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Jasper County, Iowa
Historical and Genealogical Data Exchange
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William
H. Holdsworth William H. Holdsworth was born
in Scott County, Iowa, March 23, 1858, the son of William and Hannah (Rolls)
Holdsworth, the father born in Ireland and the mother in Pennsylvania.
The elder Holdsworth was a stone contractor by trade.
He grew up and was educated in Ireland, from which country he emigrated
to America when a young man and he began working in the quarries, soon becoming
a contractor and he got out stone for arsenals, bridges and various important
jobs and became very well established in the new world.
He was a member of the Episcopal Church.
His death occurred in 1903. His
family consisted of nine children, named as follows:
John, Samuel, Joseph, Robert, Thomas, Mary Jane, Charles and William H„
of this sketch, he being the oldest child. William H.
Holdsworth grew up in Scott County, Iowa, and attended school there, and when
but a boy began working on a farm as a hand, then rented land for himself, but
not taking any too kindly to the life of a husbandman, he left the farm and went
to Oskaloosa and ran a bus line for six years, then, having gotten a good start,
he came to Jasper County in 1891 and rented land for three or four years, then
he went into the implement business at Lynnville with W. J. Breeden and they
built up a good trade. In 1899, Mr.
Holdsworth sold out and came to Ssullyand started in an implement store, which,
with his son, Charles Oscar, he still runs.
He started on a small scale, but by judicious management and honest
dealings his business rapidly increased until he bought a large building, in
connection with which he put in a garage and he handles a standard line of
automobiles in connection with a large, general and well-selected stock of
farming implements. His trade
embraces a large territory and is ever widening.
He is one of the leading merchants and businessmen in the southeastern
part of the County. Mr. Holdsworth
has taken much interest in public affairs and he has held all the Township
offices and the offices in the town of Sully, always discharging his duties in a
manner that reflected much credit upon himself and to the entire satisfaction of
the people. He was mayor of Sully
for eight years, during which time he did much for the permanent good of the
vicinity. Politically, he is a
Democrat, and is a leader in local affairs. Mr. Holdsworth was married in September 1878, to Emma Kent, who was born in Ohio, from which state she came to Poweshiek County, Iowa, when very small and there she grew to womanhood and was educated. Three children have been born to this union, Mrs. Effie May Horn, Charles Oscar and Edna. The Past and Present of Jasper County, Gen. James B. Weaver, Editor-In-Chief, 1912 B.F. Bowen Co., Indianapolis, IN, 1043. |
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