.

The Farmers Savings Bank was organized in 1906 with a capital of ten thousand dollars. The capital stock was increased to fifty thousand dollars in 1910, to accommodate the rapid and substantial growth of the institution, which numbers among its stockholders many of the most prosperous and well-to-do farmers and citizens of the county. The business is housed in a handsome brick structure owned and erected by the banking company.  The interior is fitted with modern fixtures. The deposits of the bank now exceed the total of two hundred and thirty thousand dollars, and it enjoys a measure of confidence among its patrons exceeded by no similar institution in the county. The present officers of the bank are: F. S. Needham, president; L. E. Irwin, vice-president; C. E. Harding, cashier; J. T. Dollison, W. F. Block, S. M. Elwood, J. H. Grohe, directors. 

Francis S. Needham was born November 2, 1864, in Staceyville, Mitchell county Iowa, the son of Gerrit S. and Mary L. (Smith) Needham, who were natives of New York and Massachusetts, respectively. The parents were very early settlers in Mitchell county, locating there in 1852. The marriage of Mr. Needham's parents occurred in 1860. Gerrit S. was the son of Dwight Needham, who is chronicled among the early and prominent pioneer settlers of Mitchell county. Gerrit moved to Dickinson county in 1869, and after a few years residence there removed to the state of California. He resided on the coast from 1874 to 1876, and then returned to take up a residence at Grinnell, Iowa, where he engaged in the grocery business. In 1881 he removed to Chicago for the purpose of engaging in the red clover business.  He returned west in 1903 and made his final residence in Early, Iowa, where he died November 6, 1912. His wife died in 1908. They reared a family of three children, namely: Mrs. Mary Stowe, deceased; Mrs. Mabel A. Grim, of Union Post Office, Montana, and Francis S.  The elder Needham's purpose in settling in Grinnell for a time was undoubtedly to give his children the opportunity of securing an education such as was afforded by the excellent institution of higher learning in existence in the city.

Francis entered Grinnell College and graduated therefrom in the scientific course in 1887. During the summer of 1887 he was employed as a member of a surveying corps by the Santa Fe Railroad Company. He taught school during the fall and winter, and after this he assisted his father in conducting his business for one year. He came to Lake View, Iowa, in 1889, and opened the Lake View State Bank, which was soon afterward incorporated as a state bank. He resided in the town of Lake View until 1907, and then removed to Sac City. Since 1900 he has been connected with the State Bank of Early. In 1902 he purchased a bank at Sioux Rapids, Iowa, which he later sold. He bought the controlling interest in the Gushing Savings Bank in 1903 and successfully conducted this institution for a term of years, eventually disposing of his holdings. He became the owner of the Schaller Savings Bank in 1904, and still holds a large interest in that prosperous concern. In March. 1913, he obtained a large interest in the Farmers Savings Bank, and is now the official head of this influential banking concern.  Mr. Needham's career in the banking world has met with success which is well merited. Individually, he is possessed of a strong versatility and the bower of concentration which enables him to carry out his operations in a masterly way. He has had the forethought to surround himself with gifted and able young men who have confidence in him and esteem his excellent judgment and advice.

Mr. Needham is descended from a long line of religious workers, from whom he naturally inherited a deep, religious conviction and a desire to affiliate prominently with his favorite church organization and to assist in every possible manner in the furtherance of a religious sentiment in the community. His moral uprightness on all occasions speaks for itself and is evidence of his desire to live a blameless and irreproachable life. His father was originally one of the pioneers in the organization of the Congregational church and its subsequent spread throughout the length and breadth of Iowa, but later became a Presbyterian. Francis was one of the principal organizers and a liberal supporter of the Congregational church in the town of Lake View, and is now prominently identified as a leading  member of the Sac City Presbyterian church. He is politically allied with the Republican party and has served as treasurer of the school board of Lake View. 

Mr. Needham was wedded in 1888 to Eugenie E. Schaller, daughter of Phil Schaller, one of the prominent figures in the upbuilding and development of Sac county, and of whom extended and favorable mention is made elsewhere in these pages. Five children have been born to them, namely: Emeline, aged twenty-two years: Leonard, who died at the age of eleven years ; Frances, aged seventeen years ; Philip, aged thirteen years ; Elizabeth, aged two years and the infant of this interesting family.

