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692
H. W. GITTINS.
H. W. Gittins, who is successfully carrying on
general agricultural pursuits and the raising
and feeding of stock, owns and cultivates a farm
of two hundred acres on section 32, Neola township.
This is a well improved and valuable property
and in its careful management Mr. Gittins displays
his keen business judgment and practical ideas.
Born in the county on the 20th of September,
1855, he is a son of Henry Gittins, a native of
England, whose boyhood and youth were spent in
that land. He was a farmer there and was identified
with agricultural interests until after his marriage
and the birth of their eldest child. Emigrating
to the United States in 1853 or 1854, he came
immediately to Iowa, settling near Council Bluffs.
Locating on a farm, he bought land in Boomer township
and continued the cultivation of his fields until
he reached the evening of life. He is now living
with his son, H. W. Gittins, and is a hale and
hearty man of eighty-six years. His life has been
one of activity and 1ergy crowned with success,
and in the community where he resides he respected
as one of the worthy pioneer citizens.
H. W. Gittins early became familiar with the
environments and conditions of pioneer life in
Pottawattamie county, for his birth occurred here
more than a half century ago. All around was the
unbroken prairie, save here and there a settlement
had been made by same sturdy pioneer. H. W. Gittins
was here reared and to the common-school system
is indebted for the educational advantages he
enjoyed. After putting aside his text-books he
worked by the month as a farm hand for two years
and then, ambitious to engage in farming an his
own account, he rented land which he cultivated
for three years. During that period he carefully
saved his earnings and invested the capital in
eighty acres on section 32, Neola township, where
he now lives. It was then a tract of unbroken
land. Today it is largely a
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model farm. He fenced it, cleared it, broke the
sod, planted his crops and in due course of time
gathered rich harvests. As his labors brought
him success he added to the original tract as
opportunity offered until he now has two hundred
acres, constituting a splendid farm property.
The fields are rich and well tilled and the buildings
comprise a good residence, barns and commodious
sheds. He has planted an orchard and some small
fruit and on every part of his farm is seen the
evidence of his careful supervision and practical
methods. In the pastures are to be found good
grades of stock, which he raises and feeds, making
a specialty of high grade Poland China hogs and
Hereford cattle, shipping from three to four car
loads each year.
In Council Bluffs, on the 15th of August, 1881,
Mr. Gittins was married to Miss Lucy Wilson, who
was born at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, a daughter
of J. G. Wilson, one of the early settlers of
Pottawattamie county. Mr. and Mrs. Gittins have
six living children: W. H., who is married and
lives in Harrison county; Raymond W., who is with
his brother in Harrison county; Frank; Lee Morris;
Pearl; and Myrtle.
Mr. Gittins politically is a republican, having
supported the party since age conferred upon him
the right of franchise. His official service is
limited to four years' connection with the school
board, for he has never sought or desired public
office. His wife is a member of the Presbyterian
church and Mr. Gittins is a Knight of Pythias.
In the community where he lives and where he has
labored to goodly ends he is greatly esteemed
for the possession of those traits of character
which render him a progressive citizen and an
enterprising business man.
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Fred Holst for the past ten years has lived retired
in Treynor, but for a long period was closely
associated with agricultural interests. His residence
in the county dates from 1869, in which year he
arrived in Council Bluffs. Born in the northern
part of Germany, January 29, 1849, his parents
were Fred and Margaretta Holst. The father died
in Germany' and the mother afterward married a
Mr. Kiel, with whom she came to this country,
settling in Council Bluffs in 1866. Mr. Kiel is
now located at Sioux Falls, South Dakota, and
while in this city was engaged in the wholesale
liquor business as a member of the firm of Linder
& Kiel. His wife died at Sioux Falls in 1904
at the advanced age of eighty-three or eighty-four
years. She had four children, one son, Jacob Kiel,
of Sioux Falls, being born of her second marriage.
The three children of her first marriage were:
Fred, of this review; Dick Holst, who is proprietor
of the Kiel Hotel at Council Bluffs; and Henry,
deceased.
