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1907 Past and Present Biographies

Otto A. Wahl

The commercial interests of Churdan find a worthy representative in Otto A. Wahl, who is engaged in merchandising, conducting a well appointed establishment. He is a young man of enterprise and determination who is resolute in carrying forward to successful completion whatever he undertakes. He was born in Muscatine, Iowa, on the 27th of March, 1871, and is one of a family of twelve children, of whom the eldest died in infancy. The others are Mrs. Lizzie Hahn, who resides in Moscow, Iowa; W. H., a resident of Paton, this state; Otto A.; Mrs. Matilda McKane, who is living in Texas; Mrs. Lydia Kraft, whose home is in Sheffield, Iowa; Mrs. Emily Myers, located in Kansas; George F. and Harry C., who are in Paton; Mrs. Eva Long, a resident of Iowa; and Edith and Carl, also of Paton. The parents still reside in Paton where the firm of Wahl Brothers - the partners being brothers of our subject - is well known, being closely associated with the business interests of that town.

As the name indicates, Otto A. Wahl is of German descent and possesses many of the sterling characteristics of his German ancestry. He was but seven years of age at the time of the removal of the family from Muscatine, Iowa, to Paton, where he was educated in the common schools, pursuing his studies to the age of fourteen years, when he started out in business life, securing a clerkship in a hardware store. He thus received his mercantile training and gradually he worked his way upward as he mastered the elements of business and advanced in efliciency and ability as a salesman. Ambitious to engage in business on his own account, he carefully saved his earnings and in 1892 he and his brother, W. H. Wahl, purchased a general mercantile store at Paton, which they conducted until 1899. They were quite successful in the management of that concern and Otto A. Wahl was thus connected with the business interests of Paton for seven years, when he sold out and went to Churdan. Here he established a general mercantile store, in which he handles dry goods, boots, shoes, groceries, poultry, butter and eggs. He has secured a good patronage and at the same time his store furnishes a good market to the farmers of the locality from whom he purchases supplies from the dairy and from the poultry yard. His earnest desire to please his patrons, his reliable business methods and his unfaltering energy constitute the basis of the very desirable success which he is now enjoying.

On the 5th of June, 1900, Mr. Wahl was married to Miss Caroline Munzenmaier, who was born in Germany in 1874. They have three children: Arthur M., born October 15, 1901; Raymond C., August 19, 1903; and Anna D., January 29, 1906. The family occupy a nice residence which Mr. Wahl owns, and he and his wife are well known socially in the community, having many warm friends here. They hold membership in the Methodist Episcopal church and are interested in all that pertains to public progress and improvement. Mr. Wahl is also identified with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and in politics is a republican. He is now serving for the second term as a member of the city council and he exercises his official prerogatives in support of many movements for the general good.

Transcribed from "Past and Present of Greene County, Iowa Together With Biographical Sketches of Many of Its Prominent and Leading Citizens and Illustrious Dead,"
by E. B. Stillman assisted by an Advisory Board consisting of Paul E. Stillman, Gillum S. Toliver,
Benjamin F. Osborn, Mahlon Head, P. A. Smith and Lee B. Kinsey, Chicago: The S. J. Clarke Publishing Company, 1907.

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