Marion County

Souvenir History of Pella, Iowa [1847-1922]
Pella: Booster Press, [1922]

M

Henry Van Maren – page 148

Born in the Netherlands on May 15th, 1835. He came to America with his parents on the good ship Pieter Floris and settled in Marion county. His father engaged in the manufacture of brick, which was at that time made exclusively by hand, and Henry was engaged in this business and farming until twenty-three years of age, when he took up the trade of blacksmithing. After working at his trade for two years he engaged in business for himself. This venture was extraordinary at this particular time as he was without means, his capital being his trade, his good health his greatest asset. He worked his way up in this business and when he retired October 21st, 1918, he was considered one of the leading business men in farm machinery and vehicle business. He was united in marriage to Miss Johanna Dunninck in 1859. She was born in the Netherlands June 26th, 1859, and died June 26th, 1910. To this union were born three sons and three daughters. Arie and John are deceased, Newton still lives in this city. The eldest daughter also passed away in early life and the two, Henrietta and Mary, remain at home and are making his life comfortable in declining years.

Miss Lois Martin – page 309

The subject of this sketch was born October 5, 1849, in Mason county, West Virginia. At that period the spirit of unrest which led to a vast migration in the West was fermenting, and in the fall of 1854, “Squire Martin,” as he was known to his neighbors both then and in later years, with his wife and three children embarked in a broad-tired, wide-tracked, canvas-covered prairie schooner, and in company with Reuben Coffman and P. P. Hopson and their families, set out for their new homes. Six weeks of travel brought them to Pella. At the outskirts of the village they were met by Rev. E. O. Towne, land agent, who learning that Mr. Martin and Mr. Hopson, afterward a resident of Pella for many years, were anxious to abide in the little town, took the women and children to his home while he and Mr. Martin searched for places in which to house the two families. None being found, the weary travelers drove to a small settlement in Polk township, Marion county, now known as Coal Ridge, where they were warmly welcomed by friends who had preceded them a few years. There Miss Martin grew to womanhood.

In September, 1869, she came to Pella and was enrolled as a student at “Old Central.” Rev. E. H. Scarff was President at that time, and C. C. Cory was at the head of the Grammar Department. Six months later, Miss Martin was engaged as teacher in the public schools of Pella, and in March, 1870, entered upon her duties. Prof. W. H. Post, an acquisition from the East, was at the head. Miss Martin began her labors in a little old building, just east of Vander Meulen’s, formerly used for church purposes. (This school was located on the lot where Theophilis Tice now lives.)

But little had been done in the way of grading the schools, and Miss Martin found the eighty pupils, for whom she had been chosen as guide and mentor, of varied attainments. Many were number as the A. B. C. Class; others range from First to Third Readers; the latter pursued the study of Mental Arithmetic, too, upon which much stress was placed in those days. School was taught until July 3rd. Then a vacation of four weeks was granted; at the expiration of that period the weather was intensely hot and the time for opening school was extended two weeks, thus making the period of rest six weeks. All teachers were paid by the year, and with the exception of two, the salary was thirty dollars per month. That was perhaps the last year of the old custom.

After a little more than three years spent in the Public Schools, Miss Martin, feeling the inadequacy of her mental equipment, resigned, and in the fall of 1874 again found her way to “Central,” from which she was graduated in 1878. Three months previous she had been advised that the teaching force of the City Schools was to be augmented by one, and asked by Banner G. Bowen, a member of the Board, to apply for the position. Accordingly the last term of her student life found her teaching in one of the lower grades in the new building of the City Schools, and pursuing her studies at the College. In September of that year she was elected to the position of assistant to C. C. Cory, a man who became strongly entrenched in the hearts of scores of the young people of Pella. That position she held for nine years. Years which demanded and received all she had to give; then failing health brought her resignation.

