USA > Iowa > Clayton County > History of Clayton County, Iowa : from the earliest historical times down to the present : including a genealogical and biographical record of many representative families, prepared from data obtained from original sources of information, Volume I > Part 95
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78 | Part 79 | Part 80 | Part 81 | Part 82 | Part 83 | Part 84 | Part 85 | Part 86 | Part 87 | Part 88 | Part 89 | Part 90 | Part 91 | Part 92 | Part 93 | Part 94 | Part 95 | Part 96
William B. Wiethorn has gained secure vantage place as one of the representative young business men of his native county and is showing marked initiative and executive ability in connection with the conducting of the extensive mercantile enterprise of the firm of Kaiser & Wiethorn, of which he is the junior member
Digitized by Google
443
BIOGRAPHICAL .
and which is incorporated under the laws of the State, with a capital stock of fifteen thousand dollars. The establishment of this progressive firm in the thriving little city of Monona is splendidly equipped in all departments, is really metropolitan in its appoint- ments, and the honorable and straightforward policies combine with admirable service to control for the firm a large and represen- tative trade. In the large store are departments devoted to dry goods, shoes, men's furnishing goods, and groceries, and the es- tablishment represents one of the important and well ordered gen- eral merchandise enterprises in Clayton county, with a reputation that constitutes one of the best commercial assets. William B. Wiethorn was born on his father's farm in Giard township, this county, and the date of his nativity was July 4, 1891. He is a son of Henry J. and Elizabeth (Barnhardt) Wiethorn, the former of whom was born near Friendship, Adams county, Wisconsin, and the latter in Clayton county, Iowa, where her parents were pioneer settlers. Henry J. Wiethorn and his wife now reside in Monona, where he is living virtually retired, after having achieved substan- tial success through his activities as a carpenter and as a farmer. He is a staunch Republican in politics and both he and his wife hold membership in the Methodist Episcopal Church. Their eldest child, Elmer, is now a resident of Allamakee county; Benjamin and George maintain their home at Monona ; Gilbert is an effective representative of agricultural industry in Giard township; William B., of this sketch, was the next in order of birth; and Harry re- mains at the parental home. William B. Wiethorn gained his preliminary education in the district schools of his native township and supplemented this by attending the public schools of Monona. After leaving school he was for five years retained as a clerk in the mercantile establishment of F. H. Howard, and he then, in 1913, initiated his independent business career under most favorable auspices. He became associated with Ernest G. Kaiser in the organization of the firm of Kaiser & Wiethorn, and they have since conducted a most prosperous mercantile business, with the best of modern facilities and with marked discrimination and pro- gressiveness. To the senior member of this representative firm individual attention is directed on other pages of this work. Mr. Wiethorn is loyal and public-spirited as a citizen and takes lively interest in all that concerns the wellbeing of his native county. His political allegiance is given to the Republican party and he is now serving most effectively as a member of the village council of Monona. He and his wife are popular figures in the representa- tive social activities of the community. On the 14th of February, 1912, Mr. Wiethorn was united in marriage to Miss Adele Wirkler, daughter of Edward and Mary (Able) Wirkler, of Monona, and the one child of this union is Janice, who was born November 23, 1912.
John Anson Wilder has been a resident of Clayton county for more than half a century and has here made such good use of the opportunities that have come to him in connection with the fundamental industry of agriculture that he has become one of
Digitized by Google
-
444
MEMOIRS OF CLAYTON COUNTY
the extensive landholders and prominent representatives of the important agricultural and livestock enterprise in the county. He was without financial resources of more than nominal order when he came as a young man to this county, and his advancement has been won by earnest and well directed effort along normal lines of enterprise, the while he has so ordered his course as to merit and receive the high esteem of those with whom he has come in contact in the varied relations of life. Now venerable in years, he is living virtually retired on his fine homestead farm in Cass township, his only son having the active management of the farm. Mr. Wilder was born in Lake county, Ohio, on the 10th of July, 1841, and in both the paternal and maternal lines is a scion of staunch old New England stock, the respective families having been founded in America in the colonial days. He is now the only survivor of a family of three sons born to Almon and Lydia (Wyman) Wilder, who were born and reared in the state of Ver- mont, where their marriage was solemnized and whence they re- moved to Ohio in an early day. Later they became pioneer settlers in Wisconsin, where the death of the father occurred, and the mother passed the closing years of her life in the home of her son John A., of this review, where she died at a venerable age. Mr. Wilder gained his early educational discipline in the common schools of the old Buckeye state and as a lad of twelve years he became virtually dependent upon his own resources. He con- tinued his residence in Ohio until he was about twenty-three years of age and there gave his attention to farm work until 1864, when he came to Iowa and made Clayton county, his destination.
