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877
BERT SHEELY.
Bert Sheely, a partner of the firm of Sheely
& Lane, dealers in monuments at Council Bluffs,
was born in Albany, New York, on the 15th of November,
1855. His paternal grandfather, Gottlieb Sheely,
was a native of Stuttgart, Germany, and lived
and died in that place. The father, Louis Sheely,
whose birth occurred in Stuttgart, in 1827, came
to America in early manhood and soon afterward
established his home in Albany, where he resided
until 1858, when he removed with his family to
Schoharie, New York. There his remaining days
were passed and during his business life he followed
the tailor's trade. He married Miss Martha Elizabeth
Arnold, and unto them were born eleven children,
namely: Catherine, whose home is in Gloversville,
New York; Eliza, the wife of Mort Lester, of Amsterdam,
New York; Annie, the widow of James Kinsey and
a resident of New York city; Bert, of Council
Bluffs; Caroline, the wife of George Bower, of
New York city; Martha, also of New York city;
Madison and
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Franklin, twins, the former living in Albany
and the latter in Schoharie, New York; Laura,
the widow of Martin Kilmer and a resident of New
York city; William Frederick, of Albany; and Dora,
also of New York city. The death of the father
occurred in the year 1898.
As stated, the family became residents of Schoharie,
New York, in 1858, Bert Sheely being then less
than three years of age. He was there reared and
educated, spending his youth as a student in the
public schools, after which he learned the marble-cutter's
trade, which he has followed as a life work. He
continued in Schoharie until the spring of 1879,
when, thinking to find better business opportunities
in the west, he made his way to Lincoln, Nebraska,
where he continued for a year. In 1880 he came
to Council Bluffs, where he worked at his trade
until 1893, when the present firm of Sheely &
Lane was formed. They have since conducted business
with constantly growing success and now have an
excellent establishment, turning out annually
a large amount of work, which is ever first class.
They employ expert workmen and their honorable
business dealing has brought to them a liberal
and gratifying patronage.
On the 14th of March, 1883, in Council Bluffs,
Mr. Sheely was married to Miss Annie Green, a
daughter of John Green, now deceased, and they
have two children, Bert Lewis and Frederick William,
the latter a graduate of the high school of Council
Bluffs, of the class of June, 1907.
Mr. Sheely belongs to the Knights of Pythias
and the Modern Wood. men fraternities and enjoys
in large measure the good will and confidence
of his brethren of these orders. His life has
been pre-eminently an active and useful one. He
is entirely free from ostentation and display
and his efforts and energies have ever been concentrated
upon his business interests. Undoubtedly one of
the strong elements of his success is the fact
that he has always continued in the line of activity
in which he embarked as a young tradesman, his
efficiency therein being increased by long experience.
His success has come as the merited reward of
labor.
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Harry A. Searle, manager for the Monarch Manufacturing
Company, at Council Bluffs, was born in Medina,
Orleans county, New York, on the 21st of April,
1870. His father, E. P. Searle, of Toledo, Ohio,
is president of the Monarch Manufacturing Company.
The son was reared in the place of his nativity
to the age of twenty years and acquired his education
in the public schools of Medina and at Albion,
the county seat of Orleans county, New York. He
remained in school to the age of eighteen years
and afterward went upon the road for a lubricating
firm, continuing as a traveling salesman for oils
and lubricants for six or seven years. In 1895
the Monarch Manufacturing Company was established
at Council Bluffs and he was made general manager
at this point. Here he has since continued in
control of the business, which under his guidance
has been developed along healthful
879
and gratifying lines, his trade constantly increasing
until it has now reached extensive proportions.
In 1896, at Hastings, Nebraska, occurred the
marriage of Harry A. Searle and Miss Edith Smith.
They are pleasantly located in an attractive home
in Council Bluffs and have many warm friends here.
Mr. Searle is a popular member of the Elks order
and a past exalted ruler .of lodge No. 531, at
Council Bluffs. He is also a member of the Commercial
Club here and is well known in business circles
of the city as a man of unfaltering enterprise
and diligence--qualities which have brought him
a merited success.
