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Progressive Men of Iowa
1899
 DE WOLF, Merton E., of Laurens, one of the
young men who, by their own efforts, have achieved
notable business success in northwestern Iowa, was born
in Cambria, Hillsdale county, Mich., July 23, 1867, and
came to Iowa in 1889. His father, S. P. De Wolf, was in
very moderate circumstances, and was unable to give his
son the liberal education which he and his wife, whose
maiden name was Martha J. Frink, would
have liked. Mrs. De Wolf was a very intelligent woman of
good impulses, who encouraged her son to educate
himself. He came of good family on his father's side,
too, for his paternal great-grandfather was a Frenchman,
who came to America and served as a captain during the
revolutionary war. Attending the public schools in
Cambria village till he was 14 years old, an uncle
invited him to his home in Hillsdale, where he attended
the high school. He completed the freshman year in
Hillsdale college, and always won the highest marks in
mathematics.
During the time he attended high school and
college he worked on a farm and walked two miles to
school. He earned his own way by teaching school and
working on the farm.
In 1889 Mr. De Wolf came to
Iowa, believing that the state offered the best
opportunities for young men dependent upon their own
resources. He went first to Rock Valley, where he fell
to work at anything he could do. For four months he was
employed as a grain buyer and then went, to Hull as
bookkeeper in the State bank. Seven months later he was
made assistant cashier of the State bank of Rock Valley,
where he remained for eighteen months. From there he was
called to Marathon to be cashier of the Marathon Savings
bank. At the end of three and a half years he retired
from the bank and in partnership with A. J. Wilson,
president of the bank, removed to Laurens and engaged in
the grain business. The firm now operates two elevators,
one in Laurens and one in Havelock, and is erecting four
new elevators on the new extension of the Chicago,
Milwaukee & St Paul, between Fonda and Spencer.
Mr. De Wolf has attained
political prominence by his activity as a republican,
having been engaged in campaign speaking for a number of
years, beginning with the campaign of 1896. In 1897 he
was nominated and elected to represent the counties of
Pocahontas and Humboldt in the lower house of the
legislature, where he made a consistent record for
independence of thought and action, and it was said of
him that he always had the courage to array himself on
the side he believed to be right, regardless of what
influences such action might offend. In short, he was an
honest member and was not afraid to live up to his
principles. As this volume goes to press (July, 1899) he
is among the leading candidates for speaker of the house
in the Twenty-eighth General Assembly, as a second term
is conceded to him.
In 1891 Mr. De Wolf was
married in Hillsdale, Mich., to Elizabeth Prentice, a
high school classmate. They have three children living:
Maris, born July 27, 1892; Hester, born November 9,
1893, and Mabel, born August 27, 1895. Prentice Wilson,
another son, died March 2, 1899, aged 14 months. Mr. De
Wolf is a member of the Masonic fraternity and
customarily attends the Methodist
church.
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