The above
image is of my ancestors.
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Thomas G. Green, of the firm of Green & Riker,
real-estate and insurance agents, was born in
the outskirts of Council Bluffs, July 27, 1876.
He was reared to manhood under the parental roof
and received his education in the pub1ic schools,
from which he was graduated in 1894. He immediately
secured employment in the First National Bank,
where he remained for two years, and then entered
the office of Lougee & Lougee, dealers in
real estate and loans, continuing there for nine
and one-half years. He was actively interested
in every detail of their business and most popular
with their patrons. The firm took great interest
in giving him the benefit of their experience
and he was wise enough to make the best of these
opportunities.
In 1905 Mr. Green formed a partnership with Mr.
Riker and has been busy since that time in building
up an enterprising business. Though the firm has
been in existence but two years it has by close
attention to business secured a large patronage.
His keen eye and instinctive business judgment
enables Mr. Green to be a. competent judge of
real-estate values and his advice on these matters
is often sought. In the line of insurance he has
839
always given satisfaction both to the companies
which he represents and to the patrons who have
taken out insurance in those companies. Outside
of his immediate business he has been interested
in the Bloomer Ice & Cold Storage Company,
of which he is the efficient secretary. Fraternally
he is well known in Council Bluffs, being an active
member of the Elks lodge, the Masonic order, the
Royal Arcanum, and one of the executive committee
of the Commercial club. His excellent judgment
is largely depended upon in the enterprises which
this club promotes. In politics he is independent
and has never sought political preferment in any
way.
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The German-American element in our citizenship
has long been recognized as a valuable one. The
sons of the fatherland coming to the new world
have adapted themselves to the altered conditions
found here and through the national characteristic
of diligence and perseverance have usually worked
their way upward. A splendid example of this class
of citizens is found in William Husz, now the
largest farmer of Silver Creek township, deriving
his income from seven hundred acres of rich and
valuable land.
He was born in Holstein, Germany, August 24,
1854, and his entire life record is marked by
progress. He was the youngest of three sons and
remained a resident of his native country until
sixteen years of age, when he came with his parents
to the United States. They settled in Davenport,
Iowa, in 1870, and after five years the subject
of this review came to Pottawattamie county in
1875. His father, Detlef Husz, had died in Davenport
soon after the arrival of the family in this state.
The mother, Mrs. Anna Husz, came with her sons
William and Fred, now of Council Bluffs, to Pottawattamie
county. One son, Henry Husz, is a shoemaker of
Davenport. The mother died in this county at the
age of seventy-three years.
Fred Husz purchased eighty acres of the farm
on which our subject now resides, the latter renting
one half of it, and in partnership they carried
on the work of cultivation and development for
four years. William Husz then bought fifty-four
acres of prairie land, which is now part of his
present fine farm, giving eight dollars per acre
for the tract. Two years later he gave twenty-one
dollars per acre for a tract of eighty acres and
twelve years ago he purchased his present place
from his brother for thirty-five dollars per acre.
As opportunity has afforded he has further extended
the boundaries of this farm until he now has four
hundred and ninety-four acres on sections 4 and
5, Silver Creek township, while in Washington
township he has two hundred acres. His landed
possessions, therefore, aggregate nearly seven
hundred acres and the entire tract is well improved.
Upon it are three sets of good farm buildings.
Mr. Husz cultivates the cereals best adapted to
the soil and climate and, moreover, is known as
an extensive dealer in live stock, raising Durham
cattle and feeding about two hundred
840
head of cattle per year and three hundred head
of hogs annually. Besides his farm property he
has six lots and three dwellings in Treynor. His
business interests are capably managed and his
laudable ambition has led him constantly onward
until he has long since left the ranks of the
many to stand among the successful few.
In 1884 was celebrated the marriage of William
Husz and Miss Dora Olderog, a native of Germany,
who came to this county in 1882 with her widowed
mother and sister. Her brother, August Olderog,
is mentioned elsewhere in this volume. Unto Mr.
and Mrs. Husz have been born nine children: Anastina,
the wife of Fritz Brenning, who is living on her
father's farm in Washington township; Claus, Amelia,
Herman, Lena, Bertie, Detlef, Harry and Rudolph,
all yet at home.