NELSON, ALFRED ----Among the citizens of Sac county, Iowa, who have won competencies for themselves and stand high in public estimation, is the man whose name forms the caption of this article. Alfred Nelson is a native of Sweden, born on February 21, 1863, the son of John and Lena (Olson) Nelson.  In 1871 the family emigrated to America and first located in Marshall county, this state, and in 1877 Alfred came to Sac county. Here they purchased raw prairie land in Wheeler township and set about establishing a home. Their first residence was a small structure, size sixteen by twenty feet, which sheltered the family for a time, and then, as prosperity smiled on them, this home was considerably enlarged. The land was given every care possible and has been developed into an excellent farm. The mother died in February of 1881, leaving eight children, namely: Charles Oscar, deceased:. Alfred, Olaf, who died at the age of fourteen; Mary, wife of Henry Banta and living in California; Amanda, who died at the age of twenty-one: August who died in childhood, and Nels, who was born in 1877 in Marshall county and is now a rancher in the state of Idaho; Joseph is also a farmer in Idaho. After the mother's death in 1881, the father, with the younger children, moved to Nebraska and later to Idaho Falls, Idaho, where he died. John Nelson married the second time and had altogether twelve children.

When a boy, Alfred Nelson attended the district schools of Marshall and Sac counties and began farming for himself in 1882. For several years he rented land and in 1908 purchased a tract of eighty acres in section 27, Wheeler township, at a cost of one hundred and five dollars per acre. When he first began farming, he lived on his father's farm and moved to his present location before making the purchase, altogether he is farming two hundred and eighty acres, one hundred and twenty of which is owned by Mrs. Gorenson, mother of Mrs. Nelson. In addition to his comfortable dwelling, he has a large barn, size forty-eight by fifty-eight feet, which was built in 1911, as well as many other buildings necessary for the carrying on of the business of the farm. The house is attractively located in a little valley, about a half of a mile from the main highway. Mr. Nelson has considerable livestock, to which he devotes particular attention. He has ten head of horses which are used for general farm purposes, raises for the market about one hundred hogs annually and one carload of cattle. 

Mr. Nelson's political affiliation is with the Democratic party and he takes more than a nominal interest in local politics, having served as a member of the school board and township trustee and in the discharge of the duties thus devolving upon him he met with the approval of all concerned.  He is a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, being associated with that society through the local lodge at Odebolt. 

On March 14, 1882, Mr. Nelson was united in marriage with Anna Sophia Peterson, who was born in Sweden on May 31, 1864. She is the daughter of Olaf Peter Peterson, who died in 1871, and her mother married C. A. Gorenson after being widowed. In 1880 the family came to America, locating in Wheeler township, where Mr. Gorenson died in 1889. Mrs.  Gorenson was born April 14, 1839, and is well preserved for a woman of her years. She makes her home with Mrs. Nelson, who is her only child.  Mr. and Mrs. Nelson are the parents of an interesting family of thirteen children, the oldest of whom  Albert Oscar, remains at home, while Ida E. is the wife of H. Nelson and lives in Oakland, California; Emma E. is also married, being the wife of O. E. Bergren, of Wheeler township; Will A. is a farmer in this same township; Esther M. (Mrs. Crownquist) lives at Gowrie, Iowa ; Vern M. resides at Holstein, this state, and the others of the family, Lillian, Elmer C., Sydney O., Glenn M., Gladys E., Francis T. and Dorothy E., remain under the parental roof. There are three grandchildren, being Cozette and Wallace Bergren and Jessie Nelson. 

Mr. Nelson is a man of marked domestic tastes and takes much pleasure in his home and family. That he possesses good business ability, energy and thrift are demonstrated by his accomplishments, and the fact that he stands high in public estimation among those with whom he has lived for many years, marks him as a man of sterling traits of character. Aside from his business duties, Mr. Nelson finds time to keep himself well informed on up-to-date methods as related to general farming and stock raising, and is also well informed on current events.

NUEHRING, CHARLES -----A business man of Lytton who has in the past two years built up a lucrative trade in the harness business is Charles Nuehring, one of the many sons of Germany who have made this county their home. The remarkable part of Mr. Nuehring's career is the fact that he left the farm in middle life and came to Lytton without previous experience of any kind in the harness-making business and made a success of his new profession. He had never had any experience which might apply to his new profession except what he had been taught by his father to operate a tailor's sewing machine. 