A few months later she was induced by Dr. Dunn, President of Central, and other friends to undertake work at the College. Three hours per day proving too great a strain upon nerves already overtaxed, the plan of conducting but two recitations daily was tried, only to be abandoned after a few months. After a two years’ rest Miss Martin was visited by the President of the City Schools and asked to resume her former position as Assistant Principal, but was forced to decline. She continued to reside in Pella until 1899 when she removed to Des Moines, where she became a member of the family of her brother, L. M. Martin, well known in railway circles throughout the state. At present, she is living in Detroit, Michigan, in the home of her nephew, F. H. Martin, of whose family she has been a member since the death of his father in 1909.

Frederick C. Mathes – page 149

The Man Who Cut All the Stone for Central College

Was born in Capelle, Germany, in 1834, and came to Pella in 1854. The occasion of his coming to Pella was principally to cut the stone for “Central College,” but Pella suited him so well that he established a stone-cutting shop and operated a rock saw for a number of years. During that time he cut much of the stone work that went into the buildings of Pella. He afterwards bought a farm north of Pella, where he died on July 28, 1895.

A. G. Van der Meulen – page 144

Was born in the Netherlands in 1821 and came to Pella in 1849. Here he engaged in the watch and clock business, starting one of the first stores in that line in Pella. This business was continued in later years by his sons and enlarged by the addition of hardware and implements, until it was one of the most important retail establishments in Central Iowa. At one time the firm of Van der Meulen & Co., sold farm implements for a radius of fifty miles around Pella, even carrying their sales to within a few miles of Des Moines. The firm is still doing an extensive business under the same name, (Van der Meulen & Co.), in the same location where A. G. Van der Meulin Sr., started his watch and clock store in the early days. The present members of the firm are: J. H. De Vries, H. J. Boland, John F. Dykstra and H. P. Van der Meulen. The latter is a grandson of the original founder of the business.

G. A. Van der Meulen – page 195

Was born in Bergom, Netherlands, April 15, 1845. He came to Pella with his parents in 1849 and received his education in the public schools. On the 13th day of May, 1874, he was married to Miss Petronella Kramer, who survives him and is living in California. In 1881 G. A. and his brother, Harry H., started the store that later developed into one of the largest retail concerns in this part of the state. G. A. was a man of keen business judgment and he possessed the courage to back it. In addition to the mercantile business he invested largely in land and other real estate, and a considerable part of the fortune he made was due to wise investments. In 1906 he retired from active participation in the mercantile business and removed to California, where he died December 12, 1916.

Mrs. G. A. Vander Meulen (Nellie Kramer) – page 196

First Girl Born in Pella

This distinction belongs to Mrs. G. A. Vander Meulen (Nellie Kramer), daughter of Peter Kramer and Mrs. Peter Kramer (Welmoed Pos). Mrs. Van der Meulen was born in a log cabin on the LeCocq farm, adjoining the limits of Pella on the southwest, on the 7th day of February, 1848. She spent her girlhood days in Pella, and after her marriage to G. A. Vander Meulen May 13, 1874, she continued to live here until 1906, when the family took up their residence in Los Angeles, California. Since the death of her husband, Mrs. Vander Meulen continues to make her home in the land of sunshine. One of her sons, Henry, still resides in Pella and is a member of the firm of Vander Meulen & Co.

James Muntingh – page 149

Born in the Netherlands on the fourteenth day of November, 1820, and was raised there. He was a man who had received excellent educational advantages in his youth and when the first colony came to America in 1847, he came with them and contributed his full share toward the building of the colony. He followed teaching for the first three years after which he engaged in the mercantile business, and at that time he was considered the most able business man in the colony and he was very successful. He always manifested a great interest in the community and municipal affairs and was at one time town clerk and also served in the capacity of member of the town council and his services were valuable. In 1843 he united in marriage to Miss Christine Anbert. She was born in Prussia. He was the first Superintendent of the Sunday School of the First Reformed Church and did excellent work. In later years he became affiliated with the Second Reformed Church of this city and was a member when he died.