TOETER, Henry

TOETER, DUTTE NITTARTY, GRUBE, WESTENBARGER, MEINICKE

Posted By: Gordon Felland (email)
Date: 1/29/2011 at 16:34:08

Henry Toeter is a well known figure in the business circles of Mitchell county. The village of Toeterville has been largely promoted through his efforts and he has been closely associated with many of its commercial activities. He is now vice president of the Union Bank of Toeterville and is also the holder of valuable farm property in Mitchell county. He was born in Hanover, Germany, November 17, 1847, a son of John and Elizabeth Toeter, who were farming people of Ger­many, where they spent their entire lives. They had a family of six children: John, Henry, William, Kate, Dora and Elizabeth.

Henry Toeter of this review was the only one who came to the United States. He spent his childhood with his parents and devoted the years between the ages of six and sixteen to the acquirement of a public school education in Hanover. He afterward worked upon his father's farm until he reached the age of twenty years and then sought a home in the new world, attracted by the favorable opportunities which he had heard existed on this side of the Atlantic. He arrived in January, 1868, and made his way to Reedsburg, Wisconsin, where he lived for a year and during that period he studied English under private tutors. In 1869 he went to Minnesota and finally established his home in Union town­ship, Mitchell county, Iowa, in June of that year. At that time he purchased eighty acres of land, for which he paid thirteen dollars per acre. That constituted, the nucleus of his present landed possessions, to which he has added from time to time as his financial resources have increased until he is now the owner of four hundred and forty acres, constituting a valuable and productive property. He also assisted in organizing the first creamery and in establishing the elevator at Toeterville and he built the first store buildings in the town. He has entered the field of banking and is now vice president of the Union Bank of Toeterville, a newly organized financial institution which is being developed along progressive lines. He displays sound judgment and keen discrimination in everything that he under­takes, forms his plans carefully and utilizes every available opportunity to carry them forward to successful completion.

In 1870 Mr. Toeter returned to Reedsburg, Wisconsin, and was married on the 7th of January to Miss Minnie Dutte, who was born April 20, 1847, in Han­over, Germany, and came to the United States in May, 1867. They have become the parents of seven children: Alice, the wife of Otto Nittarty, who resides on the Toeter farm in Union township; Emma, who gave her hand in marriage to Charles Grube, of Toeterville; Josephine, who is the wife of Joseph Westenbarger, of St. Ansgar, Iowa; Amanda, at home; Metha, who is the wife of B. F. Meinicke, of Fargo, North Dakota; and Elizabeth and Alvina, both deceased.

In community affairs Mr. Toeter has long been actively and helpfully interested. He belongs to the German Evangelical Lutheran church, in which he has served as a trustee and has held various other official positions. In politics he is a stalwart republican and has served as township trustee and in other local offices. His influence is always on the side of progress and upbuilding and he has done much to further the development of his section of the county. Moreover, he is a self-made man who owes his success entirely to persistent, earnest effort. He came to the new world practically empty-handed, but he possessed courage and determination and in all that he has undertaken he has displayed marked efficiency, for thoroughness characterizes everything that he does. Gradually he has worked his way upward and the steps in his orderly progression are easily discernible.

Source: History of Mitchell and Worth Counties, Iowa, 1918, Vol. II, page 353