TUTTLE, Hiram Elliott 1863-1931

TUTTLE, WOODARD

Posted By: County Coordinator
Date: 6/23/2010 at 13:26:15

Hi Tuttle Dead;
Followed Wife by
Just Six Weeks

For years Master Printer,
Foreman in Osage and
Waterloo Shops

The second chapter of the unusual story of suffering through which the Tuttle family has lived during almost a year, was brought to a close Monday morning with the passing of the father, lacking a day of six weeks after the sufferings of the mother were ended.

Mr. Tuttle, familiarly known as "Hi", was a patient sufferer during the latter months of his wife's protracted illness, and since she died his condition has grown steadily worse until relief came Monday about 7 o'clock a.m.

"Hi" was a printer, a craftsman of the old school, skilled in the finer arts of the trade to a degree almost unknown to his modern brethren; and for many years was at the head of the printing department conducted by the Gardner Nursery Company. There he turned out work of a high order, fine cloor printing picturing the luscious fruits and beautiful flowers grown by his company. And this work was turned out in a volume quite unguessed by anyone outside the organization.

Before going with the Gardners more than twenty years ago, he worked in other shops here and in Waterloo, being at one time foreman of the Mitchell County Press. For a time he was with the Woolverton Company, when it conducted a large mail-order printing and publishing business here.

Obituary

Hiram Elliott Tuttle was born Dec. 28, 1863, on a farm near Mt. Carroll, Illinois, where he attended rural school and helped his father on the farm. In 1886 he came to the Cedar Valley Seminary. His special interest was in the subjects of art, music, English and history. One day Otis Woodard, who taught the penmanship classes at that time, remarked, "There's a young man by the name of Tuttle in my class who is a very fine penman." Shortly thereafter Mr. Tuttle entered the employ of Sawyer & Woodard in their combined music store and real estate and insurance office. When they added to their equipment a printing office he dropped his seminary course and, unaided, mastered the printing art and soon built up a fine job printing business. The artistic quality of his work attracted favorable comment from leading American and British printers' magazines.

On May 6, 1890, he married Flora May Woodard, eldest daughter of one of his employers. To this union were born four children, Mrs. Ruth Marguerite Conner, of Russ, Dorothy Vivian Sampson of Clermont, Donald Woodard Tuttle, Deputy County Clerk, and Marion Alice, who died March 5, 1918.

For some years Mr. Tuttle had his own job office, later he took charge of the job department of the Mitchell County Press, and during his residence in Waterloo he was employed in the advertising department of the Waterloo Courier. After returning to Osage he was employed in the Woolverton Printing Office until twenty five years ago, when he took charge of the printing department of the Gardner Nursery. Many who have admited their beautiful color prints of fruit and flowers did not know that some of that work was done from hand-carved wooden blocks by Mr. Tuttle.

Of his father's family one member only survives, his brother, George F. Tuttle, of Savanna, Illinois.

[Mitchell County Press, Wednesday, March 18, 1931]

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