Josef A. LeClaire Biography >From "History of Davenport and Scott County" Vol. II by Harry E. Downer-S. J. Clarke Publishing Co. 1910 Chicago. Surnames: LeClaire, Manval. Josef A. LeClaire, since 1885 a representative of fire insurance in Davenport and also a prominent and active in political circles, was born in St. Charles county, Missouri, October 15, 1833. His father, Francis LeClaire was a native of St. Joseph, Michigan. His father was Francois LeClaire, a brother of Antoine LeClaire. When a young man he removed to St. Charles county, Missouri, and became one of the first pilots on the Mississippi river, running between St. Louis and Galena. At length, however, he abandoned the water and spent the latter part of his life on a farm. He was born in 1793 and lived to the age of seventy-five years, passing away in 1868. He married Eulalie Manval, a native of Portage des Sioux, where her girlhood days were passed. She was his second wife and by the first union was born a daughter and two sons. Josef A. LeClaire was the youngest child of the family. On the 21st of October, 1841, he came with his half brother, Henry, to Davenport to live with Antoine LeClaire and here attended school. He also looked after the business interests of Antoine LeClaire until the latter's death in 1861. The following year Josef LeClaire went to the west, traveling extensively throughout that section of the country. Since 1885 he has been engaged in the insurance business in Davenport and has one of the leading and most successful agencies of the city, writing a large amount of insurance annually. He has always taken an active interest in public affairs and has filled a number of offices, to which he has been called by the vote of his fellow townsmen. In the early '60s he served as alderman of the fifth ward and in 1871 he was elected marshal and collector for the city and served seven years as county recorder. He was also elected magistrate and filled that position for several terms and! has figured prominently in official circles of the city, while his public service has brought him a wide acquaintance. Few men have more intimate knowledge of Davenport and her history through a period of sixty-eight years than Josef A. LeClaire, who arrived here in 1841 and through the intervening years has been an interested witness of all the great changes that have occurred. ~~~~~~*~~~~~~ Elaine Rathmann ACC Scott Co, IA USGenWeb Project List Adm: *IA-CIVIL-WAR *IA-DANES