Isaac S. Cressman

Isaac Cressman’s great-great-grandfather, Nicolaus Cressman, a native of Switzerland, emigrated to the United States at an early age. In 1806, Isaacs’ father, Abraham Cressman, came to the Strasburg vicinity in Waterloo County, where Isaac, his seventh son was born. Isaac resided in the Cressman Homestead, located in a beautiful wooded area where there were a tremendous variety of trees. This unique area was known for a long time as Cressman’s Woods, and now is designated Homer Watson Park. Great credit is due the memory of Cressman for his determination to keep for posterity this magnificent forest that had developed through countless centuries. Because of its uniqueness, part of the property was appropriately selected as the site of the Doon Heritage Crossroads.

Cressman married Barbara Schneider, a daughter of Jacob E. and Elizabeth Schneider, in 1854, and they had five children. On the death of his wife in 1865 he married her sister, Elizabeth. Eight children were born to this couple.

Many of Cressman’s descendants live in and around Waterloo County.