USA > Iowa > Audubon County > History of Audubon county, Iowa; its people, industries, and institutions > Part 39
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Jacob F. Wahlert received but a limited education, his attendance at school having been limited to a few months during the winters until he was about fifteen years, after which he worked out as a farm hand until 1870. in which year he came to the United States. Upon landing at New York City, he proceeded directly to Moline, Rock Island county, Illinois, where his brothers, George and Fred, previously had located. On the day after his arrival in Moline he obtained work on a gravel train on the Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific railroad, and continued at this work for five or six months, after which he went to work on a farm. During the last five or six years of his residence in Rock Island county he rented land.
In 1881 Jacob F. Wahlert came to Audubon county and purchased two hundred and forty acres of land in section 35, in Greeley township. Land was cheap in those days and Mr. Wahlert paid Mr. Harter, the owner. seven to eight dollars an acre for it. A fourteen by twenty-four foot house and a lean-to-kitchen, ten by twelve feet. was considered very good for those times. About 1902 Mr. Wahlert built a comfortable seven-room house. In addition to this house he also erected a new barn, cribs and hog houses. As he prospered he purchased additional land, the greater part of which he has since disposed of to his children, and now retains but one hundred and sixty acres. Since retiring from active farm work he has rented the remainder of the land to the children.
On December 16, 1874, Jacob F. Wahlert was married in Rock Island
Jasol Fe Wählert
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county, Illinois, to Ernestine Fritche, who was born on May 16, 1854, in Atkinson, Rock Island county, Illinois, the daughter of Frederick and Min- nie Fritche, natives of Germany, who came from Saxony. To this mar- riage nine children have been born, seven of whom are living, as follow : Jacob, who married Elizabeth Bartell, daughter of Fred Bartell, and has two children, Mildred and Robert: Anna, who married William Porter, and has five children, George, Gretchen, Floyd, Verla and Verna; Mary, who married Howard Shoesmith and has four children, Stella, Virgil, Marvel and Rollo; Edward, who married Ida Jacobsen and has four children, Flor- ence, Ruby, Marvin and Ramona; Sadie, who married Follie Littlefield and has three children, Gladys, Kenneth and Zola; Ernestine, who married Roy White, and has two children, Alvin and Marvin; Fred, who married Bertha Bartell and has two children living, Carl and Leona, Richard Robert dying in infancy; Franklin, who died when thirteen years old, and another child who died in infancy. On February 18, 1890, the mother of these children passed away, since which time Mr. Wahlert has been making his home with his children.
Jacob F. Wahlert is a Democrat, but has never been active in political affairs and has held no offices. He is a member of the German Lutheran church, of which Mrs. Wahlert also was a member, and their children were reared in that faith. Fraternally, Mr. Wahlert is a member of the Ancient Free and Accepted Masons. Although his productive period now is past. Mr. Wahlert has been a highly successful farmer and a good citizen, and in all of the years he has lived in Audubon county has been highly respected by his neighbors. Enjoying the satisfaction of having reared a large family to useful and honored lives he may look back upon his career as a distinct and unqualified success and may also rest assured of the warm esteem of his neighbors, all of whom hold him in the highest regard.
P. C. PETERSEN.
One of the most enterprising of the present generation of farmers in Audubon county, Iowa, is P. C. Petersen, of Hamlin township, who has believed from the outset of his career that the wisdom of yesterday is some- times the folly of today, and that while the methods of our grandfathers in tilling the soil were all right in their day, yet in the twentieth century we are compelled to adopt new methods and farm along different lines. He has (27)
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been a close observer of modern methods; is a student at all times of what- ever pertains to the farm and farm interests, and has, therefore, met with encouraging success all along the line and, judging from his past record, he is entitled to rank as one of the most representative citizens of Audubon county. He has taken his place among the leading farmers of the county, which is noted for its fine farms and adroit husbandmen.
P. C. Petersen was born on August 3, 1863, in Vensysel, Denmark, and is a son of Jens C. and Elsie (Christensen) Petersen, who were both natives of Denmark, born near the same place as was their son, the subject of this sketch. The father was a farmer and followed that occupation until his death. Jens C. and Elsie (Christensen) Petersen were the parents of nine children, of whom P. C. was the second in order of birth.