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The present efficient mayor of Minden-John Geiger-figures
prominently in political, business and fraternal
circles in his town. He has wielded a wide influence
in its public affairs and during the eight years
with which he has been identified with the business
interests of Minden he has borne an unassailable
reputation for business integrity and progressiveness.
He was born in Scott county, Iowa, November 20,
1868. His father, Fredolin Geiger, was a native
of Switzerland, in which country he was reared
to manhood. In 1852 he crossed the Atlantic to
the new world and first located in St. Louis,
Missouri. Later he came to Iowa and took up his
abode in Scott county, being accompanied by his
wife, whom he had wedded in St. Louis and who
bore the maiden name of Theresa Zumstag. Mr. Geiger
turned his attention to farming in Scott county
and -followed that pursuit for a number of years,
his children all being born there. He removed
to Pottawattamie county in 1884, bought land in
Minden township and throughout his remaining days
owned and cultivated a valuable farm of four hundred
and eighty acres, his life's labors being ended
in death in 1889. His wife still survives him
and yet makes her home in Minden.
John Geiger is one of a family of five sons and
four daughters, all of whom are living. He was
reared an the home farm in this county and at
the usual age entered the public schools wherein
he mastered the elementary branches of learning.
He supplemented his studies by Ii term at the
Western Normal, at Shenandoah, Iowa, and when
he had completed his education and put aside his
text-books he fallowed farming for five years.
On the 30th of April, 1894, Mr. Geiger was married
to Miss Minnie Stuhr, a native of Germany, who
was reared, however, in this county. The young
couple began housekeeping on a farm and in connection
with the tilling of the soil for the cultivation
of crops, Mr. Geiger was engaged in raising and
feeding stock. He continued upon the farm until
1899, when he located in Minden, erecting there
a good two-story brick business block, in which
he put a nice stock of hardware, implements and
furniture. He has since been engaged in business
here and has been one of the progres-
880
sive and well known merchants of Minden, residing
here for eight years. He has built up a good business
and is well and favorably known as a merchant,
whose principles of trade are such as will bear
close investigation and scrutiny. He has never
been known to take advantage of the necessities
of another in any business transaction and indeed
is a worthy representative of commercial life
in Minden.
Unto Mr. and Mrs. Geiger have been born four
children, who are yet under the parental roof,
Hugo, Hilda, Alma and Marie. They also lost one
son, Harry, who died at the age of one year. The
parents are members of the Evangelical church,
greatly interested in its work and liberal in
its support. Mr. Geiger joined the Odd Fellows
lodge at Minden and has filled many of its offices,
serving as secretary at the present time. He is
also connected with the Woodmen of the World and
has filled all of the offices in that order.
Politically Mr. Geiger has been a life-long republican
but not a politician in the generally accepted
sense of desiring office. His fellow townsmen,
however, have expressed unmistakable appreciation
for his good qualities. and his public-spirited
citizenship in electing him to the office of mayor,
in which position he is now serving, giving to
the town a public-spirited, business-like and
practical administration. He has also been identified
with the schools for a number of years, serving
on the school board for thirteen years and now
acting as its secretary. He was for four years
justice of the peace and his decisions were strictly
fair and impartial. As a delegate to state and
county conventions he has formed the acquaintance
of many of the leading political leaders of the
state. Throughout the various phases of his life
he has been found true to the trust reposed in
him, cordial in social circles, always courteous,
always trustworthy, Minden finding in him it man
whom to know is to esteem and honor.
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Victor Jennings, grocer and coal dealer of Council
Bluffs, is a native of North Collins, Erie county,
New York. He was born in 1853 and his early years
were there passed uneventfully to the age of seventeen.
He was a pupil in the public schools of his native
county until he entered the State Normal School,
at Fredonia, Chautauqua county, New York, where
he completed his education in 1873.
The year 1874 witnessed the arrival of Mr. Jennings
in Council Bluffs then a young man of twenty-one
years--ambitious, energetic and determined. Here
he embarked in the grocery business and later
he also began dealing in coal. He has continued
in these lines to the present time. He now has
a well appointed grocery store, which in its neat
and tasteful arrangement and its reasonable prices
affords an attractive trading place to the housewife.
