Grossmann, G.A.

STEPPES, KAUFMANN, MASCHOP, BOER, HAHN, POPPEN

Posted By: BCGS
Date: 1/1/2010 at 10:24:05

G.A. Grossmann, one of the most prominent and influential citizens of Waverly, is a leading figure in financial circles as president of the State Bank of Waverly and is also well known in the journalistic field as owner of the Waverly Phoenix (German), which he purchased in 1892. His birth occurred at Saint Sebald, Clayton county, Iowa, on the 25th of May, 1862, his parents being Professor George and Nanny (Steppes) Grossmann, natives of Hess-Darmstadt, Germany. The father, who was born on the 18th of October, 1823, passed away on the 24th of August, 1897, while the mother, whose natal day was February 24, 1825, was called to her final rest on the 23d of May, 1913. Their marriage was celebrated in Germany, June 19, 1846. In 1852 they crossed the Atlantic to the United States, locating first in Saginaw, Michigan, and a year later, on the 20th of October, in Dubuque, Iowa, where Professor Grossmann officiated as the first Lutheran minister of the state. At the end of about four years he took up his abode at Saint Sebald, Clayton county, there continuing as a preacher of the gospel and also teaching in the Wartburg Seminary Theological School until 1874. In that year he removed to Mendota, Illinois, where he remained for twelve months. On account of failing health he retired from active work for three years and then spent a year in Andrew, Jackson county, Iowa. In December, 1892, he came to Waverly and here made his home throughout the remainder of his life. He was engaged as principal and instructor in the Wartburg College, Teachers' Seminary and Academy of Waverly until within a few years of his demise, when he was pensioned. He was one of the original founders of the Iowa Synod of the Lutheran church and for a period of thirty-nine years served as its president. Professor Grossmann served on various church and mission boards, and his efforts proved a potent element in the moral and intellectual growth and development of the communities in which he labored.

G.A. Grossmann, the sixth in order of birth in a family of eight children, acquired his early education in attendance at the schools of Saint Sebald, Clayton county, Iowa. Subsequently entering Wartburg College and Theological Seminary at Mendota, Illinois, he was graduated from that institution in 1881. When twenty years of age he took charge of a Lutheran congregation at Jubilee, Blackhawk county, Iowa, and there continued as pastor for four and a half years. On the expiration of that period he was obliged to abandon the ministry because of throat trouble and came to Waverly in November, 1886, here securing a position as bookkeeper with the Wartburg Publishing House, a book store and publishing concern with which he remained until 1892. In that year he purchased the Waverly Phoenix of Waverly and began its publication. His editorial venture proved a success and he still owns the journal, which is now being published by his son, Arthur C. Grossmann. As above stated he is likewise prominent in financial circles as president of the State Bank of Waverly and has other improtant business interests, being a member of the board of directors of Iowa Sugar Company and the Wartburg Publishing Company. He also serves on the board of directors of the Waverly Commercial Club, Wartburg College of Clinton, Iowa, and the Orphans Home at Waverly.

On the 5th of July, 1882, Mr. Grossmann was united in marriage to Miss Anna Kaufmann, who was born at Roseville, Michigan, on the 27th of February, 1862, her parents being Godfried and Bertha (Maschop) Kaufmann, the former a native of Saxony and the latter of Hesse, Germany. They came to Iowa in 1874, locating about eight miles northeast of Waverly, where Mr. Kaufmann acquired land and followed farming. His demise occurred in Waverly, where his widow still makes her home. Unto Mr. and Mrs. Grossmann have been born eight children, as follows: Cordelia, who is the wife of Rev. A.R. Boer, of St. Paul, Minnesota; Arthur C., managing editor of the Phoenix of Waverly; Helen, residing in Waterloo, who is the wife of E.A. Hahn, advertising manager of the Waterloo Courier; Rosa, who gave her hand in marriage to the Rev. E. Poppen, of Dayton, Ohio; Werner P., who is employed as bookeeper in the State Bank of Waverly; Hilda, at home; and Emma and Helmuth, who are likewise under the parental roof.

Mr. Grossmann is a stalwart democrat in politics, but has never sought nor desired office as a reward for his party fealty. He is a devoted and consistent member of the Lutheran church and one of its most helpful adherents. Since 1899 he has been secretary of the Lutheran Mutual Aid Society, an insurance organization within the Lutheran church which was organized in 1879 and the home office of which has been located at Waverly since 1899. He holds friendship inviolable and, as true worth may always win his regard, he has a very extensive circle of friends and his life demontrates the truth of Ralph Waldo Emerson's statement that "the way to win a friend is to be one." No plan or movement for the benefit of the city along lines of progress and improvement seeks his aid in vain. The public work that he has done has largely been of a nature that has brought no pecuniary reward and has yet made extensive demand upon his time, his thought and his energies. Opportunities that others have passed by heedlessly he has noted and improved to the betterment of the city and the state in many ways. He is extremely modest and unostentatious in manner but all who know him speak of him in terms of praise. In his life are the elements of greatness because of the use he has made of his talents and his opportunities, because his thoughts are not self-centered but are given to the mastery of life problems and the fulfillment of his duty as a man in his relations to his fellowmen and as a citizen of his relations to his city, state and country.

History of Bremer County, Iowa Vol. II 1914