I've been posting all of the 1915 biographies from the Past and Present of Shelby County, Iowa, onto the USGenWeb page for Shelby County. You can find them there at: http://www.rootsweb.com/~iashelby/1915bio/1915.htm I had not yet added this one, so here it is. I hope it is helpful: Page 1193-95. JOHN CARL HEESE. It is the progressive, wide-awake men of affairs who make the real history of a community, and their influence as potential factors of the body politic is difficult to estimate. The examples of such men furnish of patient urpose and steadfast integrity, strongly illustrate what is in the power of each to accomplish. No higher class of citizens are to be found in this county than those who have come here from Germany, for without exception, they have been men of high character and good business ability. They are found in every line of activity and wherever they locate they soon make an impression upon the community as men of sterling worth. One of the leading German residents of this county is John C. HEESE, a prosperous lumber and coal dealer of Earling. He is the son of John and Anna (DREXELIUS) HEESE, and was born April 15, 1858, in Westphalia, Germany. His father was a farmer in his native land and gave him a farm of sixty-five acres upon his marriage. He continued to farm until 1876 when he disposed of his farm and came to this country with his family and settled upon a farm of one hundred sixty acres in Westphalia township, Shelby County, Iowa. He added to his land holdings from time to time until, at the time of his death, he owned two hundred twenty acres in this county. He retired from active work in 1882 and moved to Earling, where he resided until his death, February 14, 1899, at the age of seventy-eight. His wife was born June 1825 and died in Earling, September 26, 1894. John and Anna HEESE were the parents of four children: Henry, who married Amelia KUHL; Peter, who married Bertha SASSE; Bertha, the wife of Emil ZIMMERMAN; John C., whose career is here briefly set forth. John Carl HEESE attended school in his native land and after leaving school was apprenticed to a carpenter in order to learn the trade. He continued to follow that trade until he came with his parents to America, but when his father located upon a farm in Shelby County, he assisted on the home farm. He remained with his father until 1880, when he resumed the carpenter's trade, following it until 1886, when he opened a lumber and coal yard at Earling, a business which he has since followed with marked success. He now has one of the largest and most complete lumber yards in the county and has built up a trade which extends for many miles in every direction. He is a man of keen business ability, and because he has followed strict rules of honesty in all his dealings with his customers. In addition to his business interests in Earling, he owns five hundred forty four acres in this county and one hundred sixty acres in Colorado. Mr. HEESE was married November 26, 1885, to Mary E. GOLOBITH, the daughter of John and Rosina (NIPP) GOLOBITH. Her father was born in Austria, her mother in Switzerland, and they were married in Dubuque, Iowa. Mrs. HEESE is one of seven children, the other six being Rosa, Mary Elizabeth, Katherine, Theresa, John and Annie. Mr. GOLOBITH was a farmer all his life, dying in 1894, his widow now living with her daughter, Mrs. HEESE. To Mr. and Mrs. HEESE have been born eleven children: Mary Rosa, Anna Margaret, Cecelia Rosalia, Matilda Theresa, Magdalena K., Joseph, Albert, Emil, Cornelia Bertha, Alphonso John, and Marcus Valerious. Mary Rosa is the wife of Joseph A. LANGFELD and has two children, Beneta and Coletta. Anna Margaret married Matthew SCHOMERS. Cecelia Rosalie is the wife of A. N. FINKEN and has two sons, Sylvester and Austin. Matilda Theresa married John S. FINKEN. All the remainder of the children are single and living with their parents. The Democratic party has claimed the support of Mr. HEESE although he is not a blind partisan in any sense of the word. He is a farm believer in good government and votes for the men whom he thinks will give the citizens the best service in public office. He and his family are zealous members of the Catholic Church and are deeply interested in its welfare. Mr. HEESE is a member of the Knights of Columbus, a secret society for men of Catholic faith. He has tried to live a consistent and praiseworthy life and that he has succeeded is indicated by the high esteem in which he is held by his fellow citizens throughout the county. (end) Regards, Mona Sarratt Knight County Coordinator IAGenExchange - Pottawattamie County http://www.genexchange.org/county.cfm?state=ia&county=pottawattamie Providing free genealogy information to the world. Help keep genealogy free! Join the GenExchange http://www.genexchange.org/volunteering.cfm