He arrived at Strawberry Point on the 29th of March of that year, and for the ensuing three years he was employed on the farm of Peter Blake, a sterling pioneer of the county. He then purchased a farm of one hundred and sixty acres, in Section 8, Cass township, where he lived several years and effected well ordered development and improvement. He then purchased and removed to another farm, in Section 16, of the same township, and this place comprised eighty acres. From this modest nucleus he has by his industry and good judgement developed his present finely improved and valuable landed estate of three hundred and thirty acres in Clayton county, besides which he is the owner of three hundred and twenty acres of excellent land in Polk county, Minnesota. Mr. Wilder is a stalwart advocate and supporter of the cause of the Republican party but has held no public office save that of member of the school board, a position in which he served for a long term of years. At Strawberry Point he affiliated with the Ancient Free & Accepted Masons. On December 10th, 1865 was solemnized the marrige of Mr. Wilder to Miss Sarah Cook, who was born in Illinois and whose parents, John and Martha Cook, were natives of England. Mrs. Wilder was one of a family of eight children, all of whom lived till the youngest was sixty years of age and six of whom are living at the time of this writing. Mr. and Mrs. Wilder have but one child, Frank A., who remains at the parental home, and who is one of the vigorous
Digitized by Google
446
MEMOIRS OF CLAYTON COUNTY
popularity, is indicated by the fact that in 1916 he is the vigorous and progressive incumbent of the office of township trustee. Both he and his wife are communicants of the Lutheran church at Clay- ton Center ; St. Olaf, Iowa, R. R. 2, is their postoffice address. He is a stockholder in the Farmer's Creamery Company at St. Olaf, and is a member of the St. Olaf Live Stock Company. In the year 1900 was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Wilke to Miss Emilie Engel- hardt, who has been a resident of Clayton county from the time of her birth and who is one of the ten surviving children of Rudolph and Maria Engelhardt, her parents having been born and reared in Germany and having established their home in Clayton county about 1865, soon after their immigration to the United States. Here the father followed agricultural pursuits until his death and here his widow still resides. Mr. and Mrs. Wilke have four children : Edna M., Amanda, Lorenz F. and Helen.
Wilke, Gus H., a prominent insurance man of Elkader, Iowa, was born in that city February 28th, 1874, and is the son of H. W. and Anna (Gossman) Wilke, the former a native of Germany, and the latter born in Clayton county. The father was a solid and successful merchant of Elkader, a dealer in general merchandise for many years, but has now retired from active business. To him and his wife were born six children, of whom Gus is the eldest, followed in the order of their birth by Ella, who is living at home with her parents; Ina and Katie, deceased; Ida, also at home; and Jessie who is the wife of H. J. Conrad, who is a teacher of manual training in the high school of Elkader.
Our subject received his education in the elementary and high schools of his home town, and after the completion of his studies, he went into his father's general merchandizing business, remaining with him for exactly twenty years to the day, when, in 1910, he accepted the position of assistant cashier of the Elkader State Bank. After five years of exemplary service, he resigned this responsible post to engage in the insurance business, entering the employ of the New York Life Insurance Company, in which he is meeting with eminent snccess. He espoused Anna Paul, a native of Clayton county, and the daughter of E. M. and Elizabeth (Ehrlich) Paul, and to them have been born three children : Phyllis N., Paul, and Dorothy. Mr. Wilke is an adherent to the tenets of the Republican party, always giving it his loyal support, and is a member of the Masonic Order, and of the Congregational church. He takes a keen interest in the amusement features of his community, and is manager of the Opera house, and secretary of the Elkader Fair Association.
