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RICHARD WALKER.
Richard Walker, deceased, who for many years
resided in Pottawattamie county, where he successfully
carried on general agricultural pursuits, was
born in Hanover, New Hampshire, November 28, 1841.
His father, the Hon. Richard Walker, was a native
of Bradford, Massachusetts, born in 1810, and
in 1818 he became a resident of Hanover, New Hampshire.
On the 8th of March, 1837, he married Mary C.
Swett, daughter of Stockwell Swett, who served
as a general in the Revolutionary war. In 1842
they removed to East Lebanon, where they spent
their remaining days, the father passing away
July 28, 1890. He was a prominent and influential
resident of his community, leaving the impress
of his individuality upon public thought and action,
his county and his commonwealth benefiting by
his efforts in their behalf. He served for two
terms in the state legislature and his brother
David was also a member of the general assembly
of New Hampshire at the same time and twice served
as select man. Mrs. Richard Walker, the mother
of our subject, was born October 20, 1810, at
Hanover, New Hampshire, and died at Lebanon, that
state, on the 22d of April, 1892. They were the
parents of three children: William G., who died
at the age of twenty-two years; Richard, of this
review; and Kate M., the wife of Hon. Lyman Whipple,
a contractor and builder of Lebanon, New Hampshire,
who for two terms represented his district in
the state legislature.
Richard Walker, whose name introduces this record,
resided at the place of his birth until about
thirty-one years of age, and after acquiring a
common school education he continued his studies
in the New London Academy. He resided on the farm
with his father until his marriage and was engaged
in sheep-raising, which was the principal feature
of his farming interests in New England. In 1872
he made his way westward to Dover, Bureau county,
Illinois, and was there married to Miss Shuah
B. Pierce, who was born in Dover on the 1st of
March, 1852, a daughter of Caleb and Martha (Paddleford)
Pierce. With his bride Mr. Walker returned to
New Hampshire, where he spent one year on a farm,
and then again went to Dover, Illinois. Soon afterward
he bought a farm of one hundred and sixty acres,
upon which he resided until his removal from Illinois
to Iowa in March, 1880. He was living here at
the time of the big cyclone, which occurred in
June following his arrival. He bought a farm six
miles east of Carson, in Center township, comprising
one hundred and sixty acres of land, on which
he erected a new residence and made many modern
and substantial improvements. There he re-
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sided up to the time of his death, devoting his
energies untiringly to agricultural pursuits,
with the result that his farm became a productive
and valuable property.
As the years passed three children were added
to the Walker household. Wyllis Pierce resides
upon the old home farm belonging to Mrs. Walker,
now comprising two hundred and eighty acres of
land. There is also a farm of eighty acres in
Grove township which Mrs. Walker has purchased
since her husband's death. There are two dwellings
on his farm and two sons reside in them. Richard
Reno is also living on the old home place. Leon
De Forest is with his mother, attending school.
The eldest son, Wyllis, was married at Oakland
March 18. 1897, to Lula A. Purdy, and they have
two children--Shuah Isabel, born July 13, 1898;
and Richard Wallace, born in November, 1901. Richard
Reno Walker was married September 4, 1904, at
Tekamah, Nebraska, to Mary Frances McPherson,
who was graduated from the Woman's Christian Association
hospital of Council Bluffs in November, 1900.
They have two children-Robert Reno, born July
8, 1905; and Kathryn Alice, born October 16, 1906.
Mr. and Mrs. Walker lost their only daughter,
Martha, when four years of age. The death of the
husband and father occurred August 19, 1892.
Mr. Walker was a stanch republican in politics
but manifested only a citizen's interest in the
political situation of town and country, never
desiring or seeking office as a reward for party
fealty. He was a man of domestic taste, devoted
to the welfare of his wife and family, and he
also held friendship inviolable, so that many
who knew him mourned his loss. For twenty-one
years he was a faithful member of the Odd Fellows
society and he was ever loyal to the trust reposed
in him and equally faithful to the principles
which guided his life and shaped his conduct.
While he did not seek to figure prominently in
public affairs, he was known as one whose influence
could ever be counted upon to further the general
good. During the past three years Mrs. Walker
has resided in Carson, where she has an attractive
home and many friends.
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The practice of medicine claims the time and
energies of Dr. Joseph C. Waterman, of Council
Bluffs, who for twenty-one years has been located
here in the active work of his profession. A native
of New England, he was born in Albany, Vermont,
in the year 1859, and there lived to the age of
six years, when the family removed to St. Lawrence
county, New York. There he continued for about
Jive years, after which he accompanied his parents
to Iowa, the family home being established in
Ames, where he acquired the greater part of his
education through attendance at the common schools
and as a student in Ames College.
