John A. Kerper

As printed in 1911

John A. Kerper, secretary of the Peter J. Seippel Lumber Company since its inception, was born near New Vienna, Dubuque county, on December 17, 1873, and is a son of Bernard and Mary Magdalena (Steil) Kerper. The father was the son of John and Mary Kerper and came with them to America in 1852, when they located on a farm near New Vienna, which he cleared and cultivated; he is at present residing in New Vienna at the age of sixty-four years. After attending the district schools John A. Kerper entered the Northern Illinois Normal School. He then completed his studies with a course in the Dixon Business College, which he left in 1891. The following three years he worked on his father's farm, then went to Farley and became a bookkeeper and salesman for the George McGee Lumber and Farm Implement Company, remaining thus employed until 1896. Succeeding this he was employed in a like capacity by the Meuser & Seippel Lumber Company, East Dubuque, and when Mr. Seippel came to Dubuque Mr. Kerper came with him and they have been associated together in the lumber business ever since. The Peter J. Seippel Lumber Company was incorporated on February 25, 1904, and Mr. Kerper was elected secretary thereof, and at present has an interest in the concern. He is independent in politics and is Grand Knight at the present writing of the Knights of Columbus, and a member of St. Raphael's Cathedral. To his marriage with Miss Angeline Marshall, solemnized in East Dubuque, September 26, 1891, three daughters, Bernice, Constance and Kathleen, have been born. Mrs. Kerper is the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Nicholas Marshall, who were descended from old French families. Mr. Marshall is residing in Rock Island, Illinois, is a blacksmith by occupation and a very worthy man. The Kerper home in Dubuque is located at 206 Bluff street.

George L. Hein, secretary and treasurer of the Thomas J. Mulgrew Coal, Wood and Ice Company since its incorporation in 1904, is a native of Dubuque, and the son of Thomas and Dora Hein.' Thomas Hein primarily worked for a teaming contractor, and upon coming to Dubuque in 1854 engaged in that line of business on his own account. He also for some time conducted a buffet in this city. When civil war threatened the disruption of the Union in the early sixties he enlisted in answer to President Lincoln's call for volunteers in the Fifth Iowa Cavalry. During one of his engagements he suffered a broken leg and was forced to remain in a hospital until again fit for service. At the conclusion of the war he was honorably discharged, and immediately returned to Dubuque, where he followed contracting until his death in December, 1906, aged sixty-five years. The Hein family originate from Germany but for generations have resided in America. Mrs. Hein is yet living and makes her home at 732 West Fifth street. George L. Hein, the subject of this review, attended the Dubuque public schools and in 1891 graduated from a course in Bayless Business College. Two years later he became a bookkeeper in the Mulgrew & Phillips Ice, Coal and Wood concern and held that position until the reorganization of the firm in 1904 as the Thomas J. Mulgrew Coal, Wood and Ice Company, at which time he was elected secretary and treasurer. He has since been thus associated, being also a director of the concern. Socially he is a member of the Eagles, Modern Woodmen of America and the Dubuque T. & B. M. Association. In February, 1901, he married Miss Elizabeth Bedenbender, daughter of Frederick and Mary Bedenbender, and they have one daughter, Juanita, and one son, Elwyn, both attending the Irving school, in Dubuque. Mr. and Mrs. Bedenbender were pioneer settlers and farmers of Mosalem township, and there the former died in 1904. Mrs. Bedenbender is yet living and resides with Mr. and Mrs. Hein in their home at 492 Delhi street.

Thomas Kelly died in May, 1867. He had been the owner of the beautiful bluff and grove overlooking the city and bearing his name. For many years he had lived something of a hermit's life, but all respected him. He was well known by name to thousands who never saw him, and yet were his neighbors. He took no part in the prosperity of Dubuque, yet all had enjoyed his grove and bluff many times. He came here in 1833 and lived until death, a bachelor miner. He left several relatives in the county. He first came stealthily to Dubuque in 1832, as others did, and built a cabin, but was forced across the river by the soldiers. He first mined south of the ravine which became called Dodge street, but not meeting with success took possession of what became "Kelly's Bluff." It was the spot of an old Indian encampment. Alone he opened a shaft and in two days at a depth of fourteen feet raised 400 pounds of ore and the next day 1,000 pounds. He then stated off this "claim." He soon reached the main lode and it was sufficient to make him rich. In 1836 he brought his relatives on from Canada and in 1837 built a smelting furnace of his own on the bluff. It was yet standing in 1844. He lived partly in a cave or rocky shaft on his land and partly in one of his tenements. At the time of his death his property was variously estimated to be worth from $50,000 to $200,000. He was exceedingly eccentric, and many extremely interesting incidents connected with his life here are recollected by very old settlers. Reports that he had buried large sums of gold on his property caused the formation of searching parties after his death, but their trespassing was ordered stopped by the city authorities. Later considerable gold was found.

Nicholas M. Shaffer, the well-known nurseryman and farmer on section 27, Cascade township, comes from an ancestry of which he may well be proud. He is a son of Christopher and Margaret (Widner) Shaffer, and a grandson of Nicholas Shaffer. Nicholas Shaffer was a native of France, his birth occurring near the German border, and served as a soldier under the great Napoleon and Louis XVIII for eighteen years. He married Mary Barbara Kline and with her and their three children, Christopher, then seven years of age, Nicholas, who died at Cascade, Iowa, twelve years ago, and Mary, who died in 1906 in Jones county, Iowa, emigrated to the United States by way of New Orleans. He first located in Ohio, but later removed to Indiana, where he died in 1850, at the age of seventy-two years. Christopher Shaffer grew to manhood in this country. In 1856 he came to Dubuque county and located on the farm now resided on by the subject of this sketch, and was here engaged in general agricultural pursuits until 1873, at which time, with the aid of his son, he established also the present nursery business. He became widely known throughout all this section by reason of his fine farm and nursery, his specialty being the grape. He died in 1908, aged eighty-five years, but his widow survives him at the age of eighty-three and resides in the village of Cascade. Their children were: N. M.; Hannah B., who married and lives in Kansas; Mary Jane, married, and resides in Kansas City; George H, a resident of Cascade; Rosanna, married, and residing in Kansas City; and Sarah Ann, married and making her home in Cascade. Nicholas M. Shaffer was born in Clinton county, Indiana, in 1848, and after attending the public schools in youth, learned paper making, and for five years traveled extensively. He then joined his father in the nursery business, at which he has ever since been engaged. In 1874 he married Catherine Moran, born March 1, 1854, at Dunkirk, New York, daughter of Patrick and Margaret (Maddigan) Moran, who were natives of Ireland. Patrick Moran came to the United States when nineteen years old, was a carpenter by trade, married at Dunkirk, New York, located at Cascade in 1856, and died in 1899. His parents, Dennis and Mary Moran, came from Ireland, but because of sickness at the port of New York they became separated and Mary Moran was never again heard from. Patrick Moran and wife were the parents of Nellie, Catherine, Mary, Henry, Maggie, James, Patrick, Dennis and John. To ' the marriage of Nicholas M. Shaffer and Catherine Moran eleven children have been born, named, Margaret, Mary, Christopher, William, Calista, Rose and Caroline (twins) Catherine, Sadie, Nicholas and Isabella. Mr. and Mrs. Shaffer and their children are members of the Roman Catholic church.

As printed in History of Dubuque County, Iowa; being a general survey of Dubuque County history, including a history of the city of Dubuque and special account of districts throughout the county, from the earliest (1911). See the original pages. Wording is the original; obvious scanning errors have been corrected, and a few may remain.