At the usual age Fred Holst entered school and
pursued his studies in Germany until he became
a youth of fifteen years. He then hired as a cabin
boy on board a sailing vessel for a voyage to
the west coast of South America
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by way of Cape Horn. The captain of the vessel
was his uncle and the trip consumed one year.
Later he made three round trips, thus passing
Cape Horn six times. He spent five years on the
ocean and one year-1868--in studying navigation
at the suggestion of his uncle. He passed examination
and was captain before he was twenty years of
age. Leaving Germany in order to avoid military
service, he made his way to Boston, Massachusetts,
in the spring of 1869, sailing from Liverpool
in March. Following his arrival at the American
port he sailed again to the Mediterranean, to
France and along the Atlantic coast of America.
In the fall of 1869 he rejoined his mother and
the family in Council Bluffs and since that time
has never been connected with the sea. His experiences
were in many respects novel and interesting, bringing
him a knowledge of many ports and of the peoples
of various countries.
At Council Bluffs Mr. Holst hired cut at common
labor and in this county worked as a farm hand,
being entirely inexperienced when he took his
place in the fields. He found the pursuit congenial,
however, and has made it his life work. As an
agriculturist he has been very -successful, the
years bringing to him a desirable prosperity as
a reward for his persistence, his energy and capable
management. In 1876 he located in Washington township,
where he rented a farm from Mr. Casady, after
which he engaged in the cattle business. His operations
in live-stock have been extensive and profitable
and as his financial resources have increased
he has made judicious investments in real-estate,
until he is now one of the large landowners of
the county, his possessions aggregating over twelve
hundred acres lying in Washington, Silver Creek,
Keg Creek and Belknap townships. He continued
actively in business until about ten years ago,
when he retired to enjoy in well earned rest the
fruits of his former toil.
Mr. Holst was married in Council Bluffs, March
21, 1874, to Miss Eliese Kiel, a native of Germany
and a daughter of Christian Kiel. She came to
this country in 1872 and was married two years
later. Three children have been born of this union:
Harry, now a farmer and stockman of Washington
township; Maggie, the wife of Henry Schnapel,
of the same township; and Mary, the wife of Adolph
Goos, who is residing in Silver Creek township.
Mr. Holst is the founder of Treynor, which was
laid out upon his land. Here he and his wife have
made their home for the past thirteen years and
have many friends in the town and throughout the
surrounding country. When he became a naturalized
American citizen he cast in his lot with the republican
party and has never seen occasion to change his
political allegiance. Upon its ticket he has been
elected trustee of Keg Creek township and he is
now a member of the council of Treynor, exercising
his official prerogative in support of various
progressive measures which are introduced for
the benefit of the village. He is likewise treasurer
of the German Lutheran church in which he holds
membership. His life history if written in detail
would furnish many an interesting chapter, especially
in regard to his early experiences as a sailor,
when upon the high seas he made his way to various
European and American ports. In later years his
life has been more quietly
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passed but at all times it has been characterized
by a diligence and care in the control of business
affairs that have made him one of the prosperous
residents of the county.
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A. J. Grace, deputy sheriff of Pottawattamie
county and a resident of Avoca, was born in the
town of Dixon, Scott county, Iowa, March 16, 1861.
His father, Daniel Grace, was a native of the
state of New York, born April 30, 1827, and with
his parents he went to Ohio in childhood days,
while in 1839 the family came to Iowa, which was
then largely a frontier district and under territorial
rule. They located in Allen's Grove, Scott county,
where Michael Grace, the grandfather of our subject,
entered government land upon which he built a
log cabin. It was in this home that A. J. Grace
was born. The grandfather died upon the old homestead
farm there and after living for many years in
that county Daniel Grace removed with his family
to Crawford county, Iowa, where he purchased a
farm and carried on general agricultural pursuits
until 1890. To his original holdings he added
from time to time until he became the owner of
four hundred and twenty acres of land. However,
he met with financial reverses and in 1890 he
removed to Pottawattamie county, settling in Knox
township. He afterward took up his abode in Valley
township, where he died on the 26th of August,
1903. He was an ardent republican and a great
admirer of Abraham Lincoln, James A. Garfield
and other noted leaders of the party. He was a
broad reader, was familiar with all the noted
speeches and addresses of the party's leaders
and thoroughly informed on the questions of the
day. He never sought or desired political preferment
for himself, his interest being that of a public-spirited
citizen who recognizes the obligations as well
as the privileges of citizenship. A consistent
Christian man, he held membership in the United
Brethren church. His wife bore the maiden name
of Rebecca E. Connor and is now living with her
son, A. J. Grace.
