Agricultural development in Washington county receives impetus from the intelligently directed labors of W. C. Buttman, who resides on a highly productive and well improved farm near Ochelata, which he cultivates according to the most modern and progressive methods. He was born in Louisa county, Iowa, March 10, 1874, his parents being A. C. and Jane (Easton) Buttman, the former also a native of that county, while the latter was born in the state of New York. Both are deceased. The family is an old and well known one in Iowa, W. C. Buttman’s grandparents being pioneers of that state, in which three of his sisters are now residing.
In the acquirement of an education W. C. Buttman attended the grammar schools of Louisa county, Iowa, from which he was graduated when sixteen years of age, and throughout his life he has remained a student, becoming a well informed and broadminded man.
After leaving school he learned the trade of harness making, which his father had followed, completing his apprenticeship at Nichols, Iowa, and continuing active along that line until he reached the age of twenty-two years. In 1903 he came to Oklahoma, locating at Enid and afterward removing to Guthrie, which was at that time the capital of the state, and was instrumental in removing the Negroes from office there. He next secured employment on a tank farm east of Ramona, where he remained for seven years, and spent the succeeding three years in farming near Ochelata. In 1917 he purchased his present place of eighty acres, situated four miles east of Ochelata, and also leases one hundred and twenty acres. He engages in general agricultural pursuits, employing the most modern methods in the operation of his farm, which he has converted into a rich and fertile tract. He has made many improvements on his place, including the erection of a comfortable home, a substantial barn thirty-eight by forty feet in dimensions and a shed fourteen by forty feet. He gathers large crops of wheat, oats, Indian and Kaffir corn, barley and hay and he also raises mules, horses, cattle and hogs. He has worked diligently and persistently as the years have passed and his industry has been the basic element in his present-day success.
On July 24, 1895, Mr. Buttman was united in marriage to Miss Maggie Emmack, a native of Iowa and a daughter of William Emmack. Mrs. Buttman is a woman of culture and refinement. By her marriage she has become the mother of five children: Manson, the eldest, is now twenty-three years of age and is the owner of a farm situated one mile south of Ochelata.
He married Clara Prince and they have a son, Elwood; Chester, who is a young man of twenty, is operating a farm near that of his father. He wedded Mabel Simons, by whom he has a daughter, Grace ; Ruby, Jennie May and Clarence, who complete the family, are all at home.
Mr. Buttman gives his political allegiance to the republican party, believing that its principles contain- the best elements of good government. He is a deep thinker on all vital problems and while always willing to listen to arguments, he forms his ideas upon the basis of broad information and clear reasoning. He is ever ready to give his support to measures for the promotion of the public welfare and puts forth every possible effort for the benefit and up building of the community in which he rakes his home.