P. C. Petersen attended school until about fourteen yars of age, when he began working out by the day, doing farm work. When about twenty- three years of age he came to the United States, landing at New York city, and then coming direct to Audubon county, Iowa, where Mr. Petersen had a cousin living. He worked at farm work for one year and then went to Omaha, Nebraska, where he was employed in the roundhouse of the Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific Railway Company as a wiper. After one year at this employment he decided to return to the farm and removed to Audubon, where he purchased a team and plow and commenced breaking the prairie land, which he continued for several months. His father and the rest of the family had in the meantime come to the United States, and P. C. and his father farmed together for about two years.
Mr. Petersen then rented a farm for one year and then went to Brayton, where he purchased a butcher shop, remaining in this business for three years, and at the expiration of this period, having been married in the mean- time. he moved to a farm belonging to his father-in-law and hauled milk to the creamery in Hamlin for four years. He then rented a farm of Calvin Demick for one year, and then purchased eighty acres of land in Hamlin township. He lived on this place for five years, and then rented his father- in-laws's farm, until the latter's death, at which time the farm was inherited by Mr. Petersen's wife.
On March 15. 1893, P. C. Petersen was married in Brayton, Iowa, to Sophia Petersen, who was born July 25, 1872, in Shelby county, Iowa, near Avoca, who was a daughter of Nels P. and Johanna M. (Wolf) Petersen. Mrs. Petersen's parents were born in Schleswig, at that time a part of Den- mark, and came to the United States about 1869 or 1879, the father coming first, and they were married in Shelby county, Iowa. In 1893 they came to
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Audubon county, where they purchased a farm, and the site of this farm is the site of the present creamery at Hamlin. They lived on this farm for seven years and then sold out and purchased a general mercantile store at Brayton. Nels P. Petersen was in business in Brayton for about nine years and then purchased one hundred and sixty acres of land where his son-in- law, P. C. Petersen, now lives. He lived on this farm until 1907, when he retired from active farm life and moved to Exira, where he lived until his death during the summer of 1914.
Mr. and Mrs. P. C. Petersen are the parents of eight children, Jensene C., Nels C., John M., Johanna M., Jens P., Henry H., Carrie M. and Peter, Jr., all of whom are living at home with their parents.
P. C. Petersen is engaged in general farming and stock raising. He oversees the operations on both his farms, which lie in sections 28 and 22 of Hamlin township. Mr. Petersen is one of Audubon county's most progressive citizens ; he is a Republican in politics, but has never desired to hold office. The Petersen family are all members of the Danish Lutheran church, of which they are regular attendants; are active in the work of this congregation, and are liberal contributors to its support.
GEORGE ALBERT MAY, M. D.
George Albert May was born on February 21, 1884, at Russell, Lucas county, Iowa, the son of James Madison and Mary E. (Werts) May, natives of Ohio and Indiana, respectively, of German ancestry. James Madison May, who was a farmer, died in November, 1912. His wife is still living in Lucas county, Iowa.
George Albert May was educated in the Russell schools and spent two years at Simpson College in the undergraduate department. Subsequently, he was graduated from Iowa State University with the degree of Bachelor of Arts and received the degree of Doctor of Medicine in 1911. After graduating from the medical department of the State University, Doctor May located at Audubon, Iowa; later he took a post graduate course in the New York Post Graduate College, specializing on the eye, ear, nose and throat. He completed this course in the spring of 1913 and after this returned to Audubon, where has has, in a comparatively short time, built up an excellent practice.
Doctor May was married in June, 1913, to Beulah Hayden, of Wall
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Lake, Iowa, the daughter of Dr. A. S. Hayden. Doctor and Mrs. May have been the parents of one child, Carl Hayden.
Doctor May is a member of the Audubon County Medical Society, the Iowa State Medical Association and the American Medical Association. Fraternally, Doctor May is a member of the Ancient Free and Accepted Masons. He is a member of the chapter at Audubon. Iowa, his home. Doctor and Mrs. May are members of the Presbyterian church. In politics, Doctor May is independent.
HANS MADSEN.
