Encyclopedia Dubuque
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Affiliated with the Local History Network of the State Historical Society of Iowa, and the Iowa Museum Association.
HERANCOURT, Valentine
Ancestry: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/168023037/valentine-herancourt
HERANCOURT, Valentine. (Bavaria, Germany, Feb. 8, 1821--Mar. 17, 1867). Herancourt came to America at the age of sixteen. He settled for a time in Ohio and then traveled to Dubuque in 1845. Valentine established V. HERANCOURT, what was believed to be the first furniture manufacturing company in Dubuque.
Herancourt's first shop was located at 190 Main Street. In 1854 in answer to the great demand for his products, he built a factory at 1100 Elm. The paint and finishing departments were added a few years later. The works and yard occupied an entire half-block. (1)
Upon his death in 1867, Herancourt's wife and children continued the business with a workforce of forty-five men. Their weekly wages totaled $250.00. (2) Work from the company was sold widely. In 1875 for example, a black walnut bank counter with bird's eye maple veneer panels, was manufactured for the Iowa National Bank of Des Moines. (3) In 1880 the family sold their interests to a newly formed enterprise, the KEY CITY FURNITURE COMPANY. This company was operated by Herman Mauer, the company president, and others.
See: VALENTINE HERANCOURT--888 YALE COURT
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Source:
1. Oldt, Franklin. History of Dubuque County, Iowa. Chicago: Western Historical Company, 1880, p. 804
2. "Dubuque County Before 1880," Telegraph Herald Online: http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=-P9BAAAAIBAJ&sjid=U6oMAAAAIBAJ&pg=5068,2467848&dq=cooper+wagons+dubuque&hl=en
3. "Caught on the Fly," Daily Herald, September 24, 1875, p. 4
