Herman Dittmer Herman Dittmer is to be considered specially favored in the status that is his as the owner of one of the splendidly improved landed estates of his native county and further prestige is his by reason of his being the owner of the farm, in Section 30, Cox Creek township, where he was born, on the 4th of January, 1865, and where he has continued his activities as an agriculturist and stockgrower from his youth to the present time. He is one of the leading exponents of these basic lines of industrial enterprise in his native township and county and is a wide-awake, broad-minded and progressive citizen who well merits consideration in this history. Mr. Dittmer is a son of Peter and Magdalena (Banke) Dittmer, who were born in Germany and who became residents of Clayton county in the early '60s. The father became one of the most enterprising and successful farmers of Cox Creek township, contributed his quota to the civic and material advancement of the county and commanded secure place in the confidence and esteem of all who knew him. He remained on his old homestead farm until his death, at the age of 75 years, and here his venerable widow still resides, in the midst of the hallowed memories and associations of the past. She is a devout communicant of the German Lutheran church, as was also her husband, and the latter was a Democrat in his political proclivities. Of their children, the firstborn was Annie, who died in young womanhood; Lizzie is the wife of Jacob Stemmer, of Elkader; Martin is deceased; Mary is the wife of Adolph Elvers, of this county; and Herman, of this review, who is the owner of the old homestead, where his loved mother remains with him and is accorded the deepest filial solicitude. The district schools afforded to Herman Dittmer his early educational advantages and his long and effective association with the work and management of the home farm have made him doubly appreciative of its value and its manifold attractions. His landed estate now comprises four hundred and seventy acres of fertile land, in Section 30, Cox Creek township, and the residence, a substantial and commodious stone building, is one of the fine rural homes of the county. All improvements on the place are of the best order and the most approved of modern machinery, implements and other accessories are used in carrying forward operations in general agriculture and the raising of the best grades of live stock. Mr. Dittmer has served as trustee of his native township, is a stalwart supporter of the cause of the Democratic party, is affiliated with the Modern Woodmen of America and both he and his wife hold membership in the German Lutheran church, their attractive home receiving service on rural mail route No. 3 from the village of Strawberry Point. In 1894 was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Dittmar to Miss Clara Meder, who is a representative of one of the honored and influential families of Clayton county, adequate record of the family history being given on other pages, in the sketch of the career of her father, Henry Meder. Mr. and Mrs. Dittmer have three children, all of whom remain at the parental home- Arthur, Irene and Floyd. source: History of Clayton
County, Iowa; From The Earliest Historical Times Down to
the Present; by Realto E. Price, Vol. II; page 90-91 |