USA > Iowa > Audubon County > History of Audubon county, Iowa; its people, industries, and institutions > Part 42
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On April 4, 1891, Mr. Lange was married in Kimballton, Iowa, to Johanne Andersen, who was born on September 18, 1864, in Velling, Jut- land, Denmark. She is the daughter of Anders and Matte Marie (Christ- ensen) Anderson, both of whom were born in the same place as their daugh- ter. Mrs. Lange came to the United States when twenty-six years old, com- ing direct to Audubon county.
To Mr. and Mrs. Peter Lange, six children have been born, Chris, who was born on July 4, 1893: Mary, August 29, 1895; Agnes, February 21, 1898; Lawrence, March 1, 1900; Martha, November 21, 1903, and William, September 16, 1905. All of these children live at home.
Peter Lange is engaged in general farming and stock raising. He is a stockholder in the Farmers Savings Bank at Hamlin and from the organiza- tion of this bank has been prominent and influential in its management. He is a successful farmer and has greatly profited in the breeding of live stock.
Mr. Lange is a Democrat in politics and has served as school director of his township, but this is the only office he has held. Otherwise, he has devoted his attention to his family, his home and his farm. Religiously, the family are members of the Danish Lutheran church.
PETER R. NISSEN.
There is no calling, however humble, in which enterprise and industry, coupled with well-directed purpose, will not produce some measure of suc- cess, and in the pursuit of agriculture these qualities are especially essential. Among the well-known and highly-respected farmers of Audubon county, Iowa, who have attained in a comparatively short time a definite degree of success in their vocation, and who at the same time have greatly benefited the community in which they live by virtue of their interest and helpfulness in public affairs and public movements, is Peter R. Nissen, of Hamlin township, Audubon county, Iowa.
Peter R. Nissen was born, December 3, 1866, in Germany. He is the son of Jesse and Mary (Reinholdt) Nissen. They were born in Schleswig,
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when it was still a part of Denmark. They were farmers and the parents of two children, both boys, Peter R. and Fred.
Peter R. Nissen lived at home until he was sixteen years old. He received a good common-school education in his native country. In 1882, when he was sixteen years old, he left the paternal roof and came to the United States, where he had an uncle and aunt living in Shelby county, Iowa. Peter R. Nissen lived with them for one year. He then commenced working out by the month, doing this for four years. In the meantime he rented land and at the end of his period of working for different farmers, he rented land for one year and had saved at the end of that time a couple of hundred dol- lars. He invested this money in eighty acres of land in Shelby county and lived there for sixteen years. He then sold that farm and purchased a hun- dred and sixty acres of land in Hamlin township, Audubon county, where he lived for twelve years, then sold out and bought forty acres in Leroy township, where he now lives. Mr. Nissen owns eighty acres in Guthrie county, Iowa.
On October 24, 1887, Peter R. Nissen was married in Shelby county to Mary Spirup, who was born July 24, 1866, in Denmark, and who is the daughter of Michael and Mary Spirup. The father was a day laborer, who died in Denmark. The mother then came to the United States about 1884 and one year later Mr. Nissen's wife came.
To Mr. and Mrs. Nissen have been born three children: Jesse R., who was born July 8, 1888, and was married, November 24, 19II, to Mollie Miller ; Mary R., born on August 4, 1892, and was married, March 1, 191I, to Clint Rice, and they have two children, Nira Arleen, born on April 22, 1912, and an infant son, born on December 27, 1914; Michael R., born on February 14, 1895, and lives at home.
Mr. Nissen is a member of the Danish Lutheran church. He is a Democrat in politics and served as township clerk for two years. He helped to organize the Farmers Savings Bank of Hamlin and was assistant cashier for two years. He was also an examiner for the bank. For nine years Mr. Nissen was also a director of the Blue Grass Creamery Company of Audu- bon county. On his farm Mr. Nissen keeps a good grade of stock, though he does not keep thoroughbreds.
Peter R. Nissen is highly respected and well known in this part of Audubon county. He has been intimately connected with its agricultural and commercial history and has much to do with its progress and prosperity. He was elected township clerk of Hamlin township, but resigned when he moved to Leroy township.
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THEODORE PATTY.