They had a family of eight children: Ellen, the
wife of C. R. Talcott, of Harrison county, Iowa;
Daniel W., deceased; John M., living in Anita,
Iowa; A. J., of this review; Steward G., a resident
of Sheridan, Wyoming; Margaret J., who became
the wife of J. A. Carlisle and now makes her home
in Tilden, Nebraska; Isaac H., who resides in
Madison county, Nebraska; and Elmer E., who has
also passed away.
A. J. Grace is indebted to the pub1ic school
system of the state for the educational privileges
he enjoyed. He received ample training in farm
work in connection with his father, being thus
engaged at a time when much of the labor of the
farm was performed by hand, making it an arduous
task such as the farm boy of today little understands.
Later he and his brother, John M. Grace, engaged
in farming and the cattle business on their own
account, while the parents retired from business
life and made their home with the sons. A. J.
Grace was thus continuously connected with general
agricultural interests until 1904, when he gave
up farming to accept the position of deputy sheriff
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of Pottawattamie county with headquarters at
Avoca, having charge of all of the duties in connection
with the office in this section of the county.
He is still single and his mother resides with
him. His political allegiance is given to the
republican party and he does everything in his
power to promote its growth and insure its success.
In his fraternal relations Mr. Grace is connected
with Mount Nebo lodge, No. 297, A. F & A.
M.; Avoca lodge, No. 220, I. O. O. F.; the Farmers
encampment, No. 142, I. O. O. F., of Hancock;
and Avoca camp, No. 165, M. W. A. He is a man
of genuine worth whose word is as good as his
bond and the consensus of public opinion is that
A. J. Grace is one of the sterling residents of
Avoca and this part of the county.
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Captain James J. Brown, vice president of the
park commissioners, of Council Bluffs, Iowa, was
born in County Kerry, near Killarney, Ireland,
on the 15th of August, 1827, and has therefore
attained the age of eighty years. Although of
foreign birth, the greater part of his life has
been spent in America. He came to this country
in 1838 with his parents who located in Springfield,
Massachusetts, where he resided until 1849. In
that year he be came a resident of Chicago, Illinois,
which at that time was a city of only five or
six thousand population, and the most far-sighted
could not have foreseen the immense development
which was to make it the second city in the nation
and one of the largest in the world. For three
years he remained in Chicago employed as a salesman
in a grocery store and also for Troop & Hubbard,
Indian agents there, selling large quantities
of blankets, beads and other commodities to the
Indians who still visited the city for supplies.
In 1852 Captain Brown began railroading in the
engineer's department of the Illinois Central
Railroad and was so employed for about two years.
On the expiration of that period he came to Iowa,
settling at Dubuque in 1854, making his residence
in that city until 1861, when, at the outbreak
of the Civil war, he offered his aid to the government.
He had watched with interest the progress of events
in the south and had noted the threatening attitude
of the slave-holding states and had determined
that if a blow was struck to overthrow the Union
he would strike one in its defense. Hardly had
the smoke from Fort Sumter's guns cleared away
when he entered the service. In fact, he enlisted
as a private in Company I, Twelfth Iowa Volunteer
Infantry on the 28th of March, 1861, and on the
18th of April this company was mustered into the
United States service for three years. He continued
at the front until mustered out at Davenport,
Iowa, in November, 1865, having for almost four
and a half years been in military service of the
country. He participated in the battles of Shiloh
and Corinth, after which he returned to Shiloh,
where he was captured, being sent thence to Mobile,
Alabama, where he was incarcerated for three months
in a tobacco warehouse, after which he was exchanged.
