Charles F. Kahler Biography >From "History of Davenport and Scott County" Vol. II by Harry E. Downer-S. J. Clarke Publishing Co. 1910 Chicago. To view the picture of Mr. and Mrs. Charles F. Kahler that accompanies this biography, please go to the main Scott county, Iowa page at: http://www.celticcousins.net/scott/ and click on Pictures/ Documents section. Surnames: Kahler, Hill, Hahn, Blunk, Suksdorf, Sederin, Klindt, Heintz. Charles F. Kahler, a retired agriculturist residing in Davenport, has for the past ten years enjoyed the fruits of his former toil in well earned ease. He has some fine town property and is still in possession of considerable farming land, owning two quarter sections in Tama county, Iowa, and also a tract of one hundred and sixty acres in Sunnyside township, Larimer county, Colorado. His birth occurred in Holstein, Germany, on the 26th of July, 1838, his parents being Hans and Charlotta Kahler. The father, who was a laborer and also engaged in farming on a small scale, participated in the Schleswig-Holstein wars from 1848 until 1850. In 1855, in company with his wife and children, he embarked on a sailing vessel bound for American shores and landed at Galveston, Texas, after an ocean voyage of about eight weeks. They remained in Galveston, for only two days and then boarded a cattle ship for New Orleans, whence they took passage on a boat which brought them to Davenport on ! the 26th of June, 1855. Hans Kahler continued to reside in this city throughout the remainder of his life, passing away on the 1st of April, 1900, when he had attained the venerable age of ninety-four years. The period of his residence here covered almost forty-five years and he became well known and highly esteemed as a substantial and representative citizen. The demise of his wife had occurred soon after their arrival in Davenport. Their children were six in number, as follows: Henry, who is living retired in Davenport: Charles F., of this review; Dora, who is deceased; Mary, the wife of John Hill, of Davenport; Louisa, who has also passed away; and August, who makes his home in Ottumwa. Charles F. Kahler, who obtained his education in the schools of the fatherland, was a youth of seventeen when he accompanied his parents on their emigration to the new world. After locating in this county he secured employment as a farm hand and thus worked for a number of years or until the time of his marriage in 1872. In that year he purchased an improved farm of one hundred and sixty acres in Blue Grass township and there carried on his agricultural interests energetically and successfully for a period of twenty-eight years. In 1900 he put aside the active work of the fields and took up his abode in Davenport, where he has since lived retired. As the years passed and he prospered in his undertakings, he invested his money in farming property and is still the owner of two tracts of one hundred and sixty each in Tama county, Iowa, as well as a quarter section of land in Larimer county, Colorado. On the 20th of March, 1872, Mr. Kahler was united in marriage to Miss Catherine Hahn, who was born in Scott county, Iowa, on the 13th of February 1849, her parents being Wolfe and Margaret hah, natives of Holstein, Germany. They were married in that country and after emigrating to America took up their abode among the earliest settlers of Scott county, arriving here in 1846. Wolfe Hahn entered a tract of prairie land in Davenport township and devoted his time and energies to its cultivation and improvement for about forty years. On leaving the farm he came to Davenport, where he spent the remainder of his life in honorable retirement, passing away at the advanced age of eighty-three years. His wife was called to her final rest when seventy-six years of age. They were the parents of eight children, namely: Ida, the deceased wife of Hans Kruse; Mrs. Kahler; Minnie, who gave her hand in marriage to Theodore Blunk, Emma, the widow of Carl Suksdorf; Augusta, who married Paul Sed! erin; and Julia, who is the wife of George Klindt. Unto Mr. and Mrs. Kahler were born five children as follows: Robert, who lives on his father's farm in Colorado and who wedded Miss Tillie Heintz, by whom he has four children-Elsie, Blake, Oscar and Francis; Louis, who was drowned when sixteen years of age; Alphonso, who follows farming in Washington; Lillian, at home; and Harry, who is a resident of Philadelphia. Politically Mr. Kahler is independent and while living on the farm held several township offices, including that of school director. He is a member of the German Pioneers Association of Scott county and also belongs to the German Shooting Society, the Turners and the Independent Order of Odd Fellows at Davenport. Having resided in Scott county for fifty-five years, he has an extensive circle of friends within its borders and has been an interested witness of its steady growth and development. He is now in the seventy-second year of his age and by reason of his well spent life fully merits the esteem and regard which are uniformly accorded him. ~~~~~~*~~~~~~ Elaine Rathmann Assist. CC: Scott Co, IA USGenWeb Project List Adm. for: *IA-CIVIL-WAR *IA-DANES