Dominic F. Willmes is of the second generation honorably linked with the history of Clayton county, and he is actively as- sociated with the agricultural industry in his native county, as one of its progressive and thrifty farmers. He was formerly a success- ful and popular representative of the pedagogic profession in the county, and is known as a steadfast, upright and vigorous citizen who takes a loyal interest in community affairs, and who is of broad mental ken and well fortified convictions. On the old home-
Digitized by Google
447
BIOGRAPHICAL
stead farm in Section 3, Boardman township, this county, Mr. Willmes was born on the 7th day of March, 1877, a son of John and Mary (Miller) Willmes, both natives of the Grand Duchy of Luxemburg, Germany. As a boy John Willmes accompanied four of his elder brothers on their immigration to America, and they became pioneer settlers in Clayton county, Iowa, where they came into possession of more than five hundred acres of land, in Board- man township. John Willmes became the owner of the seventy acres which constitutes the homestead farm on which his widow and two sons now reside, in Section 3, Boardman township. He later added eighty acres to his farm and developed one of the fine landed estates of the county, with incidental precedence as one of the rep- resentative exponents of agricultural industry in this favored sec- tion of the Hawkeye State. He continued his residence on the farm until his death, which occurred October 29th, 1884, and a loyal citizen and man of affairs he commanded unqualified popular esteem. He was always ready to lend his aid in the furtherance of measures and enterprises projected for the general good of the community, was a Democrat in his political proclivities and was a zealous communicant of the Catholic church, as is also his widow, who still remains on the old homestead, as previously stated. He served as secretary and treasurer of the school board of his district but had naught of ambition for political preferment. Of the five children the eldest is Peter, who is now a successful farmer in Shelby county, this state; Nicholas is deceased, his death having oc- curred when he was about 8 years of age; Catherine remains at home with her widowed mother, as do also the younger sons, Dominic F., and Simon, who have charge of the active work and management of the finely improved farm, which comprises in the aggregate one hundred and eighty-three acres. Reared under the invigorating discipline of the farm, Dominic F. Willmes early began to contribute his quota to its work, and thus he waxed strong in physical powers the while he was profiting duly also by the ad- vantages of the public schools, in which he continued his studies until he had completed the curriculum of the high school at Elkader, the county seat. Thereafter he devoted five years to successful work as a teacher in the rural schools of the county, and he then amplified his education by completing a through com- mercial course in the Wisconsin Business College, in the city of LaCrosse, Wisconsin, in which institute he was graduated as a member of the class of 1899. Since his graduation he has been associated with his brother Simon in the management of the old home farm, and they have made the same exemplify most fully the characteristics of thrift and prosperity, the while they are well upholding the honors of the family name. Mr. Willmes is a stalwart and effective advocate of the principles and policies for which the Democratic party stands sponsor, and in 1908 he had the distinction of being elected county auditor, an office of which he continued the incumbent for four years and in which he gave a most efficient and popular administration. Prior to his election to his office he had served six years as assessor of Boardman
Digitized by Google
448
MEMOIRS OF CLAYTON COUNTY
township, and these preferments indicate his unqualified popularity in the county that has ever represented his home. He is a com- municant of the Catholic church, and is a sterling native son of Clayton county who is especially worthy of recognization in this history. His name is still found enrolled on the list of eligible bachelors in Clayton county.
Lewis Witleson. It is a matter of no slight social and ma- terial significance when a man can claim secure status as one of the successful yeomen of the great state of Iowa, and such dis- tinction applies to Mr. Witleson, who is one of the progressive young agriculturists and stock growers of his native county and one of the popular and loyal citizens of Marion township, within whose borders he has maintained his home from the time of his birth and in which he is effectively upholding the prestige of a family name that has been one of prominence in connection with the civic and industrial activities of Clayton county since the early pioneer days. On the old homestead farm of his father, in Section 26, Marion township, Lewis Witleson was born on the 24th of May, 1887, and he is a son of Wetley and Ambjor (Lamsgaard) Witleson, the former of whom was born and reared in Clayton county, and the latter of whom was born in Norway. Wetley Witleson's par- ents were born and reared in Norway and upon coming to America they became pioneer settlers of Clayton county, to the develop- ment and uplifting of which they contributed to the full extent of their powers. There came to Wetley Witleson ample opportunity for the achieving of large success and definite prosperity as one of the farmers of his native county, and he accumulated and im- proved a fine landed estate, so that he was one of the substantial citizens and representative farmers of the county at the time of his death, which occurred April 27th, 1895. His widow remains with their son Lewis, of this review, on the old homestead farm that was devised to the latter by his grandfather, Lars Witleson, the sterling pioneer, who outlived his son Wetley and who was summoned to the life eternal in 1906. Of the children of Wetley and Ambjor Witleson the firstborn, Amelia, died young; Annie is the wife of Knute Olson, of Wagner township, this county ; Emma is the wife of Emil Gulsvig, of Marion township; Lewis, of this sketch, was the next in order of birth; and William A. and Waldena remain with their brother and their widowed mother on the old homestead. Lewis Witleson profited fully by the advantages afforded in the schools of his native township and was a lad of about seven years at the time of his father's death. He was reared to maturity on the old homestead of his paternal grandfather, Lars Witleson, who died in 1906 and by the provisions of whose will Lewis Witleson came into full ownership of the present fine estate of two hundred and sixty-six acres. Here he has since continued his progressive and well ordered activities along the lines of diversified agriculture and the raising of good grades of live stock, and he is one of the representative farmers of his native county, liberal and public-spirited as a citizen and commanding the high regard of the community which has ever been his home. The
Digitized by Google
449
BIOGRAPHICAL
attractive home receives service on rural mail route No. 4 from the village of Elgin. Mr. Witleson is arrayed staunchly in the ranks of the Republican party and he and the other members of the household are communicants of the Norwegian Lutheran church.
