History of Monona County, Iowa - 1890

History of Monona County, Iowa
Chicago: National Pub. Co., 1890

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Unless noted, biographies submitted by Dick Barton.

CHARLES GANTZ, deceased, one of the old residents of Monona County , was a native of Prussia , and the son of Charles and Christena Gantz. He was reared at home in the German Fatherland, and received the education which is the right of every youth in that favored land. He was married November 12, 1853 , and in 1858 started for the United States , 1anding at Castle Garden , New York . From there he went to Buffalo , in the same State, where for two years he was engaged in whatever he could find to do. With the idea of bettering his fortune, he came to Iowa in 1860, and settled in Poweshiek County , where he remained for four years. In the spring of 1864, he removed to Monona County , and for the first season rented a farm and then purchased the place upon which his family now reside. This is upon section 11, 83, 46, and at first contained ninety-three acres to which there has since been added ninety-two acres more. About eighty acres of it are under cultivation, the balance being in meadow and pasture, and supports about four head of horses and forty of cattle. When he first moved on to this place he put up a log cabin in which the family lived some seven years and then erected their present large and commodious residence. He was the parent of four children: Mary S., Amelia E., William C. and Minnie J., all of whom are married except the last named.

Mr. Gantz was killed Tuesday, December 24, 1879 , by his team running away with him. He had been to Onawa in a high box wagon loaded with corn, and on the way home the horses becoming scared, ran away, throwing him out on the banks of Blue Lake . He fell upon a stump in such a way as to break his neck, killing him instantly.

William Gantz, his son, now carrying on the homestead, was born in Poweshiek County , Iowa , August 10, 1861 . His mother, was Miss Fredericka Weir, previous to her marriage, a native of Prussia and came to the United States with her husband, in the spring of 1858. William was reared in this county, and February 17 1884 , was united in marriage with Miss Elizabeth Miller, a native of Ohio , by which union they have two children: Iva and Mary.

CHRISTIAN GANTZ, an enterprising and energetic farmer of Franklin Township , who has his home on section 13, 83, 46, is a native of Prussia , Germany , and first drew the breath of life on that classic soil, March 25, 1835 , beneath the roof of the home of his parents, Charles and Kastena Gantz. In the Fatherland he was nurtured, received his education and there grew to manhood. Early in 1872, deciding that in the free land of America there was a greater field for his efforts, and being free from military service, be crossed the broad Atlantic to the United States , landing at Castle Garden . In 1858, like many of his countrymen, he was placed in the Prussian army, and served three years. In 1866 he again entered the same service, and in June, 1870, at the outbreak of the Franco-German War, he for the third time assumed his place in the ranks and participated in the campaign which ended in Sedan and the capture of Paris . On being discharged he came to this country and settled in Monona County . For the first three years here he was employed in sawmills, then, renting land of the Hon. Addison Oliver engaged in farming. For five years he made his home on that farm, but in 1882 purchased ninety- six acres of land, on which he now lives, and which he has well improved; has a neat house and has erected a good barn, thirty feet square. He is somewhat engaged in stock-raising, having on hand at the present seven head of horses, ten of cattle and twenty hogs.

Mr. Gantz was married, September 29, 1861 , in the Fatherland, to Miss Carlina Hier, a native also of Prussia . He is the parent of ten children, William, Herman, Minnie, Lucinda, Lila and five that died unnamed in infancy.

With the characteristic energy of his race Mr. Gantz has throve since coming here, owing to his diligence in business, enterprise and judicious economy, and is rapidly assuming a prominent place among the more well-to-do farmers of the county. He is duly appreciated by his friends and neighbors, for his upright and earnest integrity of character and the general even tenor of his ways.

ERNST GANTZ, farmer, living on section 13, township 83, range 46, in the precinct of Franklin , was born in Pomerania , Prussia , September 28, 1843 , and is the son of Charles and Ernestina (Bedlefeld) Gantz, both of whom died in Germany .

Ernst was reared upon a farm, receiving in his youth an excellent education in the schools of his native land, and from the age of fourteen to twenty, assisted his father in his agricultural labors. Like all the young men of the Fatherland, on attaining his manhood he entered the army and was assigned for duty to the Second Company in the Third Regiment of Prussian Dragoons, a body of men who distinguished themselves on several fields of battle. He participated in several of the engagements of the war with Austria that terminated at Sadowa, and particularly on the field at Koeniggratz, July 3,1866 . At the close of that campaign, in August, 1867, according to the rule in that country he was allowed to return to his home, but at the beginning of the Franco- Prussian War, in 1870, he was again called out and in June of that year was assigned to the same cavalry regiment as before. He served with them one year, participating in the glorious campaign that terminated with the siege and surrender of Paris and the downfall of the French Empire. He was discharged from the service in June 1871, and returned to his home.

