The Huttig Family of Muscatine County, Iowa

A splendid figure on the stage of action, many business activities were quickened by the touch of Frederick Huttig. He became the strong center of the community in which he moved and his business record at all times balanced up with principles of truth and honor. To have instituted and controlled mammoth business interests in the attainment of notable success entitles one to more than passing notice, but the life work of Frederick Huttig contains many valuable lessons which may be profitably considered and pondered. His record was never that of a self-centered life. While he attempted many important things he accomplished what he attempted, his success never representing another's loss but was the result of effort intelligently applied. While his name is inseparably interwoven with the history of Muscatine, his labors extended into many other fields, becoming an important feature in business activity in a number of the more prominent cities of the Mississippi valley as president of the Huttig Manufacturing Company.

His birth occurred near Jena, the old capital of the duchy of Saxe-Weimar, Germany, on the loth of June, 1832. He was christened Charles Frederick Huttig but after coming to America dropped the first name. The family numbered four sons, his elder brothers being Carl and Chris, and his younger brother, William Huttig. The father, Frederick Huttig, was born in Germany in 1790 and was a youthful soldier of the war of 1806, prior to the campaign of Napoleon in Russia and the burning of Moscow. His wife bore the maiden name of Dorothea Sieberg.

Jena at the time of the birth of Frederick Huttig of this review was a city of about fifteen thousand population and in its schools he was educated and not only mastered the elementary branches but also obtained instruction along mechanical and industrial lines. He thought to devote his life to architecture, yet he did not follow the profession long after leaving school. The opportunities which he heard were to be enjoyed in America led him to leave the fatherland in March, 1853, as a passenger on the sailing vessel Anadalia, with New Orleans as his destination. He was then a young man of twenty-one years. The voyage was at length completed and from the Crescent City he made his way northward to Muscatine. Iowa, being influenced in his choice of a destination by the fact that he had friends living in this city. He often recalled with interest the contrast between his first voyage across the Atlantic, covering ninety days, and one which he made in later years in six days. For a brief period he was employed at the mason's trade in Muscatine. During the greater part of his residence here, however, he was in business on his own account. He and his brother formed a partnership that continued for a half century under the firm style of the Huttig Brothers. They opened a grocery store opposite the Weed & Bridgman block, where they remained for some time, and in 1868 they turned their attention to the lumber business, in which field they long operated with splendid success. After two years they established a sash, door and blind manufactory and their activities in that direction were so successful and their business grew so rapidly that they became known in that connection throughout the entire country. In 1881 they erected a mammoth factory and plant in Muscatine and the business was incorporated with Frederick Huttig as president; William Huttig as manager and treasurer; E. Lumpe as vice president; and Harry Huttig as secretary. In 1883 they incorporated the Western Sash & Door Company of Kansas City, Missouri, with William Huttig as president. This was but an initial step in the constant broadening out of their enterprise. In 1885 the Huttig Brothers established the Huttig Sash & Door Company of St. Louis, and Charles H. Huttig, who had been admitted to the company, was chosen to manage its operations. In time they extended their field to include Wichita, Kansas, and St. Joseph, Missouri, and their ramifying interests reached out to all parts of the country.

Aside from their operations in the manufacture of sash, doors and blinds, the Huttig brothers, Frederick and William, in December, 1887, joined with other liberal republicans and democrats of Muscatine in organizing the Muscatine News Company, the purpose of which was to publish a daily and weekly newspaper for distribution in the city and county of Muscatine and for the dissemination and support of liberal political ideas. Frederick Huttig was a stanch believe in the principles of democracy yet he placed the public good before all partisanship and did not believe in making politics a feature of local elections where no issue was involved. He therefore joined in the movement to organize the News Tribune and his business energy, enterprise and resourcefulness contributed to the success of the paper in its earlier years. In 1888 the brothers organized the Muscatine Real Estate Company and in this undertaking were joined by a number of local capitalists. They were also the organizers of the Ashton Flour & Feed Company in the same year. Everything which they undertook seemed to prosper, owing to the keen business discernment of the two brothers. Frederick Huttig was also connected with a number of other important enterprises and his life was an extremely busy and useful one. He became a potent factor in many movements for the welfare of the city and was recognized as a power and strength in the commercial and industrial life of Muscatine.

