1915 Past and Present of Shelby County, Iowa
Page Index:
Anthony |
Jurschak |
Kelso |
Ames |
Thomas |
Major |
Reynolds |
Young |
Bruck
To write the personal record of men who have raised themselves from humble circumstances to a position of responsibility and trust in a community
is no ordinary pleasure. Self-made men, men who have achieved success by reason of their personal qualities and left the impress of their individuality
upon the business and growth of their place of residence and affect for good such institutions as are embraced in the sphere of their usefulness, unwittingly, perhaps, built monuments more enduring than marble obelisk or granite shaft. Of such we have the unquestionable right to say belongs the gentleman whose name appears above.
William Anthony, the proprietor of the "Glenwood Hereford Stock Farm," four miles northeast of Defiance, was born November 24, 1865, in Wheatland, Clinton county, Iowa. He is the son of James and Mary A. (Gatten) Anthony, natives of Rhode Island and Dubuque, Iowa, respectively. James Anthony was the son of James Anthony, who was also a native of Rhode Island, and later a resident of New York, where he farmed near Buffalo until the year 1840, when he moved with his family to Clinton county, Iowa. He farmed there a good many years and then moved to Adair county and farmed until his death, at the age of seventy-seven. James Anthony was twice married, and by his first wife there was one daughter, Mrs. Helen South, while by his second marriage to Mary Gatten, there were four children, Tina, Edward, Leslie and William.
William Anthony received a good common school education and remained at home until his marriage, in 1894, when he bought a retail meat market shop in Manilla, Crawford county, Iowa, hut remained in charge ot this business only a short time. He then disposed of it and moved to a farm near Harlan, which he managed until 1902. He evinced such excellent judgment in managing the farm that he was employed by F. H. and H. W. Hancock as manager of their farm of six hundred and forty acres four miles northeast of Defiance and here he has been in full charge of this farm for the past twelve years. This farm is essentially a stock farm and Mr. Anthony has had a remarkable success in stock raising. He has about two hundred head of cattle upon the farm, one hundred of which are pure bred Herefords. He also raises about three hundred head of full blooded Duroc Jersey hogs each year, for which there is always an excellent market in this state.
Mr. Anthony was married January 1, 1894, to Ada Wilsey. She was born in Mapleton, Iowa, December 19, 1872, and is the daughter of Duke W. and Eunice M. (Perkins) Wilsey, natives of Illinois and Harrison county, Iowa, respectively. Duke W. Wilsey and wife are the parents of six children, Roy, Mrs. Orpha Powers, Arch, Mrs. Bessie Ricker, Harry B. and Ada, the wife of Mr. Anthony. Mr. and Mrs. Anthony have two children: Cecil, who was born September 15, 1894, and after graduating from the Manilla high school, became a school teacher; Eunice, who was born March 12, 1898, is now a student in the high school at Manila.
Politically, Mr. Anthony is affiliated with the Republican party but has never held any official position other than that of school director. Fraternally,
he is a member of the Modern Woodmen of America and the Knights of Pythias. Religiously, he and the members of his family are members of the
Presbyterian church and in its prosperity they are deeply interested. Mr. and Mrs. Anthony move in the best circles of their community and are deservedly popular, among their many friends and acquaintances. Mr. Anthony is genial and unassuming and readily makes friends and always retains them because of his high character. He gives his support to every movement which promises to be of material or moral benefit to the people, and because of his success in life and his genuine worth he is eminently entitled to a place in this volume.
Source: 1915 Past and Present of Shelby County, Iowa, pp. 820-821
Contributed by: Marthann Kohl-Fuhs
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A substantial farmer of Cass township, Shelby county, Iowa, is Peter Jurschak, who is one of the very few men in this county of Austrian birth.
He has been a resident of the county for the past twenty-three years and so successful has he been that he is today the owner of two hundred and forty
acres of excellent land in Cass township. America has been called the land of opportunity and it is gratifying to note the success which has attended so many of the men who have settled here from foreign lands. These men have invariably become substantial citizens. Such a man is Mr. Jurschak and the county is proud to call him one of its best and most patriotic citizens.
Peter Jurschak, the son of Peter and Mary (Jorschen) Jurschak, was born in Austria in 1874. His mother was horn in Tachernembelz, Austria,
and is still living. Peter Jurschak, Sr., and wife were the parents of six children, three of whom are now living. John and Katie live in Austria.
