Bio-Sawyers
SURNAMES:  FOOTE, NITSCHE, TILLING,

.—As executive of the San Jose Council, Boy Scouts of America, Julius H. Rainwater is doing effective work in building up this branch of the organization, his natural qualifications and broad experience well qualifying him for work of this character. He was born in Pittsfield, Pike County, Ill., December 2, 1887, a son of E. John and Anna (Foote) Rainwater. In the maternal line he is a descendant of Nathaniel Foote, who came from England to America between 1620 and 1625 and settled in the state of New York. The Rainwater family, also of English descent, originally settled at Savannah, Ga., later moving into Kentucky. During the Civil War the grandfather, E. J. Rainwater, espoused the cause of the Union, made his' way north and enlisted in an Illinois regiment, and served in the Civil War; he was captured and while a prisoner his death occurred. After the cessation of hostilities his widow moved with her family to Pike County, IIL, where her son, E. John, was reared and married.

In the acquirement of an education Julius H. Rainwater attended the grammar and high schools of Pittsfield, Ill., and Drake University of Des Moines, Iowa, after which he became a student at the University of Chicago. When twenty-one years of age he became principal of the high school at Bondurant, Iowa, filling that position for two years, and in 1911 he was appointed by the South Park Commissioners of Chicago as director of Ogden Park to which he gave his attention for seven years. In October, 1918, he was made field scout executive of the Chicago stockyards district, Boy Scouts of America, in which connection he had charge of the activities of forty troops of Boy Scouts, and in August of the following year he was transferred to the West Side district, being in command of 100 Scout troops. In October, 1920, he came to San Jose as executive of the San Jose Council, Boy Scouts of America. and is rapidly building up the organization here. At the time of his arrival there were four troops, with an active enrollment of 124, while there are now twelve troops and 425 Boy Scouts, all this being accomplished by Mr. Rainwater in less than a year and proving conclusively that nature has especially qualified him for work of this nature.

At Springfield, Ill., on September 6, 1911, Mr. Rainwater married Miss Florence Nitsche, a native of Chicago and a daughter of Fred C. and Laura (Tilling) Nitsche, the former a steam engineer. Mrs. Rainwater attended the grammar and high schools of Chicago and she is also a graduate of the Chicago Musical College. Three children have been born to them: Julius H., Jr., Genevieve and Geraldine. A man of high aspirations and ideals, Mr. Rainwater's ambition is to make the Boy Scouts a recognized department of prevocational education for boys and he is performing work of a most important character, being connected with an organization which is instilling in the youth of the land a spirit of helpfulness, loyalty and patriotism destined to prove a great national asset in years to come.

from Eugene T. Sawyers' History of Santa Clara County,California,  published by Historic Record Co. , 1922
page 1438

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