Dubuque County >> 1894 Index
Jones County
Clayton County

Portrait and Biographical Record of Dubuque, Jones and Clayton Counties
Chicago: Chapman Pub. Co., 1894.

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Unless otherwise noted, biographies submitted by Becky Teubner.

LOUIS WITTER is a leading business man of Dubuque . There are many firms engaged in contracting and building in this city and among them that of L. Witter & Sons takes front rank on account of the excellent work which it turns out. Mr. Witter is a man of excellent business and executive ability and in his undertakings has met with success. The record of his life is as follows: He was born in Heidelberg , Germany , in the year 1837, and is a son of Benjamin and Elizabeth (Brown) Witter, both of whom were natives of Germany and there spent their entire lives. The father was a blacksmith by trade. Mr. Witter whose name heads this record spent his boyhood days in the Fatherland and acquired such educational advantages as were afforded by the district schools, which he attended until fifteen years of age. He then began learning the carpenter's trade, serving a three years' apprenticeship, during which time he thoroughly mastered the business, becoming an efficient workman. He followed his chosen occupation in Germany in 1868,and with the hope of bettering his financial condition he sailed for New York , and when he had landed on American soil started at once for Dubuque .

Ere his emigration Mr. Witter was married. In 1866 he was joined in wedlock with Miss Louise Rowdebush, who died in 1868, leaving two children, a son and daughter, Louisa and Cornelius. On the 6th of May, 1869 , Mr. Witter was again married, his second union being with Miss Mary Groebe. To them have been born six children, three sons and three daughters, Louis, William, Frank, Elizabeth, Annie and Clara. The parents are consistent and faithful members of St. John's Lutheran Church , and are highly respected citizens of the community. Their home is located on White Street .

When Mr. Witter came to Dubuque , he worked at his trade in the employ of others for some time, being thus engaged until 1882, when he began business in his own interest. He is now a prominent contractor and builder, and the liberal patronage which he receives yields him a good income. Among the many fine buildings which stand as monuments to his thrift and enterprise are the home of Charles Hollnagle, the Herman business block and many others.

Cornelius Witter, who is the junior member of the firm, is a thoroughgoing young business man and an expert mechanic. He was born in Germany in 1868, and during his infancy was brought by his father to America . He acquired his education in the schools of Dubuque and then learned the carpenter's trade, becoming very proficient in that line. To the practical experience and tried judgment of his father he adds the enterprise and ambition of a young man, and the combination therefore makes an excellent firm.

HORACE T. WOODARD

For many years the agricultural community of Jones County had an able and efficient representative in the subject of this notice, who settling in Wyoming Township in 1865, gave his attention to the tilling of the soil and improving of a farm. As an agriculturist he was discriminating and industrious, and by systematic rotation of crops and proper fertilization of the soil he was enabled to secure bountiful harvests from his land. At last, having accumulated a competence, he retired from farm work, and in March of 1893 came to Wyoming , where with his family he occupies a pleasant home.

The Woodard family is of Scotch lineage and its representatives, as far back as the record is traced, have been men of upright character and honorable lives. The paternal grandfather of our subject was Pliny Woodard, a native of Connecticut and during much of his life a resident of New York . The parents of our subject were Augustus B. and Hannah (Owen) Woodard; the father was born in Connecticut and the latter in the Empire State , being a daughter of Abraham Owen. The father came west and settled in Jones County , Iowa , where his death occurred in 1889, at the age of eighty-nine years. In Oneida County , N. Y., the subject of this sketch was born on the 19th of July, 1829 . His boyhood years were passed uneventfully, and during the vacations from school work he assisted his father in the cultivation of the home farm. In 1851 he was united in marriage with Miss Ann Gibson, a native of Canada and a daughter of Patrick Gibson. In 1865 he came west and settled in Wyoming Township , Jones County , where as above stated he carried on a farm until 1893, meantime improving his land with an adequate set of buildings, good fences, orchards and gardens. In youth he had learned that success in agriculture can be gained only through tireless industry and perseverance, and these qualities he exercised in the cultivation of his property.

The present wife of our subject, whom he married in 1893, bore the maiden name of Julia Cook, and was born in Ohio . Her parents, Thomas and Maria (Lyle) Cook, were natives of Pennsylvania , and were old settlers of Ohio . Her mother came to Iowa in advanced years and died at Wyoming at the age of seventy-nine. Her grandmother was Sarah Kerr, of Easton , Pa. The Lyle family originated in Scotland , but was represented in Pennsylvania at an early period in its settlement, being identified with the history of Northampton County . Mr. Woodard has two sons, both of whom reside in Monona County , Iowa .

Always actively interested in public affairs, our subject is a pronounced Republican in politics and both at local and general elections exercises his elective franchise in favor of the candidates of that party. His wife holds membership in the Presbyterian Church and is a worthy Christian. They are generous in their contributions to charitable objects, and in them the distressed and needy always find a friend. The life of Mr. Woodard affords an illustration of what may be accomplished by energy and perseverance, seconded by sound judgment and good management. His success is due to his own exertions, as he started in business without means, and has achieved prosperity through his indefatigable exertions.