William Kleeb was born in Green County, Wisconsin, May 16, 1851, and is the son of John and Barbara Kleeb, whose history will be found elsewhere in this work. He was the oldest of a family of eleven children, and until his sixteenth year he resided in Fayette County, Iowa, working on a farm and attending the common schools. In 1867 he came with his parents to Shelby County, and settled in Washington Township. In October, 1879, he was married to Miss Julia F. Wheeler, daughter of Monroe and Mary E. (Washburn) Wheeler; she was born in Waukesha County, Wisconsin, August 19, 1855, and came to Iowa in 1879. They are the parents of four children - Arthur W., Blanche E., Harry W. and Gladys L. After Mr. Kleeb's marriage he settled on a farm of eighty acres in section 34, Grove Township, and has since made this his home. When he bought the land it was uncultivated and unimproved, but he has brought it up to a high state of cultivation, and has erected large and comfortable buildings. He has purchased the adjoining eighty acres, so his farm now contains 160 acres. Mr. Kleeb is energetic and enterprising, and stands in the front ranks of Shelby County's farmers. He affiliates with the Union Labor party, and has held the office of school director. The family are numbered among the respected and worthy citizens of the county.