Some of the largest personal successes on record have been to some degree a matter of accident; not that a successful business itself is built upon accident, but that accident may turn the course of a man's career from a vocation he either does not like or would not pursue with success, to one in which he would become very successful. Misfortune, as often happens, is the omen of better things to come. Theodore Patty, one of the best- known citizens of Audubon county, for some years was a mail carrier, and then, following a long period of illness, turned his attention to the insurance business, in which he has been extraordinarily successful, having had at the present time thirty years' experience in this line in this locality. In the beginning of his insurance career, he specialized in fire and tornado insur- ance and represents the best companies, not only in this country, but abroad. Among these are the Continental, of New York; the Queen, of New York; the Fidelity-Phenix, of New York; the Hanover, of New York; the Spring- field Fire and Marine : the Connecticut, of Connecticut ; the Fireman's Fund, of San Francisco; the German-American, of New York; the Farmers, of Cedar Rapids; the National, of Connecticut; the Iowa State, of Keokuk; the Security, of Davenport; the Hartford, of Connecticut, and the Fire- men's, of Newark, New Jersey. In his career as an insurance man, Mr. Patty has paid out in excess of thirty thousand dollars in losses, and has thus contributed to the well-being of hundreds of his fellow citizens. He believes thoroughly in insurance, talks insurance and is capable of making his fel- lows believe as he does.
Theodore Patty was born on September 13, 1853, in Newton, Miami county, Ohio, the son of David and Mary (Coats) Patty, the former of whom was a native of Ohio and the latter of Knightstown, Indiana. But little is known of the early generations of the Patty family. It is known, however, that Theodore's maternal grandfather, George Coats, was born in North Carolina, on October 9, 1806, and that he died at Le Mars, Ply- mouth county, Iowa, on March 13, 1883. During his life he followed many vocations, having been a minister in the Christian church, a merchant and a farmer.
David Patty followed farming most of his life and in 1855 the family came west from Ohio, locating at Irving, Benton county, Iowa, where they lived until 1869, when they moved to Carroll county, Iowa, driving through with five yoke of oxen. When they located in Carroll, it was a town of
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THEODORE PATTY
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about two or three hundred population. David Patty purchased and sold live stock and conducted a meat market. During the two years that the family lived at Carroll, Theodore, then a mere lad, started the first dray line in the town, doing his hauling with a one-horse wagon.
Theodore Patty is the eldest of eight children, the others in the order of their birth being: Mary L., born on October 2, 1857, who is the wife of William S. Bush, and lives at Fairfax, South Dakota; Esmeralda, May 13, 1860, who married Horatio S. Wetherell and is now deceased; Charles, M., June 15, 1862, who lives on the old home farm; William, June 6, 1864; Emma A., November 10, 1867, who died on February 23, 1890, taught school in Audubon county from the time she was sixteen years old; Edward E., October 31, 1875, died on September 21, 1878, and Ella E., September I, 1878, who married Andrew P. Petersen and lives at Hamill, Tripp county, South Dakota.
In April, 1871, in company with several companions, Theodore Patty came to Audubon county, locating in Exira, and in September of the same year his father, on his way to Kansas, drove through Exira, and after reaching there gave up the idea of going farther west and purchased eighty acres of land in Greeley township, where he spent the rest of his life, with the exception of two years, 1873-1875, which the family spent in Benton county, Iowa.
When Theodore Patty first came to Audubon county, he worked as a farm hand, and about 1875, upon his return from Benton county, began carrying the mail from Atlantic, the nearest railroad point, to Exira, con- tinuing in this service until the railroad was built through Exira in 1879. Owing to a long period of illness, he was unable to work for the next two years. In the meantime he took up a careful study of the insurance busi- ness, and on February 2, 1881, he wrote his first risk, and has been continu- ously in the business in Exira ever since, having paid out over thirty thou- sand dollars in losses. His business is confined to fire, tornado and liability insurance.