It was here in 1856 that Frederick Huttig was married to Miss Sophia Snell, whose death occurred in 1889. Mr. Huttig was again married in 1894, at which time Mrs. Hannah Tappe became his wife. He had five children by his first marriage, namely: William Huttig, who is now the president of the Western Sash & Door Company, of Kansas City, Missouri; Charles H., who is president of the Third National Bank of St. Louis; Lena, the deceased wife of Henry Gremmel, of Kansas City; Katherine, the wife of Robert Beyers, of the Huttig Sash & Door Company of St. Louis; and Frederick, vice president of the Western Sash & Door Company of Kansas City.

Mr. Huttig was prominent in Masonry, attaining the Master Mason degree on the 26th of April, 1879, '" Iowa City. He died at his home in Kansas City, Missouri, on the evening of May 11, 1906, a few days before his seventy-fourth birthday, and his remains were brought back to Muscatine for interment in Greenwood cemetery, where the burial occurred on the 13th of May, the services being conducted in the German Evangelical church. He had but recently returned from a winter's sojourn in Los Angeles, California, and on the 2d of May was stricken with paralysis, his death occurring nine days later. The news of his death carried with it a sense of personal loss to his many friends, his associates and his old employes in Muscatine. He was not only a man of unbounded enterprise but also of unimpeachable integrity and he achieved remarkable results. His life record proves what can be accomplished when determination, perseverance and talent are arrayed against drawbacks, poverty and trials. The result is almost certain, for the former are invincible and know no defeat. Starting out in life without any vaulting ambition to accomplish something especially great or famous, Mr. Huttig followed the lead of his opportunities, doing his best to do anything that came to hand and seizing legitimate advantages as they arose. He never hesitated to take a forward step when the way was open. Fortunate in possessing ability and character that inspired confidence in others, the simple weight of his character and ability carried him into important relations with large interests, while the course that he followed made his name synonymous with commercial integrity as well as success.

As printed in the source¹. Wording is the original; obvious scanning errors have been corrected, and a few may remain.

WILLIAM HUTTIG, who is probably associated with more public and business enterprises than any other citizen of the county, was the subject of an interesting sketch in the Muscatine Daily Journal, of May 15, 1886, to which we are indebted for the many salient features of this biography. Mr. Huttig was born near Jena, the old capital of the Duchy of Saxe- Jena in 1836. To the student of history the name of Jena will recall one of the most famous battles and victories of Napolean I., and to the over of belles-letters and the arts the still more famous and noble seat of learning, founded here as the central university of the Saxon States, surrounded with its halls of art and schools of music. In the companionship of three elder brothers and one younger sister William Hut tig passed his boyhood, attending the village school until completing its course at the age of fifteen, when he took up his residence in Jena as a pupil in music of the distinguished Professors Winkler and Held, little dreaming at the time that the first practical use of his art would be to lead a brass band through the streets of an infant town, thousands of miles away, across the Atlantic, in the prairie wilderness of Iowa. He pursued the prescribed tuition under these eminent teachers, and then went to Cable, and subsequently to Leipsic, and it was from this latter city that at the age of twenty-one he departed for America. It is often remarked that nature delights in violent contrasts, and human fortune is certainly subject to the same law. What greater transformation could occur to a young man than to be taken out of the scenes of historic old Leipsic, nestling by the walls of the ancient castle of Pleissenburg, its Easter Fair, of 600 years’ observance still attended by crowds of Turkish, Greek, Armenian, Persian, and Chinese mer- chants; its streets paraded by the thousand students of its university, five centuries old, and a like number of pupils of its art schools and conservatories of music; the trade of its 150 bookstores making it the principal seat of the publishing business in scholarly Germany, and ranking only second in the world to London and Paris; a city five times be siege and taken in the Thirty Years’ War; the scene also of that battle of nations in which Napo leon’s victory at Jena was more than counterbalanced by his overwhelming defeat — out of the scenes and associations, and from the art studies of old Leip sic, to suddenly find himself, in June, 1855, on the west bank of the Mississippi at Muscatine. In his recounting of that earlier experience in the West it was laughable, though revealing a very somber state of things, to hear him say that he spent the first two years in Muscatine at odd jobs of masonry and other work in trying to get enough money to take him back home. If there was ever a genuine case of homesickness we can believe that this was one. But the dark clouds began to break after the strain of the first two years. More congenial occupation was found. He began teaching music, and was given the leadership of the brass and string bonds of Muscatine. On the breaking out of the war this patriotic young music-student of Leipsic and Jena organized a band to accompany the 35th Iowa Regiment, but before they left Camp Strong an order was issued to discharge all regimental bands, and Mr. Huttig returned home. He con sold himself in this disappointment by the happiest of alternative in his marriage with Miss Catherine Becker, of this city, in which auspicious union the last strand of regret parted which had bound his allegiance to old Saxony. It was about this time also that he entered the grocery business, opening a store adjoining the Weed & Bridgman block. The following year his brother Fred, the present city member of the County Board of Supervisors, now absent in Europe, was admitted to a partnership, and since then the two have gone through their business career under the well-known title of Huttig Bros., which they still retain.

