History of
Plymouth County, Iowa
Indianapolis, Ind.: B. F. Bowen, 1917
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Louis K. Watters
A substantial citizen of Missouri Valley, Iowa, who has made his home here
since 1887, is Louis K. Watters, foreman of the Chicago & Northwestern tin
shops in this city. He is a man who has made his way in life since a mere youth.
As a matter of fact, when he was only eight years of age he was working in a
woolen factory in Fulton, New York, making clothes for the soldiers in the Civil
War. When sixteen years of age he began to learn the tinner's trade and has made
this his chosen life work. His ability along this line was such that when he was
twenty-one years of age he received an appointment from a railroad company in
Michigan and worked with them until he came to Iowa. Here his work was soon
recognized and he was made foreman of the shops, a position which he has held
for many years.
Louis K. Watters, the son of James and Maria (Converse) Watters, was born at
Fulton, Oswego county, New York, January 31, 1854. His father was born at
Brooklyn, New York, and his mother in Albany, of the same state. His father was
a shoemaker and also operated a store. In 1866 the family moved to Flint,
Michigan, where James Watters lived until his death a few years ago. His wife
died there about twenty-eight years ago. Ten children were born to James Watters
and wife, seven of whom are living.
Louis K. Watters was twelve years of age when his parents removed to Flint,
Michigan, and he had little opportunity for schooling, and, as has been stated,
began to work when he was only eight yeas of age. After removing to Flint with
his parents he went to work in a lath mill, and on December 5, 1870, began to
learn the tinner's trade. He worked at Flint, Michigan, learning the trade until
1875. In that year he began to work at Muskegon Michigan, for the Chicago &
West Michigan Railroad, remaining with that company until January 31, 1887. He
then moved to Missouri Valley, and began to work in the Chicago &
Northwestern shops. Soon after locating here he was made foreman of the tin
shops, and he has retained this position ever since.
Mr. Watters was married on September 5, 1874, to Eliza Burgess, who was born
in Bennington, Michigan. The two children born to this union are both deceased,
Harriett and William.
Mr. Watters is a member of the Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, the
Independent Order of Odd Fellows, the Modern Woodmen of America and the Tribe of
Ben-Hur. He and his wife are members of the Methodist Episcopal church. He has
always given his hearty support to the Republican party, but has never taken an
active part in political matters. Mr. and Mrs. Watters have a handsome home in
the city and they are highly esteemed by every one with whom they are
acquainted.
Frank Henry Weber, one of the successful and leading young farmers of
Fredonia township, Plymouth county, was born on the old Weber homestead in the
township on March 17, 1888, and was the son of Conrad L. and Caroline (Hackett)
Weber.
Conrad L. and Caroline (Hackett) Weber, were both natives of Berlin, Germany,
and there they received their education in the public schools and later came to
the United States with their parents, who located at Freeport, Illinois, and it
was here that Conrad L. Weber and Caroline Hackett were later married. As a
young man, in his native country, Mr. Weber had learned the blacksmith trade,
and on locating at Freeport with his parents, he worked in the plow factory for
some time. He later moved to Moline, Illinois, where he worked for some years in
the shops. In 1882, he came to Iowa, and here he located in Plymouth county,
where he purchased five hundred and sixty acres of land in Fredonia township.
This farm he developed and improved, and here he engaged in general farming and
stock raising, for twenty-eight years and was most successful. He then retired
from the work on the farm and removed to Le Mars, where he lived a retired life
for six years, until the time of his death on August 2, 1915, at the age of
sixty-four years. The widow is still a resident of Le Mars. Mr. and Mrs. Weber
always took much interest in the social and educational development of their
home community, and were prominent in church work. They were the parents of the
following children, Lena, Anna, Sarah, Lucy, Agnes, Louis, Frank Henry, and
Della. Lena married John Oltman, and to them have been born ten children, two of
whom are now deceased; Anna is the wife of William Kilker, of Le Mars, and they
are the parents of three sons; Sarah married William Reeves, of Le Mars, and
they are the parents of four children; Lucy is the wife of Henry H. Kohler;
Agnes is the wife of Charles Ladenberger, of Bismark, North Dakota, and they
have three children; Louis lives on the home farm, and married Cerelia Mullong,
and they are parents of one child; Frank Henry, married Carrie Reints and they
live on the old Weber farm, and Della is wife of Edward Detloff, and they are
the parents of one son, and live just north of La Mars.
