Alfred Rossiter

ROSSITER

Posted By: Gordon Felland (email)
Date: 4/1/2005 at 13:58:55

Alfred Rossiter, proprietor of the Manly Lumber Company and a progressive business man whose activities are contributing to the material upbuilding and commercial development of Manly and of Worth county, was born in Rock county, Wisconsin, February 6, 1855, a son of Edmund and Martha (Rhodes) Rossiter. The father was born in Lincolnshire, England, while the mother's birth occurred in Derbyshire. Edmund Rossiter spent his boyhood days in his native land, secured his education there and when a young man of twenty years bade adieu to friends and country and crossed the Atlantic on a sailing vessel which was thirteen weeks in making the voyage to New York city. He then proceeded westward by way of the Erie canal to Buffalo, New York, where he remained for a year, and in 1849 he became a resident of Wisconsin. He purchased government land fifteen miles west of Janesville, built a log house thereon and began the improvement of a farm in the midst of pioneer surroudings and conditions. He plowed his fields with the use of oxen and converted one hundred and twenty acres of wild land into rich and productive fields, employing progressive methods of farming known at that day. In Janesville he was married and in 1865 he left Wisconsin with his family and came to Iowa, settling a mile and a half west of St. Ansgar, in Mitchell county. The trip westward was made by wagon and he also drove his cattle across the country. On reaching his destination he settled upon a farm which he had previously purchased in 1863, comprising a tract of one hundred and sixty acres. This he improved and developed, remaining upon that land for thirty-one years, during which time he converted it into a very valuable tract. At length he sold the property and removed to St. Ansgar, where he spent his remaining days in well earned retirement from labor, passing away at the age of eighty-three years. His wife died at the notable old age of ninety-one years. In early manhood Mr. Rossiter had given his political allegiance to the whig party and later was a stalwart advocate of the republican party. His religious faith was that of the Methodist Episcopal church. His wife left England with her parents and the family for the United States when seventeen years of age. They crossed the Atlantic to New Orleans and thence proceeded up the Mississippi river by boat to McGregor, Iowa, and thence traveled by stage to Janesville, Wisconsin, where the death of Mrs. Rhodes afterward occurred. Later Mr. Rhodes removed with his family to Mitchell county, settling in St. Ansgar, where the death of Mr. Rhodes and his father occurred.

Alfred Rossiter of this review spent the first ten years of his life in his native county and then accompanied his parents on their removal to Iowa, the family home being established near St. Ansgar. He continued upon the old homestead through the period of his minority and during that time pursued his education in the public schools. He was early trained to farm work and after leaving home he began the cultivation of a farm adjoining his father's property, living thereon for two years. He afterward removed to Allandale, Dickey county, North Dakota, where he engaged in the feed business, and later he took up his abode in Manly, Worth county, where he cultivated the farm that he had previously purchased. Some time later he turned his attention to the manufacture of butter tubs and was thus engaged for ten years. In 1899 he embarked in the lumber business to which he now directs his energies, and he has a well equipped lumberyard, while his sales have reached a very substantial figure. He is well known as a representative business man and one who carries forward to successful completion whatever he undertakes.

In 1878 Mr. Rossiter was united in marriage to Miss Nellie Hulse, a daughter of Ebenezer and Elizabeth (Stilwell) Hulse. Mrs. Rossiter was born in Ohio, as were her parents, and her father followed the occupation of farming in that state but afterward removed to Baraboo, Wisconsin, and at a later period became a resident of Mitchell county, Iowa, where he purchased land and engaged in farming for a number of years. Eventually, however, he took up his abode in St. Ansgar, where he lived retired, for his activity and enterprise in former years had brought to him a capital sufficient to enable him to enjoy rest without further recourse to labor. He died at the age of eighty-three years, while his wife reached the age of' Mr. and Mrs. Rossiter were nine children, Edward, Pearl, Alice, Cora, Dean, Ruth, Kenneth, Martha and Ronald.

Mr. Rossiter votes with the democratic party, of which he has been a stanch advocate since reaching adult age. He has served is a member of the school board and is most loyal to the interests of a thorough educational system in his community. For twenty-two years he filled the office of township clerk and no higher testimony of his capable and efficient service can be given than the fact that he was so long continued in the position. He belongs to the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and to the ladies' auxiliary, the Daughters of Rebekah, and he is likewise connected with the Modern Woodmen of America. He adheres to high standards of manhood and citizenship and all who know him speak of him in terms of warm regard.

Source: History of Mitchell and Worth Counties, Iowa, 1918, Vol. II, Page 498.