The family hold membership in the Lutheran church
at Treynor and Mr. Husz is loyal to its interests
and equally faithful to the republican party,
for he believes that its platform contains the
best elements of good government. He is pre-eminently
a self-made man, and as the architect of his own
fortune has built wisely and well. As the years
have gone by he has utilized his opportunities
and has given due consideration to the value of
industry and perseverance as factors in a successful
career. In this country where labor is unhampered
by caste or class he has become recognized as
one of the foremost representatives of agricultural
interests in his adopted county and the most extensive
farmer of his township.
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JOHN MEYER.
John Meyer derives a good income from a farm
of two hundred and forty acres which he owns on
section 15, Norwalk township. This is well improved
and valuable land on which are two sets of farm
buildings. An air of neatness and thrift pervades
the place and indicates to the passerby the careful
supervision and progressive methods of the owner,
who since 1882 has made his home in Pottawattamie
county. Previously he lived for a time in Jackson
county, Iowa, while his birth occurred in Hanover,
Germany, August 31, 1852. There he was reared
to the age of seventeen years and enjoyed such
educational privileges as were afforded by the
public schools. In 1870 he crossed the Atlantic
to the new world and in the years which have since
come and gone he has never regretted the step
which he then took, for in this country he has
found good business opportunities and has gradually
advanced in business life until he is now one
of the men of affluence of his community, He carne
direct to Iowa and began work on a farm in Jackson
county, In the fall, however, he devoted two or
three months to railroad construction and afterward
spent a few years at farm labor.
On the 12th of February, 1882, in Jackson county,
Mr. Meyer was married to Christen a Berg, a native
of Iowa. Soon after their marriage they removed
to Pottawattamie county and Mr. Meyer purchased
one hundred and sixty acres, constituting an.
improved farm in Minden township. Later he
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bought one hundred acres adjoining in York township
and cultivated this place of two hundred and sixty
acres for twelve years. On the expiration of that
period, in 1895, he removed to Underwood, where
he engaged in the livestock business, buying and
shipping stock. His attention was thus occupied
for five years and in 1901 he took up his abode
on his present home farm on section 15, Norwalk
township. He purchased this place while living
upon his old farm. He has since improved the property
in many substantial ways, has erected a nice residence
here, a substantial barn and two corn cribs. He
has also added considerable fruit to the place
and he makes a business of raising and feeding
stock, the annual sale of which brings to him
a good income. In the spring of 1903 he purchased
eight hundred acres of raw prairie land in Gray
county, Texas, the Panhandle country. Mr. Meyer
is a stockholder and director in the Underwood
Farmers & Merchants Bank. He was one of its
promoters, the institution being organized in
1903 by Mr. Meyer, Henry Shields, of Underwood,
who is president, and James Shaff, who is cashier.
Mr. and Mrs. Meyer have a family of four sons
and one daughter: John, who is living on the old
home farm in Minden township; George, who is associated
with his brother; Walter and Julius both at home;
and Emma, the wife of John Cohen, a lumber and
grain dealer of Luton, Iowa.
Mr. Meyer formerly gave his political allegiance
to the republican party but is now a stanch democrat
and a supporter of William Jennings Bryan. He
served on the school board for several years and
for two terms was township trustee, discharging
his duties with promptness and fidelity. Both
he and his wife are members of the Underwood Lutheran
church and are greatly esteemed in the community
as people of genuine personal worth.
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Tom S. Farnsworth, vice president of the Keller-Farnsworth
Furniture Company of Council Bluffs, his native
city, was born in 1877 and is a son of Shepard
Farnsworth, of whom mention is made elsewhere
in this work. As most of his life has here been
passed his history is largely known to his fellow
townsmen, who have noted in his life record much
that is worthy of commendation. His boyhood days
were spent under the parental roof and the public
schools afforded him his educational privileges.
He passed through grade after grade here until
he entered Shattuck Military School, at Faribault,
Minnesota, where he remained as a student until
1895. He then returned home and became a factor
in business life. He entered the Council Bluffs
Savings Bank, where he occupied a clerical position
for three years. On the 31st of December, 1901,
the present firm was incorporated under the name
of the Keller-Farnsworth Furniture Company, as
successors to S. S. Keller, and Mr. Farnsworth
was made vice president, which position he has
since occupied. His progressive ideas, his forceful
char-
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acter and his unfaltering determination constitute
the strong elements in the success of the house.