Later he was commissioned second lieutenant of
Company I, Twelfth Iowa Volunteer
697
Infantry, and returned to Dubuque, but the regiment
had been greatly decimated at Shiloh and Mr. Brown
upon his return to Dubuque found that the Sixth
Iowa Cavalry was being organized. He was therefore
commissioned first lieutenant of Company M, of
that command, with which he served until November,
1865. The Sixth Cavalry was sent to Dakota to
guard against Indians and there Captain Brown
remained until the war was over. Leaving the volunteer
service in November, 1865, he entered the regular
army and located at Fort Russell, Wyoming, where
he remained for a year when he resigned.
When his soldier life was ended, Captain Brown
began railroad contracting, continuing in the
business for many years or until 1890, when he
retired. At one time he was a member of the firm
of Douglass, Brown & Company, large railroad
contractors. In 1866 he became a resident of Council
Bluffs, where he has since made his home, and
he is today one of the venerated and respected
residents of the city, having a large circle of
friends and the high regard of all who know him.
He is now serving for the second term as park
commissioner and his political allegiance is given
to the democracy.
In 1867 Captain Brown was married in Council
Bluffs to Miss Mary Ryan, and they have one daughter,
Nora. He and his wife are members of the Catholic
church. His has been a somewhat eventful life
in its varied experiences in the middle west and
in the south and upon the frontier as a soldier,
and he relates many interesting incidents of his
military experience. He has made his home in Council
Bluffs for over four decades and is therefore
one of its old settlers, having witnessed most
of its growth and development. He is a self-made
man who through his own well directed efforts
has met with success in business affairs, having
acquired a comfortable competence.
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Though the gentleman whose name introduces this
sketch has been a citizen of Council Bluffs but
six years he is already well and favorably known
as a very efficient funeral director of this city.
His birth occurred in La Porte county, Indiana,
on his father's farm, in 1852. It was in that
rich farming district that he spent his boyhood
and that he received his early education in the
county schools. The county has always been of
unusual interest to Mr. Cutler because of its
history, its growth and its fertility. When the
early settlers came to that section they found
a natural opening in the forest and named the
town and county by the French name, La Porte,
meaning "the door." With its rich fields
and its surrounding forests, which are always
in sight no matter where you may drive, the county
so appealed to Mr. Cutler that he made it his
home until the year 1901. His mother spent her
last years in the city of La Porte in a large
and beautiful home, where she passed away in the
winter of 1906-7.
The elder Mr. Cutler was so successful a farmer
that his son followed in his footsteps and had
one of the best equipped farms in the county.
His adoption of the progressive methods and implements
and his practical straight
698
forwardness made him one of the representative
agriculturists of the county. He entered into
the furniture business in La Porte at one time
and conducted it successfully for three years
but was eager to return to his farm. This is not
surprising, for his was a beautiful home which
lay some four miles from La Porte on the old government
road which led from Detroit to Chicago and over
which the mail was carried in the days of the
stage coach. Mr. Cutler's brother, as well as
his father-in-law, were successful funeral directors
in La Porte and through them he became interested
in that business. He was indirectly connected
with it in his native city and in January, 1901,
removed to Council Bluffs, where he opened a business
of his own and where he has met with a marked
degree of success.
In 1877, Mr. Cutler was married, in La Porte,
to Carrie Weir, it daughter of Henry B. Weir.
