My Genealogy Hound

Nicholas Geis is a retired farmer living in Creston. For a long period he was closely associated with the work of tilling the soil, day by day performing the active labors of the fields until in the management of his farm labors he gained a substantial competence that now provides him with many of the comforts and some of the luxuries of life.

Mr. Geis was born in Scioto county, Ohio, in 1846, and is one of a family of six children. The father, Sebastian Geis, a native of Germany, came to the United States about 1837 and settled in Scioto county, Ohio, upon a farm, where he spent his remaining days, being called to his final rest in 1864, at the age of fifty-five years. He was a substantial agriculturist and diligent business man, who prospered as the result of his close application and able management. In his native country he was provided with good educational privileges and he also possessed considerable talent in musical lines. His political faith was that of the democracy and his religious belief that of the Catholic church. He wedded Mary Ann Shoe, who was born in Germany and came to the United States in 1837. She had been married in her native country to Nicholas Smith, and to them were born three children: Mary, the widow of Nicholas Hubbard, of Lincoln, Illinois; Catherine, the widow of John Amberg and a resident of Lincoln; and John, who left home and was never heard from. By her marriage to Mr. Geis she had six children: Jacob, a farmer of Nebraska; Nicholas, of this review; Lewis, who was formerly a plainsman and buffalo hunter but is now proprietor of a hotel and bath house at Saratoga, Wyoming; John, a retired farmer of Beaver Cross, Nebraska; Henry, a farmer of Lincoln, Illinois; and Elizabeth, the wife of John Eisenburt, who is engaged in farming at Beaver Cross. Mrs. Geis was a member of the Catholic church and died in that faith in 1874, at the age of sixty-five years.

In taking up the personal history of Nicholas Geis we present to our readers the life record of one who is widely and favorably known in this locality. He was reared on a farm, attended the country schools and for a short time was engaged in merchandising in Ohio. In the spring of 1874 he removed to Lincoln, Illinois, and for two years remained on a farm in that locality. In 1876 he came to Union county, Iowa, settling in Spaulding township, where he purchased one hundred and sixty acres of land upon which he resided for more than a quarter of a century, or until 1902, when he retired to Creston, where he has since made his home. He is still the owner of four hundred acres of valuable and productive farming land in Spaulding township, and in addition to the cultivation and development of the fields he handled much stock, including registered shorthorn cattle and Poland China hogs. Both branches of his business proved profitable to him and year after year he carefully conducted his business interests and annually added to his capital until the same became sufficient to enable him to put aside further business cares and spend his remaining days in well earned ease. He now owns and occupies a fine residence on West Adams street in Creston.

In 1871 Mr. Geis was married to Miss Maria Eck, who was born in Portsmouth, Ohio, in 1853, a daughter of Adam and Elizabeth Eck, who were pioneer farming people of Scioto county, Ohio, coming from Germany to the new world. Unto Mr. and Mrs. Geis have been born seven children: Frank a resident of Spaulding township; Laura, the wife of John M. Hickey, a merchant of Creston; Edward, who is living on one of his father’s farms in Spaulding township; Louis, who also resides on one of his father’s farms and is largely engaged in raising sheep; Fred O., on one of his father’s farms in Spaulding township; Cornelius M., who is a stenographer in Omaha, Nebraska; and Bernice, who died at the age of three and a half years.

The parents are communicants of the Catholic church and in that faith have reared their family. Mr. Geis belongs to the Elks lodge and in politics is a democrat. For fourteen years he was school treasurer of Spaulding township and has held other local offices, the duties of which have been discharged with promptness and fidelity, indicating his loyalty to the interests of the community. He can justly be called a self-made man, for he had no financial assistance at the outset of his career and by his labor, carefully conducted, he has gained a place among Creston’s substantial citizens.