Peter Jurschak, Jr., received his education in his native land, and at an early age began to work for himself. He left his native land when he
was only seventeen years of age and came to America, settling in Shelby county, Iowa, where he found work as a farm hand. Upon coming here,
he was totally ignorant of the English language and this handicapped him not a little. For the first fifteen years after locating in Shelby county, he worked as a farm hand and then rented a farm and lived on it for three years. He then bought one hundred and twenty acres of land in Cass township and since then has doubled his acreage, while at the same tithe he has improved his farm in every way. He now has one of the most attractive as well as one of the most productive farms in the county.
Mr. Jurschak was married January 9, 1906, to Margaret Fuhs, who was born in Keokuk county, Iowa, in 1884, the daughter of John Fuhs, an early
settler of Shelby county. To this union have been born five children: Francis, Marie, Peter, Margaret, Gertrude.
Politically, Mr. Jurschak is identified with the Democratic patty, but has never been particularly interested in political affairs. He and his family
are loyal members of the Catholic church at Portsmouth. Mr. Jurschak is a man who has won the respect of his neighbors and fellow citizens by virtue of an exemplary life. He has gained success solely through his own, unaided efforts. He is a quiet and unassuming man and well merits a good place among the representative citizens of his township.
Source: 1915 Past and Present of Shelby County, Iowa, pp. 1068-1069
Contributed by: Marthann Kohl-Fuhs
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It is the progressive, wide-awake man of affairs who makes the real history of a community and his influence, as a
potential factor of the body politic, is difficult to estimate. The examples such men furnish of patient purpose and steadfast integrity,
strongly illustrate what is in the power of each to accomplish. These characteristics are particularly applicable to the subject of this
short review. Mr. Ames loses no opportunity to present the attractions of his home town and readily endorses and supports every
movement intended to benefit the community in any way. His methods have ever been such as to win for him the entire confidence of
his associates and his geniality and friendliness have been valuable aids in his occupation. Walter W. Ames, well known merchant of
Irwin, Shelby County, Iowa, is a native of this state, born in Clark County November 19, 1874. He is the son of David and Valaria (Dye)
Ames, the former a native of Wisconsin and the latter of Ohio. The Ames are descended from sterling Scotch ancestry and are able to
trace their family back several generations. The first one of whom there is any record, came from Pennsylvania to Ohio. In later years,
the family was found in Wisconsin. Davis Ames, father of Walter W. Ames, was a son of Jonathan Ames, and in his early manhood ws a
member of the Iowa state militia. During the war of the Rebellion, he served in southern Missouri, to which place the militia of several
states were sent to prevent the southern army's raiding the northern states. He gave his support to the Democratic party, but took no
active interst in politics. Both he and his wife were members of the Baptist Church and were very active in the work of their local
organization, living good helpful lives in accordance with the teachings of their faith. They were the parents of seven sons, the subject
being the sixth in the order of birth. The others are: Henry, who died in infancy; Aaron D., living in Kirkman, as are also Truman D. and
Ira; George F. resides in Harlan, and Ernest makes his home in Omaha, Nebraska. The father died in the spring of 1892 and the
mother makes her home with her son Aaron in Kirkman, surrounded by her children and grandchildren.
When a youth, Walter W. Ames had decided upon the vocation of farming as his life work. When seventeen years old, he began working
on a farm. He succeeded well, and when twenty one years of age, rented a tract of two hundred acres in Douglas Township and
commenced farming for himself. Here he remained for four years and in 1899 opened up a hardware and harness store in Kirkman. In
1904, he sold out and removed to Irwin where he engaged in a similar business. In 1909 he purchased a stock of general
merchandise and named his new store, "The Irwin Department Store." To this he has given his time and best efforts and has had the
gratification of seeing his business grow to such an extent that it is a credit to the city. In fact, he has more floor space and a larger and
more complete stock than any individual store in the county. He is the sole owner and manager of his business.
