Biography

Biography of Willard P. Naramore

Hon. Willard P. Naramore, the veteran physician and surgeon of Lena, is probably the most prominent of the older pioneers who have witnessed the development of the county from the open prairies to the present highly cultivated agricultural and manufacturing community. He combines two qualifications seldom found in the medical profession-a high proficiency in the art of healing and exceptional financial ability. Too often the practitioner devotes his time and strength to his clientage for many years neglecting the financial side of the profession and finds himself late in life with little to sustain his declining years and the old … Read more

Biography of John Piper

John Piper, now living a retired life in Freeport, was born Feb. 7, 1832, in Washington county, Maryland, at the place where, thirty years later, the great battle of Antietam was fought. His parents were Jacob and Anna (Kitzmiller) Piper, both of Washington county, and his grandfather, Daniel Piper, was born February 4, 1780, and died March 3, 1857. He was a farmer and spent all of his life in the above county. His wife, whose maiden name was Brown, was born September 2, 1774, and died July 8, 1851. Grandmother Kitzmiller was born January 23, 1777, and died July … Read more

Biography of John J. Pluemer

John J. Pluemer, for many years a resident of Freeport, is now passed eighty-two years, and has given up all active business enterprises. He has been an active and pushing man of affairs, and has borne his part in life manfully. He was born in Ost Friesland, now a part of Prussia, Jan. 3, 1817, where he attended school until he was about 16. To secure for him a better education his father put him into a lawyer’s office where he remained until he was nineteen. His father was a farmer and dealer in peat for fuel purposes, the latter … Read more

Biography of Thomas Carroll

Thomas Carroll  is an engineer who has seen many years service with the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Road. Beginning on the engine when only eighteen years old, he has come to understand its very life, and almost make it a part of himself. He knows every whim and fancy of the iron horse and can coax it to its utmost exertion. Thomas Carroll, Sr., the father of the Freeport engineer, was born in county Monaghan, Ireland, and came to America when a young man. He lived in New York for a time and came to Freeport in 1854, the … Read more

Biographical Sketches of Sac County Iowa

Residence in Odebolt Iowa

The first settlement in Sac County Iowa was made by Otho Williams, who came from Michigan in the autumn of 1854, with his family, and took up a claim in the timber near Grant City, in the southeastern part of the county. He and his family were the first white inhabitants of Sac county, but during the two succeeding years quite a number of settlers made their homes either in the same neighborhood or in the vicinity of Sac City, and Otho Williams, at the end of about two years, complained that ‘folds are gittin’ to thick ’round yer,’ and … Read more