Their union has been blessed with four splendid
sons, all of whom are now living. Mr. Cutler is
a member of the Elks lodge, the Tribe of Ben Hur,
the Maccabees and the Independent Order of Odd
Fellows. He and his family have always been active
members of the Baptist church, of which he is
a deacon and to which they have always given a
hearty support. In his political relations he
is a stanch republican and though he has never
sought its offices or honors he has given his
active assistance to those who have. In his private
life and among his friends and family he is a
most genial, agreeable and companionable gentleman,
kind, tolerant and loving, and it has always seemed
that he could not do too much to promote the welfare
or enhance the happiness of his family. His sons
have received unusual educational opportunities
and have made the most of them. Mr. Cutler is
a gentleman in the true sense of that word, always
sympathetic and displaying a helpful spirit, which
has made him a great success in the business in
which he is now engaged.
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Click for full size"
LOVERIDGE
S. AXTELL.
Although Loveridge S. Axtell has passed the Psalmist's
allotted span of three score years and ten he
is yet active in the management of farming interests
in Boomer township. He was born in Mercer county,
Pennsylvania, November 24, 1832. His father, Samuel
Axtell, was a native of Washington county, Pennsylvania,
where his early years were spent, and in Mercer
he engaged in the practice of medicine for fifty
years, becoming the loved family physician in
many a household. There at Sheakleyville, Mercer
county, his death occurred when he had reached
the age of seventy-five years. His wife, Mrs.
Mary (Loveridge) Axtell, was born in Pennsylvania
of German parentage and died at the very advanced
age of ninety-four years. In their family were
eleven children but only three still survive,
namely: Loveridge S.; Hutton, a Methodist Episcopal
minister who for years has labored in behalf of
the church in Chicago; and J. M., living in Boomer
township.
As boy and youth Loveridge S. Axtell remained
with his parents in Mercer county and his preliminary
education, acquired in the public schools, was
sup-
701
plemented by three years' study in Allegheny
College. He thus became well equipped for life's
practical and responsible duties. In 1854 there
was much discussion concerning an emigration colony
and about two hundred families planned to remove
to the west. At a meeting which was held an agent
for a New York land company appeared before them
and made a speech, telling them of land owned
by the company in the central part of the state
of Kansas and claiming that the capital was sure
to be located there in the future. He offered
big inducements to get the colony to remove to
the Sunflower state. He said that the company
would allow them to send two persons to Kansas
as a locating committee and the two selected were
Dr. Owens and Mr. Axtell of this review. At a
meeting held in the afternoon, however, Mr. Axtell
made his maiden speech against joining this concern,
saying that they were then free to do as they
pleased and he did not consider it good policy
to join with anyone. Re carried his point, although
some, however, were disappointed and in the evening
called another meeting, voting then to join with
the New York company. Mr. Axtell went with the
locating committee to the west and spent five
weeks in looking over the country. He found it
all to be a swindle, that nothing was as it had
been represented and that in place of a settlement
there was only a wilderness. In some way he came
into possession of a New York Tribune and found
in it a big advertisement in which the same company
offered Jots for sale at ten dollars. Mr. Axtell
and Dr. Owens then wrote out a statement of the
facts, sent it to Horace Greeley, then editor
of the paper, and in that way the true condition
of affairs became known to the public and nothing
more was ever heard of the company. The party
of Pennsylvania emigrants, however, came on to
the west and finally settled about one hundred
miles from Kansas City. Mr. Axtell was among those
who removed to that section and was prominent
in the pioneer development there. He was one of
the judges of the first general election of Kansas
and the polling place was mobbed by a party who
were attempting to make Kansas a slave state.
Later Mr. Axtell went to Missouri, where he engaged
in teaching school and in 1856 he made his way
to Council Bluffs, which was then a small frontier
town of little commercial or industrial importance.
Here he worked at the carpenter's trade for a
year and then engaged in teaching school for nine
years, being thus closely associated with the
early educational development of the district.
During two years of that time he taught in the
old log courthouse, which was the first one in
Pottawattamie county, and he was also superintendent
of schools during a part of the time that he was
engaged in teaching.
