Person:Edward Wolfe (19)

‘Judge’ was well-known local figure; born at Gettysburg. PA.
Another colorful Guthrie Center figure will be missed by his host of friends in the death of Edward W. (Judge) Wolfe, long-time resident of Guthrie county and this city, which occurred at his home here Saturday evening. He had been well up to the time he was stricken.
The Judge was so-called because for more than 32 years, he was a Justice of the Peace, first in Baker township and later in Valley. He delighted in recalling various odd cases which had come before him and always embellished his stories with legal phrases which he had picked up during his long service as a magistrate. Edward W. Wolfe was born at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, near the site of the famous battlefield in 1860 and was a small boy when the battle was fought. He moved to Astoria, Fulton county, Illinois when a young man and was married there to Flora A. Murphy, to whom he had been married for fifty-seven years at the time of his death. To this union were born one son, Sidney C. Wolfe, of Guthrie Center and three daughters, Mrs. Arthur Shaefer, Stuart, Mrs. Fon Moor, and Mrs. Chas. Heise of Guthrie Center, who survive with sixteen grandchildren and two great -grandchildren. The family came to Guthrie county in 1900 and settled on a farm in Baker township. In 1920 they moved to Guthrie Center which has been their home ever since. Funeral services were held Tuesday afternoon at the Methodist church with the Rev. John F. Rex officiating with interment in the Union cemetery. A male quartet composed of Harry Hanner, E. A. Moyers, Sherm Held and Don Lathrop, assisted by Mrs. Yeaton at the organ sang “The Old Rugged Cross” “Rock of Ages” and “Beautiful Land”. Interment was made in Union cemetery. [He died 8 Feb 1941 and was buried 11 Feb 1941]

Excerpts from an article taken from the Guthrie Co. IA history book by E. B. Stillman, written about 1906-07.
E. H. Wolf, the subject of this sketch, is one of the worthy citizens that Pennsylvania has furnished to Guthrie county, his birth having occurred on the 18th of June, 1860, in the town of Gettysburg, where three years later was to occur one of the most sanguinary battles in the history of the world…The family had long been residents of Pennsylvania, the parents of E. H. Wolf being H. G. and Margaret Wolf, both natives of that state, where the father was born in 1832 and the mother in 1830. Unto them were born seven children, six sons and a daughter, of whom E. H. was the fourth of the family. The father’s death occurred in 1882, which the mother departed this life in 1907. E. H. Wolf, at the usual age, became a student in the public schools. His first occupation after his marriage was to engage in coal mining, which pursuit he followed for five years. He then turned his attention to farming and still continues in this line. He cam to Guthrie county in 1900 and as his financial resources increased he saved from his earnings all that was not needed for actual expenses and acquired a capital sufficient to enable him to purchase his present home in Bear Grove township. Happily situated in his home life Mr. Wolf was married in 1884 to Miss Florence M. Murphy, whose birth occurred in Hancock county, Illinois, November 30, 1868, [date has been changed from original copy], her parents being Allan and Minerva Murphy, natives of Ohio. In their family were fourteen children, nine daughters and five sons. Her father died in 1809 but her mother is still living in Nebraska. Mr. and Mrs. Wolf now have four children: Sydney C., born February 14, 1885; Sylvia M., born October 14, 1889; Margaret A., born December 24, 1899; and Hallie M., born January 6, 1907.