LARGE, William H.

LARGE, ROGERS, GORMAN, SADDORIS

Posted By: Nettie Mae
Date: 1/18/2003 at 13:13:46

Source: The 1901 Biographical Record of Clinton Co., Iowa, Illustrated published: Chicago : S. J. Clarke Pub. Co., 1901.

WILLIAM H. LARGE.

William H. Large, a well-known and highly esteemed citizen of DeWitt, who has now retired from active business, was born on the 22d of May, 1836, in Boston, Massachusetts, and is a son of Thomas and Elizabeth (Rogers) Large, both natives of Ireland. The father was born in Dublin in 1821, and came of a long line of sturdy Irish ancestry. After his marriage he removed to England, and in 1844 emigrated to the new worked, locating first at Boston, Massachusetts, where he engaged in the boot and shoe business for a time. In 1859 he came to Clinton county, Iowa, and opened a boot and shoe store in DeWitt, which he carried on for a time, but later turned his attention to agricultural pursuits, having purchased a farm near the village, which he operated with the help of his sons. Upon this place he built a good house and barn, and was successfully engaged in general farming and stock raising until his death, which occurred in December 1888. His first wife died upon the farm in 1864, and he subsequently wedded Mary Gorman, who died in DeWitt. He was one of the substantial and representative agriculturists of the county, and was widely and favorably known. By his first marriage he had four children, two sons and two daughters, all of whom reached years of maturity, but the daughters are both now deceased.

William H. Large, the youngest of this family, attended the common schools of this county, and supplemented the knowledge there obtained by one term at the Davenport Business College in Davenport, but he is almost wholly self-educated. On the 13th of March, 1883, he was married in this county to Miss Mary Saddoris, a native of Davenport, Iowa. Her father, Samuel Saddoris, was born in Ohio, March 4, 1816, of good old German ancestry, and in early life became a mechanic, learning the wagonmaker’s trade. In 1845 he removed to Davenport, Iowa, where he successfully engaged in business as a public contractor and invested considerable in real estate. After residing there for eight years he came to Clinton county, and in 1865 purchased a farm near DeWitt, to which he has since added from time to time until now he is the owner of a large and valuable farm. Here Mrs. Large was principally reared. Unto our subject and his wife were born five children, of whom Samuel, the only son, died in infancy. Those living are Clara, Amy, Florence and Helen, all attending the home school.

Mr. and Mrs. Large began their domestic life upon the old homestead, to which he succeeded after his father’s death, and in connection with farming for the market from one to two carloads annually. He continued his farming operations with marked success until 1897, when he rented the place and bought a residence in DeWitt, where he has since lived retired. He still owns the old homestead in DeWitt township, which consists of two hundred and forty acres of well improved and valuable land, pleasantly located within four miles of the village of DeWitt. He is one of the original stockholders of the DeWitt Savings Bank.

Since casting his first presidential vote for James G. Blaine, Mr. Large has never failed to support each Republican candidate for that office, though at local elections he votes independent of party lines, supporting the man whom he believes best qualified for office. He has never cared for political honors, preferring to give his un-divided attention to his business interests. He is a prominent member of the Odd Fellows Lodge at DeWitt, in which he has filled all the chairs and is past grand, and is also a member of the Modern Woodmen of America, while he and his wife have taken the Rebekah degrees in the former order. He take a deep interest in public affairs and the good of the community in which he resides, and does all in his power to advance his interests.