Charles E. Woolridge

WOOLRIDGE HAWTHORNE

Posted By: Connie Swearingen (email)
Date: 4/15/2010 at 17:21:53

Woodbury County History 1984

Woolridge, Charles E.

Charles E. Woolridge, who is a practical mechanic and number of years
has been engaged in contracting and building in Correctionville and Woodbury
and adjoining counties, is a western man by birth, by training and by preference,
and the spirit of enterprise which has led to rapid and substantial growth in this
part of the country had also been manifest in his business career, which has been
characterized by steady progression and accomplishment.

Mr. Woolridge is a native of Nebraska, his birth having occurred on a farm near the
present town of Beatrice, December 10, 1863.He dates his residence in Iowa from 1881.
His father, Edward E. Woolridge. is a native of England, and when a young man emigrated
to the United States in 1832.He located first in Lake County, Illinois, and he ,too, possessing
mechanical ability, had learned the carpenter's and joiner's trade, and put his knowledge to
the practical test as a contractor and builder, being thus engaged for a number of years.
He was married in Illinois to Miss Delilah Hawthorne, a Scotch lady, and on leaving that state
he removed to Nebraska, where he resided for a number of years .After the Chicago fire of 1871,he
returned to Illinois and settled in the burned city, where he worked at his trade for a number of years
and there reared his family. He later lived in Oregon. His oldest sin is E. C. Woolridge of Oregon.
The youngest, J.H., is a contractor and builder in Correctionville, and resides in Correctionville
with his wife and children.

Charles E Woolridge, the second son, was reared in Chicago attended the public schools
there and afterward continued his education at Dundee and at Elgin, Illinois. Under his father's
direction he learned the carpenter's and joiner's trade and for several years was identified with
the building operations in Chicago, but the west with its opportunities attracted him and in 1881
he came to Woodbury County, Iowa

Since that time, he has been actively and successfully engaged in contracting and building.
In Correctionville he erected public buildings, business houses and a great number of residences,
and throughout the surrounding county there are many evidences of his handiwork in substantial
dwellings, barns, and other farm buildings. He is skillful and capable in the line of his trade and
his own practical knowledge enables him to direct in excellent manner the labors of those whom
he employs, so that good results are obtained.
Mr. Woolridge aided in organizing the Correctionville Pressed Brick Company, of which he is stockholder.
This company was formed in 1902 and now has two kilns completed and ready for active work in
the season of 1904. The plant is operated under the direct management of Mr. Woolridge, who gives almost
his entire time to the manufacture of brick and to the business of the company.
In Ida County, Iowa in the fall of 1888, Mr. Woolridge was united in marriage to Miss Carrie E. Rhodes, a native
of this state, born near Grinnell. she is a daughter of S. L. Rhodes, a native of Pennsylvania, and now a resident of Colorado. Mr. and Mrs. Woolridge have five children, Lillie, Delilah, Lewis, Clarence, and Gladys. They also are lost
three children, Alice, Carrie, and Edith.
Socially, Mr. Woolridge is connected with the Knights of Pythias Fraternity, and politically he is a Republican who endorses the principles of the Party as embodied in its platform, yet is not active in political circles, preferring to direct his attention into business channels. He has been a resident of Woodbury County for over twenty years
and has aided materially in its up building and improvement. He is especially well known through the eastern and northern part of the county, where he has the confidence of the people, gained through his genuine personal worth
and business integrity.
He died at Cherokee, Iowa, Mr. Wooldridge’s cousin, Mr. Kaiser, built the Paramount Theatres in New York, The Chicago Theatre in Chicago, and the Sioux City Orpheum Theatre.

By Robert W. Thom