USA > Iowa > Audubon County > History of Audubon county, Iowa; its people, industries, and institutions > Part 62
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George A. Foley was born on May 24, 1858, in Grundy county, Illinois. He is of Irish descent, his father, Simon Foley, haivng been born near Dublin, and his mother, Ellen Tracy, having been a native of Ireland. His parents came to America when young people and lived for a while at Boston, Massa- chusetts. A short time later they traveled westward by way of the great lakes as far as Chicago. Going on to Grundy county, Illinois, he bought forty acres of prairie land, at five dollars an acre, cleared and improved it, and built a home there. Later he added one hundred and twelve acres. It was here that he and his good wife, who bravely shared the hardships of pioneer days, spent the remainder of their lives, he passing away in 1871, and she in 1909, at the age of eighty-five. They were adherents of the Catholic faith. Six children were born to them, namely: John C., who came to Audu- bon county with his mother in 1883, and who lived with her all of his life,
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having never married, and who died in 1901; Mary, the wife of Edward Thomas, of Elreno, Oklahoma; Michael Tracey, a horse dealer and farmer of Audubon; George A., the subject of this review; Sarah, who never married, and who died in 1883; and Margaret, now Mrs. William Conway of Dexter, Iowa.
Like many other ambitious youths of his time, Mr. Foley, keen and alert mentally as well as physically, was denied. the education he coveted because of the limitations of the early county schools, but he attended the common schools as long as it was possible. Afterwards he lived with his parents, working on the farm.
On January 12, 1887, George A. Foley was united in marriage to Anna Conway, of New Ironton, New Jersey. She was the daughter of Patrick and Elizabeth (Black) Conway, who came from Ireland and were early set- tlers of Melville township, Audubon county, Iowa. They also purchased land in Guthrie county. Mr. Conway continued his interest in agriculture all of his life. Both he and his wife have passed away. Their children were as follow : John C., of Audubon; Elizabeth, who married Daniel P. Repass, of Dexter, Iowa ; Ella, who married O. B. Train, of Shenandoah, Iowa ; William H., a farmer of Dexter; Anna (Mrs. Foley), and Robert, a dredge operator in the South.
After his marriage, Mr. Foley was fortunate enough to buy the old Foley homestead consisting of one hundred and sixty acres in Viola township, this county, where he and his family lived until 1901, when they removed to the farnı which is his present home. The house not being such as to meet the demands of the family, Mr. and Mrs. Foley built a new home, modern in all of its appointments, the house being equipped with gas, electrio lights, and hot and cold water. It is not only modern, but spacious, consisting of twelve rooms. In 1907 Mr. Foley purchased eighty acres of land just east of his home place, and four years later, built on it a large block silo. He is also the owner of one-half section of improved land in Hamlin township. With an expenditure of between five and six thousand dollars on the farm where he lives it has become one of the best in that part of the state. Besides general farming Mr. Foley has been a breeder of pure bred Shorthorn cattle, Duroc- Jersey hogs, Shropshire sheep, and Percheron horses, having usually twenty- five head of the latter. It requires all of the grain he raises to provide for his stock, and besides this, he buys large quantities. His consignments of stock for market are among the largest in the county, and he is frequently called upon to give the benefit of his experience to other stock raisers.
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Aside from his busy life as a farmer, Mr. Foley has found time for public duties which have made for the betterment of the community in which he has lived. For many years he was a school director and is serving at present as a trustee. He has also been the town clerk, an office in which he made many friends. Politically, he is a Democrat, having always adhered to the principles of that party. He and his wife are members of the Roman Catholic church of Audubon.
Mr. Foley is a self-made man. With what would be called today a meager education, but which was all that his boyhood time afforded, he has worked and planned his future, content to take one step at a time, and con- fident of the results of his efforts. He has gradually built up his business until it yields him a competency, and yet has not limited his energy or his time to purely personal interests. He has not stopped with the education of his own family, but has given his attention to the improvement of the school facilities of the county, in a sympathetic, whole-hearted way. He is a good friend, a true neighbor, and a loyal citizen. In fact, his career is an inspira- tion to younger men, whether they be friends or strangers, for it is an example of unselfish industry.
HENRY HANSEN.
Responsibility coming to youth has a tendency to make life a serious problem, and to rob childhood of much of its joyousness and buoyancy. But it also has its compensations, for it develops those traits of character without which there is no strength nor stability, and prepares the youth for the realities which are sure to come in later life. To the conscientious boy, bereft of a father, there come many obligations to the widowed mother, and in meeting these each day, his thoughts naturally turn away from self until gradually thoughtfulness for others becomes a habit, and habit is trans- formed into character. This is exemplified in the life of Henry Hansen, one of the young farmers of Sharon township, conspicuous for his integrity as well as for his achievements, who was left fatherless when a child, and carried burdens heavy for such young shoulders.
