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Carl Henry Bruehler

In taking a cursory glance through the list of leading citizens of Windsor township, Fayette county, the biographer does not go far until he encounters the name of Carl Henry Bruehler, who was born on November 30, 1855, in Cuyahoga county, Ohio, on a small farm which is now intersected by East Euclid avenue, Cleveland. He is the son of Henry and Caroline Bruehler, the former a native of Baden, Germany, and the latter of Saxony. They came to America when young and were married in Ohio. In 1856 they came to Fayette county, Iowa, where two sisters of Mrs. Henry Bruehler had already located. They were Johannah, the wife of Herman Meisgeier and the mother of Carl Meisgeier and Herman Meisgeier, of near Arlington; the other sister, Henerika, married Adam Becker. Mr. and Mrs. Henry Bruehler bought land northeast of Arlington, near the homes of these two sisters, about three miles from town, and there the parents developed a good farm on which they spent the remainder of their lives, becoming well known in Fairfield township. Their farm was wild and unimproved when the moved on it, but in a few years it was yielding abundant harvests. Mr. Bruehler died in 1864, at the early age of thirty-five years, leaving a widow and six children, Carl, the oldest son, then being nine years of age; there were two older sisters. The mother of these children remained on the farm and reared the children, five of whom are still living, namely: Barbara is the wife of Doctor Wegman, of Blue Hill, Nebraska; Mary married H. Knapp and lives in Arlington, this county; Caroline is the wife of George Downham, living in Hawkeye, Windsor township; Carl H., of this review; Louisa is the wife of Elmer Hooper, living in Fairfield, Vermont. The mother of these children was called to her reward at the age of sixty-six years. She had the distinction of being the original member of the St. Sebald Lutheran church.

Carl H. Bruehler took the home place to work when he was twenty-three years of age and seven years later he married, his mother having kept house for him in the meantime. On December 23, 1884, he joined Mrs. Anna Hennig in bonds of wedlock. A full sketch of her family appears elsewhere in this volume. She had married Carl Hennig when nineteen years of age, and by that union three children were born, namely: Henry, who was killed when fourteen years of age, by a horse kicking him; Ella is the wife of William Pieper, of Hawkeye; Christopher, living near Hawkeye. Three children have also been born to Mr. and Mrs. Carl Hl Bruehler, namely: Catherine, who died when eleven years of age; Gottfried, who is married and living near his father, and Lottie, who is living at home.

Mr. and Mrs. Bruehler are members of the Lutheran church at Hawkeye. When they married, Mrs. Bruehler owned one hundred acres of good land which Mr. Hennig had purchased. Soon eighty acres was added to this and later one hundred and sixty, some of which cost as high as sixty-three dollars per acre, Mr. Bruehler having prospered from the first and made without assistance enough to own his present large and well improved farm. He is a good manager and is very successful with general farming and stock raising. He devotes considerable attention to feeding stock, especially cattle, and he breeds some high grade stock, which, owing to their high grade and excellent quality, always find a ready market, and he is known as one of the leading stockmen of Windsor township. His attractive and commodious dwelling was built about twelve years ago, and he has good barns and all kind of modern farming implements. He is a stockholder and director of he First State Bank of Hawkeye.

Mr. Bruehler has for some time been influential in local political matters, and for two terms, or a period of six years, beginning in 1900, he served in a very able and acceptable manner as county supervisor. This was during the time of the great flood, when many fine bridges were carried away, but he met the situation in a masterly manner. He had previously served as township trustee for several years. He has always been loyal to the Republican party and he is at this writing chairman of the local delegation. He is known throughout the county as an honest, industrious and public-spirited citizen whom everyone trusts and respects. Mr. Bruehler is one of his directors of the First State Bank of Hawkeye.

~transcribed by Mary Fobian