He has secured a liberal patronage and has also
built up a good business in the coal trade.
881
On the 17th .of May, 1875, in Fredonia, New York,
Mr. Jennings was united in marriage to Miss Anna
Graham, and they have two children: Avery Graham
and Josephine Alma. The family is well known here
and the members of the household occupy an enviable
position in the social circles in which they move.
In Masonry Mr. Jennings has attained the Knight
Templar degree of the York rite and is a worthy
exemplar of the craft, being in thorough sympathy
with its teachings and purposes. He is also a
director of the Masonic Temple, and in political
circles is well known locally as a leader in democratic
ranks. He was once alderman-at-large and for two
consecutive terms, from 1898 until 1902, was mayor
of the city. His administration was public-spirited
and progressive, marked by unfaltering devotion
to municipal interests and opposition to misrule
in public life, and he gave a clean, healthful
rule, resulting beneficially to Council Bluffs.
He is fearless in support of his honest convictions
and his position an matters of general importance
is never an equivocal one.
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Jerome C. Spangler, general manager of the Walnut
Milling Company, was born in Lebanon county, Pennsylvania,
March 29, 1847, a son of Levi S. Spangler, of
whom mention is made in connection with the sketch
of I. T. Spangler on another page of this work.
In the county of his nativity he spent the days
of his boyhood and youth and was a pupil in the
public schools. In August, 1864, answering his
country's call for troops, he enlisted at the
age of seventeen years as a member of Company
C, Two Hundred and First Pennsylvania Volunteer
Infantry. He served with this command until the
close of the war and was honorably discharged
on the 20th of June, 1865. When the country no
longer needed his aid he put aside the blue uniform
for the civilian's dress and resumed the pursuits
of peace. After a visit to his old home in Lebanon
county, Pennsylvania, he went to Philadelphia,
where he pursued a course of study in Bryant &
Stratton College, thus qualifying far a commercial
life.
Thinking to find better business .opportunities
in the west, where competition was not so great
and advancement mare quickly secured, he made
his way to Iowa City, Iowa, where he arrived an
the 10th of September, 1867. For four years he
was employed in a clerical capacity in different
mercantile establishments and on the 20th of November,
1871, he left Iowa City in company with A. S.
Avery and came to Walnut. Here the firm of Avery
& Spangler established a business for the
sale of lumber, grain and farm implements. In
1873 they were joined by I. T. Spangler, who purchased
an interest in the business, and the firm name
became Avery, Spangler & Company. Later I.
T. Spangler purchased the interests of his partners
and for three years thereafter Jerome C. Spangler
was not connected with any commercial or industrial
enterprise. In 1885 the Walnut Grist Mills were
remodeled and he became identified with the milling
industry as
882
senior member of the firm of Spangler, Eroe &
Company. This relation was maintained until 1891,
when the business was incorporated under the name
of The Walnut Milling Company and Mr. Spangler
was made general manager, which has been his business
connection to the present time. Under his control
this has become one of the leading industries
of Pottawattamie county. The mill is equipped
with all the modern appliances and machinery known
to the trade, and its product is second to none.
When science, invention or experiment introduce
any new and improved process for the manufacture
of flour it is immediately installed in this mill,
which is thoroughly up-to-date in every particular.
For the past ten years the company has done an
extensive exporting business, and the mill is
producing in its full capacity of one hundred
and twenty-five barrels per day. In fact, both
the day and night shift are kept busy most of
the time. The success of this industry is attributable
in large measure to Mr. Spangler, who has displayed
most capable management and keen business discrimination
in its control.
On the 12th of July, 1875, Mr. Spangler was united
in marriage to Miss Kate Williams, a daughter
of J. P. Williams, of Council Bluffs. They now
have one child, Harriet, a member of the faculty
of Drake University at Des Moines.
