William Harrison

HARRISON WULF

Posted By: Connie Swearingen (email)
Date: 8/26/2010 at 22:09:28

History of Woodbury County, Iowa 184

William Harrison
By Loraine E Washburn

William ‘Bill’ Harrison was born 2 July 1899, Harrison farm, Section eleven, Banner Township, Woodbury County, Iowa. He attended school at Banner No. 1 in Section eleven. As a young man he spent several months near Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada, with his brothers, Tom and Howard, who were farming there.

Bill was married 18 February 1925, in Sioux City, Iowa, to Emma S K Wulf, born 21 Augsut 1901, Stockton, Iowa, died 10 April 1981, Sioux City, Iowa. The first year they farmed at Climbing Hill, Iowa. In 1926 they moved to Section fifteen of Banner Township (on land now owned by George Myrla). Their first child, Irene, was born while they lived there.

In 1928, the family moved to Blue Earth County, Minnesota, wehre Bill farmed, and also drove a gas delivery truck for one search. Two more children were born while the family was in Minnesota: Loraine, 1929, and Betty (1931).

In the spring of 1932, the family moved to a farm in Section twenty-six, Banner Township, Woodbury Coounty (land now owned by the Boggs family). These depression years were hard ones for the family. There was no electricity; the cooking and heating were done with cogs, wood and coal; most of the food was raised and prepared at home.

In 1933, the family moved to the Harry Richardson farm in Section ten, Banner Township (now owned by Walt Reinholdt). Bill assisted with the farming of the Harrison farm. The children attended Banner No. 2 School. A son, Carl, was born here in 1936. 1936, 1936 are remembered for the big snowstorms in the winter, and the extremely hot summers.

In 1934, Bill helped to organize what later became Bethel Lutheran Church in Lawton, Iowa. He was the first treasurer of the congregation, and alos served as a voting member, elder, trustee and usher. He is still a member of the congregation.

Bill’s father passed away in 1939, and the family moved to the Harrison farm in Section eleven, Banner Township. The children then attended Banner No. 1 School. Bill served as director of the school and from 1941 to 1946 when the Township schools closed, and the children attended school at Lawton. Bill also served as a township trustee during the 1960’s.

Another son, Bill, was born at the Harrison farm in 1940, and a daughter, Annette, was born in 1943 in a Sioux City hospital, completing the family of six chldren.

Bill retired from farming in 1965, and rented the land to his nephew, Donald Harrison until 1970, when Bill sold Don the land. Bill built a new home at 109 Pine Street, Lawton, Iowa, where he moved in December 1970, and still resides. He is a member of a neighborhood card club that has existed since the mid 1940’s, and also a member of the Senior Citizens group at Lawton. At age 84 he still enjoys reading, crosswood puzzles and TV. During the past year he has taken up paint-by-number oil painting.

Emma was a homemaker, who did a lot of gardening and canning. She kept flocks of chickens, ducks and geese, and helped with many of the farm chores. A fine seamstress, she made clothing for her family, and after the children were grown, she did sewing ofr persons for miles around, up until a few months before her death. She was a charter member of Bethel Lutheran Church of Lawton, Iowa, where she served several years as a Sunday school teacher and was a long-time member of the Ladies Aid, serving in many offices of that organization. Emma passed away 10 April 1981 in a Sioux City hospital after an illness of several months. She is buried in Banner Township Cemetery, Lawton, Iowa.