No better indication of the solidity and permanency of a city's progress is afforded than by a glance at the status of its financial institutions. Banks are the thermometers which register the rise and fall of a city's credit. The stability of the commercial and industrial interests are, to a large extent, dependent upon the policy and the condition of the local banks. The heart of commercial life, they are also the avenues of trade, and the arteries through which flows the financial current of business. Among Audubon county's financial institutions the Landmands National Bank of Kimballton stands out prominently, having an unbroken record of progress since its organization about six years ago. In this brief period the bank has developed into financial strength and secure position among the banking houses of this section of the Hawkeye state, and occupies the largest banking building in the city. The leading figure in the inception of this prominent institution was Hans Mad- sen, who is now its president, and who is one of the best-known citizens of this section.
Hans Madsen, the president of the Landmands National Bank, of Kim- ballton, Iowa, was born, August 19, 1865, in Aro, Denmark, the son of C. · P. and Kristine ( Albertsen) Madsen who were natives of Aro, Denmark, where the former was a ship and mill builder. The father, after coming America in April, 1874, located one-half mile west of Kimballton, Iowa, in Sharon township, and purchased land and was one of the first settlers on Big Indian creek. After clearing the land and making extensive improve- ments he lived on the farm continuously until his death, July 4, 1914. His good wife, the mother of Hans Madsen, died about six years previously, on January 17, 1908. The late C. P. Madsen was well known and highly respected at the time of his death when he was eighty-three years old. His wife died at the age of seventy-four. A skillful carpenter, he followed his
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trade at odd times after coming to Audubon county, did very much toward building up this part of the county. His beloved wife, who was a great church worker, helped to organize the Danish Lutheran church at Elk Horn, Iowa, and was known for miles around. In the early days the families who first came to this community to settle, were accustomed to make their homes with the Madsen family until they could get a start in the world. The late C. P. Madsen and wife started in life in a small way, and during their career made consistent gains on the highway of success. Only once in his life was the late C. P. Madsen a passenger on the railways of this country. He and his wife had six children, of whom Hans, the subject of this sketch, was the third born. Of the others. Albert, the eldest, died in Denmark: M. H. owns the old home place in Sharon township: Maren is the wife of Claus T. Peter- . son, of Shelby county, Iowa : Albert is deceased ; Anna Sophia is the wife of the Rev. J. M. Gregersen, of Solvang, California. Reverend Gregersen is a Danish Lutheran minister and the founder of a Danish colony in that state.
Reared on his father's farm, Hans Madsen attended the common schools of this section, and also the Danish Lutheran sectarian school at Elkhorn, Iowa, in 1885 and 1886. He was a student at Drake University during 1886 and 1887, and then began his active business career as a clerk for Emil Bilharz at Audubon, where he remained for eight months. After this he was employed by M. N. Esbeck until January 12, 1888, when he engaged in the harness business at Shelby and Harlan, Iowa, for a year. In the spring of 1891 he engaged in the harness business at Kimballton. Iowa, and after following this business for eleven years purchased the general store owned by H. Marquesen, of Kimballton. During the first administration of McKinley, and the succeeding period of eight years filled by Mckinley and Roosevelt, Mr. Madsen was postmaster. In 1907 he sold the store to Thomas & Larsen, and on October 3, 1907, opened the Landmands Bank with Charles Van Gorder, of Audubon, as president, and himself as cashier. For two years it was a private bank. At the end of this period, Mr. Madsen bought out Mr. Van Gorder, and organized the Landmands National Bank of Kim- ballton, which opened for business, September 4. 1909. Mr. Madsen is president and his daughter, Alma, is cashier.
The bank has been conducted upon the soundest and most conservative business principles. Its management is characterized by sagacity, energy and ability, coupled with liberality and honorable methods. No other bank has been more closely identified with the many movements that have helped in the growth of Kimballton and its institutions. The Landmands National Bank has excellent facilities for giving the most prompt and satisfactory
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service in all departments. Insurance is written at the very lowest rate; foreign and domestic exchange dealt in; steamship tickets sold, and all accounts, large or small, are handled with equal care. Many new customers are constantly opening accounts at this bank, on account of its well-known facilities; its strong financial backing of wealthy stockholders; its central location on the busiest street ; its superb system of protection afforded by a strong vault and insurance; its policy of keeping business private, and the highly popular personnel of the banking force. As a bank president, Mr. Madsen is known as one of the most courteous and affable of men, and is constantly on the lookout for the interests of his customers. His daughter, Miss Alma Madsen, who has been the cashier for five years, has proven a painstaking, trustworthy business woman.