Charles E. Witt has been a resident of Clayton county since he was a lad of about seven years and is now numbered among the representative farmers and substantial and popular citizens of Monona township, where he owns and resides upon a finely im- proved farm of two hundred and four acres and where he stands exponent of loyal and progressive citizenship. He was born in Mecklenburg, Germany, on the 9th day of December, 1866, and is the eldest of a family of three children; his sister Emma is the wife of Henry Bruns, of Monona, this county; and the younger sister, Clara, is the wife of Leroy Hunter, of Winneshick county. Fredrick and Dora (Rhode) Witt, parents of the subject of this sketch, were born and reared in the Province of Mecklenburg, and the former served three years in the German Army, in consonance with governmental regulations. In 1873 Fredrick Witt immigrated with his family to the United States, as he was dependent upon his own exertions in providing for his family and felt assured that in America he would find better opportunities for the winning of success and independence. In June of the year mentioned he established the family home in the little hamlet of National, Clayton county, and after devoting three years to work in the employ of others he rented a farm and engaged in agricultural enterprise in an independent way. Later, he purchased and improved a farm in Giard township, where he continued his industrious activities until advancing years and stable prosperity justified his retirement from the arduous labors and heavy responsibilities that had long been his portion, and since that time he and his wife have maintained their home in the village of Monona, with a circle of friends that is limited only by that of their acquaintances. Mr. Witt is a Demo- crat in his political proclivities, and both he and his wife are de- voted communicants of the German Lutheran church, in which he has served many years as deacon. Charles E. Witt gained his early education in the village school at National and the district schools of Giard township after the family home had been es- tablished on the farm. He continued to assist in the work and management of his father's farm until he had attained to the age of seventeen years, and then went to Nebraska, in which state he remained only a short time. After his return to Clayton county he was employed as a farm hand for three years and for the en- suing five years was again associated with the work and manage- ment of his father's farm. He then, in 1892, purchased one hundred and forty-four acres of his present farm, the subsequent addition being in purchase of a contiguous sixty acres, and his thrift and good judgment are clearly shown forth in the admirable appearance of all departments of the fine farm, on which he gives special at- tention to the raising of high-grade cattle, though he is equally successful in his operations in connection with diversified and well ordered agricultural enterprise. Mr. Witt erected his present
Digitized by Google
-
450
MEMOIRS OF CLAYTON COUNTY
residence, which is a commodious house of modern design and facilities, and the other buildings which he has provided further tend to mark him as a broad-gauged and progressive representa- tive of the great basic industries to which he is giving his attention. He is a director of the Monona State Bank and his popularity and influential position in his home community are emphatically in- dicated by the fact that he has served consecutively since 1910 as representative of Monona township on the county board of supervisors. He served several terms as township assessor, and is a recognized leader in popular sentiment and action in Monona township. His progressiveness is of the most distinct type and it should be especially noted that for several years past he has served as president of the Co-operative Commission Association, com- posed of representative farmers of Clayton county. At Monona he is affiliated with the lodge of Ancient Free & Accepted Masons and with the camp of the Woodmen of the World. He is a stalwart in the ranks of the Democratic party and is influential in its councils in Clayton county. March 10, 1893, recorded the marriage of Mr. Witt to Miss Cora May Mathews, daughter of James and Libby (Mulholland) Mathews, of Wagner township, this county. Of the three children born to Mr. and Mrs. Witt the first was Fred, who was born February 7th, 1894, and died on the 13th of the same month; the surviving children are Ethel, who was born July 7th, 1896, and Donald, who was born July 22nd, 1901.
