History of Sac County 
by William H. Hart - 1914

RABE, HENRY -----The descendants of German citizens in this county are useful and prosperous citizens wherever they are found. There are a number of the best and most substantial citizens of the county who have been born in Germany, and still a larger number whose parents were natives of the fatherland. A large majority of the German population of the county is engaged in farming and there are no more efficient fanners in the county than are these sons of Germany. Among the Germans who came to this country and started in with practically nothing, there is no one who has attained to a more pronounced prosperity than has Henry Rabe, who is now the proprietor of fine farming lands in Richland township.

Henry Rabe, the son of Henry and Louisa (Wegner) Rabe, was born September 21, 1865, in Neuschstadt, Riebenbacsh, Germany. His parents came to this country in 1874 and, after stopping temporarily in Chicago, they settled in Sac county, Iowa, in the spring of 1873, on the place where the son is now living. They purchased one hundred and sixty acres, forty of which was railroad land, for which they paid seven and eight dollars an acre.  On this they erected a frame house, eighteen by twenty-four in size, building it out of lumber which they brought from Chicago with them. Henry Rabe, Sr., died the following year, in February 1876, leaving his widow with five children: Henry, whose history forms the theme of this narrative; Mrs.  Louisa Reuber, of Odebolt; Ferdinand, deceased; William, a farmer of Richland township, and Wilhelmina deceased. A few years after the death of Mr. Rabe his widow married August Dannenberg of Odebolt and now lives in that city.

Henry Rabe received most of his schooling in Germany and. although he was only eleven years of age at the time of his father’s death, yet he manfully shared the responsibility of caring for his mother and the younger children of the family. Upon reaching his majority he purchased the home farm, in section 8 which his mother purchased after the father’s death, and added another eighty in section 9 to this, making him a total of one hundred and forty acres of land, which is now easily worth two hundred and fifty dollars an acre. He has a fine farm home, which is modern in every respect, has twelve rooms and is so constructed as to render it a very attractive home.  In 1911 Mr. Rabe added to his land holdings by purchasing three hundred and twenty acres in sections 3 and 4, in this township, and with his five hundred and sixty acres of land he raises a large amount of livestock each year, and averages at least one carload of cattle yearly. He has shipped as many as four carloads of hogs annually.

Mr. Rabe was married on February 3, 1889, to Mary Hausman. a native of Illinois, and the daughter of Conrad Hausman, an early settler of Sac county, Iowa. To this marriage there have been born five children, Louie, Alfred, Rosina, Louisa and Ralph; all of these children are still under the parental roof except Alfred, who is operating a farm in Richland township.  Politically, Mr. Rabe is independent in politics, preferring to cast his ballot for men and their principles rather than for party and its emblems.  He and his family are loyal members of the Lutheran church and render it their zealous and earnest support.

RAKE, L. B. -----Success is only achieved by the exercise of certain distinguishing traits and it can not be retained without effort. It is often found that heredity has an important bearing upon the destiny of the individual. but, in the main, his success depends to the great extent upon the cultivation of his talents and the exercise of persistent and indefatigable energy toward a certain goal in life. Those who have succeeded in reaching a place of prestige and have retained the esteem of their fellow men have begun early in life the struggle for supremacy. Nowadays men usually attain official position in their home community through being the known possessors of ability such as will com mend them peculiarly to the successful conduct of the duties to which they are assigned by the people. A man of this class is L, B. Rake, treasurer of Sac county, who is a pronounced example of self-made manhood and who enjoys the reputation of being a conscientious, dignified and honest public official throughout the length and breadth of the county. 

