William Watt

WATT, NEWHOUSE, DEWOLF, PIERCE, KELSEY, ATCHISON, BRITTON, BOYNTON

Posted By: Gail Meyer Kilgore (email)
Date: 2/17/2004 at 02:20:56

WILLIAM WATT, who resides on section 16, is a worthy representative of the agriculture interest of Sherman Township. He is also numbered among the early settlers of Jasper County, and for a number of years has been identified with its growth and progress. He was born August 5, 1845, in what was then known as Upper Canada.

Charles and Margaret Watt, the parents of our subject, were both natives of Scotland. In 1855 they emigrated to Jasper County, Iowa, locating on section 16, Sherman Township, upon a tract of raw land, which the father at once began to develop and improve. In July, 1859, while attempting to cross Watt Lake with two yoke of oxen, he got into deep water, and was drowned. The following are the surviving members of his family: Mrs. Mary Newhouse, a widow living in Grundy Centre, Iowa; William; Jane, now Mrs. DeWolf, a widow of Sherman Township; Charles, a hardware merchant of Mingo, Iowa; Jasper, in partnership with Charles; and Elsie and Lawson, both of whom live in Sherman Township. The mother of this family is still living in Sherman Township, and is now in her sixty-ninth year.

The subject of this sketch was reared to manhood amid the wild scenes of frontier life in Jasper County. Newton was but a small place when he came here, and the work of progress and civilization seemed scarcely begun. He engaged in breaking prairie at an early day, and has shared in all kinds of pioneer work and in the hardships and trails of frontier life. His education was mostly acquired in the public schools of Canada, to which he had to walk a distance of nearly four miles. His life-work has been that of farming and stock-raising, and in it he has met with excellent success.

November 30, 1871, Mr. Watt was united in marriage with Miss Amanda Pierce, who was born in Rock County, Wis., March 25, 1844, and is a daughter of Alfred and Julia (Kelsey) Pierce, who were natives of the Empire State and early settlers of Rock County. Eight children were born unto them, all of whom are still living, namely: Eli W., a resident of Dane County, Wis.; Mrs. Jane M. Britton, a widow, of California; Phoebe, wife of James Boynton, of California; Calvin, who is living in the same state; Julia E., wife of Robert Atchison, of Rock County, Wis.; Alfred K., of South Dakota; Mrs. Watt; and George, of Sherman Township. Of the eight children born unto our subject and his wife, six are now living: Mary E., a teacher in the public schools; Charles W., Grace M., Arthur C., Neva B., and Florence G., Minnie and George are now deceased.

Mr. and Mrs. Watt began their domestic life upon their present farm, and are now the owners of two hundred acres of richly cultivated land, which supplies them with the comforts and many of the luxuries of life. Mr. Watt served as Trustee of Sherman Township for one year, and he was Treasurer of the School Board. In politics he is a Republican. With no special advantages in his youth he has worked his way upward to a position of prominence and has won a host of friends in his adopted county.

Source:
Portrait and Biographical Record
of Jasper, Marshall and Grundy Counties, Iowa
1894