Having determined upon the practice of medicine
as a life work, Dr. Waterman began preparation
for that calling by attending lectures in the
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Iowa State University and later he continued
his studies in Drake Medical College, at Des Moines,
Iowa, from which he was graduated with the class
of 1886. Having thus qualified for professional
service he located at Council Bluffs, where he
has since remained, and he has made continued
advancement in knowledge and ski11 through his
experience, research and close study. He has also
kept in touch with the onward march of the profession
through his membership with the American Medical
Association, the State Medical Society and the
Pottawattamie County Medical Society and the Council
Bluffs Medical Society.
In 1887, in Ames, Iowa, Dr. Waterman was united
in marriage to Miss Nellie Stucklagler. He belongs
to the Masonic fraternity and to the Benevolent
and Protective Order of Elks. The only offices
that he has ever held have been along the line
of his profession, he having served as coroner
of Pottawattamie county and as city physician
of Council Bluffs. His life has in many respects
been quietly passed but the force of his character,
his strong individuality and his devotion to his
professional duties have gained him recognition
as one of the representative men of western Iowa.
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A farm of two hundred and eighty acres of well
improved and valuable land on sections 10 and
11, Norwalk township, is the property of Karl
W. Klopping, who since 1864 has lived in this
county, having been brought thither by his parents
while in his first year. He was born in Freeport,
Illinois, December 15, 1863. His father, August
Klopping, was a native of Germany and when a young
man of twenty years came to the United States.
Mention is made of him on another page of this
work. He settled upon a farm in Pottawattamie
county in 1866 and upon the old homestead his
son Karl was reared, devoting his time and attention
in the winter months to the acquirement of an
education in the public schools, while in the
summer seasons he assisted in the work of field
and meadow. He continued with his father in carrying
on the home farm until twenty-seven years of age
and then began farming on his own account.
On the 25th of April, 1888, Mr. Klopping was
married in Council Bluffs to Miss Mary Geise,
a sister of Conrad Geise of that city. She was
born in Germany but spent her girlhood days in
this country, where she acquired her education.
Following their marriage the young couple located
on a farm near Underwood, where they lived for
ft year and then removed to their present home
in Norwalk township, Mr. Klopping securing one
hundred and sixty acres of land, which he at once
began to till, bringing the fields under a high
state of cultivation. The farm is thoroughly equipped
with all modern conveniences and accessories.
In its midst stands a pleasant dwelling and not
far away are two good barl1s, one of cement blocks.
There is also a good granary and hay shed and
in fact none of the accessories of a model farm
are here lacking. The latest improved machinery
is used to facilitate the work of
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the fields and in addition to cultivating the
soil Mr. Klopping raises some fruit. He has also
put out shade and ornamental trees, which are
an attractive feature of the place. The boundaries
of his farm have also been extended until it now
comprises two hundred and eighty acres in one
body. It is one of the best improved places in
the township, owing to the care and labor, the
practical methods and the progressive ideas of
the owner. All these years he has likewise engaged
in raising and feeding stock and for several years
has made a specialty of raising pure blooded and
high grade Aberdeen Angus cattle, having now a
herd of about one hundred and twenty-five head
with a pure blooded male at the head of the herd.
He also has six pure blooded registered cows and
the stock produced upon the farm finds a ready
sale on the market, while through the improvement
of the grade raised Mr. Klopping has done much
to advance the price paid for stock in this county.
He buys and feeds from four to six carloads of
fat steers each year and also a carload of hogs
and a large, number of sheep annually. In his
business affairs he is energetic, prompt and capable
and whatever he undertakes carries it forward
to successful completion.
Mr. and Mrs. Klopping have six children, three
sons and three daughters: Anna, born May 2, 1889;
Ella, April 3, 1891; Fred A., June 26, 1893; Walter
L., July 31, 1895; Erna, March 3, 1898; and Donald
A., March 10, 1900. Mrs. Klopping belongs to the
Lutheran church. Mr. Klopping is an earnest democrat
who is now serving as township trustee, while
for seven or eight years he has been a member
of the school board. For an equally long period
he has been a trustee--a fact which indicates
that the duties of both positions have been promptly
and faithfully performed. He has served as a delegate
to county conventions and is much interested in
the success and growth of his party, manifesting
at all times a public-spirited devotion to the
general good.
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CAPTAIN
LEONARD KIRSCHT.
On the list of those who at one time figured
actively in the business life of Council Bluffs
and of Omaha, appears the name of Leonard Kirscht,
now deceased. He was known as Captain, holding
that rank in the state militia, for he was appointed
captain of the Council Bluffs Rifles by Governor
Stone in 1864. He came to this city in 1861,
and was well known to the German American residents
of Pottawattamie county. A native of Germany,
he was born December 3, 1828. His parents spent
their entire lives in that country, where the
father engaged in farming in order to provide
for his family. He died there, however, during
the early boyhood of his son Leonard, and the
mother afterward came to America to live with
her children, dying at the home of her daughter,
Mrs. Tholl, in Council Bluffs.