Mr. Rake was born January 29, 1861, on a farm in Hunterton county, New Jersey, and is a son of Izer G., who was born in 1833, and died in 1875, and who took to wife Amy Buchanan, of New Jersey. Amy Buchanan was the daughter of German parents. She became the wife of William Swallow after the death of Mr. Rake's father, departing this life at Trenton, New Jersey, in 1905. Her parents took up their residence in the city of Trenton in 1857. There were nine children in the Rake family: Andrew H., of Detroit, Michigan; L. B.; Mrs. Amy C. Morton, of Trenton, New Jersey; Aaron R.. of Trenton, New Jersey; William C., a resident of Los Angeles, California; Sarah Etta Cezar, also a resident of Trenton; Theodore, of Chicago; Lewis B., who resides in Rice Lake, Wisconsin; one child died in infancy. Izer G. Rake was a Union soldier. He enlisted in the Thirty-first New Jersey Volunteers, along with two brothers, John and Aaron, and served throughout the war, participating in many battles. It is a remarkable fact that the father of Izer G., who was named Elias, was also a soldier in the same regiment. The brothers of Mrs. Rake and her brothers-in-law also fought for the Union in the Thirty-first New Jersey Regiment.  It is very evident that L. B Rake comes of a race of brave and patriotic forbears, which is a distinction of which any American can well be proud.  L. B. Rake was educated in the schools of Locktown, New Jersey.

During his youth he worked on farms for five dollars per month and board.  Before attaining his majority he traveled in the Carolinas and the South in the employ of a commission firm engaged in the purchase and selling of game, poultry and produce. At the age of twenty-one years he left the scenes of his boyhood days and journeyed to Illinois where he was employed as a farm hand for a period of two years at twenty dollars per month. He again turned his attention to the poultry and produce business, and in season purchased and shipped farm products, including poultry and hay, for the Eastern markets. He eventually formed a partnership with his brother-in-law, George Glass, and the firm did a thriving business in the purchase and shipment to Boston of produce, poultry and hay, which they purchased in southern Illinois and Indiana in quantities to make up carload lots. This business was not without its frequent trials and reverses. At one time, while buying produce in the South, an entire stock shipment was spoiled and he suffered a severe loss which discouraged him to such an extent that he abandoned the business and returned home. His accuracy in guessing weights and determining quality became proverbial while engaged in stock buying.  While waiting around his hometown for something to turn up, he was one of a group gathered around a shipment which included fifteen hogs. Various persons proclaimed their ability to guess accurately the weight of the hogs and he was invited to participate. As was the custom, the men pooled guesses at ten cents each. Mr. Rake won the pool by guessing the exact weight of the fifteen porkers which totaled five thousand nine hundred and thirty-one pounds. This good fortune marked the turning point in his career.  He received the sum of fifteen dollars and sixty cents, which amount was sufficient to defray his expenses to Morris, Illinois. On his arrival in the Illinois town, he immediately sought and obtained employment at good wages.

In the Spring of 1892 Mr. Rake left Illinois and journeyed to Sac county for the express purpose of investing his savings in a farm. Very soon after his arrival he invested in one hundred and sixty acres of undrained land west of Sac City, in Jackson township, at thirty-five dollars an acre. He at once set about the task of improving his land so as to increase the yield and enhance its value as a farm proposition. He did this by ditching, laying tile and thoroughly draining every rod where it was possible to do so. In doing this, he profited by the experience gained during his residence in Illinois.  It is no exaggeration to state that to the incoming farmers from the drained sections of Illinois belongs the credit of introducing a new era of farming progress in Sac county. Mr. Rake soon added eighty acres adjoining his holdings, which he bought for fifty-seven dollars and fifty cents an acre.  The Rake farm is one of the finest in Sac county. It is fully equipped with all modern conveniences for successful and profitable farming, and is outfitted with a fine set of buildings which have all been erected and remodeled by the owner. The farm residence is situated upon an eminence which gives a glimpse of the city in the distance and is surrounded by beautiful evergreen and deciduous trees, which were planted and grown on the place. The farm land is devoted principally to the production of grains and is very productive.  The yield averages, in corn, from sixty to ninety bushels to the acre.  Until recently, Mr. Rake was the owner of one hundred and sixty acres of land in Minnesota, which he sold at a considerable profit. 

Politically, Mr. Rake is aligned with the Republican party. He has served the public in various capacities and has held several township offices.  He served for nine years as assessor of Jackson township and was secretary of the township school board for the same length of time. He has served as president of the Sac County Mutual Insurance Company for a number of years and is at present secretary of the Farmers Lumber Company and the Farmers Elevator Company, all of which are co-operative concerns. He is also a director in the First National Bank of Sac City. The foregoing are but evidences of the confidence imposed in him by his fellow citizens and an illustration of the rewards which are destined to accrue to a man of ability and concentration of purpose. He was elected county treasurer in November.  1910, and re-elected in 1912. His performance of the duties of this very important and responsible office have been eminently satisfactory. Mr. Rake is a stanch member of the Methodist Episcopal church of Sac City and is affiliated with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. He was married in the year 1885 to Nellie A. Glass, of Illinois. They have no children.