Socially Mr. Farnsworth is connected with the
Elks and the Eagles. He enlisted for service in
the Spanish-American war, becoming a private of
Company L, Fifty-first Regiment of Iowa Volunteer
Infantry. He then went to the Philippines, where
he continued for about eighteen months, when he
was mustered out, having served on detached duty
most of the time.
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Henry A. Van Beck, who is connected with the
R. J. Martin hardware business at Hancock and
is the owner of valuable farming interests and
other properties, was born in the kingdom of Holland,
August 2, 1860, his parents being Cornelius and
Henrietta (Valkenberg) Van Beck, of whose family
of five children two are yet living, the younger
being Ida, the wife of Matthias Verros, of Marion
county, Iowa. The parents were natives of Holland,
where they were reared and married, and in 1855
the father came to the United States, settling
at Keokuk, Iowa, where he engaged in conducting
a livery and sales stable. His family, however,
remained in Holland, and in 1859 he returned to
his native land. He did not again come to the
United States until 1861, when he brought his
family to this country. He had not disposed of
his business in Keokuk and resumed its management
upon his return, remaining a member of the firm
of McKee & Simpson Company until 1873. His
death occurred the following year and the mother
and her children removed to Hancock county, Illinois,
but in 1875 returned to Iowa and again located
in Keokuk. In 1887 the family came to Pottawattamie
county, purchasing a farm of eighty acres in Valley
township, and later bought an adjoining tract
of eighty acres, upon which the mother spent her
remaining days, passing away in February, 1894.
Henry A. Van Beck was only about a year old when
his parents came to the United States and was
a youth of fourteen at the time of his father's
death. At the age of nineteen he took charge of
the whole farm and became the head of the family,
continuing in the active control of the business
for some time. His education was limited to the
opportunities offered by the public schools but
he was a student and made the most of his advantages,
while through reading and observation in later
years he greatly broadened his knowledge. On coming
to Pottawattamie county he purchased the farm
which he still owns, and he likewise has a farm
of one hundred and sixty acres in Merrick county,
Nebraska, as well as extensive holdings in village
property in Hancock, where he maintains his home.
In 1902 he left the farm and removed to the town,
since which time he has been in the employ of
R. J. Martin, a hardware merchant.
On the 28th of December, 1892, Mr. Van Beck was
married to Miss Leah Ann Griffith, of Valley township,
who was his second wife. He had
845
formerly wedded Anna Battens, of Keokuk, in 1884,
but after about two years she passed away on the
7th of July, 1886, leaving one son, Farnam G.,
who operates his father's farm in Valley township.
In his political views Mr. Van Beck is a democrat
and was candidate for township trustee. Although
the township is strongly republican he was defeated
by only nine votes, a fact which indicates his
personal popularity and the confidence reposed
in him by his fellow townsmen. He is now a member
of the town council of Hancock and one of the
leading representative citizens of the community,
taking an active and helpful interests in all
matters pertaining to the public goad. Socially
he is connected with Valley lodge, Na. 439, I.
O. O. F.; Garrett camp, M. W. A., of Hancock;
and the Farmers encampment, Na. 204, I. O. O.
F. Starting out in life for himself at an early
age because of his father's demise, dependent
upon his own resources, as the years have gone
by he has won a creditable measure of success
and is today one of the substantial residents
of the county, having made judicious investments
in real estate. Moreover his devotion to the public
good, his loyalty in citizenship, his fidelity
in friendship, and his trustworthiness in the
discharge of every duty that devolves upon him,
have gained for him the confidence and good will
of all with whom he has come in contact.
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Dr. Frank Earl Bellinger, of Council Bluffs,
was born in Ogdensburg, New York, in 1874, and
it was there that he received his primary education
in the public schools, supplementing this by his
attendance at the public schools of Pocahontas
county, Iowa, whither the family had removed.