In June 1872, having concluded to seek in the New Word a better field for his efforts, and one where a man with limited capital would have a better chance, Mr. Gantz crossed the stormy Atlantic , and landed in New York City . Having friends in this vicinity, he came at once to Monona County , arriving here on the 21st of the month. Being without money and having a family to keep, he started to work in a sawmill, and continued in the same line for two years, after which he purchased the farm where he now lives. This latter comprises some one hundred and seventy-three acres of land, about fifty-five acres of which is devoted to cultivation, the balance being used as pasture or in timber. He keeps on hand about seven head of horses, twenty of cattle and thirty or forty of hogs.

November 28, 1868 , Mr. Gantz was married to Miss Anstina Hiden, a native of Germany , and daughter of Frederick Hiden, of Monona County , who came to this country in 1879, after his wife's death. Mr. and Mrs. Gantz are the parents of six children: Minnie, the wife of John Miller, of Franklin Township , this county; Mollie, Lizzie, Ernest, William and Zada.

WILHELM GANTZ, an active and intelligent farmer, living on section 15, Franklin Township , came to Monona County in 1865, and rented a farm. Soon after he purchased forty acres of land, to which he has added forty acres adjoining since. He erected a log house upon his farm, into which he moved and spent that winter, and in which he made his home until August, 1880, when he finished the neat frame cottage in which he now resides

Mr. Gantz is a native of Prussia , Germany , and first saw the light of day April 22, 1831 . He is the son of Carl and Christina Gantz, who were farmers in that kingdom. He acquired in his youth the principles of an education, and was reared to manhood on his father's farm, where he learned the business of farming, that has been so beneficial to him since. November 5, 1859 , he was united in marriage with Miss Frederica Miller, a native also of Prussia , who was born December 31, 1832 , and with his young wife, in the fall of 1862, sought in the New World the fortune and the chance to rise that were denied him in his native land. Crossing the boisterous Atlantic , after a tedious voyage, they landed at New York City , and thence proceeded to Buena Vista . Ohio . Work of all character was scarce, but he found employment in a stone quarry, in the environs of that village, and labored there for about a year, at the expiration of which he came to Monona County , as mentioned above.

Mr. and Mrs. Gantz have had one child that died in infancy. Both he and his wife are consistent and zealous members of the Lutheran Church , at Onawa, and merit and receive the respect and esteem of all with whom they come in contact.

SAMUEL HARRISON, a leading and enterprising farmer of Lincoln Township , has his home on section 4, 84, 46, where he has resided since first coming to Monona County , January 28, 1875 . At that time the land was in an entirely uncultivated condition, and as wild as when these bottom lands were roamed over by the Indian, and his hardly less savage congener the wolf. Mr. Harrison has made great improvements upon his land, and has brought a large portion of it under cultivation, and developed a splendid farm, and to-day ranks among the well-to-do agriculturists of that section of the county.

Mr. Harrison is the son of John and Martha Harrison, and was born in Spencer County, Ind., April 17, 1825 . In his early days he received the elements of his education in the rough log cabin schools of that locality, and made his home with his parents until December, 1846, when he started out in life for himself upon a farm which his father gave him. This was in the heavy timber that covered a large portion of that State, and had but about fourteen acres cleared. Going to work with a will, he managed to cut down the heavy trees and grub out the underbrush, thus reclaiming its soil to the uses of man, and remained upon that place cultivating the soil until March, 1853. Selling out his property and taking the boat at Owensboro , Ky. , where he made a short visit with his sister, he came by way of St. Louis to Mills County , this State, landing at what was then known as Jackson 's Wood Yard. He purchased a farm in that county, upon which he remained about three years, which he then sold and changed his business buying a sawmill, which he operated for about three years more, and then returned to agricultural pursuits. Eight years later he disposed of his interest there and came to Monona County .

Mr. Harrison was united in marriage in Orange County, Ind., December 1, 1846, with Miss Amelia Ventis, a native of that county and the daughter of Reuben and Rhoda (Webb) Ventis, and by this union is the parent of eleven children, as follows: a child that died in infancy; William K., John V., Mary V., James O., Lewis B., Nancy E., Samuel J., Edward M., Anna M., and George L.

April 17, 1889 , Mr. Harrison was bereft of his wife, who passed into "The valley of the shadow of death," leaving a disconsolate family, who sadly committed her body to Mother Earth.