In his political views Mr. Spangler is an 'earnest
republican and is interested in all progressive
citizenship or any public movements for the general
good. He belongs to John A. Dix post, No. 408,
G. A. R., of Walnut, of which he is a past commander,
and he likewise affiliates with the Ancient Order
of United Workmen. He is one of the widely known
residents of Walnut, where for thirty-six years
he has made his home, and throughout this entire
period he has been closely associated with the
business development of the town. He has won for
himself very favorable criticism for the careful
and systematic methods he has followed. By perseverance,
determination and honorable effort he has overcome
all obstacles which barred his path to success
and reached the goal of prosperity
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MILTON W.
FERGUSON.
Milton W. Ferguson was born in Wayne county,
Indiana, near Connersville, March 1, 1821, and
died on his farm on section 31, Carson township,
Pottawattamie county, Iowa, on the seventy-first
anniversary of his birth, The beginning and the
end of life to him came on Sunday. His parents
were Nimrod and Elizabeth Ferguson, natives of
North Carolina and pioneer residents of Indiana.
The father made the journey from the Old North
state to his new home in the west on horseback
and spent his remaining days in Indiana, where
all of his children were born and reared. The
family numbered five daughters and six sons.
Milton W. Ferguson spent his boyhood and youth
on the old family homestead, sharing with the
family in the experiences, hardships and priva-
885
tions incident to frontier life. He continued
to engage in general agricultural pursuits in
Indiana until after the discovery of gold in California,
when in 1849 he made the trip around Cape Horn
and on to San Francisco, spending about two and
a half years in the mining regions of the far
west. The return trip was made by way of the isthmus
and he brought back with him about eighteen thousand
dollars in gold. For two years he continued a
resident of Indiana and then removed to Champaign
county, Illinois, where he engaged in dealing-in
cattle for two or three years.
On the expiration of that period he went to Mitchellville,
Iowa, with Tom Mitchell and was associated with
him in the ownership of the town. They built the
first hotel in Mitchellville at a cost of about
four thousand dollars, it being a good hotel for
those days. Mr. Ferguson made extensive investments
in land, owning about two thousand acres near
Mitchellville at one time. He also owned two thousand
acres in Floyd and Worth counties and five hundred
acres in Dallas county, having at one time five
thousand acres of as good land as can be found
in all Iowa. He entered much of this from the
government and his agricultural interests proved
an important element in the material development
of the state. On disposing of his interests at
Mitchellville he removed to Des Moines and afterward
went to Adel; Dallas county, where he owned and
cultivated five hundred acres of land. In the
early '70s he removed to Pottawattamie county,
settling in Carson township, where he spent his
remaining days. He had here altogether three hundred
and sixty acres of land, of which two hundred
and forty acres was comprised within the home
farm, which he left well improved, it being devoted
to the raising of grain and stock. In all of his
business affairs he was practical, displaying
keen discernment and notable sagacity. Whatever
he undertook he carried forward to successful
completion and he allowed no obstacles to brook
his path if .they could be overcome by determined
and honorable effort.
In 1860 Mr. Ferguson was united in marriage to
Miss Mary J. Hanley, who was born in Wayne county,
Kentucky, near Monticello, April 5, 1840. By way
of the water route the family journeyed from Kentucky
to Keokuk, Iowa. The parents were George W. and
Elizabeth (Philips) Hanley, and her maternal grandfather
was Micajah Philips, who was a large slave owner
of the south, having about forty slaves at one
time on his plantation in Kentucky. On the removal
of the family to Iowa they went to Des Moines
and then settled near Mitchellville, where both
the father and mother spent their remaining days.
A brother of Mrs. Ferguson, Alfred Hanley, now
resides on the old homestead, Unto Mr. and Mrs.
Ferguson were born three children: George, who
is now living with his mother; James, of Custer
county, Nebraska, who is married and has one son,
Jay; and Ida, who is the widow of George Gonnard,
of Macedonia, and had three children: Grace, the
wife of Henry Holcher, of Carson township, by
whom she has one son, David Winson Holcher; Ruth
Rebecca, who is with her mother; and Edward, who
was drowned at the age of fourteen years.