Captain Kirscht obtained a good education in
the schools of his native country and when yet
a young man served in the army in accordance
with the laws of his native country. When his
education was completed he left home and sailed
for America, crossing the Atlantic in a sailing
vessel,
605
which was four months in completing the voyage.
Landing in New York city, he proceeded thence
to New .Jersey, where he worked as a farm hand
for a short time. He then came to the middle
west, locating near Hillsdale, Michigan, where
he carried on general farming.
While living in that locality, Captain Kirscht
was married to Miss Henrietta Green, a native
of Germany, in which country her parents died
during her early girlhood, after which she came
to the United States with friends. There were
six children born unto Captain and Mrs. Kirscht:
Lena, who became the wife of Alexander Mason
and died in 1900; Emma, now the wife of Henry
P. Butler, traveling passenger and freight agent
for the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railroad
Company and a resident of Council Bluffs; Mary,
who resides with her mother and attends to much
of the business connected with the estate; Katherine,
now the wife of H. W. Cowduroy, living in Omaha,
being manager of the Omaha City Paving &
Asphalt Company; Leonard P., who died in Council
Bluffs in 1898; and Elizabeth, the widow of
John L. Clark. Her husband, who died February
12, 1902, was a very prominent and influential
resident of Omaha, who at the time of his death
was occupying the position of paying teller
in the United States National Bank of that city,
where he had been employed from his boyhood
days, having gradually worked his way upward
to a position of prominence and responsibility.
His widow, Mrs. Clark, now resides with her
mother.
After his marriage Captain Kirscht continued
to make his home near Hillsdale, Michigan, for
a short time and then removed to St. Joseph,
Missouri, where he engaged in the manufacture
of crackers, establishing a large cracker factory,
from which he annually sent out large shipments.
He carried on the business with gratifying success
until 1861, when he sold out there and came
to Council Bluffs. Shortly after his arrival
in this city he entered into partnership with
William Groneweg, who is now in the wholesale
grocery business here. They opened a retail
grocery house on Broadway and conducted the
store for seventeen years with mutual pleasure
and profit. They soon built up a good trade
and established the business which was the foundation
of the present extensive wholesale house now
conducted by Mr. Groneweg. When seventeen years
had passed Captain Kirscht removed his business
to No. 414 and 416 West Broadway, where he carried
on u. retail grocery house for several years.
He had many patrons and did a large and profitable
business, continuing in the same until 1893,
when he sold out and removed to Omaha. There
he established a wholesale liquor business,
which he conducted until 1899, when he severed
his business connections with that city and
returned to Council Bluffs, where he lived retired
until his death, which occurred on the 11th
of March, 1901. He had been a, resident of this
city and this section of the country for about
forty years.
Captain Kirscht's friends desired him to become
a candidate for the office of mayor on several
different occasions but he always declined,
never caring for positions of political preferment.
He was, however, a stanch republican, in thorough
sympathy with the principles of the party and
did what he could to promote its success. He
belonged to the Independent Order
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of Odd Fellows and had many friends among its
members. In all of his business life he was
energetic and determined, carrying forward to
successful completion whatever he undertook.
As he prospered he invested his money largely
in property and was thus enabled to leave his
family in very comfortable financial circumstances.
Mrs. Kirscht is a member of the German Lutheran
church, but the Captain was a communicant of
the Catholic church. She owns much valuable
property in Council Bluffs and also farm property
in different parts of Nebraska, her business
interests being managed by her daughter Mary.
Her residence is a beautiful brick structure
at No. 128 Glen avenue, where she and her children
reside and which they built in 1864.
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Judge Egbert E. Aylesworth, for more than forty
years a member of the bar of Council Bluffs, has
throughout this period maintained a foremost place
in the ranks of the legal profession, which has
always had important bearing upon the progress
and stable prosperity of a section or community
and which has long been considered as conserving
the public welfare by furthering the ends of justice
and maintaining individual rights. He is descended
from one of the old New England families, his
paternal grandfather, Benjamin Aylesworth, having
been born in Pownal, Vermont. On leaving the Green
Mountain state he removed to Milford, New York,
in early manhood and was there married and spent
his remaining days, his life being devoted to
the occupation of farming. His son, John Aylesworth,
was born in Milford, New York, November 30, 1800,
also carried on general agricultural pursuits
throughout the period of his manhood and died
while on a visit to Batavia, New York, in 1870.
He married Savina Adams and they were the parents
of six children, three sons and three daughters.
