William Runkle

William and Sarah (Zimmerman) Runkle were natives of Pennsylvania and made their home near Grantville in East Hanover township, Dauphin County for nearly fifty-three years. In 1873, however, they came to Iowa and spent the remainder of their lives in Lisbon.

In their family were thirteen children, four sons and nine daughters, including: Amos K., who is engaged in the boot and shoe business in Lisbon; Jeremiah, a resident of Gainesville, Florida; Mrs. Elizabeth Henry, of Paris, Illinois; Ellen Gustafson, of Jamaica, Iowa; and Sarah Catharine, of Lisbon. The other members of the family are all deceased.

On coming west three of the daughters located near Paris, Illinois [Elizabeth, Priscilla and Lydia], and four sons [Adam, Jeremiah, Amos and William] and five daughters [Amanda, Rebecca, Lovina, Kate and Ellen] came to Iowa. Jeremiah served about four years in the Civil war, being a member of the Sixteenth US Regiment of Infantry. Another son, Adam, came to Lisbon in 1855, becoming one of the pioneer merchants of the city. For some time he devoted his attention to the shoe business, but for the last twenty-five years of his life was engaged in the hardware trade in connection with his uncle, D. Runkle, and his cousin, George Runkle.

From a biographical sketch of son William Henry Runkle in History of Linn County Iowa, From Its Earliest Settlement to the Present Time, 1911, page 447.

William was a son of William and Elizabeth (Baumgardner) Runkle. His father was a farmer, and resided on the homestead farm near Lebanon, Penn., where he died in 1862. His brothers and sisters were: John, Catharine, (William), George, Christina, Thomas, Daniel, Elizabeth, Sarah, Polly, Levi, Rebecca and Abraham.

Source: The Runkle family: being an account of the Runkels in Europe, and their descendants in America, 1899, pg 280.* Reference: Find A Grave Memorial - SmartCopy: Feb 12 2021, 1:26:53 UTC