On November 27, 1887, Mr. Madsen was married to Johanna Ebbesen, of Jylland, Denmark, who came to America in 1878, and who was one of the first Danish school teachers in America. She taught school for three years in Elkhorn, and has always taken a keen interest in educational work. Mr. and Mrs. Madsen have two daughters, Alma E. and Lydia L.
In additional to his heavy business interests, Mr. Madsen is president of the Danish Lutheran church at Kimballton of which he and his family are members. He is president of the commercial club, and is a stanch Repub- lican. In a larger way he is interested in all good movements that has to do with the growth and prosperity of Kimballton and vicinity.
JOHN F. LIKEN.
Practical industry, wisely and vigorously applied, never fails to bring success. It carries a man onward and upward and brings out his individual character and acts as a powerful stimulant to the efforts of others. The greatest results in life are often attained by simple means, by the exercise of the ordinary qualities of common sense and perseverance. The every-day life, with its cares, necessities and duties, affords ample opportunity for acquiring experience of the best kind and its most beaten paths provide a true worker with abundant scope for effort and self-improvement. John F. Liken, the subject of this sketch, is a well-known farmer of Gray, Iowa. He is one of the largest farmers in this section of the state and is well known throughout Audubon county.
John F. Liken was born on February 6, 1857, in Allegheny county,
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Pennsylvania. He is the son of Thomas and Sarah Ann (Sands) Liken, natives of Pennsylvania, and of Irish parentage. The parents of both Thomas and Sarah Ann Liken came from Ireland. Thomas Liken was born in 1815 and died in June, 1891. His wife, the mother of John F. Liken, was born in 1818 and died in 1892. Some time after their marriage, they settled in Henry county, Illinois, where they farmed from 1865 until their death. They were the parents of the following children: Mrs. Florence Huffman, of Los Angeles, California; Thomas Porter and Samuel, of Geneseo, Illi- nois, and John F., the subject of this sketch.
John F. Liken farmed in Henry county until 1900, residing in Geneseo, Illinois, during this period. He was the owner of five hundred acres in Henry county. He began life on his own account when he had reached his majority and was operating a great body of land. On one of his trips to Kansas, Mr. Liken was married and in 1900 came to Gray, Audubon county, where he invested in fourteen hundred and thirty acres of land in Cameron and Lincoln townships. The land was all in one tract and contained five sets of buildings. In 1910 Mr. Liken moved to Gray from his farm home in Cameron township. He has sold two hundred acres recently, but still has twelve hundred and forty acres.
Mr. Liken is one of the most extensive breeders and raisers of cattle and hogs in this section of Iowa. His annual output of cattle numbers approximately one hundred and fifty and he raises and sells each year more than three hundred head of hogs. Mr. Liken has a nice home in Gray and is one of the most highly-respected citizens of Audubon county.
John F. Liken was married on December 9, 1880, in Kansas, to Mary Brush, who was born in Johnson county, Iowa, November 27, 1856. She is the daughter of Baptist and Mary (Spratley) Brush, natives of Pennsyl- vania, who were early settlers in Johnson county, Iowa. They were married in Burlington, Iowa, in 1874 and, subsequently, moved to Harvey county, Kansas. Baptist Brush was born in 1828 and died on March 2, 1912. His wife, Mary Brush, the mother of Mrs. Liken, was born in 1828 and died in 1898.
John F. Liken has always been identified with the Republican party but he has never been active as a partisan and has never cared to hold politi- cal office. Mr. and Mrs. Liken and their family attend the Presbyterian church. Mr. Liken is a member of the Ancient Free and Accepted Masons at Geneseo, Illinois. He is a member of the Knights Templar at Rock Island, Illinois, and also of the Kaaba Temple, Nobles of the Mystic Shrine, at Davenport, Iowa. Mr. Liken is vice-president of the Farmers Savings
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Bank at Gray and has been very prominent in this business since moving to this place.
Mr. and Mrs. Liken have two sons. Thomas Franklin, born on August 5. 1883. who married Iva King and has two children, Gladys and Lloyd ; and John Marvin, born on March 15. 1894.
WALTER SCOTLAND.
