Wapello County IA Archives Biographies.....Archer, William T. 1863 - 
************************************************
Copyright.  All rights reserved.
http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm
http://www.usgwarchives.net/ia/iafiles.htm
************************************************

File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by:
Joy Fisher http://www.genrecords.net/emailregistry/vols/00001.html#0000031 July 9, 2013, 1:40 am

Source: See Below
Author: S. J. Clarke, Publisher

WILLIAM T. ARCHER.

William T. Archer, of Ottumwa, is manager for southern Iowa for the Pacific
Mutual Life Insurance Company of Los Angeles and is also secretary and treasurer
of the American Commercial Travelers Accident Association. His name is today
well known in insurance circles, and the success which has come to him is the
direct result of his enterprise, indefatigable energy and laudable ambition. Mr.
Archer is a native of La Plata, Missouri, born March 15, 1863. His father, James
M. Archer, was born near Terre Haute, Indiana, in 1822 and his life record
covered a period of seventy-six years, being terminated in death in 1898. He
taught school for about forty years, and a large number of the old residents of
Macon county, Missouri, owe their education to him. He married Miss Deborah
Allen, who was born near Louisville, Kentucky, in 1830 and died in 1874. In
their family are three children who yet survive: Mary Josephine, the wife of
William H. Dull of Sheldon, Missouri; Laura J., who married B. H. Greer of Hanna
City, Illinois; and William T.

The last named acquired his education in the common schools of Missouri and was
graduated from the high school of La Plata. He afterward engaged in farming and
later turned his attention to commercial pursuits, working in a store evenings
and mornings while attending school through the day. From the time of his
mother's death he was dependent upon his own resources, and his gradual
advancement has been the result of his determination and intelligently directed
efforts. He was appointed to the railway postal service by Congressman W. H.
Hatch, of Hannibal, Missouri, and acted in that capacity for seven years. He
next entered the bakery business in Ottumwa in 1892 and conducted that for two
years. He then sold out and went to Des Moines and was ticket agent in the Union
depot for two years. He next became a traveling salesman for the Deering
Harvester and the International Harvester Companies, representing that line of
business from 1897 until 1904, when he turned his attention to the
life-insurance business, becoming manager of the Pacific Mutual Life Insurance
Company of Los Angeles for southern Iowa. This agency had the third largest
increase in the United States in 1913, showing a careful systemization of the
business and the wise direction and executive force of Mr. Archer. He is now
secretary and treasurer of the American Commercial Travelers Accident
Association, and his name has become a synonym for intense activity and energy
in the field of insurance.

On December 22, 1891, Mr. Archer was united in marriage to Miss Clara S. Kraner,
who was born in Ottumwa, a daughter of William and Rosa (Buedell) Kraner, of
whom the father is now deceased. He was connected with the hardware trade and
the brewing business. The mother was a native of Bavaria, Germany, and at an
early age crossed the Atlantic as a passenger on a sailing vessel which was six
weeks in completing the trip. To Mr. and Mrs. Archer have been born five
children, three of whom are yet living: Ruth Josephine, who is now a senior in
the high school of Ottumwa; Helen Loretta, a sophomore in the high school; and
William Kraner, a bright boy of nine years, who displays noteworthy musical talent.

Mr. Archer gives his political allegiance to the republican party, and he and
his family are members of the Episcopal church, in the work of which they take
an active and helpful interest, Mr. Archer serving now as president of the
Fellowship Club in that church. He also belongs to Empire Lodge, No. 269, A. F.
& A. M.; Clinton Chapter, No. 9, R. A. M.; Malta Commandery, No. 31, K. T.; and
Kaaba Temple, A. A. O. N. M. S., of Davenport, Iowa. He is likewise a valued and
popular member in the Wapello Country and Commercial Clubs and in the last named
has served as a director. These affiliations indicate his social nature, and his
appreciation of the good qualities in others has been one of the strong factors
in winning his large circle of friends. He is easily approachable and is never
too busy to be courteous nor too courteous to be busy.


Additional Comments:
Extracted from:
HISTORY OF WAPELLO COUNTY IOWA
ILLUSTRATED
VOLUME II
CHICAGO
THE S. J. CLARKE PUBLISHING COMPANY 1914


Photo: http://www.usgwarchives.net/ia/wapello/photos/bios/archer804gbs.jpg

File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/ia/wapello/bios/archer804gbs.txt

This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.org/iafiles/

File size: 4.9 Kb