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| HENRY EHLERS, after whom the R. R.
and P. O. "Ehlers" are named, is one of the most
successful foreign born farmers of Delaware, Iowa. He
first saw the light of day in Holstein, Germany, September
2, 1826. His parents, John and Magdalena (Strove) Ehlers,
were natives of the same place, and died there at the
respective ages of seventy-two and sixty-seven years, both
of the faith of the Lutheran church. To this venerable
couple were born five children in the following order:
Claus, who is following the calling of his father, that of
farming in his native country, Germany; Anna, wife of
William Lentz, a mason and blacksmith, still in Holstein;
Hans, a cabinetmaker, now living in Dubuque, Iowa; John,
who died at the age of twenty-four years in his native
country, and Henry, with whom this sketch is most
connected. Henry Ehlers was reared to farming in the old
country, and there also was educated, and there he
performed the military service due to his sovereign,
William, serving three years and five months. At the
conclusion of his term in the army he worked on a farm,
and in less than two years saved enough money to pay his
passage to America, and had left over when he arrived in
Quebec, Canada, about $35 in cash. For the following nine
months he worked for a railroad company, added his savings
to the little capital he had on his arrival, and on the
first day of April, 1855, was rich enough to land himself
in Delaware county, Iowa, and purchased a tract of eighty
acres of raw prairie land at $1 per acre, which tract he
still retains as his homestead. Here he at once began his
improvements, and by 1860 was able to erect his present
fine residence. Industrious, shrewd and economical, he has
been able to add to his first purchase eighty acres on
section 25, making one hundred and sixty acres as a home
farm; besides this he has bought one hundred and fifty
acres in section 23 in Adams township, |
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and twenty acres of timberland in Jackson township, section 10,
Linn county, and all now without encumbrance. His attention is
not given altogether to farming, but dairying and live stock
added to his business interests. Of the latter he keeps on hand
an average of about sixty-five head and milks about twenty-two
cows, the profits from the dairy alone amounting to quite an
income. His barns he built in 1875 and in 1888, as his stock in
its increase demanded additional accommodations, and these barns
are in themselves models of convenience and comfort to their
occupants.
Mr. Ehlers seems to have been a natural born soldier, for not
satisfied with his military life in the old country, or
disgusted with the pertinacity of the rebelling South in the
late civil war, he enlisted in Company I, Fourth Iowa volunteer
infantry, and served until the war was ended. During this
service he was with General Sherman from Atlanta to the sea,
taking part in all the engagements in which the Fourth Iowa
participated, among them being that of Dentonville, N.C., in
which he was under fire twenty-four consecutive hours. Finally,
he reached Washington, D. C., took part in the grandest review
the world ever witnessed, and in that city received an honorable
discharge June 17, 1865.
The popularity of Mr. Ehlers is manifested in the fact that his
fellow townsmen have entrusted him with all the township offices
at different times, and also by the fact that he is now serving
his third term as county supervisor for his township.
July 1, 1862, Mr. Ehlers was united in marriage with Miss Anna
B. Mangold, a native of Switzerland, born December 20, 1830. For
twenty-six years this lady was to him a loving and faithful
companion, dying October 10, 1888, the mother of three children,
born in the following order: William H., April 27, 1863; John
H., March 7, 1886, and Caroline, August 12, 1869, all three
living with their father.
To these children Mr. Ehlers has given most excellent advantages
in educational matters, having sent them to the excellent public
schools of his neighborhood and to the high school at Epworth,
Dubuque county. Although not a communicant of any Christian
church denomination, Mr. Ehlers is nevertheless a Christian at
heart, and freely contributes of his means to all church
organizations regardless of sect. In politics he is a
republican, and it will be seen that he has faith in the
principles of the party and that the party has faith in him by
its having invested him with the various public trusts he has
been charged with, the duties of which he has so faithfully
performed. |
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~ source: Biographical souvenir of the counties of
Delaware and Buchanan, Iowa; Chicago : F. A. Battey, 1890. Page 405-408; LDS
microfilm #985424
~
contributed by Thom Carlson
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