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Shelby County
>> 1889 Index Biographical
History of Shelby and Audubon Counties, Iowa K Unless noted, biographies submitted by Dick Barton. William Keairnes is
a native of the Hawkeye State, having been born in Grove Township,
Shelby County, on the old Keairnes homestead, in Keairnes's Grove, March
15, 1854. He is a son of
Wilson and Sarah Keairnes, whose biography
will be found on another page of this work.
Our subject was reared in the
township in which he was born, and received his education in the
common schools of the neighborhood.
He remained under the parental roof
until he was twenty-two years of age; then he started for himself,
renting a farm for two years. In
1877 he purchased a tract of forty acres
of wild land in section 28, which he began to improve; he also
rented land which he farmed in connection with his own land. He has since
added 320 acres to this first purchase, so that his farm consists
of 360 acres, all in Grove Township.
It is all under cultivation except the
last eighty acres which he bought. He
has a good frame residence, and
barns for stock and grain. He has
done much for the advancement of the
community in which he lives, and although a young man, he has risen
to a position in the county of which he may well be proud. He is a self-made
man, having started with nothing but will and determination to
succeed. Mr. Keairnes is a
staunch Republican, and has represented the
township as trustee, and is now acting treasurer of the school board.
He was married August 9, 1879, to Miss Margaret, daughter of Patrick and
Hannorah Tierney. She was born in Clinton County, Iowa, February 14,
1860. They are the parents
of four children - Nellie M., Clarence P.,
Bessie E. and Blanche H. They
are members of Saint Mary's Catholic Church.
Willson Keairnes has
been a resident of Shelby County since 1851, and therefore can
justly lay claim to being one of the pioneers of the county. He was born in
Virginia, November 30, 1824, and is the son of Dunlap and Elizabeth (Willson) Keairnes, natives of Virginia, of Irish
and German ancestry.
Willson was about seven years of age when the family removed
to Lawrence County, Ohio. There
the father died, leaving a wife and five
children - Robinson, Willson, Jane, Eleanor, and Sarah Ann
(deceased). Willson was
reared to farm life, and obtained his education
in the common schools. About
the year 1843 he went to Missouri and spent
one year; thence he removed to Illinois and remained there five
years, and in 1849 he came to Iowa and settled at Indian Mills, now
known as Park's Mills, three miles from Council Bluffs.
In the spring of 1851 he
removed to Grove Township, Shelby County, and pre-empted a tract of 160 acres in what is now section 28.
There he has made numerous valuable improvements, and has one of the finest
farms in that part of the county.
He has a beautiful residence, and substantial
buildings for live-stock and grain.
When he settled on this place it was
in its primitive state. He chose
his farm partly in the prairie and partly
in the grove which is now known as Keairnes' Grove.
When he came to the county
there were only fifteen men living within its borders, so
it can readily be seen that neighbors were few and far between.
Nothing daunted Mr. Keairnes'
determination, and he went to work with a will to
secure a home for himself. He
was almost penniless and had the care of his
aged mother and two sisters besides his wife.
How well he has succeeded
can best be demonstrated by taking a look at his broad acres
of finely improved land, well stocked with horses, cattle and hogs.
his farm covers 360 acres of
land. In the beginning of his
residence in the county there were many hardships to endure.
The nearest market place was
Council Bluffs, fifty miles distant; and no difference whether it
was a pound of coffee or a spool of thread, fifty miles must be traveled
to obtain it. This journey was made by ox team or on horseback.
Mr. Keairnes was officially
identified with his township as trustee and
school director. He affiliates with the Republican party.
He was united in marriage,
April 8, 1847, to Sarah Parks, daughter of Elisha
Parks. She was a native of Louisiana.
Mr. and Mrs. Keairnes are the parents
of ten children - Elizabeth, wife of Amsey Beadle; Orpha J.,
wife of C. Sparks (both deceased); William H., Harvey R., Mindred W.,
Juliett, Edwin U., George, Jennetta, wife of Samuel Buckster; Martha,
wife of William Hammer. They
have also reared four orphan children - Ida
Sparks, May Sparks, Sarah Keairnes, wife of George Rumels, and Mary
Keairnes, wife of Thomas Warren. Mrs.