In his political views Mr. Ferguson was a democrat
and held some minor township offices. He belonged
to the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and was
a consistent and faithful member of the Christian
church. Five years
886
after his death his widow sold the farm and removed
to another farm five miles northeast of Oakland,
where she purchased one hundred and sixty acres.
Later she sold that place to her nieces and a
year and a half ago purchased her present farm,
comprising one hundred and twenty acres on section
30, Carson township. Here she has built a comfortable
residence and otherwise improved the property,
which is now well developed, constituting one
of the best farms of the locality.
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The germ of success lies in every individual-dormant
it is true, but it may be cultivated through industry
and in due time will bring forth its fruits. It
has been through persevering labor that Jesse
E. Hollenbeck has won his present enviable position
in industrial circles in Council Bluffs, where
he is now well known as president of the Hollenbeck
Brothers Company, general contractors and house-movers.
He was born in Eaton Rapids, Michigan, on the
8th of December, 1851, and comes of Holland ancestry,
his paternal grandfather having been a native
of the land of the dykes, where he was born in
the eighteenth century. He became the founder
of the family in America and died in New York.
His son, Isaac Hollenbeck, born in Albany, New
York, January 20, 1809, was a contractor and millwright
all his life. Removing to the middle west he settled
in Michigan and at the time of the Civil war became
a private in the Second Michigan Cavalry, with
which he served for nearly .four years. He was
never wounded nor captured although he participated
in many battles. About 1869 he became a resident
of Pottawattamie county, Iowa, and his death occurred
in Republic county, Kansas, in 1876. He had been
married, in Ithaca, New York, to Miss Charlotte
Briggs, who long survived him, passing away in
Council Bluffs in 1904. They were the parents
of eight children, all of whom are living: John
C., who resides in Berrien, Michigan; Ellen, the
wife of S. W. Reynolds, of Council Bluffs; Emma
K., the wife of A. W. Barrett, also of. Council
Bluffs; Charlotte E., the wife of C. M. Kink,
of this city; Frank, living in Des Moines, Iowa;
Jesse E., of this review; Jacob Go, of Council
Bluffs; and Mettie E., the wife of R. Watson,
of Healdsburg, California.
Quite varied has been the life of Jesse E. Hollenbeck,
who when about fifteen years of age left his old
home in Michigan, where he had resided up to this
time, and came to Pottawattamie county on the
14th of November. After a year spent on a farm
here he went to the plains, where for years he
was variously employed. In 1871 he left Council
Bluffs and walked across the plains to the western
border of Kansas, where for four years he was
engaged in dealing in horses, living the free
life of the range. In 1876 he again came to Council
Bluffs but afterward made several more trips to
the plains, and it was not until 1879 that he
made a permanent location here. In 1881 he began
contracting, his father having been a carpen-
887
ter and contractor, and for years he has carried
on business as a general contractor and house-mover,
developing a business which is now conducted under
the name of the Hollenbeck Brothers Company, of
which he is the president. The business has had
a steady and satisfactory growth, constantly increasing
in volume and importance, and the work being done
is of such a nature as to bring a good financial
return.
In Council Bluffs, in 1879, Mr. Hollenbeck was
united in marriage to Miss Minnie M. Davis, and
they have three children, as follows: Madge L.,
the wife of Frank C. Pinney, of Council Bluffs,
who is a government statistician; Faye, who died
in 1899, when she was sixteen years of age; and
George H., who died February 14, 1907, at the
age of twenty-one years.
Mr. Hollenbeck is a member of the Benevolent
and Protective Order of Elks and the Royal Arcanum.
He has never held office and is inaepend8nt in
politics, voting for men and measures rather than
party. Dependent upon his own resources from an
early age, learning to value men at their true
worth in his life on the plains and to recognize
the worth of industry and perseverance, Mr. Hollenbeck,
during his business life in Council Bluffs, has
made an excellent record as one whose diligence
has been the foundation upon which he has builded
his success, while strict conformity to a high
standard of business ethics has guided him in
all trade transactions with his fellowmen.
