For
Muscatine County Iowa
1911
| Biographies For Muscatine County Iowa 1911 | |
Source: History of Muscatine County Iowa, Volume II, Biographical, 1911, page 562
WILLIAM HUTTIG....There are men with abilities so comprehensive that they succeed in anything they undertake. They have a clear discernment, a wise discrimination, and a well balanced judgment not possessed by ordinary men. They also have the ability to inspire confidence in others and when they need assistance in any undertaking it is forthcoming. They do not seem to be hampered by difficulties to which others bow and they apparently with ease become the leaders in their respective communities. To this class belongs William Huttig, president of the Huttig Manufacturing Company of Muscatine and for fifty-five years a resident of this city.He was born near Jena, Saxony, Germany, February 5, 1836, and is a son of Frederick and Dorothea ( Sieburg ) Huttig, both natives of Germany. The father was a farmer and died in the village of Isserstadt, near Jena, in 1874, at the age of eighty-one years. The mother departed this life at the age of eighty-two years, in 1884. They were members of the Lutheran church. There were five children in the family : Carl, of Davenport, Iowa ; Christian, who died in 1876 ; Frederick, who died in 1906 ; William, our subject ; and Malvina, now Mrs. George Kinsle, of Kansas City, Missouri.
William Huttig received a good education in the public schools of his native land and, having early shown a talent for music, was instructed in that art under the distinguished Professors Winkler and Held. At nineteen years of age he decided to seek his fortune in a foreign land and came to America, settling in Muscatine, Iowa, as a music teacher. At the outbreak of the Civil war he organized a band, of which he was the leader, which became connected with the Thirty-fifth Iowa Volunteer Infantry. However, the services of the leader and the band were both dispensed with before the regiment left Camp Strong by an order from the war department discharging all regimental bands. Mr. Huttig returned to Muscatine and in 1862 entered the grocery business, in which he continued for several years, starting in the lumber business in 1868 with his brother Frederick. They continued together until about 1900, when Frederick withdrew from the firm.
In 1870 Mr. Huttig began the manufacture of sash and doors under the firm name of Huttig Brothers & Falter. After about six years Mr. Falter withdrew and went to St. Louis, the title of the firm becoming Huttig Brothers Manufacturing Company. In 1881 the company erected a large plant in this city and the firm was incorporated as The Huttig Manufacturing Company. Two years later the Western Sash & Door Company of Kansas City was incorporated and in 1885 The Huttig brothers established the Huttig Sash & Door Company of St. Louis. The company in Muscatine employs about three hundred persons and also maintains a large factory at Billings, Montana, being recognized as one of the leading concerns of the kind in the west. However, Mr. Huttig has not confined his entire attention to the manufacturing field. In 1888, the Muscatine Real Estate Company, embracing a number of local capitalists, was organized and he was made its president. He became the same year president of the Ashton Flour and Feed Company and also filled the office of president of the Board of Trade of Muscatine. In December, 1887, he was associated with his brother Frederick and other liberal republicans and democrats in organizing the Muscatine News Company, of which he was made president. He was elected a member of the board of directors at the time of the organization of the Muscatine Bridge Company, which was founded for the purpose of building a high bridge over the Mississippi river at Muscatine, and on April 9, 1889, at the second annual meeting of the board, he was elected to the presidency of that company. He was also an incorporator of the Muscatine Oat Meal Company and became its vice president, holding the same office in the Terra Cotta Lumber Company and a number of other local enterprises. Few men in this part of the state have been more active in business life and few have been more successful in forwarding the enterprises with which they were connected.
On the 9th of August, 1860, Mr. Huttig was married to Miss Catharine Becker, a daughter of Michael and Salome ( Bauer ) Becker. Mrs. Huttig was born in Marietta, Ohio, August 6, 1839, while her parents were natives of Bavaria, Germany. They became acquainted in the fatherland, but were married at Marietta, Ohio. Mr. Becker settled for a time near Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, but came to Muscatine in 1850 and here followed the bakers trade. He died at the age of seventy-eight years, in 1889, his wife being called away in 1902, at the advanced age of eighty-seven years. They were both members of the Evangelical church. Eight children constituted their family : Catharine, August, Henry, Theodore, Albert, Henrietta, Elizabeth and William. To Mr. and Mrs. Huttig three children have been born. Anna is the wife of Conrad Heney and they live at Newark, New Jersey. Nellie married Albert McDermid and is now deceased . She was the mother of one son, Harold. Harry married Kathryn Musser. He is a partner in his father's business, being treasurer and manager of the company, and is identified with a number of important enterprises in Muscatine and elsewhere.
Mr. Huttig holds membership in Iowa Lodge, No.2, A. F. & A. M., and also in the Knights of Pythias lodge and the Independent Order of Odd fellows. He and his wife are conected with the German Evangelical church and contribute liberally to its support. Mr. Huttig has noted the disadvantages under which a young man labors who starts in his business career without adequate school training and has become a stanch friend of education, serving for about ten years as member of the Muscatine school board. Politically he is an adherent of the republican party, believing that its principles are most conducive to the best interests of the country. He is a liberal contributor to all worthy causes, recognizing the obligation of large employers to assist in the advancement of the general good. For many years connected with important business interests, he takes a broad view of all subjects and his opinions have largely influenced others with whom he has associated. An honor to the city of his adoption, Mr, Huttig has performed a great work in building up its industries and it is doubtful if any other man the city has known has ever contributed more toward it's permanent prosperity than the gentleman whose name introduces this review.
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