Adam C. Riebel was 11 when he traveled west from Illinois to Lucas County during 1871 with his parents, Leonard and Catherine, and settled with them on a farm near Oakley.
At the age of 16, during 1876, he was apprenticed to Cyrus Temple, in whose Chariton shop he learned the harness-making trade. He then went to work for Henry Law, Lucas County's premier harness maker, whose shop occupied what now is the south half of the Iowa Realty building on the northeast corner of the square. In 1881, seeking greener pastures, he went into business for himself in Lucas, then a coal mining boom town.
Nine years later, A.C. returned to Chariton and established himself on the southeast corner of the square, moving in 1893 into the north half of the big brick building, now home to Chariton Floral, then shared with J.T. Crozier's general store.
And it was there that he rose to the top of his profession, so much so that in 1912 --- when the handwriting already was on the wall for the harness-making trade --- he was elected president of the Iowa Harness Makers Association.
It was in that capacity that he shared a brief report with the editor of The Chariton Leader, published in his June 13, 1912, edition:
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A. C. Riebel, president of the Iowa Harness Makers Association, reports that the association's meeting in Des Moines, last week, proved to be a great occasion. It was the best state meeting in the history of the association.
It is an interesting fact that Iowa manufactures more harness than any other state in the Union, mainly because it is the best agricultural state. Supply houses have special lines for Iowa trade because it demands the best.
The Iowa trade among leather merchants is distinct from other states. Iowa has more harness manufacturers than any other state --- 1,017; Illinois has 720 and Missouri, about 600.
The harness business is one trade less affected by the big factory than almost any other. Of course there are some big factory-made goods, but in almost every town in the country there is a harness establishment or two and most of the goods are manufactured in the vicinity where they are retailed.
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It was, of course, the automobile that put Adam out of business, although by the time he retired eight years later, during 1920, prosperous at the age of 60, he had branched out to deal in a few automotive products, too.
Always civic-minded, Adam now turned all of his energy toward public service. He already was recognized as a charter member of both the Chariton and Lucas volunteer fire departments and one of the mainstays of Chariton's Masonic lodge. Among the positions of trust he now had time for: Six years as a Chariton School Board member, six years as a Lucas County supervisor and four years on the Chariton Cemetery Board.
He was serving his second term as Chariton's mayor during April of 1932 when one of those pesky automobiles put him out of business --- permanently.
Adam and his wife, Margaret, accompanied by Eliza Melville, had taken a drive down to Russell on Sunday afternoon, April 10, and were heading back to Chariton on Highway 34 when a tire went flat near the current site of Frontier Trading Post/Soda Pop Saloon.
Adam changed the tire, climbed back into the driver's seat, put the vehicle in motion and dropped dead. He was 72. Margaret Riebel grabbed the wheel and steered the vehicle off the road and into an embankment so there were no injuries, but her husband was beyond medical assistance.
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In addition to his widow, Adam was survived by three daughters --- Fern Becker, Mary Bowen and Agnes Riebel. His only grandson settled eventually in Portland, Oregon, so there's really no one left in Lucas County to remember him --- other than Charton's volunteer firefighters who continue to place a memorial flag at his grave every May.
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