Henry Hansen was born on July 27, 1871, son of Henry and Sophia Hansen, whose home was in Soro, Denmark. Henry Hansen was a native of Holbok. Limited in early facilities for education or vocational training, he was a laborer, and passed away at the age of twenty-seven, in 1875. The young wife did what she could for her two sons, but it was necessary for
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them to work at an age when she would have preferred to keep them in school. In 1889, she and her two sons came to the United States and made their home in Sharon township, in this county. Later, she was married to H. P. Petersen, of Soro, Denmark, who had been the husband of her sister.
When a lad of only twelve years, young Henry began farm work, and lived in Polk township, Shelby county, for thirteen years. By dint of indus- try, he was able to save enough to buy a tract of land consisting of eighty acres near Poplar. In 1907 he bought one hundred and sixty acres in Sharon township, known as the J. J. Jones place.
Henry Hansen was married on February 27, 1893, to Henrietta P. Raun, daughter of Nels P. and Restina Hansen, both of Horsens, Denmark. Coming to America in 1909, they lived in Council Bluffs, Iowa, where Mr. Hansen died the following year, at the age of seventy-four. When in Den- mark, he had been engaged in the manufacture of wooden pumps. Their children, nine in number, were as follow: Hansena P. married A. S. Jensen, of Omaha, Nebraska; Maria married Chris Petersen, of Council Bluffs; Henrietta (Mrs. Hansen) ; Petres married A. P. Hansen, of Omaha; Metta married Hans Sorensen, of Omaha; Peter, a carpenter of the same city ; Elise married C. P. Christiansen, of Omaha; Arnine married Loren Christiansen, also of Omaha ; Christiana, who died at the age of eight years.
In the spring of 1914 Mr. and Mrs. Hansen began the erection of their new fifteen-room home, the dimensions of which are thirty by thirty-two feet, and eighteen feet high. It has hot and cold water, furnace heat and electric light. His large barn also is lighted with electricity. Among the improvements is a model hog house built in 1910, twenty-two by forty feet constructed of cement, and having running water. In order to equip his farm the better, both as a home and as a means of making a livelihood, Mr. Hansen has spent several thousands of dollars, and has invested it in such a way as to bring the best returns. He raises draft horses and Poland China hogs.
Mr. and Mrs. Hansen are the parents of nine children, namely: Thora, married Morten Ipsen, a farmer of Sharon township; Hilda, Alma, Thor- vald, Magnus, Hertha, Emanuel, Halger and Arthur.
The community in which he lives has shown its confidence in, and regard for, Mr. Hansen by electing him a school director, a trustee and road supervisor. He has taken an active interest in politics, being a member of the Republican party. He and his wife have been for many years affiliated with the Lutheran church at Kimballton.
Mr. and Mrs. Hansen have given attention to the rearing and education
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of their children, and have kept well informed concerning the events which occupy the world's thoughts. Nor have they forgotten the needs of their own community, being liberal with both their time and means in matters that concerned the general good. Compared with the strenuous lives of city dwellers, theirs have been quiet and unobtrusive, but in actual worth and in the good accomplished, they have been equally as valuable.
GEORGE C. EVERTS.
The gentleman whose name heads this sketch may well be proud of the position he has established for himself, both financially and as one of the substantial men of his township. His straightforward dealings and good management have won for him the admiration and respect of all who know him, and in these qualities he has set a splendid example for his neighbors. He sprang from a sturdy stock of honest, hard-working people, and has done credit to the principles of his ancestors. Mr. Everts has always impressed upon his children, of whom he may be justly proud, the thought that in hard work, there is no disgrace.
