Schoolteacher Fannie (née Stone) Witwer and her son Glenn Witwer pose for a photograph in front of their Traer home located at 621 First St. Fannie purchased the home in 1910 following her husband Robert’s untimely death. PHOTO COURTESY OF GEORGE KADRMAS/TRAER HISTORICAL MUSEUM

TRAER – The house at 621 First St. in Traer has undergone some updates recently and has a fresh look to the outside. Seeing the changes made me wonder who owned the house and when it was built. While I haven’t been able to identify exactly when and who originally built the house – which is currently for sale – the following is the ownership history of the property.

In 1882 Aden Antrim purchased the bare lot. Aden was born in 1830 in Clinton County, Ohio. He lost both his parents by the age of six and spent time with three married sisters before enlisting in the Army in 1848 in the midst of the Mexican-American War. He served one month before the war ended.

Aden farmed in Whiteside County, Ill. and married Elizabeth Glen. In 1856, they settled on land in section 35 of Buckingham Township with three children. Four children were born in Tama County. Four of their seven children died of diphtheria. Aden retired from farming in 1880 and moved to Traer.

In 1889, Aden sold the property to Monroe and Effa Bisbey Chamberlain. Monroe Chamberlain was a painter and paper hanger. His brother Al Chamberlain was a carpenter by trade and may have built the house. Monroe and Effa lived in the house until 1903, when they moved to Washington to enter the fruit business. They leased the house until selling it to Ella Axon Green in 1906.

Ella was born in Poynette, Wis. in 1862 and came to old Buckingham with her parents in 1865. She married Myron Green in 1884 and the couple farmed near Traer. Her husband died of consumption in 1901 leaving Ella with four children, the youngest only two years old. She raised her children in the home.

The house at 621 First St., Traer pictured as it looks today after undergoing some recent updates. PHOTO COURTESY OF GEORGE KADRMAS

In 1910, Mrs. Robert Stone Witwer purchased the property. She was born Fannie Stone near Shelbyville, Mo. in 1873. Her father was a Civil War veteran and moved the family to a farm northwest of Traer in 1880. She married Robert Witwer in 1882 and the couple farmed. They had three sons, two who died the same day in 1902 of bronchitis. Her husband died of tuberculosis in 1910. Fannie and her surviving 13-year-old son Glenn Witwer lived in the home. She was a longtime school teacher in both the Dinsdale and Geneseo consolidated schools. Glenn graduated from Traer High School in 1917 and enlisted in the Army, serving in WWI. He died of Hodgkin lymphoma when he was 29.

Fannie died in 1957 and left the home to her niece, E. Margurite Romick who was born Edna Margurite Dalziel in 1900 in Crystal Township and grew up on the farm. She attended college in Cedar Falls and began teaching school. She married Burton Romick in 1920. Burton was a tank wagon agent for Standard Oil Co when he enlisted in the Navy during WWII at age 43. His son Bruce Romick served in the Army Air Corps and son John Romick served in the Navy. Margurite taught school and raised her daughter Barbara while her husband and sons served during WWII.

Margurite retired from teaching in 1954. Burton worked for the postal service in later years, retiring in 1974 the same year Margurite died. He married Fannie Stevenson in 1977 and sold the house on First Street.

PHOTO COURTESY OF GEORGE KADRMAS