Mr. Ames has been married twice, first on March 4, 1896, to Delacie A. Shafer, born September 8, 1874, in Polk County, this state. She
was the daughter of Dedrick Shafer, and one of a family of seven children. She died in the fall of 1900, leaving one child, Elbert B., who
was born April 16, 1898. He is attending high school in his home town and is of great assistance to his father. On February 28, 1901,
Mr. Ames married Miss Clara B. McCord, who was born November 29, 1878, in Shelby County, Douglas Township. She is the daughter
of Bradley and Mary (Scott) McCord. Her father was born in Grove Township, this county, December 27, 1851, the son of Alexander
McCord, one of the very first pioneers of the county. Mrs. Ames is the third of a family of eight children. Pearl, a sister, married Tom
Franklin and makes her home in Harlan; Almond died when four years old; Arthur also is deceased; Bradley lives in Bowman's Grove;
Daisy is the wife of Ansel Clark and resides in Harlan; Grace is the wife of Frank Perry of Manila, Iowa; and Glen makes his home on the
farm with his brother Bradley. Mr. and Mrs. Ames are the parents of four children: Clarence, the eldest, was born August 15, 1902;
Gretchen was born July 13, 1904; Esther was born July 2, 1908; and Lotus, September 8, 1910.
Politically Mr. Ames gives his earnest support to the Republican party and has filled several offices of the township and city. He is at the
present time President of the school board. His fraternal affiliation is with the Ancient Order of Free and Accepted Masons and he is a
past master of Sardius Lodge, No. 444, of Irwin. He is also a member of the Modern Woodmen of America, and both he and his wife
are members of the Order of the Eastern Star. For many years, he has been a member of the Baptist Church and takes an active interst
in the work of the local organization. Mrs. Ames belongs to the society of Latter Day Saints. Mr. Ames is a man of marked domestic
traits, finding much pleasure in his home and family. In the elements of good citizenship, he is all that a man should be. Because of
his genuine worth and fine character, he enjoys a well deserved popularity throughout the county.
Source: 1915 Past and Present of Shelby County, Iowa, pp.
Contributed by: Mona Knight
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Among the newspaper men of this county who are taking the proper stand on public issues there is no one who is doing more efficient work than Orra E. Kelso, the editor and publisher of the Defiance Enterprise, one of the leading publications of the county. Orra E. Kelso, the son of D.A. and Hanietta (Hall) Kelso, was born in Guthrie County, Iowa, February 14, 1888. His father was born in Indiana, reared upon the farm, married at the age of twenty-two and then began farming in Thurston County, Nebraska, and continued to follow that occupation utnil 1910, when he moved to Wisner, Nebraska, where he is now living. D.A. Kelso and wife are the parents of eight children: Orra, Franklin, Etta, Roy, Glen, Earl, Evelyn and Verne. Orra E. Kelso received all of his education in the schools of Pender, Nebraska, and after leaving school started to learn the printer's trade in the office of the Pender Republic at Pender, Nebraska. After learning his trade he went to Omaha and worked with the Omaha Printing Company, leaving there in 1908 to come to Defiance, Shelby County, Iowa. He bought the Defiance Enterprise and since acquiring it has improved the paper in every way and increased its circulation to seven hundred. He has a goodly number of regular advertisers who appreciate the paper as an advertising medium and give it their hearty support. Mr. Kelso also does a large amount of job printing and, like most newspaper men in towns of this size, finds this a very important addition to his yearly income. Mr. Kelso was married December 8, 1910, to Ethel Miller, the daughter of J.M. and Fannie (Johnson) Miller. Her parents were born in Mechanicsville, Iowa, educated in that place and lived there after their marriage until 1884. They then moved to Union township, in this county, where Mr. Miller bought a farm, on which the family lived until 1904. They then moved to Cedar Rapids, Iowa, but two years later located in Defiance, where they are now residing. Mr. and Mrs. Miller had a family of five children: Lydia, Lee, Hattie, May and Ethel, the wife of Mr. Kelso. The mother of these five children died September 30, 1906. Mr. Kelso belongs to that increasingly large group of men who are independent in politics, who prefer to vote for men rather than eagles, roosters and bull mooses. Fraternally, Mr. Kelso is a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and at the present time is secretary of his local lodge at Defiance. He is still a young man and gives promise of becoming a power for good in his community through the medium of his paper. He is a man of high character, of strict integrity and is held in universal esteem by a large circle of friends and acquaintances throughout the county.