REINHART, JOHN -----There’s a difference in men, for the standards of ability are different.  The measures of success vary with the individual; many of the most successful are self made and proud of their achievements: others have become eminently successful by adding to their heritage. It requires a certain amount of intelligence and energy, combined with good judgment and financial ability, to increase a competence until it becomes a fortune, as well as to begin at the bottom and work upward to the top. In western Iowa and Sac county there are representatives of the two classes of men mentioned in the preceding lines and to which the writer refers: First, the pioneers who came and endured the hardships incidental to the making of a home and of whom many became extensive land owners: second, their sons, who have followed in their footsteps and maintained the prestige of the family and have indicated that they have inherited the gifts of their illustrious parents. In John Reinhart, extensive farmer and stockman of Boyer Valley township, we have a successful son of a widely known and successful German pioneer settler in Sac County. “Like father, like son,” has been exemplified in the life history of John Reinhart and his father.

John Reinhart, of Boyer Valley township Sac county, was the owner of two thousand acres of land until recently, when he sold some of his land. He is the owner of six farms in Boyer Valley and Eden townships. His home farm, in Boyer Valley township, comprises five hundred and sixty acres, four hundred and eight v acres of which is in section 16 and eighty acres in section 21. Mr. Reinhart raises and feeds over five hundred head of cattle annually.  and also produces over three hundred hogs for the markets each year. He resides in a fine, modern home of twelve rooms, erected in 1894, and has two large stock barns and train elevators on the place. No grain is sold from his farms, as everything the land produces is fed to livestock, which is sold on the hoof. Mr. Reinhart is also the owner of a tract of land on the shores of Spirit lake, Iowa, which will probably be transformed into a stock farm and buffalo and deer range, he being the owner of a herd of buffalos, purchased in 1913.

Mr. Reinhart was born September 22, 1866 in Lee county Illinois the son of Henry and Martha (Hudzell) Reinhart, natives of Prussia, Germany.  Henry came to America with his parents when ten years of age. Martha Hudzell came about the same time, in company with her parents. The families settled in Lee county, Illinois, whence Henry came to Sac county in 1877.  He settled in Clinton township, where he prospered exceedingly and became the owner of over three thousand acres of rich farming land. During his later years he made his residence in Sioux City, where he died in 1897. From being a poor boy to becoming the owner of one of the largest farms in Sac county and being rated as one of the county’s richest citizens, is a long step forward, and the results were due to foresight, tireless energy and keen financial ability. Mrs. Henry Reinhart died in 1907. They were the parents of seven children, as follows: Mrs. Catharine Fuchs, deceased, former wife of John Fuchs, of Odebolt: Christina, wife of George Stephan, of Boyer Valley township, now deceased; Mrs. Elizabeth Beiser, of Nebraska: John; Mrs.  Anna Smith, of Sioux City: Charley, deceased; Oscar, of Birmingham, Alabama. 

John Reinhart received his education in the district schools of Clinton township and was brought up to lead the life of a farmer. When he attained the age of twenty-one years his father gave him one hundred and sixty acres of land outright; this was an ample start for the son, inasmuch as he has added continuously to his acreage and followed in the footsteps of his father, who set him the example of the best methods of conducting his farming operations and of taking care of the financial end of a large and growing business. His first addition of two hundred and ten acres to his first holdings cost him thirty dollars an acre; he has paid for his land at prices ranging as follows: Fifty dollars, fifty dollars and fifty cents, seventy-five, eighty-five and ninety dollars per acre. This land is now selling at prices ranging from one hundred to one hundred and seventy-five dollars an acre. 

Mr. Reinhart was married in 1888 to Paulina Hilleman, of Marshall county, Iowa, who has borne him eight children, as follows: Zephra, who is married and lives in South Dakota, Earl, Henry, Alice, Elmer, Edna, Mildred and Mabel, all at home.