George C. Everts, general farmer and stockman, of Lincoln township, Audubon county, was born on May 5, 1858, in Illinois. He is a son of G. C. and Susanna (Smith) Everts. His early education was acquired in the country schools, which he attended until sixteen years of age, when he quit school and went to work on his father's farm, remaining with him until he was twenty-six years old, when he was married and moved on a farm in Melville township, Audubon county, where he rented and lived for seven years. He then moved to Audubon, where he remained two years, during which time he was in the employ of E. N. Taggart, in the nursery business. From this place he went to Lincoln township, where he purchased a farm of one hundred and sixty acres, in section 36, and about four and one-half years later bought eighty acres adjoining his farm, for which he paid twenty-seven dollars and fifty cents an acre. In 1908, Mr. Everts bought another farm of one hundred and sixty acres in Faulk county, Dakota, and in 1913 bought eighty acres in Douglas township, Audubon county, Iowa, on which one of his sons now lives. He has invested about ten thousand dollars in improvements on his home place, where he raises a few cattle, and makes a specialty of Duroc-Jersey hogs, which he offers at a public annual sale. In addition to cattle and hogs, Mr. Everts handles a few pure-bred Percheron horses, and
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feeds all the grain raised on the place to his stock. He is a member of the Methodist church at Ross, of which he serves as trustee. Mr. Everts is a member of the following lodges: The Independent Order of Odd Fellows, Modern Woodmen of America and Yeomen. In politics he is a Republican.
The father of our subject was a blacksmith by trade, which vocation he followed in Illinois for nine years after he was married, going from there to West Dayton, Webster county, Iowa, where he had a blacksmith shop for five years. He was born in Richland county, Ohio. He was married in 1856, to Susanna Smith, a native of the state of Maine. She died at York- town, Illinois. Four years later he married Susan Adams, and moved on a farm in Guthrie county, Iowa, where he lived one year, then came to Audu- bon county, retiring from business two years later. By his second wife he had three children-one boy and two girls-George C., Margaret and Stella.
George C. Everts was united in marriage, at the age of twenty-six, to Martha Bowman, daughter of Henry and Jane (Livingston) Bowman, born February 23, 1862. Her parents lived in Crawford county, Iowa. Mr. and Mrs. Everts are the parents of the following children : Maud, married Clay- ton Wickham and lives near her father; Ernest, married Alice Ballou and lives in Douglas township; Alma, married H. E. Williams and lives in Lin- coln township; Lois, lives at home and is teaching school No. 7, in Lincoln township ; and one who died in infancy.
THOMAS B. THOMSEN.
One of the leaders among the younger citizens of Audubon county, Iowa, and especially of Kimballton, where he is now serving his second term as mayor, is Thomas B. Thomsen, who was born on February 27, 1875, in Denmark, the son of Balster and Gunder Maria (Terkesen) Thomsen, natives of Denmark. who came to America in 1884. After living in Vermont for two years, they moved to the state of New York, where they lived for four years and then came to Audubon county, Iowa, purchasing eighty acres in Sharon township. The father is still living upon this farm and is a man highly respected in the community. He and his wife are members of the Danish Lutheran church. They were the parents of seven children, as follow : John G, a farmer of near Exira ; Maria, married Nels Johnson, of Sharon township; Annie, married Jurgen Hansen, and lives near Exira; Katherine, lives at home; Minnie, married Andrew Sands, of Poplar, Iowa;
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Christina, married A. Shupe, of Douglas township, Audubon county; and Thomas B., the subject of this sketch.
With limited opportunities to obtain an education, Thomas B. Thomsen received only a brief training in the public schools of this county, and after working at home on the farm until the age of twenty years, he managed his father's farm for several years and then worked on his sister's place for three years. For two years he was a member of the firm of Thomsen & Larsen, a mercantile firm of Kimballton. He then rented his father-in-law's farm, consisting of one hundred and forty acres, which three years later, in 1914, he purchased.
Thomas B. Thomsen was married, January, 1908, to Nettie Jorgensen, the daughter of Hans J. Jorgensen, who was born on November 8, 1843, in Aro, Island of Marstal, Denmark, the son of Jens Grodt and Ella Neilsen. Her parents came to America in 1870 and, after living four years in the state of Illinois, they moved to Sharon township, Audubon county, where they lived until March 19, 1914, when Mr. Jorgensen passed away. He was twice married, first, in the spring of 1879, to Agnes Hedvig Petersen, a native of Denmark, who is now deceased. They had seven children, as follow: Jens P., a veterinary surgeon at Elkhorn ; Peter G., a farmer of Sharon town- ship; Elia Brodersen, of Shelby county, Iowa; Anna, married R. P. Larson, a merchant of Kimballton, Iowa; Cecelia, married Dr. P. E. James, of Elk- horn; Agneta, married Thomas B. Thomsen, the subject of this sketch, and Alfiede, a farmer of near Elkhorn, Iowa. Mr. Jorgensen was married a second time, November 8, 1894, to Anna K. Anderson, of Jylland, Denmark. Two children were born to this union, Agnes and William.