Frank Henry Weber received his education in the public schools of Fredonia
township, and grew to manhood on the home farm, where as a lad and young man he
assisted his father with the work on the place until 1910. At that time he and
his brother, Lewis, engaged in farming for themselves and continued in the work
together for three years. On February 4, 1913, Frank Henry Weber was united in
marriage to Carrie Reints, who was born in Elgin township, Plymouth county. She
is the daughter of Harry and Martha (Detloff) Reints, both of whom were born in
Freeport, Illinois, where they received their education in the public schools
and there grew to maturity and were married. They later came to Iowa and located
in Elgin township, where Mr. Reints is recognized as one of the successful men
of the township. Frank Henry and Carrie Weber are the parents of one son, Conrad
L., who was born on September 8, 1915. Soon after his marriage, Mr. Weber
purchased one hundred and sixty acres of the home farm, and in addition to this
he farms forty acres of another tract. The year of his marriage he erected a
substantial two-story nine-room house, and has since made other valuable
improvements, and today has one of the attractive farm home of the community.
His house is modern and supplied with every convenience. His other buildings are
in keeping with his well-kept farm. His barn is fifty by sixty feet, with a
machine shed twenty by fifty feet; a granary, twenty-four by thirty-two feet,
and a hog barn, twenty-four feet. Each year he raises about seventy acres of
corn, sixty acres of small grain and eighteen acres of alfalfa. He raises some
one hundred and seventy head of hogs, which he feeds on the place. In addition
to his fine Poland China hogs, Mr. Weber has fifteen fine Shorthorn cattle.
Frank Henry Weber and wife are active members of the Presbyterian church, and
take much interest in all church work, and are prominent in the social and the
religious life of the community, where they are held in the highest regard and
respect by all. Politically, Mr. Weber is identified with the Republican party
and while he has never aspired to office, he has always taken an active interest
in local affairs and is well known throughout the county.
Prof. J. Wernli
One of the best-loved men of a past generation in Plymouth county was the
late Prof. J. Wernli, founder of the Western Union College at Le Mars. Of him it
very properly has been said that he was a man who lived and worked for others,
and in so doing found happiness for himself. The excellent educational
institution he founded is a lasting monument to his memory and the influence he
exerted upon the life of this community is an equally enduring memorial, all who
were benefited by the gentle spell of his gracious personality during the days
of his useful ministration here holding his memory as a precious possession.
Professor Wernli was a native of the republic of Switzerland, born on a farm
in the Canton Aargau on July 13, 1828. His father was a well-to-do farmer,
diligent in his business and prudent in the management of his affairs. His
mother, a woman of rare natural talents and goodness of heart, assisted her
husband in all those labors in which the wives of that fine little country
generally take part. As a boy he learned to work and soon became a practical
farmer. In the district school he developed such talents that the leading
citizens and the minister of the village prevailed upon his parents to give him
the necessary preparatory instruction for admission into the State Normal
School. In 1847 he passed the examination for admission into the normal school
and under the tutelage of an excellent corps of teachers received careful
instruction and training for the life of a teacher. In the spring of 1850 he was
graduated and was chosen as a teacher in his native county, shortly afterward
being called to the position of principal of the schools of a neighboring
manufacturing town. In 1853, while he was successfully conducting his school,
Professor Wernli read the letters of Henry Bossard, a Swiss traveler, then
traveling in the United States, and the glowing description of the farming lands
of the west and of the success which was meeting the efforts of the Swiss
settlers in the new country induced him to emigrate to this country and on May
1, 1855, he and his young wife arrived at Oshkosh, Wisconsin, where, united in
spirit and purpose, they began a new life.
