USA > Iowa > Audubon County > History of Audubon county, Iowa; its people, industries, and institutions > Part 71
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ably discharged all of the duties devolving upon the citizen of a great demo- cratic country. Mr. Knutsen has prospered since coming to this country, and no one is more willing than he to admit that this success is the result of the superior opportunities offered in this country. Mr. Knutsen is very popular with the people of Oakfield township.
NIELS P. HOEGH.
Difficult as it is to explain individual and personal successes in life, nevertheless it would appear that large successes are very closely related to large personal worth. During the twenty-year period from 1865 to 1885, hundreds of industrious and ambitious young Danes came to America to seek their fortune in a new land. In fact, many hundreds of them event- ually settled in Audubon county, Iowa. It is a tribute to the enterprise of these splendid young emigrants that very few have failed to make good in the new world. Yet the exceptional success which has accompanied the efforts of perhaps a half dozen men in Audubon county arouses our curi- osity and accentuates our interest in the peculiar qualifications which these few men possess at the outset and which were responsible for the larger measure of prosperity which they have enjoyed in their adopted country. Niels P. Hoegh, in one respect at least, is not different from the hundreds of his fellow countrymen who have settled in Audubon county, since his success was founded upon agriculture. Perhaps he was possessed of a superior quality of managerial ability. Perhaps he possessed greater fore- sight than many of the young men who came here with him. In any event his success has been large, measured not only by the wealth and capital he has accumulated, but by the conspicuous position he has taken in the civic and political life of this section.
Niels P. Hoegh, who is president of the Brayton Savings Bank, of Brayton, Iowa, the Farmers Bank at Elkhorn, Iowa, and the Farmers Sav- ings bank of Atlantic, Iowa, and the Brayton Lumber Company, besides owning two thousand acres of land in Audubon and Cass counties, was born on September 12, 1847, in Denmark, and is the son of Jorgen P. and Anna Katherine Hoegh, both natives of that country. The former, a car- penter by trade, followed this occupation in his native land, and when he came to America lived retired with his children, of whom there were six, as follow: Peter, who is still in Denmark; Jorgen, deceased; Mettie Marie,
NIELS P. HOEGH AND FAMILY
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who lives near Davenport; Anna Marie, who is deceased; Niels P., and a daughter who died in infancy.
Many young men enjoy exceptional success in life because of the good start they received from an inheritance or gift at the beginning of their career, but this is not the case with Niels P. Hoegh, whose splendid fortune is the consequence of his own personal efforts. He had no better educa- tional advantages than hundreds of his countrymen who came to America, and who have been less successful than he. He did, however, receive a practical common school education, and after leaving school worked out as a farm hand in his native land. Wages are very much less in Denmark than in this country, and for Mr. Hoegh's last year's labors in that country he received only thirty dollars.
After locating near Davenport, Iowa, he was compelled to look for work for five weeks, and his first job was cleaning a cellar, for which he was paid seventy-five cents. From this time he was always busy and for the most part always able to find something to do. After working near Davenport for three years as a farm hand, he spent one year working for the railroads, afterwards went to Colorado, where he worked in a silver mine for three years. Upon returning to Davenport, he remained there a short time, and then removed, about 1875, to Audubon, and was married, and located on a farm which he had purchased. This farm of fifty-three acres was the nucleus of the two thousand acres of land he has since acquired. This large estate has been built up from year to year, a little land added here and a little there. Seven hundred acres of the two thou- sand acres which Mr. Hoegh owns is covered with timber. Mr. Hoegh's fortune has been built around the first fifty-three acres he owned, but before that it was founded on one hundred dollars in gold, which he brought with him to America, which he exchanged for one hundred and thirty-eight dol- lars in greenbacks in 1868.
On June 10, 1875, Niels P. Hoegh was married to Mary Katherine Knoss, the daughter of Christian Knoss. Eight children were born to this marriage, as follow: George, died on May 17, 1915, married Anna Hoogensen and had four children, Evelyn, Raymond, Harvey and Mildred; William, married Anna Johnson and had three children, Theodore, Harry and Leo; Annie, married Hans R. Hansen and had four children, Edwin, Dagma, Wilbur and Gradis; Walter, married Bertha Hansen and had one child, Adel; Arthur N., married Hannah Walters and had one child, Erma; Benjamin, married Emma Clauson; Katrina, married Walter Hansen; Edward lives at home.
(47)
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Mrs. Hoegh and her parents were natives of Denmark, and located at Davenport, Iowa, in pioneer times. After the death of her father, her mother came to Audubon county and lived in her home.
Niels P. Hoegh has never divided his energies and perhaps that is the explanation for his success. A member of the Danish Lutheran church, he and his wife and family have done their part in behalf of this church, and the Hoeghs are people of strong religious inclinations. But Mr. Hoegh has never permitted his attention to be diverted by politics, and although an ardent Republican, the only office he has ever held is that of county super- visor, which he held for nine years. In this office he made a commendable record, and one which was a credit to himself and to the people of Audubon county. Naturally he gave to the office the same business-like attention that he has always given to his own private affairs.