Source: 1915 Past and Present of Shelby County, Iowa, pp. 1192
Contributed by: Mona Knight
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Success has come to George Thomas, a farmer of many years' experience in this county, and now the superintendent of the Farmers Grain and
Mercantile Company, of Kirkman, because he has worked along legitimate lines and has not loitered about waiting for fate to bring him a fortune on a gold platter. He was taught early in life that all labor is noble, and that little is to be expected in this world without effort continuously and rightfully
directed. He is essentially a man of affairs, sound of judgment and farseeing in what he undertakes, and every enterprise to which he has addressed
himself has resulted in liberal financial returns, while at the same time he has won and retains the confidence and good will of his fellow citizens.
George Thomas, the son of Allen and Margaret (Ximmer) Thomas, was born in Benton county, Iowa. His parents were both natives of Germany
and married in that country before settling in the United States. Allen Thomas served his time in the German army according to the custom of his
Fatherland and came to the United States when he was about thirty years of age, locating for a short time at Buffalo, New York. Later he joined a
German colony which came to Iowa and settled in Iowa county. He remained with this colony only a short time and then rented a farm in that
county for a few years. Later he purchased a farm across the county line from his compatriots and lived upon it until his death in 1905. To Allen
Thomas and wife were born six children, Adam, John, George, Henry, Susan and Maggie.
George Thomas was educated in the public schools of Iowa county, and later attended the schools of Cedar Rapids, where he completed his education: During his summer vacation he worked upon his father's farm and when twenty years of age rented a farm in Pocahontas county, Iowa, which he operated until about 1895. He then moved to Kirkman in Shelby county and bought a grain elevator, and successfully managed this for a period of five years. Desiring to engage in farming for himself, he purchased a farm in this county, but after spending one year on this farm, he again became interested in the elevator business at Kirkman. He managed the elevator for one year, and then returned to his farm, where he lived for two years. In the
spring of 1914 the directors of the Farmers Grain and Mercantile Company, of Kirkman, induced him to become the manager and superintendent of the
company at Kirkman, recognizing in him a man who understood every phase of the business, and he is filling this position to the entire satisfaction of the directors of the company as well as to the farmers who patronize the elevator. He is a progressive and wide-awake business man, and because of his sterling integrity and reputation for honesty, he has won the entire confidence of the people of this community.
Mr. Thomas was married in 1885 to Louisa Nolz, the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Christian Nolz, of Iowa county, and to this union have been born
four children, Anna May, Edna, Raymond and Clifford. The family are all earnest members of the Lutheran church and are very much interested in
church and Sunday school work. Mr. Thomas is a member, of the Republican party and has always taken an active interest in civic matters. The educational interests of his township have always claimed his attention, and he has served as a member of the school hoard for twenty years in Douglas township, being the president of the board of the present time. He is a member of the Woodmen of the World and the Modern Woodmen of America, and takes an active part in the deliberations of these two excellent fraternal organizations. Mr. Thomas has inherited many of the thrifty and sterling qualities of his German parents and has forged to the front in the face of obstacles which have frequently beset his path. He is a man of high ideals and good principles and has done what he could to further the moral uplift of the community in which he has lived.
Source: 1915 Past and Present of Shelby County, Iowa, pp. 1192.
Contributed by: Marthann Kohl-Fuhs
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Among the farmers who came to Shelby county, Iowa, in the early seventies and endured all the hardships of those years, there is no
one who is more deserving of mention than William A. Major, now a prosperous farmer of Grove township. He has been one of the
most active and leading citizens in the agricultural and stock raising industry in the township, and that his labors have been
remunerative is shown by the fact that he now has a fine farm of two hundred and forty acres in this county. He has not only been
successful in a material way, but he has also found time and ample opportunity to assist in the material and civic development of his
township and county.