Keairnes is a member of the Latter-Day
Saints church. William
Kleeb was born in Green County, Wisconsin, May 16, 1851, and is the son of
John and Barbara Kleeb, whose history will be found elsewhere in this
work.
He was the oldest of a family of eleven children, and until his
sixteenth year he resided in Fayette County, Iowa, working on a farm and
attending the common schools.
In 1867 he came with his parents to
Shelby County, and settled in Washington Township.
In October, 1879, he
was married to Miss Julia F. Wheeler, daughter of Monroe and Mary E.
(Washburn) Wheeler; she was born in Waukesha County, Wisconsin, August
19, 1855, and came to Iowa in 1879.
They are the parents of four
children - Arthur W., Blanche E., Harry W. and Gladys L.
After Mr.
Kleeb's marriage he settled on a farm of eighty acres in section 34,
Grove Township, and has since made this his home.
When he bought the
land it was uncultivated and unimproved, but he has brought it up to a
high state of cultivation, and has erected large and comfortable
buildings.
He has purchased the adjoining eighty acres, so his farm now
contains 160 acres.
Mr. Kleeb is energetic and enterprising, and stands
in the front ranks of Shelby County's farmers.
He affiliates with the
Union Labor party, and has held the office of school director.
The
family are numbered among the respected and worthy citizens of the
county.
Jacob Korth,
Jr.,
proprietor of the hardware store in Portsmouth, Iowa, established the
business in 1887.
He carries a good stock of shelf and heavy hardware;
his store-room is large and well arranged for his stock.
He has a
profitable trade, and by his honorable dealings and genial and cordial
manners is fast increasing it.
Jacob Korth was born in Keokuk County,
Iowa, may 8, 1864, and is a son of Jacob Korth, Sr.
When he was eleven
years of age his parents removed to Cass Township.
He was reared to the
life of a farmer, and received his education in the public schools of
Keokuk and Shelby counties.
At the age of seventeen years he engaged in
clerking for his brother, P. J. Korth, and remained in his employ for
three years.
He then obtained a position in a general store in Council
Bluffs, which he held for two years.
He then returned to Portsmouth and
again was engaged with his brother as clerk.
He remained with him until
he engaged in the hardware business on his own account in 1887.
His
excellent business habits and his extensive acquaintance are fast
building him up a lively and paying trade.
Mr. Korth has been twice
married; September 14, 1885, he was married to Janey V. Harter, who died
February 9, 1887.
He was married to his present wife, Susan Hammes,
April 10, 1888.
In political thought and action Mr. Korth is
Democratic.
He is a member of the town council.
He a member of the
Roman Catholic church, and is one of the popular citizens of Portsmouth.
P.
J. Korth,
the popular pioneer merchant of Portsmouth, established himself in
business in the fall of 1882, and sold the first goods in the new town.
He carries a full stock of dry-goods, staple and fancy groceries, and
clothing, and does a business from $17,000 to $20,000 per annum. By his
genial, affable manners, and strictly honorable dealing he has built up
an extensive business.
P. J. Korth was born near Madison, Wisconsin,
April 1, 1857, and is the son of Jacob and Mary Anna (Soentgen) Korth,
who were born near Cologne, Germany, and came to America and settled in
Wisconsin in 1852.
The family lived there ten years and then removed to
Keokuk County, Iowa, and made that their home until 1876, when they came
to Shelby County.
The family consisted of the parents, five sons and
three daughters.
P. J. Korth was reared to the life of a farmer, and
obtained his education in the common schools.
At the age of twenty years
he secured a situation as clerk with E. C. Clapp, of Shelby, with
whom he remained one year.
He then entered the employ of W. F.
Cleveland, remaining with him two or three years.
In 1882 he came to
Portsmouth and opened his stock of general merchandise.
Mr. Korth was
married February 1, 1881, to Miss Mary Leinen, a daughter of Matthias
and Mary (Buch) Leinen, natives of Germany.
