Albert A. Schlitter

Albert A. Schlitter, a representative of a well known pioneer family of Linton township and one of the most progressive and able agriculturist of this locality, owning and operating one hundred and twenty acres of land on section 21, was born July 25, 1874, and is a son of Adolph and Caroline (Ziesow) Schlitter, natives of Germany, the former born in 1840 and the latter, August 2, 1842. They crossed the Atlantic to America about the year 1868 and went to McGregor, Iowa, whence they traveled with ox teams to Linton township. This journey was filled with hardships, as was also their trip across the ocean, during which they were seized with smallpox and detained at quarantine station in New York. After their arrival in Linton township they lived for a time in a rude dugout, but soon afterward the father purchased one hundred and twenty acres of land on section 21 and he has never been across the county line since that time. He resided upon his farm, carrying on its improvement and cultivation until about 1887, when he disposed of his holdings and bought another tract, upon which he still resides, living now in retirement and making his home with his son John., he and his wife were the parents of twelve children, of whom the subject of this review is the ninth in order of birth.

Albert A. Schlitter attended district school No. 3 in Linton township and spent two months at business college in Nora Springs. After laying aside his text-books he remained at home for a number of years, after which he began clerking in a store at Watson. About one year later he became a partner in this business and continued connected with it for a similar period of time, after which he disposed of his interests and turned his attention to operating a threshing machine. After his marriage, which occurred in 1902, he purchased the farm which he now owns, and on the 5th of December of that year moved onto the property. He has cleared and broken ten acres and has added substantial improvements to the place, erecting the necessary barns and outbuildings and installing modern equipment. He engages in general farming and is also an extensive stock breeder, both branches of his interests proving important and profitable under his able management.

On the 8th of October, 1902, Mr. Schlitter was united in marriage to Miss Elizabeth Schmidt, who was born in Clayton county, May 25, 1879. She is a daughter of William and Henrietta (Hoch) Schmidt, the former a native of France and the latter of Germany. The parents crossed the Atlantic at a very early date and settled in Iowa, where the father became a landowner. Upon the outbreak of the Civil war he enlisted in the Thirty-eighty Iowa Volunteer Regiment and served for three years in the Union army, receiving at the end of that time his honorable discharge. After his return from the service he settled on his farm in Clayton county and still makes his home upon this property, whereon he has recently erected a modern residence in which he is spending his retired life. Mr. and Mrs. Schlitter have become the parents of five children: Hazel Henrietta Caroline, who was born, July 29, 1903; Milton Albert Adolph, born July 30, 1905; Leslie Frederick, born April 24, 1907; Mabel, whose birth occurred September 7, 1909; and Carlton George, born May 26, 1912.

Mr. Schlitter is a member of the evangelical church at Watson and is connected fraternally with the Modern Woodmen of America. His political allegiance is given to the republican party and he served for several years as constable and is at the present time school director. He is a stockholder in the Monona Creamery, the Monona Shipping Association and the Luana & Monona Farmers Telephone Company, and he is recognized in business circles as a man of sound judgment and ability. He has won by his own efforts a gratifying measure of success and his record is a credit to a name that has been known and honored in Allamakee county since pioneer times.

-source: Past & Present of Allamakee County; by Ellery M. Hancock; S. J. Clarke Pub. Co.; 1913
-transcribed by Diana Diedrich

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