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Edgar T. Rogers lives on section 11, James township,
where he is engaged in the cultivation of grain
and stock, making a specialty of raising and feeding
cattle and hogs. He was born in Virginia on the
28th of June, 1873, and is a son of Samuel and
Evaline Rogers, natives of Virginia and of North
Carolina respectively. In the year 1876 they removed
to the middle west, settling in Pottawattamie
county, where they have since resided, now making
their home in Hancock. In their family were eight
children, seven of whom are yet living: Alice,
the wife of T. H. Griver, of this county; William
D., of North Dakota; Edgar T.; N. G., of Harrison
county, Iowa; Mattie M., the wife of Charlie Celison,
of this county; Samuel T. and G. C., both of Hancock.
One son, John, the fifth in order of birth, is
now deceased.
Edgar T. Rogers remained at home with his parents
until he had attained his majority and in his
boyhood days was a pupil in the public schools.
His training at farm labor was not meager for
as soon as old enough to handle the plow he began
work in the fields. Starting out in business life
on his own account, he was employed as a farm
hand and continued to labor in that way for seven
years.
In 1902 Mr. Rogers was married to Miss Bertha
E. Crouch, who was born in this county and is
a daughter of William and E. E. Crouch, who are
now living in Oakland. Following his marriage
Mr. Rogers rented his
888
father-in-law's farm and is now living on section
11, James township, where in addition to tilling
the soil he is raising and feeding cattle and
hogs. Unto Mr. and Mrs. Rogers have been born
three sons: Floyd C., William S. and James Hall.
In his political views Mr. Rogers is a democrat,
while socially he is connected with the Modern
Woodmen camp, No. 2846, at Oakland, and with the
Royal Neighbors. Both he and his wife are members
of the Christian church of Oakland and are highly
esteemed people, widely and favorably known in
their locality.
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George A. Robinson has been a resident of Council
Bluffs for ten years and throughout this period
has been connected with the Westinghouse Company,
being manager at this place. He started out in
life on his awn account at the age of fifteen
years and may justly be termed a self-made man,
the strength of his purpose, his indomitable energy
and his diligence praying the foundation of his
success. He was born on a farm, near Erie in Erie
county, Pennsylvania, December 20, 1845, and is
of Scotch lineage. His grandfather, Daniel B.
Robinson, was born in Scotland in 1790 and came
to America in early manhood with his father, settling
first in New York, while later he became a resident
of Erie county, Pennsylvania, where he died in
1851. He was a soldier of the war of 1812.
James R Robinson, father of our subject, was
born in Onondaga county, New York, December 19,
1818, was reared to the occupation of farming,
also learning civil engineering and throughout
his life followed the two occupations. He died
in Ashland, Nebraska, April 14, 1893, He had been
married, in Syracuse, New York, in 1844, to Miss
Electa Crosby, and unto them were born four children:
George A.; Huldah E., who became the wife of Charles
A: Kent and died in Edinboro, Pennsylvania, July
2, 1873; Alice C., who became the wife of Charles
Avery and died at their home in Lincoln, Nebraska,
in 1902; and Julia, who died in infancy.
At the usual age George Robinson entered the
public schools, where he continued his studies
to the age of fourteen years, when he started
out in life on his account and has since depended
entirely upon his own exertions. He took charge
of a canal boat on the Erie & Pittsburg canal
for D. M. Wood, a merchant of Cranesville, Pennsylvania,
and was so employed for nine years, running between
Erie and Pittsburg. In 1869 he bought a threshing
machine of the Westinghouse Company and operated
it for two seasons, after which he entered the
employ of the Westinghouse Company, as a salesman
in western Pennsylvania. In 1876 he went to Nebraska,
locating in Ashland as agent of the company, and
there remained until March 17, 1897, when he came
to Council Bluffs, where he has since remained,
being now manager for the company at this point,
in the sale of threshers, engines, sawmills, etc.
His connection with the company, dating from 1871,
speaks
889
for itself and is the best evidence of his fidelity
to the interests of the house, his honorable business
methods and his success.
