IAGenWeb Project - Allamakee co.

William Schwarzhoff

 

Among those men whose efforts are proving forces in the advancement of agriculture in Allamakee county is William Schwarzhoff, owner of a valuable farm of three hundred and fifty-seven acres. He was born in Waterloo township, this county, in 1863, a son of William and Mary Schwarzhoff, both natives of Germany. In early life they came to the United States, settling at Dubuque, Iowa, in 1856. A year later they arrived in Allamakee county, taking up their abode in Waterloo township, where the father preempted land about two miles southwest of Dorchester. There he carried on general agricultural pursuits until his death, and also for a number of years, in connection with his three brothers, operated a brewery near his homestead. He was accidentally killed in 1864, and his widow passed away in Wisconsin a few years later. Unto them had been born two sons, but the younger, Herman, passed away in infancy.

The elder son, William Schwarzhoff, of this review, was a little lad of but five years when left an orphan through the death of his mothers, at which time he went to live with an uncle. He received a good education in the public schools of Allamakee county and for many years continued to reside with his uncle, under whose direction he received thorough training along agricultural lines. In 1889 he came into possession of his father’s farm, upon which he took up his abode and upon which he has since continued to live. He is now the owner of three hundred and fifty-seven acres of valuable land, two hundred and seventy-five acres of which are highly developed and in a good state of cultivation. He has been progressive and systematic in his methods, and his well directed efforts, proving productive in results, have brought to him a gratifying measure of success. As he has prospered he has taken up other interests, and is now a stockholder, director and vice president of the Dorchester Savings Bank.

Mr. Schwarzhoff laid the foundation for a happy homelife through his marriage, in 1889, to Miss Sophia Schulte, who is also a native of Allamakee county and a daughter of August and Caroline Schulte, the father born in Germany and the mother of German parentage. They settled in this county in 1856, and the father is now a resident of Caledonia, Minnesota, but the mother passed away in 1906. Their daughter Sophia is one of nine children born unto them and by her marriage to Mr. Schwarzhoff she has become the mother of five children, namely: Mary, born in 1895: Clara, born in 1898; Florence, in 1900; Verna, in 1902; and Estella, in 1907. All yet reside at home. The family are communicants of the Roman Catholic church, in the work of which Mr. Schwarzhoff is deeply interested. He is today numbered among the substantial farmers of his native township, and his prosperity is well merited, for, with a propensity for hard work, his success has found its root in unfaltering industry and a perseverance that never flags.

-source: Past & Present of Allamakee County; by Ellery M. Hancock; S. J. Clarke Pub. Co.; 1913
-transcribed by Diana Diedrich

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