Mrs. Korth was born, reared
and educated in Keokuk County.
Two children were born to Mr. and Mrs.
Korth, both of whom are deceased - Leo J. died at the age of one year
and eleven months, and Zeono J. died at the age of two years and eight
months.
Mr. Korth is one of the wheel-horses of the Democratic party in
Cass Township.
He is a member of the Roman Catholic church.
February
14, 1886, he was appointed postmaster of Portsmouth.
He is one of
Shelby County's honored and esteemed citizens.
Peter
Korth is a member of the firm of Korth & Wehr, one of the leading business
firms of Portsmouth, dealers in lumber, coal, lime, grain and
agricultural implements.
In 1884 he bought Fred Albertus's interest in
the lumber firm of Dohrman & Albertus, and so the firm was Dohrman &
Korth from the fall of 1884 until the fall of 1886, when Nicholas Wehr
purchased Mr. Henry Dohrman's interest, since which time the firm is
known as Korth & Wehr.
The firm keep a large stock of goods, and by
uniformly fair and courteous dealing they have built up an extensive
trade; they are one of the most solid firms of Portsmouth.
Peter Korth
has been a resident of Shelby County since 1875; he was born near
Cologne, Germany, April 13, 1847, and is the oldest son of Jacob and
Mary Anna (Soentgen) Korth.
He was five years old when the family
emigrated to America, and settled in Dane County, Wisconsin.
They
resided there for ten years and most of this time in the town of Cross
Plaines, where Peter was educated in Catholic and common schools.
In
1862 they removed to Keokuk County, Iowa.
He passed his youth in the
occupations usually assigned a farmer's son; he resided in Keokuk County
with the exception of two years which he spent in Washington County,
Iowa.
In 1875 he came to Shelby County and settled in Cass Township.
He bought eighty acres of land in section 14 and added to it until he
had 195 acres, well improved.
In 1884 he sold his farm to Fred Albertus
and came to Portsmouth and engaged in his present business.
Peter Korth
is one of the leading Democrats of Cass Township; he was elected justice
of the peace in November, 1876, and has served until the present time,
dispensing justice to all who were called before his court in a manner
worthy of a judge; he was elected township trustee in 1878 and served
one year; in 1879 he was elected township clerk and served seven years,
and in November, 1888, he was elected again for the offices of justice
of the peace and township clerk for a term of two years.
In 1885 he was
elected mayor of Portsmouth, and then served three years on the town
council, and in the spring of 1889 was elected to serve three more
years; he has also been elected as a member of the school board of the
independent district of Portsmouth for the term of three years, and has
filled all these offices to the credit of himself and the satisfaction
of the public.
He is a member of the Roman Catholic church, and when
the church was first built east of Portsmouth he gave five acres of
ground toward it.
Peter Korth was married in Keokuk County, Iowa,
November 3, 1870, to Anna Rosalia Leinen, a daughter of Mathias and Anna
Mary Leinen.
They are the parents of nine children - Mary, John, Anna,
John L., Gertie, Frank, Peter, Leo and Jacob B.
John, the oldest son,
died when he was two years old.
Mr. Korth has one of the finest
residences in the town of Portsmouth, and on a fine location surrounded
by shade and evergreen trees.