In 1865, however, Mr. Axtell turned his attention
to general agricultural pursuits, purchasing one
hundred and twenty acres of land where his home
now stands. He gathered up the remains from the
old Mormon log cabins in the neighborhood and
thus built a dwelling for himself. In true pioneer
style he began life on the farm and as the years
passed transformed it from an undeveloped tract
of prairie into rich and productive fields. He
now owns two hundred and sixty acres of land in
Boomer township and one hundred and sixty acres
in Rockford township. Upon the home place he has
a fine residence and outbuildings, all of which
were erected by him, he performing the labor necessary
for their construction.
702
On the 24th of April, 1856, Mr. Axtell was married
to Miss Sarah Holloway, a native of Pennsylvania,
who died in 1858. Their only child died in infancy.
In 1862 Mr. Axtell again married, his second union
being with Fannie Wade, who was born in England
in 1840 and in 1860 accompanied her parents to
St. Louis, Missouri, whence they came to Council
Bluffs in 1855. She was one of four children,
the others being: Mrs. Mary Peters, now of Osage
county, Missouri; Mrs. Rosanna Vincent, of Hazel
Dell township; and Mrs. Isabelle Bateman, of Boomer
township. Unto the second marriage of Mr. Axtell
eight children were born: Loveridge H., who married
Elizabeth Goodchild and is living in Oregon; Charles
M., who wedded Clara Driver and is a farmer of
Boomer township; Ida, the wife of Lewis Peters,
also of Boomer township; Aggie, who married George
Nusum and is living in Boomer township; Henry
W., an architect of Seattle, Washington; Walter
G., who wedded Mary Anderson and resides in Woodbine,
Iowa; Spencer B., who married Lena Reel and operates
the home farm; and Frank, who died at the age
of one year.
For a long period after coming to this county
Mr. Axtell engaged in farming and with excellent
success but for several years past has rented
his farm and is now living with his daughter,
Mrs. Nusum. He became a republican soon after
the organization of the party, identifying his
interests therewith in Kansas, when the question
of making that state slave or free was under discussion.
He has been secretary of the school board for
a number of years and that he is one of the prominent
and influential residents of the county is indicated
by the fact that in 1873-4 he represented the
district in the state legislature. Few men can
show a history of pioneer experiences which parallels
that of Mr. Axtell. Leaving his old home in Pennsylvania,
he became one of the early settlers of Kansas
and later of Pottawattamie county and at all times
shared in the difficulties and dangers incident
to frontier life. Ever bearing his part in the
work of development and progress, he aided in
laying broad and deep the foundation upon which
the present prosperity and advanced condition
of the county is based.
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ELMER L. FEHR.
Elmer L. Fehr, a practitioner at the bar of Council
Bluffs and vice president of the Benjamin-Fehr
Real Estate Company; was born in Stephenson county,
Illinois, in 1864. He lived there to the age of
sixteen years and was a student in the schools.
He then accompanied his parents to Pottawattamie
county, Iowa, in 1880 and again the family home
was established upon a farm, where he lived until
1896, meeting the usual experiences of agricultural
life, as he assisted in the labors of field and
meadow. At length coming to the conclusion that
he would prefer a professional to an agricultural
career he took up the study of law in 1897 and
in 1899 was graduated from the law department
of the State University at Iowa City. Having thus
qualified for the bar he located at Oakland, Pottawattamie
county, where he opened an office and spent five
years, when, seeking a broader field of labor,
he
703
removed to Council Bluffs in 1904. Here he has
demonstrated his ability in legal lines by his
careful and successful conduct of important litigated
interests, gaining favorable comment as a lawyer
from the general public and from the profession.
In the year of his removal to Council Bluffs the
Benjamin-Fehr Real Estate Company was organized,
with Fremont Benjamin, as president; Wallace Benjamin,
as treasurer; and Verne Benjamin and Mr. Fehr,
2S vice presidents, and thus Mr. Fehr is connected
with property interests of the city, the firm
conducting an extensive and successful real-estate
business.
In his fraternal relations Mr. Fehr is a Modern
Woodman. His political views are in harmony with
the principles and policy of the republican party
and he served for three years in the city council
at Oakland. As every true American citizen should
do, he has thoroughly informed himself on political
questions and in stanch manner advocates those
ideas and measures which he deems to be of greatest
benefit to the community and the country at large.