Mr. Reinhart is a Progressive Republican in politics and believes in progressive principles of government, being generally found aligned with the better elements in political campaigns. Mr. Reinhart espouses the Presbyterian faith, this church having been that of his parents and forbears for many years. He is essentially a home man and is not a member of any lodges or fraternal societies of any consequence. Ever ready to assist in a worthy undertaking, approachable and unassuming, he is an excellent citizen in every respect. While Mr. Reinhart is one of the largest land owners in the county and one of the most successful stockmen in western Iowa, he is just a plain farmer, honest to the innermost being, who loves the soil, his home and his vocation.

REUBER, AUGUST H. W. -----Among the prosperous businessmen of Odebolt, Sac county, Iowa, who have been prominently identified with the commercial life of the county, there is no one who stands higher in public esteem than August H. W.  Reuber, of the firm of Reuber & Bruce, dealers in grains, seeds and popcorn.  Mr. Reuber is one of the many representatives of the substantial German element of this county, and brings to bear in his business those sterling qualities which characterize the Germans wherever they are found. Seven years after landing in this country and at the early age of twenty-three years, he engaged in the popcorn business in Odebolt. He saw that the industry had great possibilities and, with keen foresight, has built up a trade which is second to none in this part of the state.

August H. W. Reuber was born March 31, 1866, in Hanover, Germany, the son of August and Fredericka Reuber, and belonged to the High German class. When August Reuber was sixteen years of age his parents came to America and first located in Grant county, Wisconsin, where his father followed the shoemaker's trade. Four years later August H. W. came to Sac county Iowa, and the family followed three years later, locating on a farm one mile north of Odebolt. Two years later, upon the marriage of August, his parents moved to a small farm of twenty acres in Richland township, and two years later they moved to an eighty-acre farm in Delaware county, Iowa, where the mother died in 1901. The father afterward resided with his son for three years, and in 1904 returned to Germany, where his death occurred. Three children were born to Mr. and Mrs. August Reuber, Sr.: Mrs. Henry Lutz, of Storm Lake, Iowa; Carl H., of Schaller, Iowa, and August H. W., with whom this narrative deals. 

August H. W. Reuber was well educated in his native country, and when a mere youth was apprenticed to a printer, where he learned the trade of typesetting. However, he never followed this profession in this country, but, owing to his poor health, engaged in farm work as soon as his parents landed in this county. In 1888 he rented a farm in Richland township, and here he planted his first crop of popcorn, and, fortunately, his first yield netted him a handsome return on his investment. In 1890 he purchased one hundred and twenty acres of land in Cook township at a cost of thirty-one dollars an acre, and engaged in the raising of popcorn on a larger scale.  Two years later he discontinued the raising of popcorn himself on account of unfavorable seasons, and went to feeding cattle. However, he returned to the popcorn culture, and soon afterward began to buy and ship popcorn, and as early as 1898 he had the sobriquet of "Popcorn King." In 1905 his business had grown to such an extent that he felt justified in moving to Odebolt and engaging in the buying and shipping of popcorn. In 1909 he took in J. L. Bruce as a partner and added a regular grain department to his business. In 1910 they erected a large elevator with a capacity of thirty-eight thousand bushels. During the past four years the firm has shipped about seventy-five cars of popcorn annually, and handles a total of other grains amounting to one hundred and twenty-five thousand to one hundred and eighty-five thousand bushels annually. In 1913 the firm had sixty thousand dollars invested in popcorn alone, and about twenty thousand dollars in other grains. The equipment is now worth twenty-three thousand dollars and in 1914 the firm expects to erect a large double crib which will have a capacity of two million pounds of popcorn annually. The plant extends over twenty-one city lots in Odebolt, and this fact alone gives some idea of the magnitude of the business.

Mr. Reuber was married, February 5, 1891, to Louise Katherine Rabe, of this county, who was born in Germany, coming to America when five years of age with her parents. Mr. and Mrs. Reuber are the parents of two children, Edgar H., who is a farmer of Cook township, this county, and Minnie, who is still in school.

Politically, Mr. Reuber is a Progressive and takes an active interest in politics. He has been a member of the school board of Odebolt since 1909.  The family are loyal and consistent members of the German Methodist church, and contribute liberally of their substance to its support.

REYNOLDS, JOHN A. -----One of the world's noble army of productive workers who left a definite impress upon this community by reason of his high standing as a successful businessman and a loyal and progressive citizen was the late John A. Reynolds, and it is most consonant that in this volume be entered and perpetuated a brief tribute to his memory and a record concerning the more salient points in his career. He was a man of many admirable traits and he had a host of friends among those with whom he labored.