His father was a farmer by occupation. With the
natural instinct which seemed to aid so many boys
in deciding upon their career, Dr. Bellinger determined
to became a physician. He afterward went to Creighton
University, Omaha, graduating from the medical
department in 1900. For one year he practiced
medicine in Council Bluffs and at the end of that
time decided to pursue a post-graduate course
in the Chicago Post Graduate College and in 1907
he to took a course in the Post Graduate Hospital
and College in New York city. At all of these
institutions he acquired an enviable reputation
as a student, being quick of perception, which
is so necessary in the medical profession.
Dr. Bellinger was married, April 6, 1907, in
Lexington, Kentucky, to Edna Hunt, a daughter
of Pardan B. Hunt, of Harlan, Iowa. Though a young
man of thirty-three, Dr. Bellinger is as well
equipped for his professional work by education
and natural endowment that a life of large usefulness
may be predicted for him. He loves the profession
and in his character he combines those qualities
of mind and heart that render him popular and
have secured for him the warm friendship and genuine
esteem of all who know him. He is well known to
the profession and is a very popular
846
member not only of the Council Bluffs Medical
Society but of the Pottawattamie County Medical
Society, the Iowa State Medical Society, the Missouri
Valley Medical Society and of the American Medical
Association. He has always been prominent in fraternal
organizations, holding membership with the Elks,
the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and Knights
Templar, and he has the honor of being a noble
of the Mystic Shrine in Tangier Temple, Omaha,
Nebraska. His political affiliations have been
with the democratic party but he has always kept
out of politics and would never consent to be
a candidate for office. He has a disposition which
is proverbially cheery and which makes men feel
that all is right and all is going to be right,
a natural endowment which means a fortune to men
of the medical profession.
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John D. Felton, of Neola, dates his residence
in this town from 1891 and in the county from
1875. He was born in Lancashire, England, June
6, 1834. His father, Thomas Felton, was also a
native of that place and a saddler by trade. He
married Miss Elizabeth Bradley and they became
the parents of three children, of whom John D.
Felton is the second in order of birth. Reared
in England to the age of fifteen years, he then
came to America with his father's family, sailing
from Liverpool on a voyage which covered six weeks.
They established their home at Boston, Massachusetts,
and John D. Felton continued his education in
the schools there, while his father worked at
his trade in that city. After putting aside his
text-books the son learned the machinist's trade
in Boston, entering upon an apprenticeship thereto
when fifteen years of age. He followed that pursuit
until forty years of age, living a life of untiring
activity and industry.
Mr. Felton was married in Rhode Island, July
7, 1861, to Miss Harriet Johnson, a native of
Lancashire, England, and a daughter of James Johnson,
who came to America in 1852. Mr. Felton subsequent
to his marriage continued to work at the machinist's
trade until 1875. He then came to Iowa and bought
forty acres in Neola township, which was then
a tract of prairie, largely unimproved. With characteristic
energy he began its development and soon brought
the fields under a high state of cultivation.
His next purchase added forty acres to the original
farm and at different times he added other tracts
of sixty and forty acres but at one time sold
forty acres. He continued to reside upon the farm
and carefully conduct the work thereof until 1891,
when he removed to Neola, partly on account of
illness and partly to provide his children with
better educational privileges. After living in
the town for several years he bought where he
now resides, securing it block of land, building
a good home and setting out fruit trees. He was
formerly quite extensively engaged in market gardening,
finding this a profitable source of income.
847
Unto Mr. and Mrs. Felton have been born five
sons and a daughter but they lost their fourth
born, Royal B. Felton, who died in February, 1907,
at the age of twenty-eight years. He was cashier
of the Bank of Underwood and a prominent and enterprising
young business man. He married Mabel Rishton and
left a wife and one son, Bradley. Sophia Felton
is the wife of Kennedy Buchanan, a resident farmer
of Minden township, and they have two children,
Harriet and John. William married Verna Rishton,
lives in Neola and is a rural mail carrier. They
have two children, Miles and Harold. The next
member of the Felton family is James, a farmer
of Neola township, who married Sina Christison,
of this township, by whom he has six children:
Anna, Royal, James, Lester, Paul and Sophia. John
Felton, who was graduated from .the engineering
course at Ames College and is now an electrical
engineer of Spokane, Washington, married Myrtle
Bardsley, of Neola, and has two children, Lois
and Bessie. Thomas Felton married Emma Mass, by
whom he has one child, Mabel, and he is now engaged
in cultivating the old home farm at Neola.