On September 2, 1887, Theodore Patty was married to Mamie B. Win- chell, who was born on May 4, 1869, in Cascade, Dubuque county, Iowa, and who died at Estancia, New Mexico, on September 19, 1913. She was the daughter of Charles and Hattie (Bucknam) Winchell, who came to Audubon county about 1879. To Theodore and Mamie B. (Winchell- Patty was born one child, Ida Irma, who was born on April 16, 1889. After attending school at Council Bluffs, Winfield, Kansas, and Muskogee, Indian (29)
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Territory, and after having learned the Spanish language at the latter school, Ida Irma Patty went to Socorro, New Mexico, where for some time she taught school and was in demand as an interpreter for the Mexicans. While living in New Mexico, Miss Patty homesteaded one hundred and sixty acres of land in Torrence county, and at her mother's death inherited the latter's claim of one hundred and sixty acres, making a total of three hundred and twenty acres which she now owns.
Theodore Patty is a member of the Knights of Pythias, having joined this order on August 31, 1887, a charter member of the Exira lodge, and is also a member of the Pythian Sisters. He also is a member of the Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, the Order of the Eastern Star and of the Knights of the Maccabees, of which latter lodge he has been record-keeper for over ten years. Mr. Patty attributes his success in business somewhat to the fact that he has never mixed in politics and he has never held office, thus never having permitted politics to interfere with his personal and private business. The Christian church is the ancestral church of the Pattys, and Theodore Patty is a member of this church, as was his wife and is his daughter. He is a man of most pleasing personality, honest, conscientious and straightfor- ward in all of his dealings, a man upon whom the people of Audubon county rely absolutely for the truth, not only about insurance, but about anything whatsoever represented by him.
LARS PETER CHRISTENSEN.
Coming to America from Denmark when he was twenty-eight years of age, Lars Peter Christensen, who started his new life in his adopted country as a common laborer, has made such excellent use of his opportunities that now, at a time not much past his middle age, he is able to live a life of com- fortable retirement in his fine home in Exira. this county, enjoying the fruitage of his life of active endeavor and the confidence and esteem of his many friends.
Lars Peter Christensen was born in Hjerring, Denmark, January 9, 1855, the son of Christian and Mary (Nelson) Christensen, farming people and natives of the same place, who were the parents of eleven children, all of whom are deceased, save the immediate subject of this sketch. Mr. Christensen attended school in his native village until he was fourteen years of age, at which time he entered an apprenticeship to the brick-making indus- try, bricks there being made by hand, and for years followed that trade,
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becoming so expert that he could make four thousand bricks a day. He married in his home village and remained there until he was twenty-eight years of age, at which time he and his family came to this country, arriving on May 20, 1882, at Loreville, Green county, Iowa, where he secured work with the Milwaukee Railroad Company as a laborer, after two years of which service he was promoted to the position of section foreman, which he held for six years, at the end of which time he was given charge of a construction and gravel train, remaining with the company in that capacity for about two years, after which he bought one hundred and twenty acres of land west of Scranton, Iowa, where he lived for five years, at the end of which time he sold that place and bought one hundred and sixty acres five miles south of Beard, Guthrie county, lowa, which he sold after two years' residence thereon and bought two hundred and twelve acres two miles west of Penora, meanwhile owning several other farms in Guthrie county. In 1905 Mr. Christiansen traded for one hundred and seventy acres of land in section II of Hamlin township, this county, and lived there until the spring of 1915, at which time he bought a couple of houses in the city of Exira and retired from the active life of the farm, making his home in one of the houses which he had bought. He also has owned several other farms in Audubon county and is very well circumstanced.
On October 14, 1877, in Denmark, Lars Peter Christensen was united in marriage with Mary Sorensen, who was born in the same village in which he was born, the daughter of Christian and Katrina Sorensen, and to this union ten children were born, five sons and five daughters, of whom all are living save one son and one daughter: Chris married Lena Hansen, of Neola, this state, and has five children: Anna married Fred Christensen and has one child, Ellis; Agnes married Chris Christensen, a native of Schleswig- Holstein, and they have two children, Clarence and Mary; Mary married Walter Micklesen and has two children, Charles and August; Harry is unmarried ; Tillie married Walter Lane and has two children, Charles and Peter : Peter and Charles are unmarried. The mother of these children died in Penora, Iowa, June 9, 1901, and Mr. Christensen married, secondly, Sep- tember 28, 1907. in Exira, Mrs. Katrina Hansen, who was born on August 20, 1850, in Denmark and who died on September 27, 1910.
