Encyclopedia Dubuque
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Affiliated with the Local History Network of the State Historical Society of Iowa, and the Iowa Museum Association.
STAMPFER, Joseph Frederick
STAMPFER, Joseph Frederick. (Louisville, KY, Nov. 9, 1855--Los Angeles, CA, Oct. 10, 1937). Stampfer became one of the Midwest's most successful clothing store owners. He came to Dubuque in 1865 and worked for thirteen years in the dry goods store of J. & A. CHRISTMAN. Stampfer advanced from clerk to buyer for several departments.
Stampfer moved temporarily to Waverly, Iowa, where he had purchased the H. L. Ware store, but soon sold his store and returned to Dubuque where he purchased part ownership in the firm of Kees & Sullivan. The resulting Sullivan & Stampfer store continued in operation until 1901 when Stampfer bought his partner's share. In 1908 the company was incorporated as the J. F. STAMPFER COMPANY. He retired from business and moved to Los Angeles around 1925.
Stampfer served as a director of the DUBUQUE BUILDING AND LOAN ASSOCIATION and as president of the Security Building. Stampfer saw STAMPFER'S DEPARTMENT STORE become the premier shopping establishment in the city with furs sold from a department called the "French Room" and shirts priced above the cost in stores just down Main Street.
Locally, Stampfer supported an industrial corporation for Dubuque, establishment of a nine-foot river CHANNEL, and a toll-free bridge.
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Source:
Goodspeed, Weston Arthur, History of Dubuque County, Iowa. Chicago: Goodspeed Historical Association, 1911, p. 594
"J. F. Stampfer Dies Suddenly in California," Telegraph Herald, Oct. 11, 1937, p. 1