John A. Reynolds was born July 4, 1854 at Hudson, Ohio, and was a son of William and Rebecca (Tawn) Reynolds. He removed to Grinnell, Iowa, in 1863, and was first married February 23, 1878 to Lottie Elliott, who died May 14, 1891, leaving seven children, named as follows: Ida, wife of S. L. Howell, Poweshiek county, Iowa ; Nellie lives in Colorado ; Walter, a merchant at Odebolt, Iowa; Charles and Ben have a bookstore at Ames, Iowa ; Flora is a stenographer in Des Moines, Iowa ; Mrs. Lottie Smith lives near Grinnell, Iowa. In the fall of 1878 John A. Reynolds came to Odebolt, Iowa, and started the first blacksmith and wagon shop in the town, with George Parker as a partner. Mr. Parker retired in 1886 and Charles W.  Kistler became his partner.

On December 24, 1892, Mr. Reynolds was married to Teresa Shea, who was born in Lake county, Illinois, April 7, 1870, daughter of Cornelius and Mary (Delaney) Shea, the former a native of Ireland and the latter born in the state of Illinois. Cornelius Shea was born in the year 1843 and came to America with his parents in 1846. He removed to Sac county, Iowa, in 1877, and settled in Wheeler township, where the family resided on a farm in West Wheeler. Mr. Shea built and operated a hotel in Odebolt after leaving the farm. In 1881 the Sheas removed to Odebolt, and in 1890 removed to Nebraska, where they lived until 1902, when they removed to Los Angeles, California. Mrs. Mary Shea died in Odebolt in 1891. To the union of Cornelius and Mary Shea the following children were born : Timothy, who lives in Los Angeles, California: Mrs. Katie Burnquist, who resides in Hays township, Ida county, Iowa: Teresa, widow of John A. Reynolds, the immediate subject of this memoir; Mary, wife of John Myers, of Carroll, Iowa; Sarah died in 1900; Cornelius, who lives in Spokane, Washington : Eugene, who is a priest in the state of Michigan; William died in 1891; Helen and George live in Los Angeles.

Mrs. Reynolds was reared in the Catholic faith. By her marriage with Mr. Reynolds five children were born. These are: Mary, born June 7, 1894; Josephine, born March 31, 1897; Eugene, born March 16, 1899; Gertrude, born October 23, 1903; Alice, born July 7, 1909. 

John A. Reynolds served as mayor of Odebolt for several terms, and served in the city council for a period of eighteen years. He was a man who took much interest in his home community, and he had the confidence of all throughout his entire residence in this locality. In his business transactions he was uniformly successful and was the owner of a good farm of three hundred and twenty acres in Wheeler township. He was a Master Mason and a member of the Methodist church.

Mr. Reynolds was called by death on July 5, 1910. He was a plain, sincere, honest man. in whose death all could feel a common sorrow. Measured by its beneficence, its rectitude, its fidelity to the plain and simple virtues, his life counted for much and in his passing there were many who truly felt they had lost a friend.

RINGGENBERG, EDWARD S. -----Any person who will investigate the facts in the case will be surprised to learn of the great number of people of Germanic descent now living in the United States. Unquestionably the greatest number of emigrants reaching the shores of the New World comes from that nation, and statistics show that there is more Germanic blood in the United States than any other. This being a fact, it is easy to account for the prosperity and morality of this country. Not only that, but it will afford an explanation for the love of learning shown by the people of this vast nation. Germany is famous the world over for its remarkable universities, for its educated men, for its poets and philosophers, and for the industry, patience, intelligence, morality and sturdiness of its citizens. These qualities have been brought to this country by the immigrants and are now part and parcel of our wonderful nation-its progress in domestic economy, its advancement in every branch of material improvement and its love of country and home. 

Edward S. Ringgenberg, a prosperous farmer of Cedar township, Sac county, Iowa, was born in Polk county, Iowa, on September 15, 1874, and is the son of Peter and Anna (Imboden) Ringgenberg natives respectively of Ohio and Germany. Peter Ringgenberg and wife were early settlers in Polk county Iowa, where they came in the sixties. They reared a family of twelve children.