Joseph H. Kuhl, of Union Township, is one of the many leading and thoroughly reliable citizens of Shelby County, Iowa, whose ancestors came from Germany. His parents, Mathias H. and Margarette (Glason) Kuhl, are natives of the Rhine country, Germany. Mathias H. was brought up on a farm, and follows this occupation at the present time in Mills County, Iowa. When he had been married one year, he and his wife emigrated to America, the land whither so many ambitious sons and daughters of the Fatherland had gone. They are the parents of nine children, of whom Joseph H. is the oldest. He was born in Fond du Lac County, Wisconsin, December 20, 1846, and passed his youth in the midst of agricultural industries. His education was begun in the common schools, and would have been extremely limited had it ended there. Without any instructor after he had left school he mastered the reading and writing of the German language, an din every way possible supplemented the narrow opportunities afforded him in his youth. At the age of seventeen years he made a trip across the mountains with a herd of cattle, and at the early age of thirteen years he embarked in the threshing business, which he followed almost every season for fifteen years. Mr. Kuhl was united in marriage, January 9, 1870, to Miss Mary Finken, daughter of Mathias and Kathrina (Gans) Finken, natives of Germany, who came to America in 1855. Mrs. Kuhl is also a native of Germany. After his marriage Mr. Kuhl rented a farm in Mills County, Iowa, and began a record in his own name. His capital was not wholly tangible, being a large supply of pluck, energy and determination; but these are important factors in any enterprise, and have not proven worthless in Mr. Kuhl's experience. For two years he remained in Mills County, and in 1873 he came to Shelby County and settled on eighty acres of wild land in Westphalia Township, in which place he was one of the first colonists. In 1882 he sold his farm, then consisting of 160 acres under good cultivation, and bought 160 acres in Union Township, which has ever since been his residence. He has placed this land under cultivation and made many improvements, having erected a fine two-story frame house, and the buildings necessary for the storage of grain and the protection of live-stock. He has planted eight acres of grove, and has thus done his share in the advancement of forestry in the treeless prairies. Mr. Kuhl was one of the prime movers in the organization of Westphalia Township, and in the establishment of the Westphalia Colony, one of the most prosperous German institutions in western Iowa. He was the first postmaster of Westphalia, and was the first postmaster at Earling. He still holds this position at Earling, and on first coming to the place he was engaged in buying and selling of grain in connection with his farming interests. For some years he was in partnership with his brother Peter in the hardware business, but since January, 1888, he has devoted himself to his farming, the postoffice, and the agency of the Milwaukee Land Company. He has charge of the company's lands from Council Bluffs to Manning, and has been a most profitable employe. He was largely instrumental in the rapid growth of the town of Manilla, and has ever served the company to their best interests. He was elected to the office of county supervisor in the fall of 1881, and served until 1888, with honor to himself and perfect satisfaction to his constituents. He has represented his township in its various offices almost from the beginning of his residence within its borders. Politically he affiliates with the Democratic party, being one of the political leaders of the county. He owns 187 acres of land in the county. Mr. Kuhl is a self-made man, affable, courteous and public-spirited. For integrity of character and upright dealing he has no superior in the community. Mr. and Mrs. Kuhl are the parents of seven children - Kathrina, Nicholas B., John M., Mary A., Michael H., Edward N. and Anna. Mathias P.
Kuhl, a
native of Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, was born July 15, 1853, and is the son
of Peter and Mary C. (Finkin) Kuhl, natives of Germany.
He is one of
a family of ten children, eight of whom grew to maturity - John K., a half
brother;
Anna,
M. P.,
Margaretta, Angeline, Amalia, Joseph P. and
Nicholas.
M. P. was three years of age when his parents removed to Mills
County, Iowa, and settled on a farm on which he was reared.
He obtained
a very limited education in the common schools, but the cultivation
of a naturally keen observation has enabled him to attend to any
business that may devolve upon him.
He remained at home until he had
reached his twenty-sixth year, and then was married August 23, 1879, to
Miss Allie Martin, a daughter of Robert A. and Phidelia (Porter) Martin,
natives of Athens County, Ohio, who emigrated to Mills County, Iowa,
in 1876.
Mrs. Kuhl was born December 7, 1861, and is one of a family
of five children.
After their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Kuhl continued
to reside in Mills County for one year, and then came to Shelby
County and settled in Lincoln Township, remaining there two years;
then they removed to Earling, and Mr. Kuhl engaged in the saloon business
for a short time.
He soon sold this and purchased a livery stock,
and later a barn, and now conducts a profitable livery business.
In connection with this he also buys and ships live-stock of all
kinds.
He owns two pieces of property in Earling, and an interest in a
farm in Mills
County, Iowa.
Politically Mr. Kuhl's convictions are voiced in the
Democratic party.
He and his wife are members
of the Roman Catholic church.
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