The late Hans J. Jorgensen purchased the land where Kimballton now stands in 1883. He sold the first town lot in the southeast corner of the northeast quarter of the northeast quarter of section 30, on which the Com- mercial Hotel and the general store now stands and it is now owned by the heirs and occupied by R. P. Larsen, of the firm of Larsen & Jorgensen. One of the organizers of the Landsmen's National Bank at Kimballton, Iowa, organized September 4, 1909, Mr. Jorgensen was its vice-president until his death. He did a great deal to promote building operations in Kimballton and, although he never aspired to office, he was a stanch Republican and served as the first postmaster of Kimballton, beginning in 1884. He was president of the Kimballton Investment Company, organized October 5, 1910, and instrumental in having the hotel built here. He also helped to get the Atlantic Northern railroad built. A splendid type of self-made man, generous to a fault, he was always willing and ready to help in any worthy
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public enterprise. First a member of the Danish Lutheran church at Elk- horn, Iowa, he later affiliated with the church in Sharon township.
Mr. and Mrs. Thomas B. Thomsen are the parents of three children, namely : Goldie, Edna and Hans. Mr. Thomsen is serving his second term as mayor of Kimballton and during his entire life has taken an active interest in politics. He is now identified with the Progressive party. Mr. and Mrs. Thomsen are members of the Danish Lutheran church at Kimballton.
On the farm, Mr. Thomsen carries on general farming and stock raising. He has a well-equipped farm for stock raising and one which he may truly regard as the fruit of his own industry, economy and good management. Thomas B. Thomsen is highly respected by the people of this community.
REV. ERNEST J. W. STARCK.
One of the well-known and popular ministers now holding a pastorate in Audubon county, Iowa, is Rev. Ernest J. W. Starck, pastor of the Evangeli- cal Lutheran Trinity church, and also pastor of St. John's church of Audu- bon. Born on September 18, 1862, in West Prussia, Germany, the son of E. G. and Johanna Charlotte (Wendt) Starck. he was brought to this country by his parents two years after his birth, in 1864. Both of his parents were natives of Germany : the former died in November, 1907, and the latter died in May, 1903. E. G. Starck and wife reared a family of eight children, four sons and four daughters. It is a remarkable fact that three sons are all ministers in the German Evangelical Lutheran church. Rev. Ernest J. W. Starck is the eldest child born to his parents. Rev. Herman O. Starck is pastor of a church at Ada, Norman county, Minnesota. Rev. Alwin C. Starck is pastor of a church at LaSalle, New York. Clara and Jennie Strack are at present residents of Chicago, Illinois.
Educated in parochial, public and private schools, and a graduate of the theclogical seminary at Springfield, Illinois, with the class of 1887, Ernest J. W. Starck has been engaged in the ministry during practically his entire life. He is a member of the Evangelical Lutheran Synod of Missouri, Ohio and other states, also of the district of Iowa.
Ernest J. W. Starck was married on August 14, 1895, at St Paul, Minne- sota, to Elizabeth Wolf, the daughter of George and Susanna (Sapp) Wolf. Mrs. Starck was born January 16, 1869, in Germany, and is one of a family
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of three children, she being the eldest. The other two children, Mrs. Mar- garetha Weiss and Mrs. Wilhelmina Kluge, are still living in Germany.
Rev. Ernest J. W. Starck and wife are the parents of nine children, E. G. F., Adolph H., Walter R. G., Arthur Marc F., Herbert Bernhardt I., Frederick William H. A., Else Elizabeth, Edward and Frieda Susanna Johanna.
During his pastorate of Trinity church of Lincoln township and St. John's church at Audubon, Rev. Starck has had very much to do with the growth of these congregations and the prosperity of the two churches. He is known to be an eloquent and persuasive pulpit orator, a sympathetic and efficient pastor and is naturally popular, not only with his congregation, but with all the people of the community to which he ministers A very worthy citizen, he is entitled to representation in this volume as one of the leading ministers of Audubon county.
HANS P. BONNESEN.
Located on the most prominent corner of the town of Kimballton, Iowa, will be found the hardware and implement establishment owned by Hans P. Bonnesen, and over which he has presided since the spring of 1913. The business is a consolidation of the hardware store formerly owned by George J. Nelsen and the pump and windmill stock formerly owned by Nelsen & Nelsen. The consolidated business is housed in a handsome brick structure, twenty-five by eighty feet, with a basement under the entire building, and is filled to capacity with hardware and implements, such as carpenters' and builders' supplies, stoves, ranges, furnaces, cutlery, firearms, tinware, glass, buggies, wagons, washing machines, twine, pumps, windmills, motor trucks, cream separators, oil and gas engines, oil tractors, manure spreaders, ensilage cutters, hay, grain and corn machines. The stock is conveniently shelved and neatly arranged. The proprietor of this business employs two men, Wilhelm Larsen and Conrad Nielsen, who are kept busy attending to the wants of the increasing trade. Mr. Bonnesen makes a specialty of the pump business, and one of his employes devotes his entire time to this business. The subject of this sketch is one of the best advertisers of Kimballton, and his advertise- ments always appear in a readable form. Nothing is promised in advertising that is not carried out to the letter and this is one of the chief causes of his large and growing trade.