E. S. Ringgenberg is a fine type of a successful German settler of Sac county. In 1894 he left the parental roof in Polk county and journeyed to Sac City with fifty cents in his pocket. He then walked ten miles to his brother's home in Calhoun county, and, due to the fact that there was a short corn crop in that county and little work to do, he came back to Sac county and shucked corn for the farmers in this county, saved every possible cent and rented a piece of ground, where from the first he was successful.  The short space of twenty years, with a working basis of fifty cents in 1894 has attained for him at least fifty thousand dollars, all of which has been made by good, honest work. He first bought eighty acres in Calhoun county at twenty-eight and a half dollars an acre and lived on it two years. This he sold and bought one hundred and twenty acres at thirty-five dollars an acre elsewhere in Calhoun county; afterward he added forty acres to this in the same county, paying seventy-seven and a half dollars an acre. In the spring of 1909 he bought a farm in Sac county, adjoining Lytton, for which he paid one hundred and twenty-two and a half dollars an acre. In February of 1911 he and his brothers bought two hundred and forty acres in Buena Vista county at a cost of one hundred and sixty-six dollars an acre. The Sac county land is now easily worth two hundred and fifty dollars an acre and the Calhoun land one hundred and seventy-five dollars an acre. In 1913 his Sac county farm, which lies near Lytton, produced sixty-five bushels of corn to the acre. He had thirty-five acres of oats which averaged fifty bushels to the acre. He keeps on an average of thirteen horses, ten head of cattle and seventy-five hogs each year. His farms are well improved in every way including good buildings, fencing and extensive drainage systems.

Mr. Ringgenberg was married in the spring of 1897 to Ida Dunaway of Calhoun county, Iowa, and to this marriage have been born six children, all of whom are still at home: Iva, Pearl, Rosetta, Leon, Clarence and Leota.  In politics Mr. Ringgenberg is a stanch Democrat, but his large agricultural interests prevent his taking an active part in politics. He and his family are members of the Lutheran church and give it their earnest support.  Mr. Ringgenberg is a man who is highly respected, because of his correct principles and clean manner of life. He has conquered adversity and has won. not only pecuniary independence, but what is far greater and higher, the respect and confidence of those with whom his active years have been spent.

RITTER, CONRAD A. -----The United States is indebted to Germany more than any other country in Europe for the excellent citizens of that country who have made their permanent homes in this country. Almost without exception, the people of Germany who have become citizens of this country have become owners of property and been loyal citizens to their adopted country. Undoubtedly much of the prosperity of Sac comity today is due to the energetic German citizens who have favored this country with their residence. The Ritters have contributed their full share to the advancement of the county. Conrad A. Ritter, whose history is here presented, is a citizen of whom any county should be proud to claim.

Conrad A. Ritter, who is farming two hundred and eighty acres of excellent land in Coon Valley township and is the owner of one hundred and forty-nine acres, was born March 2, 1876, in Benton county, Iowa. He is the son of George and Elizabeth (Reifsnyder) Ritter, both of whom were born and reared in Germany. They were married in their native land and in 1870 came from Germany to the United States and immediately settled in Benton county, Iowa. In 1879 they removed to Sac county and settled in Levey township. In their old age, the parents retired to Lake View to pass their declining years. George Ritter died in Dakota in 1908, while on a visit, and the mother is still living with her children. Mr. and Mrs. George Ritter were the parents of seven children, one of whom died in infancy, the remaining six children being as follows : Mrs. Sarah Wright, of Vermillion, South Dakota; Mrs. Mary Parsons, of Craig, Missouri; Conrad A.; Mrs. Katie Irwin, of Devon, Kansas; Mrs. Susan Ganger, of Devon, Kansas; Mrs. Elizabeth Cleveland, of Devon, Kansas.