Benjamin S. Witter is another of the native sons of the Hawk- eye State who is contributing materially to the advancement of the agricultural interests of Clayton county, where his well im- proved farm of one hundred and nine acres is eligibly situated in Giard township, with mail service on one of the rural delivery routes emanating from McGregor. He is a progressive farmer and substantial citizen of the county and properly finds representation in this history. Mr. Witter was born in Dubuque county, this state, on the 27th of August, 1861, and is a son of Simon and Annie (Myer) Witter, the former of whom was born in Germany and the latter in the State of Pennsylvania. Simon Witter was reared and educated in his native land, where also he learned the trade of blacksmith. As a young man he emigrated to America and became one of the pioneer settlers of Dubuque county, Iowa, where he engaged in the work of his trade and where he finally turned his attention to agricultural pursuits, in connection with which he achieved independence and substantial prosperity. He is now one of the venerable pioneer citizens of that county; is a staunch Republican in his political adherency and is a mem- ber of the Methodist Episcopal church, as was also his devoted wife, whose death occurred a few years ago. Of their children the subject of this review is the eldest; Louis and Carrie died young ; and Peter and Henry are still residents of Dubuque county. Benjamin S. Witter is indebted to the public schools of his native county for his early educational training, and there, after leaving the home place, he was employed for seven years as a farm hand. In the meanwhile he carefully conserved his earnings and about
Digitized by Google
451
BIOGRAPHICAL
the year 1890 he came to Clayton county and purchased a farm in Mendon township. There he continued his activities as an industrious and successful agriculturist and stock grower until 1911, when he sold the property and purchased his present ex- cellent farm, in Giard township, where he has not failed to uphold his reputation as a vigorous and resourceful exponent of the basic industries of agriculture and stock growing, through the medium of which he achieved substantial and worthy success. Though not imbued with any ambition for public office he is loyal to all civic duties and responsibilities and is unwavering in his sup- port of the cause of the Republican party. Both he and his wife are zealous members of the Methodist Episcopal church at Giard. October 27th, 1889, recorded the marriage of Mr. Witter to Miss Annie Ollett, who likewise is a native of Iowa and who is a daughter of Herman and Annie (Thomas) Ollett, her parents hav- ing come from Germany to the United States when young folk and having first resided at Colesburg, Delaware county,-after es- tablishing their home in Iowa. From that county they came to Clayton county, where Mr. Ollett became a prosperous farmer and where he and his wife passed the remainder of their lives. To Mr. and Mrs. Witter five children have been born, four of whom remain members of the home circle, as follows: Lucile, Amanda, Deborah and Herman. Emma died in early childhood.
Charles D. Wolcott has the distinction of having been one of the most influential factors in the developing of the largest creamery enterprise in the state of Iowa, and in connection therewith he has shown splendid loyalty and resourcefulness, the while he has become recognized as an authority in this important line of in- dustrial and commercial activity. He is secretary of the Farmer's Co-operative Creamery at Strawberry Point and has administered its affairs with remarkable vigor, discrimination and progres- siveness, as attested by the results and by its precedence not only as the largest producing creamery in Iowa but also as the first to which was granted the privilege of using the state brand. Mr. Wolcott has had charge of this representative creamery since 1912, and under his administration the same has made a splendid record. In 1915 the institution turned out more than six hundred thousand pounds of butter, nearly all of which was shipped to points outside of Clayton county. The enterprise represents one of the most important industrial undertakings of Clayton county and the secretary of the company has shown marked circumspection in di- recting its practical operations and handling effectively its large volume of commercial and local business. Mr. Wolcott was born in Chautauqua county, New York, on the 31st of January, 1872, and is a son of Merritt and Margaret Wolcott, both of whom passed their entire lives in the old Empire state. Charles D. Wolcott was reared and educated in his native county, where he duly availed himself of the advantages of the public schools, and he continued his associations with agricultural industry in the state of New York until 1895, when he came to Iowa and established his home on a farm in Delaware county. There he remained a
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.