Thies, Edward J.

SCHILD, HIRLEMAN, WILE, RAYMOND

Posted By: BCGS
Date: 12/19/2009 at 10:41:25

Edward J. Thies, living practically retired in Waverly, giving his attention to some extent to the real-estate business, was born at Belle Plaine, Iowa, April 8, 1864, his parents being Frederick and Elizabeth (Schild) Thies, natives of Lippe-Detmold, Germany. The father, who was born in 1820, crossed the Atlantic to the United States as a young man and soon afterward was married at Freeport, Illinois. He followed general agricultural pursuits throughout his entire active career with the exception of a short time which he spent in the employ of others at Freeport. In 1857 he moved to Belle Plaine, Benton county, Iowa, and there carried on farming until the spring of 1867, when he came to Bremer county, locating three miles east of Waverly. There he spent the remainder of his life, passing away in September, 1873. His wife died on the 5th of May of the same year. Frederick Thies held a number of local offices and was highly esteemed in the localities where he made his home.

Edward J. Thies acquired his early education in the public schools near Belle Plaine and later attended district school in Bremer county, afterward spending four years in the Waverly high school. The father had left the homestead in charge of his son, Henry A. Thies, on condition that he care for the younger children and keep the family together. When Edward J. Thies was twenty-one years of age he received one hundred and sixty acres of land as his share of his father's estate but he continued to make his home with his brother until 1887, when his marriage occurred. He then moved upon his own farm, which he operated for five years thereafter. Leasing it at the end of that time, he moved to Waverly, where he remained for nine months, after which he bought a thirty acre tract of land three miles east of the city. From 1893 until 1910 he made his home upon this property, which he then sold, buying his present residence at No. 515 Northwest Water street. He has since lived in practical retirement although he engages to some extent in buying and selling land, owning today one hundred and sixty acres of valuable farming property in South Dakota.

On the 2d of May, 1887, Mr. Thies married Miss Cassie Hirleman, who was born in Columbia county, Pennsylvania, March 23, 1860, a daughter of David and Marie (Wile) Hirleman, natives of Columbia county. The father engaged in farming in Pennsylvania until he enlisted for service in the Civil war, serving nine months, after which he was honorably discharged on account of disability. About the year 1864 he came to Waverly, where he was for ten years clerk in a grocery store conducted by Raymond Brothers. He died in January, 1877, and is survived by his wife, who resides in Spencer, Iowa. They were the parents of six children, of whom Mrs. Thies is the oldest. Mr. and Mrs. Thies have two daughters: Vida May, who was born June 17, 1890; and Bernice Marie, born January 11, 1899.

Mr. Thies and family are members of the Evangelical church and he gives his political allegiance to the republican party. Although he has been handicapped throughout his life by an accident which occurred when he was eighteen months old, when through the carelessness of the physician he was given medicine which completely disabled his lower limbs, he has offset this disadvantage by facing it with courage and assurance and has succeeded far better than most men. He is accounted among the representative and valued residents of Waverly and has the esteem and confidence of the people of the city, who recognize his honesty and integrity of character and honor him for his upright and straightforward life.

History of Bremer County, Iowa Vol. II 1914