William A. Major, the son of James and Mary J. (Sparling) Major, was born in 1857 in the state of Ohio. His father was a lifelong resident
of the Buckeye state, his birth having occurred in 1826 and his death in 1862. His mother was born in 1834 in the state of New York and
was twice married, her second husband being Henry Grapes. There were six children born to James Major and wife, three of whom are
still living. Mrs. Major, by her marriage to Mr.Grapes, had no children. Her death occurred in 1910. William A. Major was educated in the
hard school of experience and early in life began working out as a farm hand. He then came west at the age of sixteen and located in
Shelby county, but remained here only a short time. For the next few years, he herded cattle on the plains in different states in the west,
spending most of his time with his stepfather until he was twenty two years of age. He then married and began farming for himself on
rented land in Grove township, Shelby county, Iowa. Two years later, he purchased eighty acres of land, but after living upon it two years,
sold it and spent three years in Nebraska, after which he returned to Shelby county and lived on a rented farm for three years. He was
frugal in his habits, saved his money and eventually bought a farm of one hundred and sixty acres in Grove township, part of which
constitutes his present farm of two hundred and forty acres. Mr. Major is an extensive stock raiser and has found this to be the most
profitable part of farming.
Mr. Major was married in 1880 to Addie Roundy, whose birth occurred in this county in 1857. She was the daughter of Washington
Roundy, who was born in the state of New York in 1828 and became one of the early settlers of this county. To this union have been born
four children: Adelbert W., who is living on the farm with his father; Nellie, whomarried Bert Collins of Woodbine, Iowa; Fred W., who is a
farmer in this county, and John H. It is interesting to note that Mr. Major is a self-educated man, having never attended school but one
year, which was due to the fact that during his boyhood days there was no school near his home, and consequently he lacked the
training which comes from the discipline in the school room. However, he learned to read and write, and afterwards supplemented his
meager home training with wide reading, so that he is today one of the best informed men in his township. He has been deeply
interested in education and probably the fact that he had no opportunities himself in his boyhood days leads him to be particularly
interested in educational matters. He has served as school director of Grove township and is at the present timeserving as one of the
township trustees. Fraternally, he is a member of the Modern Woodmen of America and the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. He and
his family are consistent members of the Church of Latter Day Saints, in whose welfare they are deeply interested and to whose support
they are liberal contributors. Mr. Major is a man who has won the respect and esteem of everyone with whom he has been associated,
and is entitled to inclusion among the representative men of his township and county.
Source: 1915 Past and Present of Shelby County, Iowa, pp. 789-790.
Contributed by: Mona Knight
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Click photo to enlarge
The biographer finds much of interest well worth recording in the life of a citizen whose years of usefulness have been pronounced and have been
spent in the public service. History finds a natural justification in preserving for all time the salient facts regarding persons who have merited
recognition from their fellow citizens in an important public capacity. A citizen engaged in serving the public in a governmental office must needs be of
decided standing and his integrity beyond question owing to the nature of his avocation and the prominence given him in the conduct of the daily
routine duties of his position. Singularly gifted with the ability to succeed and endowed with the power of pleasing practically all of the people
whom he serves in an official capacity, Charles A. Reynolds is especially deserving of commendation, and it will be the pleasant duty of the biographer
to present the facts concerning his career which properly belong in the pages of this volume of Shelby county history and personal memoirs. Charles A.
Reynolds is the efficient and popular postmaster of Harlan and it is with him that this resume is directly concerned.
Mr. Reynolds was born on September 13, 1869, in the town of Peterson, Iowa. He is the son of Joseph H. and Lucy M. (Goss) Reynolds, natives
of Indiana and Iowa, respectively. Joseph H. Reynolds was born on April 23, 1842, in Indiana, the son of B. C. Reynolds, who was born in May of
1819, in the state of New York, and migrated to Indiana and thence to Iowa and now resides in the town of Ollie, Keokuk county. Joseph H. Reynolds was a boy when the family migrated to Keokuk county, where he was reared and educated. He enlisted in an Iowa regiment and served in the Union army during the Civil War.
Note from transcribrer: {the following is included, but seems to be mixed up}
[[He was married in Keokuk county to Lucy M. Goss, the daughter of Wesley Goss. She was born on August 9, 1843, and died on August 25, 1909. Wesley Goss October 10, 1896. His wife, Elizabeth (Hill) Goss, was born in New York was born in Ohio on March 3, 1816, and died in Keokuk county, Iowa, on state on October 26, 1816, and died July 28, 1901. ]]
After the close of the Civil War, Joseph H. Reynolds removed to Clay county, Iowa, and in November of 1879 he finally located in Harlan, Shelby county. Previous to locating in Harlan he had followed the vocation of farming, but he became a contractor and builder after taking up his residence here. He was prominent in Republican politics and served as postmaster of Harlan during President Benjamin Harrison's administration. He was the father of the following children: Charles A., of Harlan; Elizabeth, of Washington, D. C.; Myrta, of Des Moines, Iowa; Mrs. Luretta Newby, of Washington. D. C.; Robert Leroy, born June 29, 1883,. and died December 18, 1912; Joseph Carl, of Mountain Home, Idaho; Florence, of Washington, D. C.
