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Below is a family biography included in History of Page County, Iowa published by Iowa Historical Company in 1880.  These biographies are valuable for genealogy research in discovering missing ancestors or filling in the details of a family tree. Family biographies often include far more information than can be found in a census record or obituary.  Details will vary with each biography but will often include the date and place of birth, parent names including mothers' maiden name, name of wife including maiden name, her parents' names, name of children (including spouses if married), former places of residence, occupation details, military service, church and social organization affiliations, and more.  There are often ancestry details included that cannot be found in any other type of genealogical record.

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LORANZ, ANTONY, postmaster, P. O. Clarinda; born October 29, 1810, in Baden-Baden, Germany. He received his education in the common schools of Ochran, and at the hands of private tutors. His parents came to America in 1831, locating in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He was left to his own resources in the following year, his parents both dying with that terrible scourge — cholera. The native energy of his make-up now asserted itself, and he worked at anything he could find in the way of honest labor until 1839. He then went to Lewiston, Fulton county, Illinois, sustaining himself in the same manner until 1842, when he rented a farm, a proceeding which proved very remunerative to him, for in 1856 he retired from the farm, the possessor of ten thousand dollars. In 1856 he entered the store of Myron Phelps, remaining until 1858, when he came to Page county, and located at Clarinda. From that date until 1862 he was engaged in various business enterprises. Then the exciting events of the war completely demoralized his attention to business, so that he closed out his interests in the several enterprises, and, receiving an appointment as recruiting officer from Governor Stone, he went about his new task with an address and energy scarcely equaled. From 1866 to 1869 he was engaged in business, first as a merchant, in company with his son, Henry, and then as a farmer. In the latter named year he received the appointment as postmaster at Clarinda, a position entirely unsought, and one he has held until the present time. He has held several county offices, and proven himself a thoroughly reliable man. He was married in March, 1842, to Miss Barbara Polander, a native of Ohio, who died in February, 1868, leaving a family of seven children: Henry, Mary (wife of John Brown), Raymond, Joseph, Sarah (wife of James Wise), and two deceased. Mr. L. was married again in April, 1870, to Mrs. Sarah Burch, of Ohio. Mr. Loranz is a fine example of the esteem in which men of sterling worth and strict integrity will be held. He has been among the most liberal patrons of new business enterprises ever since he came to Clarinda, and his long years of residence have raised him up a vast host of friends.

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This family biography is one of 558 biographies included in The History of Page County, Iowa published in 1880.  For the complete description, click here: Page County, Iowa History and Genealogy

View additional Page County, Iowa family biographies: Page County, Iowa Biographies

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