Among the earnest men whose enterprise and strength of character have gained a prominent place for them in the community, as well as the respect and confidence of their fellow citizens. is Walter Scotland, a well-known farmer of Hamlin township. Audubon county. Iowa. Mr. Scotland is a leading farmer and stock raiser in Hamlin township, where he resides. and a man of pronounced views and laudable ambitions. His influence. although a young man, has been exerted for the advancement of his vocation. and for the development of an active and alert community spirit in Hamlin township. He ranks among the representative farmers of Hamlin township.
Walter Scotland was born on February 14. 1883. in Denmark, in the part of that country known as Jylland. He is a son of Jens and Mena ( Christensen ) Scotland, who were also natives of Jylland. The father was a farmer and a carpenter, and he and his wife were the parents of five chil- dren. of whom Walter was the fourth.
Walter Scotland attended school in his native land until fourteen years of age. and when sixteen years old he came alone to the United States, where he had some friends. He landed at New York city and came direct to Audubon county. locating near Exira, where he has since lived.
Mr. Scotland began by working out by the month, and continued at this for four or five years, afterwards taking up ditching and tile laying, and fol- lowed these vocations for about four years. In 1907 Mr. Scotland rented a farm and in 1909 he purchased eighty acres of land in Hamlin township. He never lived on that farm, renting it to others, and in the meantime renting land for himself. In February. 1914. he purchased one hundred and sixty acres of land in section 27. of Hamlin township, and here he makes his home at the present time.
On November 4. 1909. Walter Scotland was married at Audubon to Sophia Johnson, who was born April 21. 1887. in Sjaelland. Denmark. the daughter of Jens C. and Christina ( Hansen) Johnson, her parents being
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farmers in their native land and she was one of nine children. Her father died when she was about seven years old, and her mother married again just before coming to the United States in 1896.
Mr. and Mrs. Scotland are the parents of three children: Verna. born September 19. 1910: Francis A .. born October 18. 1911, and Olive L., born on April 7. 1913.
Walter Scotland is engaged in general farming and stock raising. Mrs. Scotland has been a great help to her husband and has been a loving wife and devoted mother. Her mother and step-father. Chris Sorensen, are residents of Audubon county at present. having located here after coming to America in 1896.
Walter Scotland is a Republican, but he is not active in political affairs. and has never been a candidate for office. The family are all members of the Seventh Day Adventist church, and are active in the affairs of this denomina- tion, and Mr. Scotland is a liberal contributor to its support.
REX PHELPS.
It is interesting to note from the beginning the growth and development of a community: to note the lines along which progress has been made, and take cognizance of those whose industry and leadership in the work of advancement have rendered possible the present prosperity of the locality under consideration. Ren Phelps, the manager of the Cedar Rapids Oil Company at Audubon, and the proprietor of a popular garage in this city. is one of the strong, sturdy individuals who has contributed largely to the material welfare of the city of Audubon where he resides. He is an up-to- date business man. a public-spirited citizen and progressive in all that the term implies.
Ren Phelps was born on August 23. 1879. at Atlantic. Iowa. He is the son of Alvin and Sarah ( Usher) Phelps. natives of near Cedar Rapids. Iowa. where they lived upon a farm. The ancestors of Alvin and Sarah Phelps were old settlers in the vicinity of Cedar Rapids. Alvin was born in 1843 and died in 1907. and throughout his life was engaged in farming. and owned a great deal of real estate and was known as a capitalist in his later years. He came to Cass county, Iowa, in 1872 and became a well-to- do citizen. During the last seven years of his life, he was ill practically all of the time. His widow is still living in Atlantic. They had seven children.
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Mildred, deceased; Loretta, the wife of Francis Kreamer, of Atlantic; Eliza- beth, the wife of Charles Whitcomb, of Mason City, Iowa; John, deceased ; Ernest and Alvin, both of whom live in Atlantic, and Ren, the subject of this sketch.
Ren Phelps was educated in the public schools of Atlantic and finished his education in the Atlantic high school. After leaving high school, he engaged in farming for one year and was then connected with various occu- pations. He was later in the oil business for two years and came to Audubon in October, 1913. However, he had first come to Audubon in 1903 and had worked in the Bilharz store three years. During part of this period he was also retailing oil. He also operated a moving picture show. Mr. Phelps returned to Atlantic in 1910 and after living there for three years, returned permanently to Audubon and purchased the garage in March, 1914. He has been engaged in the retail oil business and in the operation of the garage since that time.
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