Mr. Christensen is a Republican, though he is not a politician and has never been included in the office-seeking class. He and his family are mem- bers of the Danish Lutheran church and are active supporters of all the good works of the same, being regarded as among the most substantial and earnest members thereof. Mr. Christensen is a good citizen and enjoys the confi- dence and respect of a large circle of friends and acquaintances.
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WILLIAM RUCKER.
It is a source of pleasure to the biographer, who approaches his work with personal interest, to trace, if he can, the effects of early environment upon the life and conduct of the subject of his inquiry. Often it will be found that events and circumstances, which at the time of their occurrence may have seemed trivial and unimportant, have had a strong influence in shaping the tastes or activities of after life. Both heredity and environment unquestionably play a large part in the lives of men and women, and while scientists are trying to determine which is the more potent of the two factors, the student of biography may derive some pleasure from tracing the law in his own field of observation, even if only very hastily. In the present case, this law is quite marked. A man is found prominent in the social, educa- tional and intellectual life of a certain community, entering joyfully into any enterprise that will benefit his county. Going back one generation, it is learned that his father was a school teacher, practically giving his services to the children he loved, a very public-spirited man. The mother also was an intelligent, amiable woman, careful unto the ways of her household. Here, altruism in the parents was handed down to bless succeeding generations.
William Rucker, now a well-known retired farmer of Audubon county, was born on September 6, 1852, in Rockingham county, Virginia, the son of Benjamin Franklin and Sarah (Herndon) Rucker, both natives of Virginia. Benjamin F. Rucker was finely educated, held many offices of trust and of a public nature, and was very widely known in eastern Virginia. He taught school and music, teaching in what was known as "the old subscription school" of three months, and receiving pay on the basis of one dollar and twenty-five cents each for as many as seventy-five pupils during this length of term. Some of his pupils were as old as their teacher, and some showed their appreciation of these educational advantages by going ten and fifteen miles to school. The senior Rucker was very fond of the hunt, and thought a great deal of horses. He was much interested in politics and at the out- break of the Civil War was ranked as a Douglas Democrat. . Although a Southerner by birth, he was opposed to slavery and used his influence and energies to keep Virginia in the Union. In his later years, he was a retail merchant.
To Benjamin and Sarah (Herndon) Rucker were born ten children, the eldest of whom was William, the subject of this biography. The three chil- dren following him died early in life. James, the fourth child, was a farmer
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in Audubon county, Iowa, for twenty years, and is living now in Pope county, Minnesota. Walter, a farmer, has returned to the state of his grandfather, and lives in Rockingham county, Virginia. James is a railroad conductor on the Norfolk and Western railway at Shenandoah, Page county, Virginia. George died in infancy. Mary Susan, is the widow of Charles Osborn, who was master mechanic on the North Western railroad, and now lives at Shep- ardstown, West Virginia.
Most of the early schooling which William Rucker received was obtained through his father, and early in life he began working away from home, in an iron foundry in Page county, Virginia, where he was employed for two and one-half years, after which he went to McDonough county, Illinois, where he farmed from the year 1870 to the year 1881, in which latter year he came to this county and engaged in the same occupation. In 1892 he purchased one hundred and sixty acres of land in Greeley township, to which he later added one hundred and twenty acres, living on this property until 1907, in which year he sold out and moved to Audubon, where he lived for two years, during thirteen months of which time he was a brakeman on the Burlington railroad between Rock Island and St. Louis.
On December 29, 1887, William Rucker was married to Fannie Carper, of Warren county, Iowa, the daughter of W. R. and Laura (Turner ) Carper, the former a native of Berkley county, West Virginia, and the latter of Ohio. W. R. Carper was a farmer and auctioneer, who died on February 20, 1914, His wife died on December 18, 1890. Mrs. Rucker is the eldest of the eight children born to W. R. Carper and wife, the others being Maggie, widow of W. H. Stearns of Leroy township, this county; B. F., a farmer in Tripp county, South Dakota: James, a baker in Audubon, this county; Eva, who married Everett Bates of Howard county, South Dakota; Burile, a chef in Chillicothe, Ohio: Robert, a dentist living in Maxwell, Iowa, and Alma who passed away in infancy.