Upon arriving at the new scene of his labors, Professor Wernli found that the
voyage had nearly exhausted his means, but eighty-eight gold dollars remaining
of his little store, too limited a fund with which to begin farming; hence he
and his wife began their life in this country undertaking any honest labor that
offered. Professor Wernli did not disclose his profession. His former training
as a farmer stood him in good stead and after about eighteen months of labor
along that line he had accumulated enough to buy a small home, which he
presently sold at a profit and then moved to Waupaca county, Wisconsin, where,
in the spring of 1857, he bought eighty acres of unimproved land. During all
this time Professor Wernli had been making a diligent study of the English
language, his thorough acquaintance with the French and with the German
languages assisting him in such study, and in 1858 he began teaching, at a
salary of twenty dollars a month, and in the fall of 1861 was elected
superintendent of schools of Waupaca county. His work in that important capacity
soon began to attract favorable notice on the part of the state school
authorities and in 1863 he was re-elected. In 1864 he was called to the position
of principal of the Second Ward school at Milwaukee; in 1866 was made assistant
principal of the First State Normal School at Platteville and in 1868 was
elected principal of the North-western German and English Normal School at
Galena, Illinois. Continued hard labor presently began to undermine Professor
Wernli's health and after a period of five years of toil at Galena he was forced
to resign. He then engaged in business in Chicago, as a partner in a book and
stationery concern, but the turmoil of the city did not suit him and in 1875 he
left the great city and came to Iowa, locating at Le Mars, where he accepted the
position of principal of the public schools, at the same time starting a book
store, which later he turned over to the management of his sons. Resigning his
position as principal of schools in 1877, Professor Wernli for some time
thereafter spent most of his time in conducting teachers' institutes and in the
fall of 1881 was elected superintendent of schools of Plymouth county, and
office he held for four years, declining a re-election in order to make a visit
to his aged mother in Switzerland. Meanwhile, almost immediately after is
arrival in Le Mars in 1875, Professor Wernli had established the Northwestern
Normal School and Business College, now the Western Union College, at Le Mars
and in that behalf he spent his remaining strength and a great part of his means
purchasing and furnishing a beautiful building and maintaining a school in
accordance with the dictates of his own high ideals. The institution grew and
prospered, but after nearly four years of hard labor in teaching and managing
the school Professor Wernli, tired and old, selected a successor and retired
from the active labors of teaching, thereafter devoting his time to writing for
educational journals and in planting and cultivating his orchards, garden and
vineyard. During his long career as an educator, Professor Wernli gained a wide
reputation in educational circles throughout Wisconsin and Iowa and twice his
name was offered at state conventions for nomination for state superintendent.
His death occurred at his home in Le Mars on July 22, 1901, and his passing was
widely mourned, for he had done a good work during his life and his friends were
many.
The surviving children of Professor Wernli and wife are as follow: William
J., the eldest, who is now living at Riverton, Wyoming; Gottlieb L., with the
First National Bank of Le Mars; Mrs. C. E. Haas, of Le Mars; Charles A., general
manager of the Plymouth Milling company at Le Mars; George D., of Los Angeles,
California; Mrs. E. C. Lucke, of Le Mars; Herman A., of Minneapolis, Minnesota;
Frank P., of Hazen, North Dakota; Louis S., of Sioux City; Otto R., of Le Mars;
Mrs. Charles Paul, of Minneapolis; Mrs. L. B. Schafer, of Paullina, Iowa and
Mrs. A. L. Livingston, also of Paullina, Iowa.
Frank Wetrosky
One of the successful farmers of the younger generation,
and a respected citizen of Liberty township, Plymouth county, is Frank Wetrosky, who was
born in Bohemia on September 27, 1873, the son of John and Anna Wetrosky, both of whom
were born in that faraway country.
John and Anna Wetrosky received their education in their
native land and there spent the early years of their lives, later being married.
