Horton Alphonso Dwelle

HORTON A. DWELLE

Horton Alphonso Dwelle, for many years prominently connected with educational activities in northern Iowa and now a member of the firm of Dwell Brothers in the real estate and loan business, was born in Northwood, Iowa, July 2, 1869, a son of Horace V. and Helen E. (Hinman) Dwelle. His paternal ancestors were citizens of New York from colonial times and the ancestry on the mother's side was connected with Vermont at an equally early date. Her ancestors were engaged in each English and American conflict beginning with the English revolution of 1660 and she was a Daughter of the American Revolution. Horace V. Dwelle was born in Washington county, New York, and in 1860 removed to Worth county, Iowa, since which time he has been numbered among its residents. His wife was born in Holland, Vermont, and came to Worth county in 1863.

Their son, Horton Alphonso Dwelle, completed a course in the Northwood high school with the class of 1884 and through the following scholastic year was a student in the Cedar Valley Seminary. He then entered Cornell College, in Mount Vernon, Iowa, in which he remained from 1885 until 1888. He started out in the world independently as a teacher in the graded schools of Northwood an for thirteen years was superintendent of the Northwood schools. He also occupied the position of county superintendent of schools in Worth county for two years and for eight years he was teacher and principal of the Nora Springs Seminary. He afterward spent four years as superintendent of the city schools of Waukon, Iowa, and for twenty-five years he was a well known instructor in Normal institutes. He thus contributed in marked measure to the development of the educational system of Iowa and ranked with the most prominent of the public school teachers of the state. In 1916 he became the secretary-treasurer of the McQuatters-Dwelle Company, which position he held until April 1, 1918 when he joined his two brothers in the real estate and loan business under the firm name of Dwelle Brothers.

In Clifton Park, New York, on the 18th of December, 1894, Mr. Dwelle was married to Miss Nellie Leffingwell, a daughter of Jerome and Julia Leffingwell She was born in New Marlboro, Massachusetts, and to the time of her marriage was a resident of Connecticut and of New York. The children of this marriage are Elmer Lemuel, who was born November 10, 1895, and died January 2, 1896; and Helen Jessamine, who was born May 16, 1909.

Mr. Dwelle has been a member of the Baptist church since 1885 and is now serving as president of the board of trustees of the First Baptist church of Northwood. Since 1893 he has been connected with Northern Light Lodge, No. 266, A. F. & A. M. In politics he has ever been a progressive republican. He is president of the Imperial Highway Association, an organization controlling the imperial highway from Madison, Wisconsin, to Sioux Falls, South Dakota, and he is interested in all those plans and measures which work for the development and upbuilding of the city and county in which he lives. He keeps in touch with those vital questions which touch the general interests of society and broad reading keeps him thoroughly informed on the issues of the day.

Source: History of Mitchell and Worth Counties, Iowa, 1918, Vol. II, pages 12 - 15.

Transcribed by Gordon Felland, Nov. 25, 2006