Joseph J. Hutchings

BELL, HUTCHINGS, WINTRODE

Posted By: Judy Wight Branson (email)
Date: 10/7/2004 at 13:31:16

“The History of Madison County, Iowa”
Union Historical Company, Des Moines, 1879

Joseph J. Hutchings is a Winterset, school teacher and land trader. He was born in Clark county, Indiana, on the 29th day of November, 1825, and traces his ancestry back to old English stock. The family first came to this country about the middle of the last century and located first in Maryland and afterward in the old dominion. Until the age of twenty-three, Mr. Hutchings' life was spent in the earnest discipline of life on a farm, and such educational advantages as were offered by a Quaker subscription school, which was the only school the ever attended. It is easy to trace much of Mrs. Hutching's subsequent success back to the excellent training of his early life, and also to appreciate the fact that such a course of life is far better adapted to develop self-reliance, energy and activity that one calling forth less effort.

In 1849 Mr. Hutchings followed the star of empire westward and reached Iowa with all his worldly effects in a carpet bag. He remained one year in Davis county, Iowa, and then returned to Indiana, where he taught a term of winter school. In 1851 he again came to Iowa. In August of that year he came to Winterset from Newton, a distance of seventy miles, on foot, and over untracked prairies and bridgeless streams. He taught school in the county for two winters, and in 1852 established himself in Winterset in the business of trading in land. Honesty, candor, activity and enterprise prospered Mr. Hutchings from the beginning, and he rose slowly, but steadily. He accepted the hardships of pioneer life with good grace, and even zest, and built up his prosperity on the business principle that in every fair bargain, both parties gain. Consequently, he soon became a man of mark and influence in the community and has made an enduring impression in the business and social life about him.

In 1856 he married Miss Mary Bell, a native of Ohio and has one child; Flora, now the wife of Dr. Wintrode. In 1872 Mr. Hutchings engaged in banking and became the president of the Citizens' National Bank. He has shown here the same sagacity and good management that have marked him elsewhere. He is an earnest Republican, having grown into that faith from a basis of early Whig principles. He made it a point in early life to never seek a political office and has steadfastly refused to accept one. As in other things, Mr. Hutchings is firm and unwavering in his political principles. In all respects he is a good representative Iowa man.
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“History of Madison County Iowa and Its People”
Herman A. Mueller, Supervising Editor
Chicago, The S. J. Clarke Publishing Company, 1915

In a history of Madison county it is imperative that mention be made of Joseph J. Hutchings else the record will be incomplete and unsatisfactory for while he has passed away he has left his impress upon the development and progress of the county, having been one of the pioneer real-estate dealers of Winterset and one of its progressive bankers. His business affairs were capably managed and were so directed that they proved of benefit to the public as well as a source of individual prosperity. He was born in Clark county Indiana on the 29th of November, 1825, and was of English extraction, the family having been founded in Maryland in an early day.

Joseph J. Hutchings spent his boyhood and youth in his parents home, which was upon one of the pioneer farms of Indiana. There he remained until twenty-three years of age and attended one of the old-time subscription schools conducted by Quaker people. The year 1849 witnessed his arrival in Iowa and for a year he remained in Davis county, after which he returned to Indiana, where he taught school for one winter. In August, 1851, he came to Winterset, walking all of the way from Newton, a distance of seventy miles, over the untracked prairies and unbridged streams. It was into the frontier regions that he penetrated and became an active factor in the early development of the section in which he established his home. For two winters he engaged in teaching school in Madison county, and in 1852 he embarked in the business of trading land, with an office in Winterset. His operations as a real-estate dealer prospered. As the country became more and more thickly settled there was a greater demand for property and he negotiated many important realty transfers, selling many a farm to the early settlers and also handling city property. In 1872 he became the president of the Citizens National Bank of Winterset and was continuously and actively connected with that institution until his death, which occurred in 1888. In early manhood he began reading medicine but did not complete the course. When he started for Iowa he carried with him some money but was robbed while on the way and thus he was practically penniless when he reached his destination. He taught school, chopped wood and did other work which
would gain him a start and eventually he found his feet firmly planted on the highroad to prosperity and continued therein until he had accumulated a very ample and gratifying competence.

On the 28th of January, 1856, Mr. Hutchings was united in marriage to Miss Mary Bell, who was born in Holmes county, Ohio, July 24, 1835, and was there reared and educated. In 1854 she came to Winterset, where she had two married sisters living, traveling by stage from Iowa City. Mr. and Mrs. Hutchings became the parents of a daughter, Flora, who married Dr. J. H. Wintrode. He died on the 25th of December, 1909, and Mrs. Wintrode passed away on the 23rd of July, 1910. They were the parents of three children: Mary Lucy, the wife of W. C. Krabiel, of Winterset; and Josephine Hutchings, and John H., Jr., who have made their home with their grandmother, Mrs. Hutchings, since the death of their parents.

In politics Mr. Hutchings was always a stanch republican but would never accept office of any kind. He belonged to the Masonic fraternity and was an exemplary representative of that order. His life was ever upright and honorable. In all of his business dealings he followed constructive methods and never took advantage of the necessities of his fellowmen. His integrity was above question and the many excellent traits of his character won for him the friendship and high regard of all with whom he came in contact. Mrs. Hutchings is now seventy-nine years of age and is still active and well preserved for one of her years - a lady of natural refinement and culture, who has a host of warm friends in this part of the state. She is a member of the Presbyterian church and her life has been guided by its teachings. Her husband left her well provided with this world's goods, so that since his death she has been enabled to enjoy all of the comforts and some of the luxuries of life. A street in Winterset has been named in honor of Mr. Hutchings, thus perpetuating the memory of one who proved a valuable factor in the development of the city in pioneer times and through the later period of its progress.

Madison Biographies maintained by Linda Griffith Smith.
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