Herman Mueller Herman Mueller, now venerable in years, is living virtually retired, after a long period of close and effective association with business activities, and he may consistently be designated as one of the pioneer merchants of Elkport, where he established his residence in 1873, shortly after the completion of the railroad through this place, and where he has since maintained his home, secure in the high regard of all who know him and specially eligible for representation in this publication. Mr. Mueller was born in Germany, on the 24th of March, 1842, and is a son of Karl and Christena (Maier) Mueller, who passed their entire lives in Germany, where the father long followed the trade of shoemaker. The subject of this sketch is the youngest in a family of five sons and five daughters and was reared and educated in his native land, where he gained a thorough knowledge of the shoemaker’s trade, under the effective direction of his father. In 1869, when about twenty- seven years of age, he came to the United States, and he first located in New Jersey, where he found employment at his trade, but before the close of the year 1869 he came to Iowa and established his home in Dubuque. There he continued in the work of his trade until 1873, when he removed to Clayton county and opened a shoemaking shop at Elkport. He eventually developed a prosperous general boot and shoe business and continued to give to the same his supervision for many years. He gained a comfortable competency and since his retirement from active business he and his wife have lived in peace and comfort in the pleasant home at Elkport, the house having been erected by him in the second year of his residence at Elkport. Mr. Mueller has been a loyal and influential citizen and has done his part in the development and upbuilding of Elkport. He served four years as a member of the board of aldermen, four years as mayor and for an equal period as a member of the board of education. He is a Republican in politics, is affiliated with the Ancient Order of United Workmen and the Modern Brotherhood of America, and both he and his wife are earnest communicants of the German Lutheran church. As a young man Mr. Mueller married Miss Jacobina Scharft, who likewise was born and reared in Germany, and of their five children four died in infancy, the one surviving being Herman F., who is a representative business man of Elkport and who is individually mentioned elsewhere in this compilation. source: History of Clayton
County, Iowa; From The Earliest Historical Times Down to
the Present; by Realto E. Price, Vol. II; page
288-289 |