Welcome to
Jasper County, Iowa
Historical and Genealogical Data Exchange
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George
W. Hitchler Mr.
Hitchler was born in Sherman Township, this County (but the vicinity in which
his birth occurred is now a part of Mound Prairie Township), March 6, 1859. He is the son of William Hitchler, who was born in Germany in
1810 and there he was reared and, when a boy, worked in his father's vineyard
near the town of Rhodt, along the picturesque and famous river Rhine.
Immigrating to America when twenty-one years of age, he found employment
as a fireman on one of the first steamers on Lake Michigan. Then he returned to
New York, in which state he had spent some time after landing here, and he
worked in a lumber camp near Buffalo for quite a while. He was then married to
Nancy Miller, who was born in the state of New York on May 2, 1829. After
his marriage William Hitchler went to Illinois, locating in Kendall County,
where he rented land. In 1845
he drove from Rock Island to Jasper County, Iowa, and took up one hundred and
sixty acres from the Government. The country was a wild prairie and he was one of the earliest
settlers there. In later years he
has a fine farm and good home as a result of his close application to his place.
He built a good house and barn, but in 1866 a Rock Island engine, that
road having just been completed, set the prairie on fire, and Mr. Hitchler's
farm was burned over, his home, outbuildings, grain, etc., having been
destroyed. He and his wife were
members of the Lutheran church. Their
family consisted of eleven children, of whom George W., of this review, was the
sixth in order of birth. George
W. Hitchler is one of the oldest native-born residents of Mound Prairie
Township, being now fifty-three years old.
He grew up amid pioneer conditions and consequently had to work hard when
a boy, with little chance to get an education; however, he went to school during
the short winter terms where the town of Metz now stands.
He remained on the home farm until his marriage, then he rented the farm
he now owns, finally buying one hundred acres, to which he has since added fifty
acres, which he has placed under a high state of improvement and cultivation.
He carries on general farming and stock raising, and he has a pleasant
home. Politically, he is a Republican, and he has been Township trustee and
school director. He and his wife
are members of the Baptist church. On September 18, 1882, Mr. Hitchler was married to Lyda Benskin, who was born in Richland County, Illinois, the daughter of Wesley Benskin, an Illinois farmer. To Mr. and Mrs. Hitchler the following children have been born: Mrs. Maud Pentico and Mrs. May Walker, twins; Mrs. Viola McQuown, John, Pearl, Lola. Past and Present of Jasper County Iowa, Gen. James B. Weaver, Editor-In-Chief, B.F. Bowden & Company, Indianapolis, IN, 1912, p. 887. |
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