There they established their little home and continued to live until 1874, when they
decided to seek a home for themselves and those dependent upon them in
America. On their arrival in the United States, they at one came to Iowa, where they
located in Lincoln township. As a young man, Mr. Wetrosky had learned the mason
trade, and was an accomplished musician. For some time after coming to this county,
he followed his trade, and was associated with the Sioux City band. He later
purchased eighty acres of land in section 3 and 4, Lincoln township,. on which he built a
small frame shanty, twelve by fourteen feet, and closed the cracks with clay. In
this house the family lived until 1888. During the first few years on the farm he
did much work at his trade, but later devoted his time and attention to the interests of
his farm. In 1888 he built the substantial frame house now on the place, in which he
lived until the time of his death on February 15, 1912. The widow is still living in
the old home. They were the parents of eight children, two of whom died in
Bohemia; the living are, Mary, who is the widow of Julius Mathwig, lives in Liberty
township. Julius Mathwig was born in Germany in 1850, and came to the United States
with his parents, Gotleib and Minnie Mathwig, in 1866. The family located in
Plymouth county and in 1881 Julius Mathwig was united in marriage to Mary Wetrosky, and to
this union six children were born, Tillie, Otto, George, John, Frank and Anna, all of whom
are living with the exception of John, who was drowned in 1908. Since the death of
her husband on December 1, 1915, Mrs. Mathwig and her son have cared for the farm.
Anna Wetrosky is the wife of J. J. Aalfs, a well-known auctioneer, of Akron, Iowa; Josie
married Gustaf Long, a well-to-do farmer, of Stanton township; Joseph is a successfull
farmer in Lincoln township and is married to Mary Munsch; John married Ida Dahlmann, and
is farming the old home place, the mother making her home with him.
Frank Wetrosky was twenty-seven weeks old when he came to
the county with his parents and received his education in the schools of Lincoln
township. He remained at home and assisted his father with the work on the farm
until he was married. In February, 1895, Frank Wetrosky was united in marriage to
Bertha Schulz, of Stanton township. After their marriage, they established their
home on a farm in Plymouth township, where Mr. Wetrosky rented one hundred and sixty acres
of land, for five years. He then purchased one hundred and sixty acres of land in
section 20, Liberty township, where he farmed for two years, when he sold the place, and
bought one hundred and sixty acres in section 13, where he now lives. He first built
a small house, which has since been remodeled and enlarged, until he now has one of the
best two-story houses in the township. He built a good barn and other out-buildings,
and has placed all the improvements now on the place.
Frank Wetrosky has met with much success in his work as a
general farmer and stockman, and is today the owner of three hundred and twenty acres of
excellent land, most of which is under high cultivation and well improved. He does
the greater part of the farming himself, and looks after the care of fifty head of
Shorthorn cattle and one hundred and fifty Poland China hogs. He raises much wheat,
corn, oats and alfalfa, and is recognized as one of the substantial men of the township.
Mr. and Mrs. Wetrosky are members of the Lutheran church
and take much interest in all church work. They are the parents of seven children,
Arthur, Elmer, Walter, Gustav, Ella, Frank and Evelyn, all of whom are at home. Mr.
Wetrosky has served his district as school director and has always taken an active
interest in local affairs, and is a stockholder in the Merrill farmers elevator.
John Wetrorsky
The late John Wetrorsky, one of the honored pioneers of
Plymouth county, who died at his home in Lincoln township on February 12. 1912. was
a native of the kingdom of Bohemia. There he married Anna Vondruska, a native
of that same country, and in 1874 came with his wife and children to the United States and
proceeded on out too Iowa, settling in Plymouth county, where he spent the rest of his
life and where his widow is still living.
Upon coming to this county John Wetrorsky bought land in
sections 3 and 4 of Lincoln township and there established his home, becoming one of the
most substantial pioneer farmers of that part of the county. To him and his wife six
children were born, Mary, Frank, Anna, Joseph, Josephine and John, with the latter of whom
the widow is now making her home, John Wetrorsky renting the old home farm from his
mother, besides which he is farming a hundred acres of his own.
The junior John Wetrorsky was born on the old home farm,
where he now lives, October 12, 1878, and received his schooling in the schools of this
county. He was reared on the farm and has been a farmer all his life and is doing
very well, in addition to his general farming giving considerable attention to the raising
of high-grade live stock.
On January 10,1905, John Wetrorsky, Jr., was united in
marriage to Ida Dahlman, daughter of Lewis Dahlman and wife, of this county, and to this
union four children have been born, Viola, Ludwig, Agnes and Ada. Mr. and Mrs.