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William Neumann, who is successfully engaged
in gardening in Avoca, is a native of Germany,
his birth having occurred in old Stettin, Prussia,
on the 18th of December, 1842. His parents were
John and Christine Neumann, who were also born
in the fatherland, the father passing away there
in 1846. His widow came to America in 1871, her
death .occurring at Avoca in 1905, when she had
attained the venerable age of ninety-one years.
She had become the mother .of three children,
namely: William, of this review; Albert, a resident
of Davenport, Iowa; and Minnie, the widow of Mandel
Kow, living in Avoca, Iowa.
William Neumann was educated in the common schools
of his native country and there grew to manhood.
In 1869, at the age of twenty-seven years, he
determined to come to America, having heard favorable
reports of the broader business opportunities
and advantages of the new World. On his arrival
in this county he located first at Cleveland,
Ohio, being there employed in a brickyard for
five years. On the expiration of that period he
removed to Carroll county, Iowa, where he operated
a rented farm for two years. He then took up his
abode in Avoca, Pottawattamie county, Iowa, and
remained a resident of this place until 1893,
when he removed to Seattle, Washington, and there
worked for a year as a laborer. At the end of
that time, however, he again came to Avoca, purchasing
five acres of land, which he improved and on which
he has since carried on gardening. He has met
with success in this undertaking, his products
finding a ready sale on the market by reason of
their good quality and uniform excellence.
In 1865 Mr. Neumann was united in marriage to
Miss Frederica Wendt, whose parents were both
natives of Germany. The mother, died in that country
but the father came to America in 1871, taking
up his abode in Cleveland, Ohio, where he passed
away. Mrs. Neumann was one of a family of ten
children and by her marriage has become the mother
of the following children:
704
Max and William, both residents of Avoca, Iowa;
Augusta, the wife of Fred Dunham, also living
in Avoca; one who has departed this life; Minnie,
living in Avoca; and Helene, who married J. C.
Marquardt and lives in Avoca.
In his political views Mr. Neumann is a democrat,
while in religious faith both he and his wife
are members of the German Lutheran church. They
are known throughout the entire community as people
of genuine personal worth and have won the warm
regard and esteem of all with whom they have come
in contact. The hope that led our subject to leave
his native land and seek a home in America has
been more than realized. Through the utilization
of the larger business opportunities here offered,
he has become a representative and enterprising
citizen of his county and is a credit alike to
the land of his birth and that of his adoption.
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John W. Peregoy, president of the Peregoy &
Moore Company, wholesale dealers in cigars and
tobacco, was born in Baltimore, Maryland, August
24, 1835, and is a son of Charles and Elizabeth
Peregoy. He was reared at Baltimore and at Winchester,
Virginia, where his mother's people resided, and
there acquired his early education but his advantages
along that line were rather limited for at the
age of twelve years he left school and began work
in a cigar shop in Baltimore, where he served
a two years' apprenticeship at the cigar-maker's
trade, working for his board and clothes during
that time. Raving mastered the business in principle
and detail, he was then employed at his trade
in Winchester, Alexandria and Middleburg, Virginia,
and at Washington, D. C.
While in the capital city the war of the Rebellion
broke out and Mr. Peregoy's patriotism was so
aroused that he enlisted in Company E, Fourth
Battalion, District of Columbia Volunteers, for
three months, but rheumatism soon rendered him
unfit for .active service and he was honorably
discharged. Going to Dayton, Ohio, he worked at
his trade in that city for two years and subsequently
traveled over the west and northwest for several
years working at his trade.
In 1868 Mr. Peregoy came to Council Bluffs and
embarked in the cigar business, manufacturing
his own cigars, and from a small beginning he
has gradually built up his business to its present
immense proportions, having today the largest
trade of any establishment of the kind west of
New York. In 1904 the business was incorporated
with Mr. Peregoy as president and under his able
management it has become an important industry,
so that Council Bluffs now ranks him among her
wealthy and substantial citizens.