Mr. Felton belongs to the Masonic lodge at Neola
and has always given loyal support to the republican
party but has never sought, or desired the rewards
of office in recognition of party fealty. He is
a well read man and deep thinker, keeping thoroughly
informed on the questions and issues of the day
and impressing all with whom he engages in any
lengthy conversation with the breadth of his knowledge.
Whatever he has accomplished in the line of material
or intellectual development is due largely to
his own labors. In the business world he has been
active and diligent and is both the architect
and builder of his own fortunes.
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Fred J. Duerr, president of the New Specialty
Manufacturing Company, was born in what was Phillipsburg,
now Monaca, Beaver county, Pennsylvania, March
22, 1860. When but six years, of age his parents
removed to Massilon, Ohio, where he received an
education in the public schools from which he
was graduated. He supplemented these advantages
with a course at the Iron City Business College
in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, from which he was
graduated in 1881.
The following year Mr. Duerr removed to Council
Bluffs, Iowa, where he had accepted a position
as bookkeeper for Russell & Company, who were
engaged in the manufacture of agricultural implements.
So well prepared was he for this work, being quick
and accurate in his habits, that for ten years
he was in the employ of this company and was constantly
promoted. He felt that it would be better for
his own interests to enter into business on his
own account, and he accordingly started the Eagle
laundry, which he ran successfully for four years.
At the end of that time he sold out and removed
to Joplin, Missouri, where for four years he engaged
in the grocery, commission and mining business.
He was successful in this enterprise and
848
sold out to a good advantage, removing to Silver
City, Iowa, where he again engaged in the grocery
business. His marked ability in these various
enterprises enabled him to lay up a capital which
was a just reward for his hard work, and he returned
to Council Bluffs, where he erected a building
for the Eagle laundry. In 1903 he organized the
New Specialty Manufacturing Company, which was
incorporated the same year. This business has
been running only four years but in that length
of time has grown to proportions which are a surprise
even to Mr. Duerr. People have given the company
their patronage and support because the men at
the head of it are thoroughly reliable and progressive.
Mr. Duerr was married in 1901, in Mills county,
Iowa, to Lulu Woodrow, by whom he has two children:
Fred W. and Eleanor. He is a member of no fraternal
organization and of no church, but in his political
affiliations is a stalwart republican, and though
never seeking office or honors, he has been active
in promoting the interests of his party. A man
who when a boy can start out with any position
that first presents itself and gradually climb
up to a place of independence and prominence in
the business world today, so that he has attained
what Mr. Duerr has accomplished at the age of
forty-seven years, has of necessity been an indefatigable
worker. Competition is so strong at the present
time that the business which achieves success
requires the closest attention and the greatest
vigor-qualities which Mr. Duerr has always given
to his business. He stands today in a position
which commands the respect and admiration of his
fellow citizens.
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Germany has furnished a most valuable and enterprising
class of citizens to America and the subject of
this sketch, who conducts the largest business
in art-goods, paints, wall paper, etc., in Council.
Bluffs, is no exception. He was born in the fatherland
in 1858 and there received his early education
and was reared to manhood under the parental roof.
With a desire to seek larger fields. of industry,
he decided to emigrate to America in 1881 and
upon his arrival on our shores located on a farm
in Pottawattamie county, Iowa. With all the physical
vigor and enterprise of the German people he was
most successful in this undertaking, but he felt
that the business world would afford him larger
opportunities and he accordingly carne to Council
Bluffs, where he secured employment as a paper-hanger
and painter, working at this trade continuously
for several years. He was fortunate in having
gone into a business for which he was particularly
well fitted, and in 1902 he opened his present
rooms, a fine double store at 209-211 South Main
street. His place is thoroughly up-to-date, artistic
in every particular, and he furnishes only first-class
material and labor. Those who are most fastidious
in their tastes find that Mr. Borwick is always
successful in doing satisfactorily whatever he
is engaged upon, and his business has grown until
it has now become the largest in that line in
Council Bluffs.