Wetrorsky are members of the German Lutheran church and take a proper interest in the
affairs of the same, as well as in the general social activities of the community in which
they live, helpful factors in the promotion of all worthy causes thereabout.
Benjamin
Franklin Wintersteen, a well-known
jeweler and merchant of Akron, this county, former postmaster of that place and
for years one of the most progressive business men there, is a native of the
great Keystone state, but has been a resident of Iowa the greater part of the
time since he was a boy and a resident of Akron, engaged in business there
continuously since the year 1887. He was born at Pottsville, Pennsylvania, May
24, 1855, son of Peter K. and Hattie (Reeser) Wintersteen, who years ago became
residents of Iowa and both of whom are now deceased.
Peter K. Wintersteen was reared in Pennsylvania
and there learned the jeweler's trade, which he followed at Pottsville until he
came West, locating at Fulton, Iowa, where he was living when the Civil War
broke out. He enlisted for service in the Union army during that struggle
between the states, but was rejected on account of physical disability. Some
time later he moved with his family to Muscatine, this state, where for a time
he was engaged in working at the shoemaker's trade, a trade he had learned as a
boy, and while thus engaged his health gave way, compelling his retirement to a
farm in Jasper county, where he farmed for about fourteen years, at the end of
which time he moved to Colfax and was there engaged as a watchmaker for twenty
years, or until 1900, when he sold his interests there and retired from
business, he and his wife thereafter making their home with their son, the
subject of this sketch, at Akron, In 1903 Peter K. Wintersteen went to Chicago
to undergo a surgical operation and there died, being then at the age of
sixty-four years. His widow survived for about four years, her death occurring
in 1907, she then being sixty-five years of age. She was a kinswoman of John
Quincy Adams, her mother and the former President of the United Sates having
been first cousins. Peter K. Wintersteen and wife were the parents of three
sons, the subject of this sketch having two brothers, James Wintersteen, a
farmer, living in the vicinity of Nevada, Missouri, and Harry Wintersteen, a
blacksmith and wagon maker at Portland, Oregon.
Benjamin F. Wintersteen was but a child when his
parents moved from Pennsylvania to Iowa and he received his elementary schooling
at Muscatine. He was about fifteen years of age when his father moved on to the
farm in Jasper county and about a year later, when sixteen years old, he went
West and for about six years thereafter spent his time in the mountains, in
Colorado, Arizona, Dakota and New Mexico and for some time was engaged on a
horse ranch in Arizona. Upon his return to Iowa Mr. Wintersteen became connected
with his father in the jewelry business at Colfax and was thus engaged at that
place for five years, or until the fall of 1887, when he located at Akron and
there opened a jewelry store, a business in which he has been engaged
continuously ever since. Upon starting in business Mr. Wintersteen rented a
small store room, but as his business prospered he presently expanded the same,
bought out a stock of wall-paper and stationery and moved into a larger
building. He later still further enlarged his quarters and added a stock of
paints, chinaware, cut-glass, silverware and the like and long has had one of
the best-equipped stores in his line in this part of the state. Mr. Wintersteen
is a Democrat and during the administration of President Cleveland was appointed
postmaster of Akron, serving in that important capacity for a period of four
years and six months. He also has served as a member of the Akron school board
and in other ways has contributed of his time and his energies to the public
service.
In
March, 1895, Benjamin F. Wintersteen was united in marriage to Hattie Round, who
was born in Wisconsin, daughter of the Reverend Round and wife, the former of
whom is a minister of the Baptist church, and to this union two daughters have
been born, Ethel, who was graduated from the Akron high school in 1914, attended
normal school in South Dakota and is now engaged in teaching in that state, and
Grace, who is a student in the Akron high school. The Wintersteens are members
of the Baptist church and take proper interest in the various beneficences of
the same, as well as in the general social activities of their home town. Mr.
Wintersteen is a Royal Arch and Scottish Rite Mason and, together with is wife
and elder daughter, is a member of the local chapter of the Order of the Eastern
Star, which he helped to organize and in which both Mrs. Wintersteen and Miss
Ethel Wintersteen are office bearers. |