On the 18th of December, 1872, in Council Bluffs,
Mr. Peregoy married Miss Inez Kirkpatrick, and
to them were born four children but Robert C.
is the only one now living.
Mr. Peregoy is public-spirited and progressive
and has served six years on the park board and
as treasurer of the board of education for seven
years.
705
In his political relations he is independent,
preferring to vote for men and measures rather
than party. Since coming to Council Bluffs he
has united with the Masonic fraternity and is
now a member of Bluff City lodge, No. 71, A. F.
& A. M.; Star chapter, No. 47, R. A. M.; and
Ivanhoe commandery, No. 17, K. T., having served
as grand junior warden of the grand lodge. He
is also a member of the Elks lodge, No. 531. He
had a natural liking and adaptability for the
business in which he is engaged and believed that
in that line lay success for him. His hopes have
been more than realized and though he started
out in life without capital he has by his honesty
and untiring efforts succeeded in acquiring a
handsome competence and in building up an extensive
and profitable business. His whole life has been
such as to gain for him the confidence and good
will of those with whom he has come in contact.
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Clement Field Kimball, city attorney of Council
Bluffs, and one who in his private as well as
professional capacity exerts a strongly felt influence
for the welfare and progress of the city, has
here resided since 1895. He came here a recent
graduate of the law department of the State University
of Michigan at Ann Arbor and opened a law office
for general practice. He has since made steady
progress in the field of his chosen calling and
is now regarded as one of the able lawyers at
the bar, of western Iowa.
A native son of this state, he was born in Anamosa
on the 11th of August, 1868, his parents being
John C. and Lucy (Field) Kimball, the former a
manufacturer of machinery. The son was educated
in the common schools until he had mastered he,
elementary branches of learning, after which he
entered the state college[at Ames, Iowa, from
which he was graduated in the class of 1889. He
completed his preparation for the practice of
law as a student in the law department of the
State University of Michigan at Ann Arbor and
in the meantime he engaged in teaching for four
years in the Chicago Manual Training School and
in high schools. He had thus been enabled to prosecute
his own studies and when he had qualified for
practice he located in Council Bluffs, where for
twelve years he has remained an active member
of the bar. He entered upon general practice,
in which he still continues but has made somewhat
of a specialty of corporation law and is now the
legal representative of several important corporate
bodies. He belongs to the Pottawattamie County
Bar Association and to the State Bar Association
and he is regarded by the legal fraternity, as
well as by the general public, as a close and
discriminating student of, his profession, who
does thoroughly the work of the office before
entering the courtroom, wherein he presents his
cause in clear, logical and cogent manner.
Mr. Kimball was married to Miss Carroll Williams,
a daughter of Captain R. S. and Jennie C. Williams,
the former a lumber merchant of Wyoming, Iowa.
The wedding was celebrated in 1895 and unto them
has been born a son, John Williams Kimball, whose
natal day was February 7, 1901.
706
Mr. Kimball is an active republican, recognized
as one of the prominent and influential members
of the party in this locality. He has studied
closely the signs of the times and the questions
of the day and is a strong adherent of good government
and equally stanch in his opposition to misrule
in public affairs. In this connection he is serving
as a member of the legislative committee of the
Iowa League of Municipalities. He served as assistant
county attorney from 1899 until 1903 and at the
present writing is capably filling the position
of city attorney. He is well known socially and
is popular in various organizations. He belongs
to the Commercial Club, to the Council Bluffs
Rowing Association, to the Knights of the Maccabees,
the Woodmen of the World, and the Royal Arcanum.
He is prominent in the Knights of Pythias order,
being a district deputy grand master and he is
also royal prince of the Dramatic Order of the
Knights of Khorasan. A young man, he has already
left the impress of his individuality upon public
interests and aside from his profession he centers
his energies most largely perhaps upon the efforts
to promote a higher standard of citizenship and
a greater regard for the duties and obligations
which devolve upon the individual in this connection.
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