Charles A. Reynolds received his high school education in Harlan and graduated from the local high school in 1887. For a period of one year he
was cashier and bookkeeper in a general merchandise store at Correctionville, Iowa. He returned to Harlan in 1888 and engaged in the book and
stationery business for a time. When his father became postmaster, during Harrison's administration, in April of 1892, Charles A. was installed as as-
sistant postmaster and held the position continuously until his appointment as postmaster, January 1, 1904. Mr. Reynolds is now serving his third
term as postmaster. It is a matter of note that during his incumbency of the office the patrons were never better served and he has given general and universal satisfaction during his long years of service in connection with the post office. He is now rounding out twenty-two years of continuous service as assistant postmaster and postmaster of Harlan.
Mr. Reynolds was united in marriage in March, 1895, with Tressa M. Flagler, of Madison, Wisconsin. She died on December 29, 1903, leaving
one daughter, Mrs. Lotus Lillian Westrope, of Harlan. His second marriage occurred on October 16, 1906, with Essie Reed, of Harlan. To this
union have been born three children, as follows: Oberon Reed, born March 28, 1908; Charles Albert, Jr., born September 12, 1909; Eugene Marion,
born October 20, 1911.
Mr. Reynolds is allied with the Republican party and is a member of the Methodist Episcopal church. He is fraternally connected with the Masonic Lodge and the Knights of Pythias. He is a faithful and conscientious public official whose highest ambition is to serve the people to their satisfaction and rear his children to become exemplary citizens. For a number of years Mr. Reynolds has been secretary of the Harlan Commercial Exchange. Mr. Reynolds is one of Harlan's progressive and enterprising citizens who is always found in the van of those advocating needed public improvements.
He is a most genial, obliging and accommodating gentleman in every sense the word implies. Such records as the foregoing form an interesting and
valuable addition to the memoirs of Shelby county.
Source: 1915 Past and Present of Shelby County, Iowa.
Contributed by: Marthann Kohl-Fuhs
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A citizen of Shelby county, Iowa, who has spent forty-five years in this county has lived throughout practically the whole of its history. William M. Young, the present postmaster of Defiance, came to this county with his parents in 1870 and has spent the remainder of his life within the limits
of this county, and more than a quarter of a century in the town of Defiance. He is essentially a self-made man, having been compelled to fight
his own battles from boyhood to the present time. He farmed for a few years after his marriage and then worked for a grain elevator in Defiance,
having lived in that place since 1887. Being recognized by the citizens as a capable man he was recommended for the position of postmaster and has
held that responsible place for the past five years. He is a man who is in every way worthy of the respect and high esteem in which he is held by his
fellow citizens.
William M. Young, the son of William and Mary A. (Marshall) Young, was born in Washington county, Pennsylvania, on June 2, 1857. His parents were natives of the same county and lived there until several years after their marriage. William Young, Sr., was a shoemaker by trade, followed this occupation while living in Pennsylvania and also for two years after he settled in Des Moines county, Iowa. In 1870 William Young, Sr., brought his family to Shelby county and located near Kirkman, where he bought a farm of one hundred and twenty acres. He lived upon this farm until ten years ago, when he retired to Harlan, where he is now living. William Young, Sr., and wife were the parents of eight children, Elizabeth, Jackson, Catherine, Hannah, William, Robert, Wilson and Effie.
William M. Young received most of his education in the schools of this county and worked on the farm with his father until he was grown to manhood. He then hired out to work by the day upon farms in this county and worked this way for several years. In 1887 he moved to Defiance and became an employe of the grain firm of Hancock, Tibbals & Company and worked for this company for twenty-two years. He resigned his position upon his appointment to the postmastership of Defiance, on December 2, 1909, and has since been conducting the affairs of this office in a manner which has proven entirely satisfactory to all the citizens of the community.
