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L.
A. Schneider is one of the successful business men of
Greeley, where he conducts one of the leading hardware stores of
the county. He also owns three hundred and twenty acres of land
in Elk township. He was born in Redwood, New York, October 8,
1848, a son of Nicholas and Margaret (Crainer) Schneider, both
natives of Alsace Lorraine, the former born in 1804. They were
married in their native land and in 1830 emigrated to America and
located in New York state. The father worked upon the first horse
railway in the United States and remained in the Empire state
until 1855, when he removed to Iowa, settling on a farm in
Delaware county. He concentrated his energies upon the
cultivation of his land until his death. In his family were
twelve children, seven of whom survive.
L. A. Schneider received
the advantages of a common school education and remained at home,
assisting his father in the work of the farm until he attained
his majority. He then began his business career and first found
employment as a farm hand. He subsequently conducted a butcher
shop at Greeley for some time and then farmed for a year, after
which he went to Montana, where he worked in a sawmill for two
years. At the end of that time he returned to Greeley and entered
into partnership with Henry Drybread in the conduct of a general
store, which association was maintained for three years, but Mr.
Schneider then sold out and worked four years for Harry Wilson.
He next entered the hardware business, in which he has continued
for more than twenty five years. His store is widely patronized
as his goods are of excellent quality, his prices reasonable and
his treatment of his customers invariably courteous.
Mr. Schneider was married February 9, 1883, to Mrs. Alice I.
Nelson, a native of Illinois, who was born May 3, 1863, and is a
daughter of Henry and Mary S. (Bates) Box, both natives of
Cornwall, England. They came to this country in 1846 and first
settled in Ohio but subsequently removed to the vicinity of
Chicago, Cook county, Illinois, and to Delaware county, Iowa, in
1863. They lived near Almoral on a farm many years. Mr. Box was a
blacksmith in Earlville and later conducted a hotel in Greeley
for fifteen years. He died April 26, 1912, aged eighty nine
years, and was survived for only a few months by his wife, who
passed away November 26, 1912. To them were born eight children,
namely: Charlotte, who resides with Mr. and Mrs. Schneider;
Amelia Jane, who is the widow of George Harper and resides at
Spencer, Nebraska; Henry D., who has extensive landed interests
in Lavina, Montana; Mary, the wife of W. J. Radcliff, of Sioux
City, Iowa; George W., a hotel proprietor of Wayne, Nebraska;
Orilla, the wife of Orson Coe, of Lavina, Montana; Laura C., who
married Frank Correll, of Warba, Minnesota; and Alice I., the
wife of our subject. To Mr. and Mrs. Schneider were born five
children: Henry, deceased; Josephine, the wife of William Brandt,
of Sioux City, Iowa; Edith, who married Edward Luense; Harry E.,
who wedded Marie Anderson; and R. C., at home.
Mrs. Schneider is a member of the Methodist Episcopal church and
takes a keen interest in the work of that organization. Mr.
Schneider is a republican and has for many years taken an active
part in local public affairs. He served as mayor of Greeley for
two terms and gave the municipality a thoroughly efficient and
progressive administration. He has also been president of the
school board for some years and is tireless in his efforts to
advance the public schools. Fraternally he is a member of the
Masonic order, belonging to Lodge No. 225, A. F. & A. M., at
Greeley, and also to the Shrine at Cedar Rapids. In addition to
his hardware store he owns the building in which it is located,
his comfortable residence in Greeley and three hundred and twenty
acres of fine land on section 7, Elk township. His life of well
directed labor has won him a competence, and the strict integrity
of his conduct has gained him the esteem of his fellowmen. |
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