Woodrow, Joseph M.

WOODROW, SPRAGUE, FLUKE, BROWNING, KEINATH, HINDORFT

Posted By: Volunteer Transcriber
Date: 10/24/2009 at 11:18:07

Woodrow, Joseph M.

No business man in the city of Newton is regarded with higher favor than the gentleman to a brief review of whose interesting career the reader's attention is directed in the following paragraphs, Joseph M. Woodrow being one of those public-spirited men who, while laboring to advance his own interests along legitimate lines, does not neglect to discharge his duties in fostering the upbuilding of the community in general, and few men have done more to advance the material interests of Newton than he, owing to his high position in financial circles and his unswerving allegiance to the higher standards of living.

Mr. Woodrow, president of the Jasper County Bank and one of the substantial and representative men of Iowa, has been a resident of Jasper County since 1865 and he has thus lived to see and take part in the wonderful transformation of the same from a wild prairie country to a high rank in the great Hawkeye Commonwealth, taking a great pride in its progress and always standing ready to support any worthy movement having as its object the general welfare of his locality and state.

Mr. Woodrow is the scion of a sterling old family of the Empire State, he himself having been born in Genesee County, New York, September 8, 1840, and he is the son of Benjamin and Frances (Sprague) Woodrow, the father a native of England and the mother born in the State of Connecticut. The former was a tailor by trade, and after spending his youth in his native country; he emigrated to America in 1807 and became well established here.

Joseph M. Woodrow started in life for himself when twenty-one years of age, working on a farm, by the month, in Illinois. Believing that the newer State of Iowa held still greater advantages for one of his temperament, he emigrated further west and in 1863 became a clerk in a store at Mt. Pleasant, Iowa, Where he remained until 1865, when he came to Jasper County and launched out in the boot and shoe business, the results of which were very satisfactory. In the spring of 1869 he sold out and started a nursery, which he operated successfully until 1883, when he sold out. Turning his attention to banking, for which he seems to have been best endowed by nature, in 1880 he became cashier of the Jasper County Bank at Newton. His close application to his duties in this connection and his honest and conservative policy, together with his uniform courteous treatment of the patrons of this institution, resulted in gradually increasing its prestige and it became one of the popular and sound financial institutions in central Iowa. He became its president in 1889, which position he has very ably and worthily discharged to the present time, becoming one of the best known bank presidents of this part of the state, managing the affairs of this institution with rare discretion and foresight and keeping it on a sound and safe basis, so that it has been amply able to weather all financial crises.

The domestic life of Mr. Woodrow began in 1865, when he was united marriage with Parmelia A. Fluke, daughter of Mrs. Judith Browning, and a lady of many praiseworthy attributes, being the representative of an excellent old family. To this union seven children have been born, namely Frank M., Eva A., Mrs. A. C. Keinath, Harry E. (deceased), Fred C., Grace M., Mrs. A. E. Hindorft, O. Blaine and Benjamin W.

Mr. Woodrow's beautiful residence in Newton, which is modern and attractive in all its appointments, is frequently the gathering place for the many friends of the family, who never fail to find here an old-time, hospitality and a sincere welcome, so that he and his wife have long been favorites with wide circle of warm and admiring friends. Past and Present of Jasper County Iowa B. F. Bowden & Company, Indianapolis, IN, 1912 Page 433.