Charles Nuehring, a successful harness-maker and merchant of Lytton, Iowa, was born in Clayton county, Iowa, in 1868, the son of Frederick and Louisa (Bohlmann) Nuehring. both of whom were natives of Germany.  Frederick Nuehring and wife were born. reared and married in Germany, coming to this country in 1865, and in the same year located on a farm in Clayton county, Iowa. In 1870 they located in Butler county, this state, where they remained for twelve years. In 1882 they moved to Sac county and purchased two hundred and forty acres of land in Cedar township, sections 25 and 26 here Frederick Nuehring died in 1903 at the age of seventy-seven, and his wife five years later, at the age of seventy-two. Mr.  and Mrs. Frederick Nuehring were the parents of eleven children: Mrs.  Wilhelmina Ehlers, of Cedar township, this county; Henry and Carolina, of Minnesota: Fred, of Wisconsin ; Mollie, of Buena Vista county, Iowa; William, of Calhoun county, this state; Mrs. Annie Albinger, of Cedar township, this county; Charles, whose history is here presented; Mrs. Christina Helm brecht, of Calhuun county, this state, and Lewis and Augustus, of Cedar township. Sac county.

Charles Nuehring began to work for himself at the age of twenty-one years, and until 1912 farmed in this county, and still owns a fine farm of eighty acres in Cedar Township which he rents at the present time. On May 9, 1912 Mr. Nuehring purchased an established harness business in Lytton, and has made a pronounced success of his new occupation in the short time which he has had control of it. It is not often that a man of his age can enter a new line of business and manage it successfully, but that Mr. Nuehring has done this is evidenced by the business which he is now doing day by day. 

Mr. Nuehring is a Republican in politics, although he has never taken an active interest in the deliberations of his party. He is a member of the German Lutheran church and subscribes liberally to its support.  Mr. Nuehring was married in 1903 to Freda Fletcher, of Buena Vista county, this state, and to this marriage have been born two children, Walter and Rose. Mr. Nuehring is well known throughout the township and has many excellent qualities of head and heart, which have won for him many friends, and consequently he is one of the representative men of his town and community and well merits a place in this biographical volume.

NUTTER, WALTER A. -----Walter A. Nutter, of the firm of Nutter & Schulte dealers in men's clothes and furnishings was born in Sac City, Iowa, in 1869. He is the son of John William and Addie (Armstrong) Nutter, natives of New Hampshire and Wisconsin respectively.

John W. Nutter went to Wisconsin when a young man and was employed as a lumber man for some years. He helped to load lumber rafts, which were floated down the Wisconsin river to the Mississippi. Later he came to Sac county, locating in Sac City and engaged in business here in the sixties. He was married on October 24, 1869, to Addie Armstrong, a native of Wisconsin and the daughter of J. E. and Dollie A. Armstrong, who were natives of New York. Mrs. J. W. Nutter's parents came from New York to Wisconsin and later came to Sac City, Iowa, in 1868. J. E. Armstrong was born December 11, 1830, in Lisbon, New York, and when a young man worked on the Erie canal. When less than twenty years of age he went to Wisconsin with a brother and engaged in the lumber and timbering business. They owned the Grundy mill at Princeton, Wisconsin. In 1861 J. E. Armstrong enlisted in the Eighth Wisconsin Battery and was made first lieutenant. He was later promoted to the rank of captain, but became ill and resigned from his command on July 2, 1862.  The wife of J. E. Armstrong was Dollie DeMott; who was born at Morristown. New York, October 5, 1833, and died July 29, 1909. Mr. and Mrs. J. E. Armstrong were the parents of two children. Mrs. J. W. Nutter and Mrs.  D. M. Lamoreux, of Sac City. J. W. Nutter, father of Walter Nutter, was a Mason, and had taken all the work up to and including the Royal Arch degree, and was also a member of the Eastern Star. He served as county recorder of Sac county for ten years. Mr. and Mrs. J. W. Nutter were the parents of two children, Walter A., of whom this chronicle speaks, and J. Edward, a banker of Jolley, Iowa.

Walter A. Nutter was educated in the schools of Sac City and has been in the business either as a clerk or on his own account since early manhood.  The firm of Nutter & Schulte was organized in February, 1902, and is now located in a large brick corner store room, thirty-five by seventy-five feet, with basement of the same dimensions. The store is fitted throughout with the latest fixtures, including chifferobes for men's clothing. They carry a large and complete stock of men and boys' clothing and furnishings and cater to a large trade in Sac City and throughout the county. 

Mr. Nutter was married on June 5, 1895 to Laverne Drewry. a native of Plymouth, Wisconsin, and to this marriage has been born one daughter, Lucile, who is now sixteen years of age. Politically, Mr. Nutter is a Progressive, but owing to the nature of his business has never taken an active part in politics. Fraternally, he is a member of the Knights of Pythias, the Ancient Order of United Workmen and the Ancient Free and Accepted Masons.

O'GRADY, J. E. D. D. S. -----A man of excellent attributes of character and one of the representative citizens of a community known for the progressive spirit it manifests in the business world is Dr. J. E. O'Grady. the popular dentist of Schaller, Iowa. 