849
Henry Borwick belongs to the German Evangelical
church, the religion in which he was reared. He
has been an officer in this church and superintendent
of the Sunday school for eleven years and is now
class leader. He is a conscientious Christian
man who carries his religion into his life. His
five sons and one daughter are being given all
of the educational advantages of which they are
willing to make the most, and have been trained
in a home where honor, morality and a Christian
spirit have always prevailed.
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| LEWIS SMITH.
Lewis Smith, residing on section 16, Garner township,
where he is engaged quite extensively in general
agricultural pursuits, is a native of 'Gallipolis,
Gallia county, Ohio, born on the 24th of March,
1841. His parents were Robert and Elizabeth (Vincent)
Smith, both of whom were natives of Virginia,
in which state they were reared and married. After
residing for some time in Ohio they removed to
Adams county, Illinois, in 1847 and there purchased
a partially developed farm, upon which Mr. Smith
made some further improvements, although he was
not long permitted to enjoy his new home, for
after a residence of four years in Illinois he
passed away in 1851 at the age of fifty-six. His
wife long survived him and died in 1874 at the
age of seventy-four years. She was a consistent
and faithful member of the Baptist church. By
a former marriage the father had three children,
all of whom are now deceased. By the second marriage
there were five children: Mrs. Mary Carr, a resident
of Canton, Missouri; Lewis; James, who is living
in Neola, Iowa; Christopher, whose home is in
Illinois; and Mrs. Nannie Breneman. Of this family
Christopher served as a soldier of the Civil war,
enlisting as a private in an Illinois regiment
of infantry. Going to the front he served for
eleven months or until the close of the war.
In his boyhood Lewis Smith attended the common
schools but his educational privileges were somewhat
meager and he is largely a self-educated as well
as self-made man financially. At the very early
age of ten years he began earning his own living
by working as a farm hand and was thus employed
in Adams county until 1863, when he started for
Colorado with Mr. Wakefield, his wife's uncle.
Later he went to Virginia City, Montana, where
he was engaged in mining for nearly two years,
and while there the vigilance committee was organized
and he witnessed the first hanging, five men being
suspended from one ridge pole. He returned by
stage to Illinois. The following year he again
went to Denver, Colorado, where he remained for
a time, being engaged in freighting from Omaha
to Denver. Again he took up his abode in Illinois
and in 1866 he arrived in Garner township, Pottawattamie
county, Iowa. Here he entered the employ of William
Garner, his future father-in-law, and on starting
out upon an independent business career as an
agriculturist he rented land. Living frugally
and economically, he acquired the capital that
enabled him later to pur-
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chase eighty acres which adjoins a part of the
farms which Mrs. Smith inherited from her father.
Mr. Smith, his wife and sons now own altogether
two hundred and sixty acres of rich and productive
land in Garner township. He has long been regarded
as one of the energetic agriculturists of the
community, following methods which are at once
practical and resultant. He is systematic as well
as energetic in all that he does and his labors
have been carefully directed along lines that
have brought him a goodly measure of prosperity.
It was on the 8th of December, 1868, that Mr.
Smith was united in marriage to Miss Rachel Ann
Garner, a daughter of William Garner, one of the
honored pioneer settlers of the county, who is
mentioned elsewhere in this volume. Unto this
marriage were born eight children: Minnie I.,
Robert Lee, Mark R, L. Berton, H. Ralph, Myrtle,
Raymond C. and Hazel R., all are still living
at home with the exception of Berton, who married
a Miss Hillman and resides in Garner township.
He has one son, Elmo. Myrtle and Raymond are both
now engaged in teaching. Ralph is township assessor
and is regarded as a most competent and faithful
official, now serving for the third year, while
his incumbency will cover still another year.
In his political views Mr. Smith is a stalwart
democrat and his fellow townsmen, recognizing
his worth and ability, have called him to some
local offices. He has been township trustee and
road supervisor and has been connected with the
schools in an official capacity during the greater
period of his residence in the county. His life
history embraces some interesting experiences
connected with the early mining days of Colorado
and Montana but during the greater part of his
life he has followed the occupation of farming
and his diligence and perseverance have constituted
the measure of his success.
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