Encyclopedia Dubuque
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WILTSE, Henry A.
WILTSE, Henry A. (Speedsville, Tompkins County, NY, Jan. 10, 1817--Dubuque, IA, Oct. 31, 1870). Wiltse, educated as a civil engineer, may have first traveled through the area of Dubuque when sent to Texas to define boundaries. He returned to the Midwest where he purchased and edited the Lancaster Weekly Herald.
From 1841 to 1851 Wiltse worked under George Wallace JONES who was then Surveyor General. He then studied law under Platt SMITH. In 1860 President Abraham Lincoln appointed Wiltse as Surveyor General, a position he held until 1866 when the office was abolished.
For a short time Wiltse moved to Minnesota, but he returned to Dubuque in 1868 to practice law with Smith. Wiltse was appointed to the school board one month after it was established on February 7, 1856. He served as the board's first president and remained in that office for five years.
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Source:
Goodspeed, Weston Arthur, History of Dubuque County, Iowa. Chicago: Goodspeed Historical Association, 1911, p. 660