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Hans P. Bonnesen was born on April 17, 1870, at Slagelse, on the Island of Zealand, Denmark, son of Lars Bonnesen and Christina Sorensen, both born on the above mentioned island The father is a farmer and carpenter and he and his wife are still living in their naitve land. They were the parents of eight children, as follow: Mary lives in Denmark; Hans P., the subject of this sketch; Christina lives in Denmark; Catherine lives in Racine, Wisconsin ; Margaret lives in San Francisco, California; Fred, a farmer in Sharon township, Audubon county; Otto lives at Fresno, California, and Carl lives in Denmark.
Mr. Bennesen attended the schools in his native land, and at the age of twelve began to make his own way in the world. After working for some time on the railroads in his native country, he came to America in 1892, at the age of twenty-two, and located in Cass county, Iowa, south of Elkhorn. While engaged in farming here he attended the Danish school at Elkhorn, and later became a teacher in Sharon township, Audubon county, continuing for two years.
After farming in Sharon township for four years, Mr. Bonnesen lived in Carroll county, Iowa, for two years, and then came back to Audubon county, living in Douglas township for six years. Renting his farm to a tenant he took a trip to his old home in Denmark during the summer of 1910, and upon his return bought a small farm in Sharon township, and lived on that farm for three years, until the spring of 1913, when he engaged in business at Kimballton. He has served as president of the Sharon Creamery Company, and also as president of the Kimballton Creamery Company for a time. While engaged in farming he was an extensive breeder of Shorthorn cattle. He now owns two hundred acres of land in Douglas township, and also property in Kimballton.
On March 2, 1898, Hans P. Bonnesen was married to Signa Christensen, who was born in Sharon township, Audubon county, Iowa, the daughter of Peter Christiansen. To Mr. and Mrs. Hans P. Bonnesen have been born four children, namely : Esther, who is a student in the Audubon high school; Elmer, Inez and Evelyn.
Always a stanch Republican in politics, Mr. Bonnesen is at present a member of the Kimballton school board, and formerly served as a justice of the peace. He and his family are members of the Danish Lutheran church, and take an active part in the affairs of this congregation. Hans P. Bonnesen must be regarded as a self-made man and is well known and well liked in this section of Audubon county.
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LARS P. LARSEN.
Success in any line of business requires patience and perseverance. Dis- appointments and unforeseen difficulties are continually presenting themselves for diplomatic handling, competition arises, and even the elements seem to join forces in testing the material of which a man is made. Success gained in the face of difficulties is all the more appreciated when it comes, and no man is better able to realize this than is the subject of this sketch, who is now in a position to sit back and enjoy the benefit and comforts of his well-earned home.
Lars P. Larsen, general farmer and stockman, Douglas township, was born on October 14, 1870, in Denmark. He is a son of Lars and Gertrude Larsen. Mr. Larsen attended school in his native land, but quit at the age of fourteen to work on his father's farm, where he remained until nineteen years old. He came to America alone on the German ship, "Weser," landing in Baltimore.
Arriving in Audubon county, Iowa, in 1890, he worked on a farm in Sharon township for one year, after which he went to Melville township, where he remained two years. From this place he went to Minnesota, worked on a farm one year, and then came back to Audubon, rented a farm of eighty acres near Hamlin for one year. Giving this farm up, he rented another in Sharon for two years, and later rented a farm of eighty acres in section 32 for two years, at the end of which time he purchased a farm of one hundred and twenty acres, to which he shortly afterward added another of forty acres, for which he paid thirty dollars an acre. Seeing an opportunity to reap a profit, he sold forty acres of his farm four or five years later, and bought eighty acres one mile north of his place. Mr. Larsen has put about six thousand dollars' worth of improvements on his farm, including drainage. The principal crops to which he gives his attention are corn and small grain, the corn yielding about fifty bushels to the acre, and the oats about thirty- five. He feeds about one hundred head of hogs and a car of cattle each year.
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