In 1868 the brothers started a lumber-yard, the initiatory step to the creation of that fame and fortune which made the name of Huttig Bros., the whole country over, synonymous with the highest business enterprise and success. After two years in the lumber trade it was superseded by the sash, door, and blind business, which has been followed to date. The brothers confined themselves to trade until 1881, when their present mammoth factory and works were built in this city, and a company incorporated with the following organization: Fred Huttig, President; William Huttig, Manager and Treasurer; Er. Lumpe, Vice President; Harry Hut tig, Secretary.

In 1883 the firm incorporated the Western Sash and Door Company of Kansas City, with William Huttig partner and President, as now conducted.

In 1885 the Huttig Bros, established the Huttig Sash and Door Company of St. Louis, Mr. Charles II. Huttig being admitted to the new company and elected to the management of its operations, with Mr. William Huttig, Secretary.

In 1888 the Muscatine Real Estate Company, embracing a number of local capitalists, was organized, and Mr. Huttig was made its President. In the same year the Ashton Flour and Feed Company was formed, and Mr. Huttig was elected to the presidency. In this year Muscatine saw the necessity of reviving and reorganizing the Board of Trade on an active and substantial basis, and Mr. Huttig was chosen President, an office which he still fills to the advantage of this city.

In December, 1 887, he associated with his brother Fred and other liberal Republicans and Democrats of Muscatine in organizing the Muscatine News Company to sustain the publishing of a daily and weekly newspaper in the city and county of Muscatine for the dissemination of liberal political ideas, of which company he was elected President, and to whose business energy and enterprise the Netcs is largely indebted for its remarkable success. Mr. Huttig being unanimously re-elected to the presidency in the second year of the paper.

In the organization of the Muscatine Bridge Company for the building of a high bridge over the Mississippi River at Muscatine, Mr. Huttig was elected to the Board of Directors, and at the second annual meeting held April f), 1889, he was elected to the presidency of the company. As the company at this last date had the problem and labor before it of providing means for the construction of a $140,000 bridge, the election of Mr. Huttig was no light compliment to the executive force of that gentleman.

Our subject took an active part in the incorporation of the Muscatine Oatmeal Company, of which he was elected Vice President, holding the same office in the Muscatine Terra Cotta Lumber Company, and being prominent in the organization of the Muscatine Street Car Company and other local enterprises.

The opening of Oklahoma to settlement, in April of this year, furnishes another illustration of Mr. Iluttig’s active and far-reaching enterprise. No sooner was the Presidential proclamation issued for the opening of the Territory than Mr. Huttig was immediately heard of at Purcell on the border, when the Oklahoma Lumber and Grain Company was forthwith organized, with Mr. Huttig as President, and provision made for the establishment of three lumber-yards and depots in the Territory as soon as the stock could be shipped in by fast freight dispatch.

Following our subject into his fraternal and social fellowship with the world it will scarcely surprise to find that one of such cosmopolitan tendencies holds attachments in these kindly spheres equally broad as his business relations. He enjoyed an eminent membership in both Free Masonry and Old Fellowship. He belongs to the Knights of Pythias Protective Association. A distinguished member of the United States Knights of Honor, he enjoys the prestige of being twice elected Grand Dictator of that order of Iowa. Quite as honor ble and useful as these State-wide and national connections he is a member of the Muscatine School Board.

Mr. Huttig was among the founders of the Republican party in Iowa, and remained true in his allegiance to that party in State and Nation until its prohibitive legislation, in Iowa, and confiscatory enactments impelled him to the political independence which he maintains to-day. Before his party relations were thus strained he was frequently soho ited by his party to represent it as a candidate, and, though as persistently declining, he was given, in 1883, the nomination for mayor of Muscatine. In a city where Democracy is accustomed to carry the election by a majority of hundreds he was defeated by the nominal majority of twenty-three in a total vote of 1,461.

His youth reared in a duchy which had a population of 300,000 Protestants to 10,000 Catholics, and a resident student of a city celebrated for the Leipsic Conference in which Luther bore part, Mr. Huttig could not be otherwise than a child of the Reformation and a member of the German Evangelical Church of Muscatine. But he is known for the liberality of his religious culture and faith, and in no ecclesiastical view could he be classed as an offensive partisan.

