Person:Charles Minger (1)

BIOGRAPHY: Compiled by Mae Brown Siemers Rand.

CHARLES EDWARD MINGER, 1873-1955 and ELIZABETH PEARL (MARSHALL) MINGER 1881-1963

Charles Edward Minger, known as Charlie, was born on Saturday, the 20th of September, 1873, the twelfth child of Johann and Elisabeth (Hassig) Minger. His baptism record at St. John's Lutheran Church, Guttenberg, Iowa reads: Carl Edward Minger, son of John Minger and Eliz. Minger, born 20 September 1873; baptized 22 February 1874. The names of the sponsors in the record were unreadable. When Charlie was a small baby, his mother took him home with her to visit her parents in Powhatan Point, Ohio and at that time a picture was taken of Charlie with his mother holding him. His mother took some of her other children home with her at the same time but only Charlie appears on the picture.

Charlie lived his childhood years on his parent's farm and as the school in the town of Millville existed in the 1870's, we can believe that Charlie attended that school. Charlie suffered from a limp all of his life. Some say he had been injured in a fall from his high chair; some say that an older brother or sister dropped him when he was a baby; others say the hip was improperly placed in the socket, and still others say that he had an ulcerated hip which did not heal. Charlie himself, who had a delightful sense of humor, said that he got it from walking for so many years on the unlevel, hilly countryside around Turkey River.

Charlie remained single until age 32 when he was married on 10 January 1906 to Elizabeth Pearl Marshall who was eight years younger then he. Charlie and Elsie, as she was known, were married in Elsie's home by her father, James Marshall, who was a Justice of the Peace. The witnesses were Edna Marshall and George Bowers. Elsie was a dressmaker. When they were first married, Charlie and Elsie ran a hotel in Turkey River and it was in this hotel that their first child, Howard, was born. Charlie sold the hotel to his brother Frank Minger, and Charlie and his family moved to what was called the "Cole Place", a farm down the lane from the home of Charlie's sister, Elisabeth (Minger) Brown. Here five more children were born to them - James Roland, Mary Elizabeth, John Lowell, Lillian Edna and Viola Elsie. One record states that James Roland was born in the hotel in Turkey River prior to the family's move to the farm. Mary may have been born in the hotel also. Charlie's brother, John Minger, lived in a house near Turkey River, Iowa in a settlement once called Springville.

As John grew older, his eyesight began to fail and in December 1942, when he was 86 years old, he could no longer care for himself. Charlie and Elsie left their farm and moved in with him. John died in 1948 and Charlie and Elsie then took care of Charlie's other brother, Henry Minger, who also was unable to live alone. Charlie and Elsie continued to live in John's house but flooded waters from the Turkey River caused serious problems for them until they had a five foot dike built around their home. Charlie died from pneumonia at age 82 on 24 December 1955. Elsie died eight years later, also at age 82. They are both interred in City Cemetery, Guttenberg, Iowa where they share a monument with Elsie's parents.

Lowell Minger (son of Charlie and Elsie) remembers: One time Uncle John Minger asked my dad if he would do something for him and Dad told him he would if he could, so Uncle John asked him to cut his hair. Charlie said, "So I cut his hair and I did a pretty good job of it too!".