Julius C. Thiedeman
Prominent among the representatives of agricultural pursuits who claim Hayes township as the place of their nativity is Julius C Thiedeman, whose birth occurred on the 17th of March, 1878. His parents, Claus and Margaret (Gruenwaldt) Thiedeman, were both born in Germany, where they were reared and married.
They came to the United States in 1871 or 1872, locating in Scott county, Iowa, where they remained for two years, and then took up their abode in Crawford county, establishing the family home near West Side. The father was a farmer by occupation, engaging in that pursuit until seven years ago, when he retired from active life. The mother still survives.
In their family of six children J C of this review is the third in order of birth, the others being: Anna, the wife of John Hogge, of West Side; Dora, who married Herman Hogge of South Dakota; Louis and Charles, operating the home farm; and Ella, the wife of Henry Barnhoff, of West Side.
Julius C Thiedeman attended the public schools of Hayes township in the acquirement of his early education and later had the advantage of a course of study at Denison College. He remained at home until twenty-four years of age, when, well equipped by liberal mental training and practical experience obtained under the direction of his father, he embarked independently in agricultural pursuits, wisely choosing the occupation to which he had been reared as his life work.
For seven years he followed farming in Carroll county, after which he operated his father's farm for a time. Subsequently he purchased the place which has since remained his home, a tract of two hundred acres located on section 23, Hayes township.
With the exception of the dwelling, Mr Thiedeman has erected all of the buildings on the place, including substantial barns and commodious outbuildings, and in other ways has improved the property, thereby greatly enhancing its value. He is a practical farmer, recognizing the value of progressive methods and modern equipment, and the neat appearance of his place indicated a life of industry, enterprise and thrift on the part of the owner.
Mr Thiedeman was united in marriage, in 1902, to Miss Anna Kruse, a daughter of Otto Kruse, of Hayes township, and they had three children; Harold; Gilbert, deceased; and Velma.
The parents are members of the Lutheran church, in the work of which they are deeply interested, and occupy a high place in the regard and esteem of their friends and neighbors. Politically Mr Thiedeman is a democrat, and he is serving his first term of two years as trustee of the township. Having spent his entire life within the borders of his native county he has a wide circle of acquaintances and numbers among his best friends many who have known him from boyhood, for he possess in his nature those qualities of sociability and geniality which everywhere win warm friendships and high regard.
Source: History of Crawford County, Iowa. Vol. II. Chicago: The S. J. Clarke Publishing Co., 1911.