Doctor O'Gradv is a native of the Empire state, born at Courtland, New York February 4, 1878, the son of Edward Daniel and Elizabeth (Flavin) O'Grady both natives of county Kerry. Ireland. Edward Daniel O'Gradv is a farmer and emigrated to America about 1871; in the winter of 1881 he came to Mason City, Iowa, where he bought a farm. In 1907 the family removed to Mason City, where they still reside and are highly respected citizens of that community. Mrs. O'Grady came to America about the close of the Civil War. Four children have been born to Edward Daniel and Elizabeth (Flavin) O'Grady. named as follows; Mrs. Mary Bell and Mrs. Johanna Carey of Mason City; Mrs. Bessie Bonnyman of Minneapolis, and Dr. J. E. O'Grady, the immediate subject of this sketch. 

Dr. O'Grady received his primary education in the schools of Mason City, Iowa, where he was reared. His collegiate training was received at the Western Dental College, Kansas City, Missouri, from which institution he was graduated in 1903. He practiced his profession at Kensett, Worth county, and at Dumont and Parkersburg, Butler county and in September, 1906 came to Schaller, Iowa, where he has continually practiced since. He also maintains an office at Galva. and enjoys an excellent practice at both towns.

While devoted to his professional duties. Doctor 0'Grady has found time to deal extensively in real estate, in the handling of which he has shown marked aptitude. He is the owner of some very valuable properties, consisting of two fine farms in Traverse county, Minnesota, one of three hundred and seventy-four acres and another of three hundred and fifteen acres. He also has one hundred and seventy acres in Sac county Iowa, and eight hundred acres in Pine county Minnesota, which he purchased in 1906. He is a man of exceptionally fine judgment of land values, gifted with the rare faculty of being able to foretell the future outcome of a present transaction. 

Professionally, Doctor O'Grady keeps fully abreast of the best thought of the times, and he is an appreciative member of the District Dental Association, the Iowa State Dental Association and the American Dental Association.  He also holds membership in the Dental Protective Association of the United States and the Alumni Association of Western College. He is independent in his political convictions. and. religiously, gives his allegiance to the Catholic church.

OLDSEN, JOHN D. -----Of the many German citizens who have cast their lot in Sac county, Iowa, and have thereby not only benefited themselves, but the general public as well, John D. Oldsen, a pioneer citizen of Clinton township, is worthy of special mention, for he has always been an honorable, upright man, industrious, temperate, economical and in every way exemplary in his daily life and conduct. He has performed well his part as a factor in the body politic and no one questions his standing as one of the leading farmers and worthy citizens of the township in which he lives.

John D. Oldsen, a retired farmer of Wall Lake, Iowa, was born April 19, 1852, in Langhorn, Germany, the son of Carsten and Susan Oldsen, who never left their native land. John Oldsen received his education in his native country and when nineteen years of age came to America and immediately went to Iowa, locating in Clinton County. At first, he worked for farmers, receiving fifteen dollars a month and his board. and after being engaged in this line of work for three years he was engaged in the well digging business for a year. In 1874 he came to Sac county, and bought two hundred acres of land at five dollars an acre. In 1877 having in the meantime married, he came back to this farm and built a house, to which he moved his family. Later he added two hundred more acres to his farm, at a cost of twenty and twenty-eight dollars an acre. He continued to reside on his farm until January 19, 1906, at which time he moved to Wall Lake, Iowa he purchased a home and retired from active farm life. He has disposed of his land to his children and now owns only eighty acres. 

Mr. Oldsen was married in 1876 in Clinton County to Anna M. Peterson, who was born in Stadeum, Germany, in 1855, Her parents, Amos and Marguerita Peterson, came to America in 1872 and settled in Clinton County this state, after which they moved to Sac County and here they continued to reside the remainder of their lives. Mr. and Mrs. Oldsen are the parents of four children: Mrs. Sophia Tadsen, of Clinton township, this county; Carl A., a farmer and stock breeder of Clinton township; Mrs. Agnes Jensen, of Jackson township, this county, and Malinda. who is still under the parental roof.

Mr. Oldsen has identified himself with the new Progressive party, believing that the principles advocated by this party will be for the best benefit of the nation. He and the members of the family are loyal and faithful members of the Lutheran church, to which they give liberally of their time and substance. Mr. Oldsen has been a man who has believed in lending his aid to all worthy enterprises and has been known to his neighbors as an industrious and hard working man of undoubted honesty and the highest moral integrity. He has built up a reputation which shall endure for years to come, and has always exerted a beneficial influence on those about him because of his upright life.

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