Thorp, W. T.

THORP, WELCH, WINKELMAN, COLBERT, MCDONALD, CASWELL, BUCHANAN

Posted By: Volunteer Transcriber
Date: 10/22/2009 at 19:29:15

Thorp, W. T.

Among the men of Jasper County who have appreciated present-day opportunities and have profited by their ingenuity and perseverance in the business world as a result of the favorable conditions existing in this locality is W. T. Thorp, well-known and extensive grain dealer of Baxter, Independence Township. Although the major part of his busy and useful life has been spent in localities other than this, since coming here he has made a host of friends by his industry, his honest dealings and his manifest desire to assist in all worthy public movements.

Mr. Thorp was born in Plano, Illinois, August 22, 1858, and when ten years old he removed with his parents to near Jefferson, Greene County, Iowa, and there, in Franklin Township, he grew to maturity, assisting on the home farm during the summer months and attending the rural schools in the wintertime. He is the son of O. L. and Jane (Welch) Thorp, the father born in Oswego, New York, on April 14, 1827, and the mother was born near Little Rock, Illinois, October 23, 1836. They are now living at Cooper, Iowa; they are now advanced in years and are spending a serene old age after an industrious, honorable and successful career, and they enjoy a large friendship there. They are the parents of the following children: George, born February 27, 1836, died at Mt. Pleasant, in 1901; W. T., of this review; C. L., born in 1860, lives at Long Beach, California; Etta Winkelman, born December 25, 1868, lives in Jefferson, Iowa.

Mr. Thorp, of this review, was married on December 14, 1880, to Nettie Colbert, who was born in Montpelier, Ohio, March 10, 1862. When sixteen years old she came with her parents to Iowa and settled in Greene County. She is the daughter of Jesse and Mary (McDonald) Colbert, both natives of Ohio; the father, a veteran of the Civil War, died in Audubon County, Iowa, in February 1910, at the age of seventy-four years; the mother, who still resides in Audubon County, is now seventy-two years old. Mrs. Thorp's grandmother reached the remarkable age of one hundred and four years. There were ten children in the family of Mr. and Mrs. Colbert, all born in Ohio except the youngest, Mrs. Thorp of this review being the eldest; the others are, Cash E., of Greene County, this state; Celesta Thorp lives near Cooper, Iowa; Oral lives near Coon Rapids, Iowa; Anna Caswell also lives near the last named place; Robert lives on the home farm; Clarence lives west of Scranton, Iowa; the youngest were triplets, all living, Wilkie, of Hastings, Nebraska; Wilson lives near Coon Rapids, Iowa; LeRoy lives on the home farm with his mother. All these children were reared in Audubon County, but it is the birthplace of the triplets only.

To Mr. and Mrs. Thorp four daughters have been born, also one son, namely: Lulu Buchanan, born in Greene County, December 10, 1881, is a graduate of the high school at Baxter and is now living in Valley City, North Dakota; Lena Rose, born June 6, 1885, lives in Baxter; Jay E., born February 2, 1886, is assisting his father in the coal and grain business in Baxter; Margaret, born in Baxter, October 20, 1895, attended high school in her native town; Irene was born in Baxter in 1901 and is now attending school.

Mr. Thorp and family moved to Bondurant, Iowa, in 1892 and there successfully conducted a grain business until 1894, in which year he moved to Baxter and has been engaged in the same business continuously to the present time, becoming widely known in this part of the county and enjoying a large and constantly growing business, earning for him a very comfortable income. Aside from the vast amount of grain fed by the farmers in the vicinity of Baxter annually, Mr. Thorp shipped, during the year preceding this writing, forty-three carloads of corn and fifty-two carloads of oats, besides disposing of fifty-two carloads of coal.

Politically, Mr. Thorp is a Democrat. He is a charter member of Active Lodge No. 516. Independent Order of Odd Fellows, at Baxter, having occupied all the chairs of the same, and he has been its treasurer for the past few years; he is a member of Encampment No. 224, at Baxter; he also belongs to Baxter Lodge No. 168, Knights of Pythias, and has occupied all the chairs in the same and is at present keeper of records and seal of the same; he is a member of Baxter Camp No. 5642, Modern Woodmen of America, at Baxter, having occupied all the chairs, and for the past eight years has been its efficient clerk.

Mr. and Mrs. Thorp have a pleasant and attractive home in Baxter, selling their original dwelling in 1911 and purchasing another soon afterwards. They have given their children the best educational advantages and keep their home well supplied with choice current literature, being broad-minded, liberal and hospitable, and are in every way deserving of the esteem in which they are so widely held. Past and Present of Jasper County Iowa B. F. Bowden & Company, Indianapolis, IN, 1912 Page 1081.