William M. Young was married on December 16, 1880, to Charlotte L. Hannon, the daughter of Thomas J. and Elizabeth Hannon, and to this union have been born nine children, Melvin, Earl, Lee, Fred, Kate, William, Harris, Ella and Burns. Melvin married Maude Ballard and has two children, Maxine and Irene. Lee married Estella Ferguson. Kate is the wife of E. J. Hulsebus and has two children, Lois and Charlotte. Ella is the wife of Rudolph Hulsebus. Earl and Harris are deceased, while the rest of the children are unmarried and living with their parents. Politically, Mr. Young classes himself with the independent voters, preferring to cast his ballot at all times for men rather than for platforms. He has always taken an active part in the civic life of Defiance and has held various official positions. He has been school director for thirteen years.
Source: 1915 Past and Present of Shelby County, Iowa, pages 707 & 708.
Contributed by: Marthann Kohl-Fuhs
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An enterprising and successful business man of Earling, Iowa, is Joseph Bruck, the manager of the Earling Mutual Creamery Company. He has been a resident of this county for the past fourteen years, during which time he has been actively identified with the business life of Earling, and such has been the excellent management of his business interests that he has come to be regarded as one of the substantial men of his community. Born of German parentage he has inherited those qualities which have made the Germans successful men in whatever line of activity they chose to enter.
Jacob A. Bruck, the son of Anton and Mary Katherine (Schmitz) Bruck, was born December 27, 1882, in Luxemburg, Germany. Anton Bruck was the son of Nicholas and Mary (Diederich) Bruck, and was a farmer in his native land all of his life. Nicholas Bruck and wife had three children, John, who married Margaret Schmitz; Anton, the father of Joseph, and Mary, the wife of John D. Dewatcher. Anton Bruck was educated in Germany, and after leaving school
worked out as a farm hand until his marriage. He then began farming for himself in his native land and in 1892 came to America and located in Stone City, Jones county, Iowa, where he worked in the stone quarry for eight years. In 1900 he moved to Shelby county and located in Westphalia township, where he rented a farm for the first five years and in 1905 bought the farm on which he is now residing. He is a man who is enterprising and thrifty and has met with more than usual success in his agricultural operations. Anton Bruck was married in 1881, in Wicherding, Germany, to Mary Katherine Schmitz, the daughter of Anton and Margaret (Fogan) Schmitz, and to this union six children were born, Jacob A., John, Fred, William, Charles and Susan. John and Charles are single. Fred married Cecelia Funk and has one son, Anthony. William married Sarah Winderhausen. Susan is the wife of Aloyious Wilwerding and has one daughter, Elizabeth. Mary Katherine Schmitz was one of three children, the other two being Margaret and Susan. Margaret became the wife of John Bruck, while Susan married C. Leider.
Jacob A. Bruck was ten years of age when his parents came to Jones county, Iowa, from Germany, and consequently he received part of his education in his native land and completed it in the schools of Jones City, Iowa. After leaving school he worked in the stone quarry with his father. He operated a hoisting and drilling machine and continued working in the stone quarry until his parents moved to Shelby county in 1900. He was then eighteen years of
age and after coming to this county he found employment upon the farms in Westphalia township. In 1901 he began working for his father on the home farm, remaining with him three years, after which he moved to Earling and engaged in the livery business. He continued in this business until 1907, when he and Paul Kenkel bought the Earling Mutual Creamery Company's plant and in its management have made a remarkable success.
Mr. Bruck was married July 12, 1909, to Barbara Betz, the daughter of Michael and Mary Betz, and to this union one daughter, Lucile, has been born. Mrs. Bruck's parents were natives of Germany and came to this country and located in Stone City, Iowa, where they lived the remainder of their lives. Mr. and Mrs. Betz were the parents of two children, Barbara, the wife of Mr. Bruck and Matthew, who died in young manhood.
Mr. Bruck and his family are loyal members of the Catholic church and he is a member of the Roman Catholic Mutual Protective Society and is now the secretary of the organization. Politically, he is a Democrat, but owing to his business interests, has never taken an active part in political affairs.
Source: 1915 Past and Present of Shelby County, Iowa, pages 735-736.
Contributed by: Marthann Kohl-Fuhs
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