O. J. Hager
O.J. Hager
O. J. Hager occupies a notable place in financial circles of
Waukon as president of the First National Bank, while his
connections with other leading institutions through investment of
official service make him also one of the country’s most
conspicuously successful financiers. He is a native son of Iowa,
born in Allamakee county April 7, 1867, a son of Fred Hager, who
was among the early settlers in Iowa and who came to this section
of the state in 1849. He married here Miss Wilhelmina Helming and
after the wedding took up a claim some six miles beyond Waukon
which he cleared, broke and fenced and upon which he made many
substantial improvements, replacing his original farm dwelling by
a good brick residence and making his property one of the finest
and most valuable in the section. When he left the farm he moved
into Waukon and there spent the last years of his life, passing
away November 4, 1909, having survived his wife since 1891.
O. J. Hager was reared upon his father’s farm and acquired
his primary education in the public schools, supplementing this
by a three years’ course in Decorah College. After laying
aside his books he taught for four years but at the end of that
time came to Waukon, where he aided in organizing the First
National Bank with a capital stock of fifty thousand dollars. Mr.
Hager was made cashier and he served in that capacity for five
years, advancing afterward to the position of president, an
office which he still holds. The bank purchased an old building
which they tore down and replaced by the present modern and
commodious structure which is complete in furnishings and
equipment and a worthy competitor with the finest financial
institutions in the state. The capital stock has been increased
to one hundred thousand dollars and an extensive and growing
patronage has been build up, much of the success of the concern
being due to Mr. Hager’s able and far sighted management. He
is connected in an important way with various other banks in this
vicinity, being president of the Waterville Savings Bank; vice
president of the New Albin Savings Bank, and a stockholder and
director in the Dorchester Savings Bank. He is connected in a
similar way with the Brownsville State Bank of Brownsville,
Minnesota, and has come to be known as one of the authorities on
finance in this part of the country, his standing being based on
twenty years of able work along financial lines.
Extensive and important as are his banking interests, Mr. Hager
has yet found time to devote to other lines of activity and
during the period of his residence here has been prominently
connected with many profitable business enterprises. He is a
real-estate dealer on an extensive scale, buying and selling Iowa
and Minnesota lands and specializing in improved and unimproved
farm properties, in which he has valuable holdings.
On September 20, 1900, Mr. Hager married Miss Ella Stevens, who
was born, reared and educated in Waukon. She is a daughter of
Peter Stevens, one of the original settlers in Allamakee county
and for a number of years a prosperous farmer. He later moved to
Waukon. Mr. and Mrs. Hager are the parents of two daughters,
Helen and Anna. The family are members of the Presbyterian church
and are well known in religious and social circles. They occupy a
modern and beautiful residence in Waukon which Mr. Hager erected
and which they have made a center of hospitality for their
charming circle of friends. Fraternally Mr. Hager is connected
with the Knights of Pythias and his political allegiances is
given to the republican party. A man of high worth and sterling
integrity, he is widely known throughout Allamakee county, a
community which has known him during his entire life.
-source: Past & Present of Allamakee County; by
Ellery M. Hancock; S. J. Clarke Pub. Co.; 1913
-transcribed by Diana Diedrich
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