John G. Reidel has been a resident of Clayton county
from the days of his childhood and is another of the
native sons of Iowa who have achieved marked success
and prestige as representatives of agricultural
industry in this county, his fine landed estate of
two hundred acres being situated in Giard township
and constituting one of the model farmsteads of this
section of the Hawkeye State.
Mr Reidel was born in Linton
township Allamakee county Iowa on the 1st of
September, 1856, but within a short time thereafter
he was brought to the old homestead farm in Giard
township, Clayton county, where he has continued his
residence during the long intervening period of half
a century. He is a son of Charles and Catherine
(Hoch) Reidel, both of whom were born in
Hessen-Darmstadt, Germany, the former on the 10th of
November, 1825, and the latter on October 10th, 1824.
The parents were reared and educated in their native
land and there their marriage was solemnized in the
year 1849. In 1852 with high aspirations and the
courage begotten of earnest ambition to achieve
independence and worthy prosperity, they severed the
ties that bound them to the Fatherland and set forth
for America. They remained for a time in the city of
Buffalo, N.Y., and then came to the West and
established their residence at Wheeling, Ill., where
Mr. Reidel identified himself with the meat market
business, in which he had gained experience in his
native land. In 1855 he came to Iowa and purchased a
tract of wild land in Giard township, though the
family were in Allamakee county at the time of the
birth of the subject of this review. Charles Reidel
reclaimed his land in effective cultivation and
became one of the successful farmers of Clayton
county, where he ever stood exponent of sterling
integrity and utmost civic loyalty. He finally
retired from active labors in the early '80s, and he
passed the gracious evening of his life in the home
of his son, John, of this review, where he died on
the 6th of January, 1913, the wife of his youth
having passed away on the 24th of December, 1874, and
both having been earnest and consistent members of
the religious organization designated as the
Evangelical Association.
The eldest of their children
is Henry J., who is a resident of Albion, Marshall
county; Elizabeth died in childhood, as did also
Charles, Jr.; John G., of this sketch, was the next
in order of birth; and Elizabeth, second of the name,
is the wife of Philip Ulish, of Monona, this county.
John G. Reidel is indebted
to the schools of Giard township for his early
educational discipline and in the meanwhile he gained
equally valuable experience through his association
with the work of the home farm. Soon after attaining
to his legal majority he rented the old homestead,
and about the year 1895 he purchased the property, to
the area of which he has since added until he now has
a valuable landed domain of three hundred and ten
acres in this and Allamakee counties, upon which he
has made many modern improvements and virtually all
of which is available for effective cultivation. He
also owns a half section of land in Polk county,
Minnesota. As an agriculturist and stock raiser, Mr
Reidel has exemplified not only progressiveness and
energy, but has also availed himself of methods and
appurtenances that are of the best modern order and
that have marked him as a farmer of distinctive
thrift and ability.
He has become specially well
and widely known throughout this section of the
State, and this has resulted largely from the demands
placed upon him in his capacity of public auctioneer,
in which line he has gained marked success and
popularity. Mr Reidel is unwavering in his allegiance
to the Republican party, is influential in community
affairs and has served seven years in the office of
township trustee, his long incumbency of this
important position indicating the high estimate
placed upon him in his home township. He is now
(1916) the nominee for sheriff of Clayton county on
the Republican ticket. In the village of Monona he is
affiliated with the organizations of the Independent
Order of Odd Fellows and the Modern Woodmen of
America, and both he and his wife are attendants of
the Evangelical Church.
May 23, 1880 recorded the
marriage of Mr. Reidel to Miss Mary K. Sautter, who
was born and reared in this county and who is a
daughter of George and Frederica (Heilman) Sautter,
early and honored settlers of Mendon township.
Concerning the children of Mr. and Mrs. Reidel the
following brief data are entered in conclusion of
this article: Lillian is the wife of Albert C.
Pingle, of Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin; Charles C., who
is associated in the work and management of his
father's large farm, is married and has one son,
Howard T.; Mabel A.F. is the wife of Guy Walk, a
prosperous farmer of Allamakee county; and John J. is
a successful farmer in Monona township, he and his
wife having on daughter Marion.
source: History of
Clayton County, Iowa; From The Earliest Historical
Times Down to the Present; by Realto E. Price,
Vol. II; pg. 341-343
-OCR scanned by S. Ferrall
