William Wurtzel

William Wurtzel, whose residence in Allamkee county cover more than a third of a century, is now numbered among the substantial and representative agriculturists of his community, owning and operating a well improved farm of one hundred and nine acres on section 35, Center township. His birth occurred in Brandenburg, Germany, on the 11th of March, 1848, his parents being Carl and Elizabeth (Beymert) Wurtzel, who came to this county with their son Gustave in 1881. They made their home with him throughout the remainder of their lives, both passing away when seventy-nine years of age. Their family numbered three sons and three daughters, as follows: Caroline and Augusta, both of whom died in the fatherland; Henrietta, who is deceased, as is also her husband, Ernst Kuehn; Carl, who is supposed to be still in Germany; William, of this review; and Gustave, a successful agriculturist of Center township.

William Wurtzel spent the first thirty years of his life in his native country, being their reared, educated and married. In 1878, in company with his wife and two children, he crossed the Atlantic to the United States, arriving in the new world with a capital of less than one hundred dollars. He here worked by the month as a farm hand for two years and on the expiration of that period purchased a tract of one hundred and nine acres in Center township, Allamakee county, Iowa, which had but poor improvements. The property has since remained in his possession and he has remodeled the residence and other buildings thereon and generally improved the place until it is now a neat and model farm. He cultivates the cereals best adapted to soil and climate and annually gathers good crops which find a ready sale on the market. As the years have gone by he has prospered in his undertakings and is now recognized as one of the substantial and esteemed citizens of the community.

While still a resident of the fatherland Mr. Wurtzel was united in marriage to Miss Amelia Schoenbeck, a daughter of Ludwig and Caroline Schoenbeck, both of whom are deceased, having passed away in Germany. Unto Mr. and Mrs. Wurtzel have been born five children, as follows: William, a native of Germany, who wedded Miss Clara Herman and resides on a farm in Center township; Carl, also born in Germany, a resident of this county; Fred, a native of Allamakee county, Iowa, who passed away in January, 1912, at the age of thirty-two years; Louise, the wife of Gustave Dee, of French Creek township; and Herman, at home.

Mr. Wurtzel is a republican in his political views but at the last election supported Wilson and Marshall. He and his family are devoted members of the German Reformed church at Waukon. Coming to the new world in early manhood, he eagerly availed himself of the greater opportunities here afforded and has gradually worked his way upward to a position among the successful and representative residents of Allamakee county.

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

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