Schmidt, Philip 1854 –

SCHMIDT, SPEISE, HUFF, CARVELLI, PETERS, KNUTH

Posted By: Joy Moore (email)
Date: 4/27/2015 at 15:18:53

PHILIP SCHMIDT.

For twenty-three years Philip Schmidt has lived upon his farm of two hundred acres on sections 8 and 17, Lincoln township, and during that time has carried forward the work of its development along progressive and modern lines until today he is the owner of one of the finest agricultural properties in this vicinity. He was born in Franklin county, Indiana, July 9, 1854, and is a son of Andrew and Margaret (Speise) Schmidt, natives of Germany. The father came to America in 1851 and located in Indiana, where he remained until 1860, when he moved to Winneshiek county. He purchased land in Lincoln township and there resided, until 1902, when he retired from active life and moved to Cresco, where his death occurred May 20, 1913. He had survived his wife many years, her death taking place July 14, 1881. To their union were born ten children: Philip, of this review; Jacob, of Cass county, Iowa; Christian and Henry, who reside in Howard county; William, who makes his home in Huron. South Dakota; Andrew, of Howard county; John, who is cashier of a bank in Elliott, Iowa; Margaret, who married John Huff, of Tenney, Minnesota; Hannah, the wife of Albert Carvelli, also of that city; and Barbara, who married Alfred Peters, of Lincoln township.

Philip Schmidt left home at the age of sixteen years and since that time has been continuously identified with agricultural pursuits. In 1882 he rented one hundred and sixty acres of land in Howard county and after developing this for three years rented the two hundred acre tract in Lincoln township, known as the John Kohnan farm. In 1890 he purchased this property which he now operates and here for almost a quarter of a century has ably carried forward the work of development, erecting a fine two-story residence, good barns and outbuildings and fencing his property into fields of convenient size. His general farming and stock-raising interests are extensive and ably conducted, bringing him a gratifying measure of success.

On the 9th of February, 1882, Mr. Schmidt was united in marriage to Miss Augusta Knuth and they became the parents of four children: Clara, who clerks in a store at Cresco, Iowa; and William, Elsie and Esther, at home. On the 20th of April, 1912, Mrs. Schmidt passed away and was buried at the Methodist cemetery in Lincoln township, and since then Elsie and Esther are keeping house for their father. Mr. Schmidt is a member of the Methodist Episcopal church and is a republican in his political beliefs, having served for nine years as school director. He is a man of high moral character, industrious and enterprising, and his honesty and uprightness have merited him the confidence and respect of his neighbors.

Source: History of Winneshiek County, Iowa Vol. II Chicago the S. J. Clark Publishing Company 1913