Of the marriage of our subject with Miss Becker, there have been born three children: Anna, wedded to Mr. G. W. Brandt, of Brooklyn, N. Y.; Nellie, recently married to Mr. D. S. McDermid, now of Muscatine; and Harry, the indefatigable and accomplished Secretary of the Huttig Bros. Manufac during Company.

Here we close this brief story of pluck, energy, and application. It does not lose in moral because there flash and re-echo over it the music and lights of Leipsic and Jena, but the indomitableness exhibited rather takes on a higher virtue and beauty for being graced with the arts of the school and the conservatory.

A portrait of this honorable gentleman is found on another page.

As printed in the source². Wording is the original; obvious scanning errors have been corrected, and a few may remain.

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 both members of the Lutheran church. There were five children in their 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 gocxl 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 si.x 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 & 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 being prominent in the organization of the Muscatine Street Car 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 baker's 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 Evangehcal 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 connected with the German Evangelical church and contribute liberally toward 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 whether any other man the city has known has ever contributed more toward its permanent prosperity than the gentleman whose name introduces this review.

As printed in the source¹. Wording is the original; obvious scanning errors have been corrected.

HARRY W. HUTTIG.

Among the active business men of Muscatine who are now occupying important positions and giving employment to a large number of persons, thus assisting very materially in advancing the interests of the city, is Harry W. Huttig, treasurer and manager of the Huttig Manufacturing Company. He was born of German-American parentage, his father being William Huttig, a native of Germany, and his mother Catharine Becker, a native of Ohio. The fat)ier was reared in Jena, Cicrniaiiy, and, having early shown a decided talent for music, became a music teacher. He was an ambitious young man and, desiring more favorable opportunities, emigrated to America at nineteen years of age locating at Muscatine, Iowa, where he has ever since lived. He taught music for several years but was attracted to mercantile business and started a grocery store. Later he went into the lumber business and in 1871 established in a small way a sash, door and blind factory, which under his good management has grown from year to year until it now gives employment to about four hundred persons, operating under the title of the Huttig Manufacturing Company, with the following officers: William Huttig, president; J. R. Swearingen, vice president; L. L. Richards, secretary; and Harry W. Huttig, treasurer and general manager. For ten or twelve years past Mr. Huttig has not participated actively in the business of which he was the founder. He is a stockholder in the First National Bank and has always taken great interest in public enterprises, being one of the most respected citizens of Muscatine. At the time of the Civil war he enlisted with his band of musicians and served for three months. He and his wife are members of the Protestant Evangelical church. The grandfather of our subject on the paternal side was a farmer in Germany. After his death his widow came to America, dying here at the age of eighty-eight years. Of their children the following are living: Carl, Fred, William and Mulvina. To William and Catharine Huttig three children were born: Harry W., our subject; Anna, the wife of Conrad Haney, of Orange, New Jersey; and Nellie, who became the wife of D. S. McDermid and is now deceased.

Harry W. Huttig was reared in Muscatine and educated in the public schools, graduating from the high school in 1885. Having determined to adopt a business career, he went to Poughkeepsie, New York, where he took a course of instruction at Eastman's Business College, one of the leading institutions of the kind in the country. Returning home, he started as bookkeeper in his father's factory and in 1888 was made manager, becoming also treasurer some years later. The company is one of the most substantial concerns of the kind in the west and distributes its products to all the principal centers in the United States. Mr. Huttig is president of the Pioneer Pearl Button Company and is also interested in a number of business enterprises of Muscatine and the west, having shown an ability that places him among the leaders in commercial affairs of the Mississippi valley.

On the 6th of October, 1891, Mr. Huttig was united in marriage to Miss Kathryn Musser, a daughter of Richard and Sarah (Berger) Musser and a native of Muscatine. Her parents were born in Pennsylvania and became early settlers in this city. The father was a member of the Musser Lumber Company and died here in 1896. The mother passed away in 1902. Of their children five are now living; Susan, Kathryn, Grace, Gertrude and William and also an adopted daughter, Linda. Mrs. Huttig holds membership in the Episcopal church in which she is an active worker.

Mr. Huttig affiliates with the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks and politically is in sympathy with the republican party. He was elected alderman of the second ward at the age of twenty years and later was nominated for mayor of Muscatine, but the honors and emoluments of public office had no attraction for him and he declined the honor. He is essentially a man of business, having good judgment and a mental capacity which readily grass large operations and reduces them to a system by which they can be managed along modern lines.

As printed in the source¹. Wording is the original; obvious scanning errors have been corrected, and a few may remain.