On the 30th of May, 1868, Mr. Robinson was married
in Edinboro, Erie county, Pennsylvania, to Miss
Mary Corey, a daughter of William Corey, and they
have four children, as follows: Nellie B., the
wife of John Martin, of Ceresco, Nebraska; Minnie
B., at home; George Earl, of Council Bluffs; and
Mary May, the wife of W. H. Dorrance, of Omaha.
Mr. Robinson belongs to the Independent Order
of Odd Fellows, the Ancient Order of United Workmen,
the Degree of Honor and the Woodmen of the World.
He has the kindly regard of many of his orethren
of these fraternities and the warm friendshi£
of those with whom he has become acquainted in
other walks of life. He deserves much credit for
what he has accomplished. His school privileges
were limited but while on the canalboat he studied
and throughout life has. constantly broadened
his knowledge by experience, reading and observation.
He has learned to utilize his time and opportunities
to the best advantage and is numbered with the
leading business men of Council Bluffs.
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GEORGE GERNER,
JR.
George Gerner, Jr., well known in commercial
circles in Council Bluffs as manager of the jewelry
house of C. B. Jacquemin, was born in this city
on the 19th of August, 1875, and through his capability
and enterprise has risen to his present enviable
position. His father, George Gerner, Sr., was
a native of Baden, Germany, born in 1831. He spent
the first nineteen years of his life in that country,
and in 1850, bidding adieu to home and friends,
he sailed for the new world. He took up his abode
in Weston, Missouri, and in 1865 came to Council
Bluffs, where together with C. B. Jacquemin, he
established a jewelry store. For many years he
was an active factor in commercial circles here,
conducting his business with success until 1903,
when he sold out and in 1905 removed to Helena,
Montana, where he is now living. He served in
the Missouri State Militia during the time of
the Civil war against the guerrillas. In 1861
he was married in Weston, Missouri, to Miss Clara
Jacquemin, with whom he traveled life's journey
for forty-five years, when they were separated
through the death of the wife in Helena, Montana,
in December, 1906. Their children were: Angela,
the deceased wife of Charles Zimmer; Kate V.,
who has also passed away; Jeanette, the wife of
Frank J. Lange; Sophia, the wife of Charles Zimmer;
and George, of this review.
The last named was reared in Council Bluffs and
acquired his primary education in its public schools.
Later he became a student in Notre Dame University
at South Bend, Indiana, from which he was graduated
in the class of 1892. He then returned to Council
Bluffs, where he entered the jewelry store of
C. B. Jacquemin & Company, his father being
the silent partner and the founder of the business
in the year 1865. In 1903 the sen-
890
ior partner purchased the interest of Mr. Gerner,
and George Gerner, Jr., was appointed manager,
since which time he has been in control of the
store. This is one of the best jewelry establishments
of the city and in its management Mr. Gerner displays
excellent business ability and executive force.
Throughout his entire business life he has been
connected with the jewelry trade, is thoroughly
familiar with the demands of the public in this
regard and his earnest effort to please his patrons,
combined with his diligence and progressive spirit,
have brought to the concern with which he is associated
a large measure of success.
In 1903, in: Council Bluffs, Mr. Gerner was united
in marriage to Miss Frances Rundlett Bowman, a
niece of ex-Congressman Thomas Bowman. Mr. Gerner
belongs to the Benevolent & Protective Order
of Elks and to the Catholic church, while his
political views are indicated by the splendid
endorsement which he gives to the men and measure
of the democracy. He has made a creditable name
in the control of an important commercial enterprise
of Council Bluffs and as the years go by he is
advancing in prominence in commercial circles.
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Thomas W. Phillips, one of the leading and influential
citizens of Neola, who for forty-three years has
been a resident of Pottawattamie county, is now
engaged in the hardware business, which he has
conducted for more than a decade and in commercial
circles, as in other walks of life, he has maintained
a reputation for business integrity, honor and
enterprise that is most commendable. He was born
in Utah, December 12, 1860. His father, William
Phillips, was a native of Carmarthenshire, Wales,
born October 27, 1836, and came to America in
1854 with his father, William Phillips, Sr., who
in southern Wales had married Gwenfred Thomas.