Egbert E. Aylesworth remained a resident of his
native town until twenty-six years of age. He
acquired his primary education in the schools
of Milford and afterward attended Hartwick Seminary,
at Otsego, New York, prior to entering Delaware
Literary Institute in Franklin, New York. Completing
his studies in the latter institution in 1860
he then returned to Milford, where he began reading
law as a student in the office of R. N. Townsend.
On the 12th of May, 1863, he was admitted to the
bar at Binghamton, New York, and soon afterward
located for practice in Milford, where he remained
until 1866, continuing in the office of his preceptor
up to that time. In the year mentioned he came
to Council Bluffs, opened an office and has remained
in active practice continuously since, save for
the period of his service on the bep.ch. He is
devotedly attached to his profession, systematic
and methodical in habit, sober and discreet in
judgment, diligent in research and conscientious
in the discharge of every duty.
In his political views Judge Aylesworth has always
been an earnest democrat and in 1884 he was made
the nominee, of his party for the office of judge
607
in the fifteenth judicial district, his opponent
being C. F. Loofbourrow. The canvas of the votes
gave Judge Aylesworth a majority of two but the
election was contested and Judge Loofbourrow was
declared elected by fourteen votes. Four years
before he had run against Judge Aylesworth, on
which occasion he was elected by only sixty-four
votes, although the normal republican majority
was about three thousand. In 1873 Judge Aylesworth
was appointed by the city council to the office
of city attorney of Council Bluffs, was elected
to the position in 1874 and again in 1876, serving
in all for four years. In March, 1882, he was
elected judge of the superior court and remained
upon the bench for twelve years, his service being
highly satisfactory to all who give due regard
to law and order. His decisions were strictly
fair and impartial, being based upon the law and
the equity in the case and in his application
of legal principles he was always regarded as
most sound. He retired from his position as he
had entered it--with the confidence and trust
of all concerned, and then resumed the private
practice of law, in which he has since continued,
being a member of the Council Bluffs bar for almost
forty years.
Mr. Aylesworth was married on the 20th of September,
1864, in Milford, New York, to Miss Marcella R.
Winsor, a native of Otsego county, New York, and
a daughter of Isaac C. and Sarah (Brockway) Winsor.
They now have four children, three sons and a
daughter, namely: Paul C.; Ellen W., the wife
of Bruce L. Beals, of New York city; Egbert D.;
and Winsor S.
Judge Aylesworth aside from his service on the
bench has filled the office of city councilman
and a member of the board of education. During
the long years of his residence here his co-operation
has been given to every movement that he has deemed
of advantage to the community and his influence
is ever on the side of right, reform and improvement.
Socially he is connected with the Elks and the
Eagles and he is a communicant of the Episcopal
church.
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William H. Ware, an attorney of Council Bluffs
and a recognized leader in the ranks of the democracy
in Pottawattamie county, was born in Baltimore,
Maryland, but was reared in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania,
to the age of six years, when his parents removed
with their family to La Salle county, Illinois.
He there remained until 1867, when at the age
of fifteen he came with his parents to Council
Bluffs. Two years later, in 1869, he made a permanent
location in Pottawattamie county. For two years
he worked at farm labor and afterward engaged
in teaching school in this county for four years.
He likewise devoted one year to that profession
in Nebraska and published a paper in Nebraska
called the Sarpy County Sentinel. After a year,
however, he sold the paper and, having prepared
for the practice of law, was admitted to the bar
of Pottawattamie county in 1880. He engages in
a general practice in all of the courts and has
secured a liberal clientage. He is a1so attorney
for the Eagle Life Association and for one term
he served as county attorney.
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He prepares his cases with great thoroughness
and care and enters the courtroom well qualified
to meet every point of attack.
Mr. Ware belongs to both the Modern Woodmen
of America and the Fraternal Order of Eagles.
His political allegiance is given to the democracy
and aside from serving as county attorney he has
twice represented his district in the state legislature,
having been elected in 1890 and again in 1892.
He was once candidate on the democratic ticket
for the office of judge of the fifteenth district.
His opponent was elected by a majority of only
one hundred and fifty, although there is a usual
republican majority of thirty-five hundred, so
that Mr. Ware's defeat was one which amounted
almost to a victory, as he ran three thousand
votes ahead of his ticket--a fact which indicates
his personal popularity and the confidence reposed
in him by his fellow townsmen. While he is undoubtedly
not without that laudable ambition which is an
incentive for capable service in office, he nevertheless
regards the pursuits of private life as abundantly
worthy of his best efforts and has made a creditable
record in his chosen profession. He is a member
of the County and State Bar Associations and in
both organizations has gained the good will and
friendship of many of the prominent lawyers of
the state.
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