For
Muscatine County Iowa
1911
| Biographies For Muscatine County Iowa 1911 | |
Source: History of Muscatine County Iowa, Volume II, Biographical, 1911, page 517
GEORGE DITTMER....George Dittmer, the owner of a fine farm of one hundred and seventy acres in Fulton township, has won excellent results in his undertakings as an agriculturist. It was on that place that his birth occurred on the 4th of August, 1873, his parents being Marx and Elizabeth ( Feurbach ) Dittmer, both of whom were natives of Germany. They crossed the Atlantic to the new world at an early day, the father locating in Scott county, Iowa and the mother in Pennsylvania . At the end of a year, however, the latter also removed to Scott county, where she gave her hand in marriage to Marx Dittmer. The young couple purchased and located on a farm of eighty acres in that county, Mr. Dittmer devoting his attention to its operation for several years. After disposing of the property he bought one hundred and seventy-five acres of land in Muscatine county and was busily engaged in its cultivation until he put aside the active work of the fields in 1900. At that time he owned about twelve hundred acres of valuable land. For the past eleven years he has lived in honorable retirement at Walcott, Scott county, Iowa, enjoying the fruits of his former toil in well earned ease. His wife was called to her final rest on the 25th of April, 1908. They were the parents of eleven children, as follows : Lena, the wife of August Wills, of O'Brien county, Iowa : Henry, who is married and lives in Scott county ; Elizabeth, the wife of William Ihms, of Muscatine county ; John, who is married and likewise makes his home in this county ; Emma, the wife of Paul Harder, of Nebraska ; George, of this review ; Ferdinand, who is married and lives in this county ; Delia, the wife of J. H. Broders, of Muscatine county ; Agnes, who is the wife of Paul C. Riessen and lives on O'Brien county, Iowa ; Leonard, who is still at home, ; and Tillie, who died in infancy.George Dittmer remained under the parental roof until twenty-seven years of age, when he began farming on his own account, cultivating rented land for a period of eight years. At the end of that time, having accumulated the necessary capital by dint of untiring industry and economy, he purchased a farm of one hundrd and seventy acres in Fulton township, to the further cultivation and improvement of which he has since devoted his energies. The property is highly improved in every particular and returns to hin a gratifying annual income.
On the 20th day of June, 1900, Mr. Dittmere was united in marriage to Miss Emma Frick, a native of Scott county, Iowa, and a daughter of John and Lena ( Speth ) Frick, both of whom were from Germany. They were married in Scott county on the 31st of January, 1860, and lived on a rented farm in that county for several years. They next purchased one hundred and sixty acres of land, Mr. Frick devoting his attention to its cultivation until the time of his retirement in 1898, when he took up his abode in Walcott. At the time of his demise, which occurred on the 13th of December, 1905, he owned two hundred acres of rich and productive land. His widow yet makes her home in Walcott. Mr. and Mrs. Dittmer have three children, namely : Edwin George, who was born on the 6th of October, 1901 ; Herbert Marx, whose natal day was September 9, 1904 ; and Lawrence Irwin, whose birth occurred on the 7th of June, 1910.
In politics Mr. Dittmer is a stanch democrat but the honors and emoluments of office have no attraction for him. The cause of education has ever found in him a stanch champion, however, and for several years he has acted as member of the school board. He has remained in Muscatine county from his birth to the present time and the circle of his friends and acquaintances is a wide one.
Back to Biographical Index Page