Following the voyage across the Atlantic the family
made their way to northern Utah, where William
Phillips, Sr., died in 1862, his wife surviving
him until 1873, her death occurring in Idaho.
William Phillips, Jr., Was a college-bred man,
having been educated in King Edward University.
For some time he followed the vocation of cabinet-making
in Utah and in that section of the country he
married Amelia Morgan, it native of Glamorganshire,
South Wales, the wedding being celebrated on the
19th of March, 1859. He afterward gave up his
trade to engage in freighting between points in
Utah and Wyoming, following that pursuit for seven
years. In 1866 he returned to the east, settling
in Pottawattamie county, Iowa, where he took up
a claim in Norwalk township. He is still living
at the age of seventy-two years but his wife died
in 1885, at the age of forty-two years. He was
again married to Victoria Weirich, a native of
Wheeling, West Virginia, and a daughter of Samuel
Weirich, who served through the Civil war and
in 1860 came to Pottawattamie county. Here he
followed the brick-mason's trade until his death,
which occurred in
891
1883, when he was sixty years of age, while his
wife died in Council Bluffs, at the age of fifty-six
years. Following his arrival in Pottawattamie
county, William Phillips bought a farm, whereon
he resided for a quarter of a century. He greatly
improved that property, comprising four hundred
acres, converting the land into rich and productive
fields, from which he annually gathered rich crops.
At a later day he removed to Council Bluffs, where
he lived retired but now makes his home in Neola.
He had eight children, five of whom are yet living.
Thomas Phillips, the eldest of the family, was
four years of age when the family came to this
county. He was reared on the home farm and received
such educational advantages as were afforded by
the common schools, pursuing his studies through
the winter months, while in the summer seasons
he worked in the fields. He continued to assist
his father until, he had attained his majority
and then rented land and followed farming for
six years. He made further preparations for having
a home of his own by his marriage in November,
1885, to Miss Mary Agnes Chambers, a native of
Ottumwa, Iowa, and a daughter of Benjamin Chambers,
who also settled in this county. Unto Mr. and
Mrs. Phillips have been born four children: William
P., born October 20, 1886, is a graduate of the
Neola high school and for three years pursued
his studies at Mount Vernon, Iowa, but is now
at Lexington, Oklahoma, as assistant cashier in
Hawk Brothers Bank there; Frank Benjamin, born
November 8, 1888, is a graduate of the Neola high
school and is now principal of the Oshkosh (Nebraska)
school; Thomas Ward, born November 25, 1890, will
complete the high school course in Neola in 1908;
and Celia, born February 8, 1893, is at home.
In March, 1890, Mr. Phillips, retiring from farm
life, purchased a hardware business in Neola and
for eleven years was a representative of its mercantile
interests as a dealer in hardware, implements
and furniture. In 1901 he sold out and has since
been agent for the Farmers Fire Insurance Company
of Cedar Rapids, for the Merchants and Bankers
of Des Moines, and the Security Fire Insurance
Company of Davenport. He has built up a good clientage
in this particular, writing a large amount of
insurance annually.
Mr. Phillips has been a member of the Odd Fellows
society for twenty-six years and is prominent
in the local organization. He has filled all of
the chairs and is a past grand of Neola lodge
and for one term was district deputy grand master.
In politics he has been a life-long republican
where questions of state and national interest
are involved but at local elections casts an independent
ballot. For six years he served as alderman of
Neola and exercises his official prerogatives
in support of progressive municipal measures.
He attends the Presbyterian church, of which his
wife is a member, and in the community where they
reside, they are both held in the highest esteem,
manifesting sterling traits of character in every
relation of life. They have a wide acquaintance
in Neola, Council Bluffs and throughout the county,
and Mr. Phillips is largely familiar with the
history of this part of the state, having spent
almost his entire life here. He has lived here
892
during the period of its greatest development
and as the years have come and gone he has endorsed
all the progressive movements which have been
instituted for its further improvement.
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