Conrad A. Ritter was educated in the district schools of Sac county. At the age of eighteen he began to learn the creamery business and for eleven years worked in the Gold Medal Creamery, which was located about seven miles southwest of Early. For the last eight years he has been farming, buying his present farm in 1908 at one hundred and ten dollars an acre. In 1913 he had one hundred acres of corn which averaged fifty bushels to the acre and twenty acres of popcorn, which averaged thirty-five bushels to the acre. In 1912, which was a much better season, Mr. Ritter had corn which averaged eighty-five bushels to the acre and in that year he had fifteen acres of corn which averaged one hundred bushels to the acre. He raises a large amount of stock for the market each year and sells annually about twenty-five head of cattle and from seventy-five to a hundred head of hogs.  Mr. Ritter identifies himself with the Republican party and is in sympathy with the Progressive element of his party. While never having been a candidate for any public office, he takes an intelligent interest in the affairs of the party. The Ritter family are loyal members of' the Methodist Episcopal church and give their assistance to the various activities of that denomination.  Fraternally, Mr. Ritter is a member of the Yeomen and the Modern Woodmen of America.

Mr. Ritter was married on August 8, 1900, to Myrtle Irwin, the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. George Irwin. Mrs. Ritter is a graduate of the Odebolt high school and taught school one year. George Irvin was born in Pennsylvania and came west with his parents to Linn county, where he married Margaret Cook. They came to Sac county in 1885 and settled in Clinton township where the father died in 1887 leaving four children: Charles P., of Devon, Kansas; George H., deceased; Jay C, near Lakeview and Myrtle Ritter. To this marriage have been born five children, four of whom are living : Esther Mabel, age eight years ; Charles Wesley, age six ; Laura May and Lawrence J., twins, who are now two years of age. Mr. Ritter has always taken an active part in the various phases of the community life where he lives and is well known as a man of excellent reputation and high character.

ROBERTS, HENRY J. -----A farmer of Sac county who has contributed his share to the material advancement of his community is Henry J. Roberts, of Wall Lake township, who was born July 28, 1874, in Cedar county, Iowa, and is the son of Joseph Johnson Roberts and Martha (Kelch) Roberts. Joseph Johnson Roberts was born in April, 1831, in Morristown, New Jersey, the son of Joseph Roberts, and came west to Iowa from New Jersey in 1868 and settled in Cedar county, this state, and in 1880 permanently settled in Wall Lake township, Sac county. Martha Kelch was born in Germany, on October 27, 1833, the daughter of Nicholas and Catherine Kelch, both of whom were natives of Germany.

Joseph J. Roberts and Martha Kelch were married on March 20, 1855, and they were the parents of nine children: Joseph Francis, born June 16, 1856, died August 27, 1856; Charles C, born August 12, 1857, and died June 12, 1891; William Martin, born May 7, 1859; George De Forest, born January 2, 1862, died March 10, 1872; Hannah F., born January 19, 1864, died December 29, 1903; Joseph Harvey, born February 24, 1867 died October 25, 1907; Mrs. Catherine Reinhart, born April 17, 1869, shot by her husband June 6, 1900; Nicholas J., born February 7, 1873, died August 15, 1873; Henry Johnson, whose history is here presented, born July 28, 1874.  Of these nine children there are only two living, William Martin and Henry Johnson.

The marriages of the Roberts family are as follows : Charles C. and Lydia Wilcox, on March 14, 1883, have one child, Myrtle; Hannah Roberts and John E. Franklin, March 16, 1887, have three children, Willie, Harvey, and a daughter who died in infancy: they live in Tacoma, Washington ; William M. and Eva Fuller, December 23, 1888, have two children, Irene and Gladys, living in Clinton, Iowa; Katherine E. and Perry F. Bricker, March 27, 1888, two children, Percy, living in St. Paul, Minnesota, and the first-born, Henry Johnson, who died in infancy: Joseph Harvey and Mabel Van Trump, July 3, 1893, one child; Eugene, living in Portland, Oregon.  Katherine E. Bricker was married the second time February 3, 1900, to Charles Reinhart, and three months afterwards was shot by her husband. 

Henry J. Roberts has lived in Wall Lake township since he was six years of age, and has accordingly received his education in this county. He was never married, but lives on the old home place with his uncle, Nicholas Kelch, who was born April 30, 1846, in Morristown, New Jersey. Nicholas Kelch came to Illinois in 1865, and to Cedar county, this state, in 1884. In 1902 he came to Sac county to reside.

Henry J. Roberts is a Republican in politics, but has never been active in the councils of his party. Religiously, his parents were members of the Methodist Episcopal church and their family always attended that church.  He is a member of the Ancient Free and Accepted Masons and also belongs to the Yeomen.