WILLIAM D. THARP
THARP
Posted By: Sheila Federspiel (email)
Date: 2/10/2008 at 19:12:30
Grandpa Tharp: by Sheila Federspiel
Well the first thing I can tell you that everything is newspaper articles or here say about GrandPa Tharp. I was not quite a year old when he passed on.
Grandfather was affectionately know by “Willie” by all who loved him. However Grandpa did not die a wealthy man and although he was decently buried it was paid for my his eldest son William Bruce Tharp.Manchester Press – June 5,1952 Wm D. Tharp
William (Willie) D. Tharp, 63, 41 years a resident of Manchester and vicinity died at his home in Central City, Saturday, May 31,1952, after a long illness. Funeral services were in Central City, Monday with burial at Boulder Cemetery. Attending the funeral were Mr. & Mrs. Don D. Minkler. Mr. Tharp survived by 2nd wife, 2 sons, 2 daughters. First wife was Amy Minkler, sister of Don. D. Minkler.
Things my mother told me:
1. He would get in trouble for tinkering with the car on Sunday morning in his white dress shirt
2. That he lived at the Bakery most of the time , the family eat almost all their meals there too!
3. He love to fish and picnic.
4. He would hold street preaching meetings.
Now what I do know from the newspaper is:
1. Wm. Tharp caught a 6 3-4 lb. catfish one day last week just below the dam near the Iowa Electric Co. plant in Hopkinton.
2. The his Grandmother Marian Dean was a devoted Quaker Willie was involved with the Gospel Hall. (see below)
3. Promoted “Trade at Home” in Hopkinton. (see below)
4. Baker by trade owned “City Bakery”. (see below)Religion - During the years 1913 to 1920, a number of men – Charles Hoehler, Tom Olson, A.N. O’Brien, Fed Hillis, William Grierson, Oliver Smith, W.W. White, and others – preached in the Manchester area and many souls were saved. In the spring of 1920, Messrs. Hillis and Grierson began a series of Gospel meetings in the North Manchester Union Church building, and continued for six weeks. It was while this series of meetings was in progress that 13 believers gathered for the first time, in the home of Mr. and Mrs. Willie Tharp to Remember the Lord. The Christians continued to meet in various homes, in the North Manchester Church building, and at one time above one of the business establishments in downtown Manchester. In 1929, the brethren purchased a lot at the corner of Union and Wayne Streets and built the Manchester Gospel Hall, where the assembly met until 1990, at which time they moved into their new hall. Some 55 are in fellowship in the Manchester assembly, with 25 to 30 children..
Baking – Well I am not quite certain how this all came about but according to newspaper clippings C.F. Nietert (Charles Fredrick) father of Clarence Nietert or maybe it was Clarence Fredrick, (Grandpa’s first son-in-law) had a bakery I believe somewhere near Dyersville, Iowa and I also believe this is where he learned the trade Just to let you know that Tea Biscuits were 2 pans of 15 cents, apple and pineapple pies were 10 to 25 cents and cup cakes were 20 cents a dozen. Grandpa tired to run a bakery him self somewhere near or at Center Point Iowa and again in Hopkinton, Iowa. In Hopkinton. The Hopkinton bakery did rather will for a while and there was a lot of excitement at City Bakery when Willie installed a new oven weighed in at 5 tons and it could bake 150 loaves of his Butter Top Bread at a time. Unfortunately Grandpa Willie was always a better baker than a business manager. He had a habit of trusting people and extending credit to people who could not afford to repay him. ( please note here the local newspaper stated City Bakery was sold due to his poor health) Hence all this bakery operations ended in financial failure. The result being he had to pickup trash from local business with his truck for an income.
MINEHART
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