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 improved 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 Winneshiek 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
Democrat in his political proclivities, and both he
and his wife are devoted 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 established 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 ensuing five years was again
associated with the work and management 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 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 representative 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 indicated 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, composed 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.
source: History of
Clayton County, Iowa; From The Earliest Historical
Times Down to the Present; by Realto E. Price,
Vol. II; pg. 449-450
-OCR scanned by S. Ferrall