For twenty-six years William Rucker was actively engaged in farming in Audubon county and was considered one of the best farmers in the vicinity. He raised Shorthorn cattle, Poland China hogs and a fine grade of horses. His business ability is shown by the fact that land which he bought for twenty-seven dollars an acre, he afterwards sold for one hundred and five dollars an acre. he having spent about eight thousand dollars for improve- ments, these including a splendid grove and orchard. His attractive modern ten-room home in Audubon, where he is now living in comfortable retire- ment, was built six years ago, and its appearance is much enhanced by the large yard surrounding it, this consisting of four adjoining lots.
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The two eldest daughters in the family of eight children born to William and Fannie (Carper) Rucker are away from home, Edith being employed in Wilkin's department store in Des Moines, Iowa, and Ethel, who is the wife of Robert Mckinney, a lumberman, living at Logan, Iowa. The remaining children, Lola, Mary, Sadie, William, Charles and Dorothea, are at home.
While Mr. and Mrs. Rucker have been content to work hard, and climb the ladder of success by degrees, they have not allowed family and personal interests to usurp all of their time or interest. Any movement that meant benefit to the county, they have loyally supported, and have given both of time and means to the betterment of the community. It is not to be won- dered at, therefore, that they have many friends. They are both genial and likeable and are held in high esteem by all who know them.
Mr. Rucker has always kept informed on the leading events of the day, and is a man who would be considered well-read in any society. He has been deeply interested in politics, as a Democrat, has been a school treasurer for many years, and a justice of the peace and road supervisor.
ROY ANCIAUX.
One of the best-known and most popular of the young farmers of Greeley township, this county, is the gentleman whose name the reader has noted above. Mr. Anciaux is enterprising and energetic and gives earnest promise of being one of the foremost factors in the life of the community in which he lives, and as such is very properly entitled to recognition in this review of the lives of the leading men and women of Audubon county.
Roy Anciaux was born on his present home farm in Greeley township, Audubon county, Iowa, March 27, 1888, the son of Lewis and Mariah (Hoover) Anciaux, the former of whom was a native of France and the latter of whom was born in Johnson county, Iowa. Lewis Anciaux was but eight years of age when his parents emigrated to America. They landed in New York and came direct to Iowa, locating in Johnson county, where Lewis grew to manhood. Immediately after their marriage, in 1870, Lewis Anciaux and his bride came to Audubon county, buying eighty acres in sec- tion 15 of Greeley township, to which they later added forty acres on the north and there they made their home until May, 1910, at which time they went to Logan county, Colorado, where they took a homestead and where they now reside. They were the parents of eight children, one of whom
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died in infancy, the others being Mrs. Dora Armstrong, Arthur, Ellen, Mrs. Fannie Sidell, Mrs. Effie Sheets, Roy and Mrs. Catherine Wiseman, Roy being the only one who is now a resident of Audubon county.
Roy Anciaux received his education in the district schools of Greeley township, growing up with a full acquaintance of farm life as preparation for his present vocation and on March 2, 1910, was united in marriage to Hazel Hensley, who was born in the city of Exira, this county, January 5, 1888, the daughter of William and Minnie L. (Detman) Hensley, natives, respectively, of Ohio and of Germany, quite early settlers in Audubon county and prominent in the social and economic life of the county, an excellent family honored and respected by all.
Mr. and Mrs. Anciaux are members of the Greeley Center Methodist church and take an active part in the work of that church. Socially, they are very popular and are among the leaders in the younger set in their com- munity. Mr. Anciaux is a Democrat, as was his father, and takes a good citizen's part in the political affairs of the county, but has not entered the class of office seekers. He is public spirited and enterprising, a good farmer and an excellent citizen and very properly is regarded as one of the coming leaders in the community in which he lives and whose interests he holds so ยท dearly to heart.
PATRICK McMAHON.
A lad coming to America with a widowed mother and two small brothers and one small sister, apparently has little chance for success, unless he brings with him wealth in some form, whether this be a bank account or a stout heart and willing hands. To be sure, the former of these assets hardly can be acquired at the age of seven, which was the age of Patrick McMahon when he journeyed across the ocean with the fatherless family, resting his hope for the future in himself. and perhaps in expectation of the help and encouragement of their nearest male relative, an uncle living in Janesville, Wisconsin.
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