(P. 493) REV. JOSEPH KNOTTS (deceased) b. Knottsville, Monongalia Co, Virginia, 1832. (This village is now in West Virginia near Grafton.) In October 1855 he married Rebecca Hall at Carthage, Illinois. They returned to Virginia where he was licensed to preach in the Methodist Episcopal Church. In about 1874 he opened a Christian book store in Council Bluffs, which was destroyed by the great fire, carrying off all his stock of books and publishng material in a few hours, leaving him nothing. In 1875 he was apointed by President Grant as Consul to Chihuahua, Mexico, and in failing health he went to Mexico. In 1887 he left home in Council Bluffs on a trip to Durango, Mexico, and riding in a stage he suffered pneumonia and died in El Paso Texas in January 1888. Joseph Knotts was the son of Absalom and Matilda (Sayre) Knotts. Joseph Knotts had children: Edith V. wife of Samuel Robertson of Boulder, Montana; Absalom B. of Plattsmouth Nebraska; Thomas H. of Des Moines Iowa; Matilda deceased; Lemuel G. of Council Bluffs; E. Franklin also of Council Bluffs; James E. of Des Moines; Gordon B. of Council Bluffs; Alice deceased; and Joseph Jr of Council Bluffs. (P. 497) WILLIAM WINTERSTIEN, b. Johnson Co, Iowa, Dec 28, 1843, son of William Winterstien Sr, a native of Ohio, and grandson of Nicholas Winterstien, a soldier of the War of 1812. William Winterstien Sr married Susan Laramore and had ten children, four now living: William Jr. our subject; Jerome W. resident of Waveland Township Pottawattamie Co; Philip a resident of Hastings Nebraska; and Franklin who lives near Goldendale, Washington. William Winterstien Jr fought in the Civil War and was discharged July 25, 1865, returning to Iowa. On June 10, 1869, he married Catherine Louise Burnett, daughter of John Burnett and Ann Eliza Veness Burnett. William and Catherine Winterstien had nine children: Grant, Eugene, William Arthur, Ethel, Kate, Thomas B., Ray, Ben Harrison, and Susan.