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William Groneweg was in the grocery business, took an ox train of provisions overland to Denver, was a member of the County Board of Supervisors, became City Treasurer, ran for State Auditor but lost, was the mayor of Council Bluffs for two years (1886-1888), was member of the local school board, incorporated his business into a retail concern and expanded, and was State Senator for two terms, all in Iowa. Whew! He was a busy man.

I've always admired his monument, perched as it is at the top of the cemetery. His wife Catherine is buried next to him.  This page on the Iowa Legislature has a photo of him and his bio. In 1896 his horse ran away with his buggy and threw him from the buggy. He hit the street on his head, and was unconscious for a good long time. They carried him into the house closest to the accident, where he stayed until he regained his senses. He didn't even remember being out for a drive. They were able to get him home, where he eventually recovered; he was diagnosed with a concussion, something they could do nothing for in those days.

 

He was also a purveyor of wholesale whiskey and spirits. According to the ads in the Non-Pareil, they were "warranted pure for medicinal and family use." The whole family must have drunk whiskey in the 1870s in Council Bluffs.