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from Past and Present of Mahaska County, Iowa by Manoah Hedge The S. J. Clarke Publishing Co. 1906
Charles E. Lofland, cashier of the Oskaloosa
National Bank, is a heading representative of
financial interests in Mahaska county, for he has
made a close and discriminating study of the
banking business and his labors have contributed in substantial degree to the success of the
institution which he represents. He was born
January 15, 1859, in Oskaloosa, a son of Colonel John and Sarah J. (Bartlett) Lofland, natives of Ohio. Following their marriage they
came to Oskaloosa in 1854, finding here a small
village, with the interests of which they became
closely and helpfully identified.
Charles E. Lofland pursued a public-school
education and also attended the Oskaloosa College. He afterward joined a surveying corps
in southern Iowa and Missouri, continuing in
that work for two years, when he came to the
Oskaloosa National Bank as bookkeeper. He
acted in that capacity from 1880 until 1885,
was then made assistant cashier and in 1886
was chosen cashier, since which time he has
served in this capacity and has been instrumental in building up a strong banking institudon in the county. He is also interested in
coal mining to some extent, but the bank claims
the greater part of his time and attention, and
he has made a close study of each department
of the business and believes in and practices a
safe conservative system which awakens uniform confidence.
On the 28th of December, 1881, Mr. Lofland
was married to Miss Mary E. Little, a daughter
of Henry I. Little, of Oskaloosa. Their children are John H., Helen and Charles E. The
elder son has been a member of the United
States navy since 1899.
Colonel John Lofland, deceased, was among
the early citizens of Mahaska county and was a
prominent and valued factor during the formative period of its growth and development. The
extent of his labors and influence cannot be
measured, but all who know aught of the history of the county recognize the worth of his
labors in behalf of public progress. A native
of Belmont county, Ohio, Colonel Lofland was
born on the 10th of January, 1830. His father, Joseph Lofland, was a native of Maryland, while the mother, Mrs. Elizabeth (Lippincott) Lofland, was a native of Pennsylvania.
Both became residents of Ohio in pioneer times
when the wilderness had been brought under
the influence of civilization to hardly any extent.
In that state they were married and reared a
family of three sons and one daughter. The
father passeth away in 1857, at the age of sixty-
eight years. while his wife died in 1878, at the
age of eighty-eight years.
Colonel Lofland was reared upon a farm,
where he remained until sixteen years of age,
assisting his father in the cultivation of the
fields and in other arduous tasks incident to the
development of a new tract of land. As opportunity offered he attended the common schools
of the neighborhood and at the age of sixteen
he entered upon a four years' apprenticeship to
learn the trade of a watchmaker and jeweler in
Cambridge, Ohio. When the term of his indenture was ended he went to Cadiz, Ohio,
where he purchased a jewelry store and began
his mercantile career. being then twenty-one
years of age.
About a year afterward, on the 4th of December, 1851 Colonel Lofland was united in marriage to Miss Sarah J. Bartlett, a native of Harrison county, Ohio, born in April, 1830, and a
daughter of George and Ursula (Wycoff) Barlett, both now deceased. Four children were
born of this marriage, of whom a daughter died
in infancy. Of the others, George, born January 28, 1854, died January 28, 1874, on the
twentieth anniversary of his birth. Frank C.,
born in 1856, of the Siebel Company. Charles
E. is cashier of the Oskaloosa National Bank.
In 1854 Colonel Lofland sold his interests in
Ohio and came to Oskaloosa, where for three
years he was engaged in the marble business.
He then purchased a watchmaking and jewelry
establishment from S. H. Chapman, who removed to Newton, Jasper county, Iowa, and
suhsequently entered the army. Early in 1861
John W. Irwin, another jeweler of Oskaloosa,
also desirous of joining the army, sold his business to Colonel Lofland, who united the three
stores. The war now being in active progress
and call after call being made for troops, Colonel Lofland could no longer resist the appeal,
and as the service had proved too hard for Mr.
Chapman, he was discharged and in the sum-
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Past and Present of Mahaska County, Iowa
Mahaska County, Iowa Genealogy