A life of industry is bringing to James M. Deets the success which ever crowns persistent, honest and honorable labor. He carriers on farming and wagon-making and his home is in Hopkins twp. His birth occurred in Genesee township, this county, April 6, 1865, his parents being Lewis and Margaret (Wetzel) Deets, the former a native of Germany and the latter of Ohio. In his youth the father lived near the Rhine but when he was six years of age he was brought by his mother to America, the family home being established in Philadelphia. Three years later they removed to Massillon Ohio, and subsequently about 1850 came to Whiteside County, settling in Genesee township. Mr. Deets first purchase of land brought him eighty acres, for which he paid five dollars and a quarter per acre. He afterward sold that property and bought one hundred and sixty acres east of Coleta for forty dollars per acre. Upon that place he made substantial improvements and brought the farm under a high state of cultivation. Year by year, he carefully conducted his labors and met with gratifying success in his undertakings. In 1875 he bought two farms in Hopkins township, one comprising one hundred and sixty acres and the other one hundred and twenty acres. His success was attributable entirely to his own labors for he started out in life practically empty handed and as the years passed his deligence and persistency of purpose gained for him a comfortable competence.

In the year 1856 Lewis Deets was married to Miss Margaret Wetzel, a daughter of John and Margaret (Reece) Wetzel, who were natives of Franklin county, PA and of MD respectively. They resided for some time in Summit county OH and afterward removed to Stark county, that state, where they lived until coming to Whiteside. Mrs. Deets was one of a family of thirteen children and is descended from ancestry whose loyalty was proven at the time of the Revolutionary war. Her paternal great-grandfather was an extensive miller, owning and operating two large flour mills in PA. At the time of the early struggles for American independence he taxed thos mills to their utmost capacity, grinding grain to be made into bread for Washington's army. On one occasion his son, the grandfather of Mrs. Deets, then a youth of seventeen, was attacked when hauling supplies for the American army by a squad of British soldiers. He managed to escape but at great risk of his life and seven bullet holes were found in the wagon in which he was driving. His mother shared the patriotic spirit of the family, doing everything in her power to promote the cause of liberty. She begged bread for the army until she became afflicted with blindness and did everything she could for the comfort and welfare of the soldiers.

Lewis Deets, the father of our subject, was a soldier of the Civil War. In 1861 he left the plow and went to the defense of the Union, encouraging by his brave wife. He enlisted at Polo IL in Company H, of the Fifty-fifth Illinois Infantry, under command of Coloney Heffleman and served until the close of hostilities, participating in the siege of Vicksburg, the battles of Chancellorsville and Lookout Mountain and other engagements. At the close of the war he returned home and resumed the pursuits of civil life, continuing to devote himself to his home and his business until he was called to his final rest on the 14th of July 1882. He left a record of good citizenship and of noble character. He was widely known as a devoted husband and father and a faithful friend. His family numbered twelve children; Wilson W. a farmer residing at Emerson, this county; Elizabeth the wife of Henry Johnson, a grain buyer and landowner, who possesses over a thousand acres of land in the state of Washington near Almira; Charles F., who is a successful lawyer living at Davenport, Washington, and serving as county treasurer of his county; James M. of this review; and eight who died in infancy.

James M. Deets was educated in the common schools of Emerson and at the age of seventeen learned the trade of wagon-making. He attended night schools and made use of every opportunity for advancement in intellectual as well as business lines. When twenty-one years of age he started in business on his own account and began wagon-making in 1886. He is an excellent workman and turns out a superior product. He also carriers on farming and has a tract of rich land of three hundred and fifty acres in Hopkins township and four hundred and eighty acres in Douglas county, Washington. He is a man of resolute spirit, who carries forward to successful completion whatever he undertakes. His work is carefully systemazized and the best results are thus obtained.

On the 8th of November 1888 Mr. Deets was married to Miss Olive E. Carolus who was born in Emerson IL February 8, 1871 a daughter of William and Margaret (Feightner) Carolus, both natives of Pennsylvania. Her paternal grandfather, George Carolus, was a farmer by occupation and spent his entire life in the east dying in 1856. He was married Feb. 3, 1829 in Chambersburg PA, to Elizabeth Kuhn, who was born March 26, 1806 in Franklin county, that state and four years after the .... (and the rest is lost)..

Contributed by M. King Deets
Whiteside County History S.J. Clarke Publishing1900