As suggested in the beginning of this sketch, it is probable that Niels P. Hoegh's success is founded upon his own personal worth as much as upon anything else; upon his cordial relations with the public; upon his honorable and fair dealing in the business affairs of life. Men have learned to believe in him, and as they have believed in him he has been able not only to bestow favors upon his business associates, but likewise he himself has been able to profit by these relations. He is a very worthy man, and a good citizen of this great county.
ABEL S. STONE.
Abel S. Stone, a farmer of Exira township, Audubon county, Iowa, and the proprietor of sixty acres of land in this township, was born in Denmark, May 1, 1865, the son of Soren Anderson and Caroline (Sorensen) Stone, both natives of Denmark. Soren Anderson Stone was a laborer in his native land, and is still living in that country. His wife is deceased. They were the parents of seven children, Miller, Jens, Frederick, Amelia, Abel S., Peter and Christina.
Abel S. Stone was educated in the schools of his native land, and after leaving school he took up carpenter work and followed this until he came to America in 1884. He located in Cass county, Illinois, where he worked on a farm for two years. He then took up butter making and followed this trade at St. Charles, Illinois, for several years, when he came to Elkhorn, Iowa, and worked as a butter maker there for a year. Mr. Stone then removed
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to West Hamlin, Audubon county, where he bought a farm of eighty acres, farming it for three years, after which he removed to Oakfield township, and lived there for two years. He then sold out and bought the place upon which he is now living. Mr. Stone has invested thirty-five hundred dollars in improving the place, which is one of the best-conducted small farms in the township. Mr. Stone feeds about fifty head of hogs each year for the market, and has made a success of raising corn, feeding it to hogs.
Abel S. Stone was married on November 1, 1895, to Mary K. Jessen, the daughter of Peter and Maren (Peterson) Jessen. To this union six chil- dren have been born, Chris, Caroline, May, Peter, Adelbert and Elmer, the last named being deceased.
Mr. and Mrs. Stone are members of the Danish Lutheran church. Mr. Stone is a member of the Modern Woodmen of America, and is identified with the Republican party.
CHARLES LEWIS BISOM.
Charles Lewis Bisom, a well-known citizen of Brayton, Iowa, and a re- tired druggist of this city, was born on June 16, 1858, in Berkeley county, West Virginia, the son of John and Elizabeth (Hauck) Bisom, both of whom were natives of Germany. The former came to America when seventeen years old, and after locating in Berkeley county, West Virginia, worked as a laborer for some time, and then purchased a farm and was engaged in farming until 1865; when he removed to Ogle county, Illinois, remaining there only five months, and then removing to Poweshiek county, Iowa, where he purchased a farm of two hundred and forty acres. Here he farmed until a few years before his death, when he retired, living thereafter with his son Dan, at Primghar, Iowa, until his death in 1894, at the age of eighty-three. His wife, who was born in 1821, is also deceased. To them were born the following children : Henry, John, Dan, George, Charles, Eliza, Susan, Mag- gie, Laura, Mabel and Fannie.
After having received a common-school education in the public schools of Poweshiek county, Iowa, Charles Lewis Bisom attended Western College, at Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and later the State Normal College, at Cedar Falls, Iowa. Upon leaving school he was engaged in teaching for two years, and then began working in the drug store at Audubon as a clerk for Dr. J. F. Cloughly. Here he remained for one and one-half years, when he became
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assistant auditor of Audubon county, which position he held for a short time, and then worked for William Cloughly a year. Finally he was pre- pared for the examination as a pharmacist, and after passing this examina- tion began business for himself in Brayton, Iowa. Altogether, Mr. Bisom was engaged in this business at Brayton for a period of twenty-three years, and during six years of this period he also was engaged in the purchase and sale of live stock.
In September, 1880, Charles Lewis Bisom was married to Elizabeth Wattles, and to them have been born five children, as follow: Imo, Edna, Ethel, Charles and John. Imo married Raymond Miller, and they have three children, Lucele, Cosetta and Charles. Edna married Henry Hansen, and they have three children, Mack, Majorie and Charles Donald. Ethel mar- ried Earl Brown.
Mr. Bisom has always been identified with the Republican party. He is an ardent believer in the principles announced by Abraham Lincoln, and has been influential in the local councils of the party. He is a member of the Masonic lodge, the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, of which he is a past grand, and the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks.
Charles Lewis Bisom has been known as a good citizen in the commun- ity where he has lived so long. During his active career in business he en- joyed a good trade, which was founded upon honorable and square dealing with the public. Courteous to everybody, broad and liberal in his views, he today enjoys many warm and ardent friendships with the people of this community.
JESSE NYMAND.
Jesse Nymand, a retired farmer of Oakfield township, a native of Ger- many, was born on March 9, 1858, in Schleswig, the son of Hans and Cath- erine (Miller) Nymand, both natives of Germany. The former, a farmer, was born in 1826, and died in 1888. He owned a small farm which he culti- vated until his death. His wife, who was born in 1828, died in 1892, four years after the death of her husband. They had eight children: Jesse, Hans, Lawrence, Christian, Christena, Meta Marie, Katherine and Marie.
The five years immediately preceding Mr. Nymand's coming to America he spent in Copenhagen, Denmark, working there at various things. He had received his education in his native land, and had gone to Copenhagen imme- diately after finishing his school training. In 1882 Mr. Nyman came to
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America, and located near Brayton, Iowa, where he worked as a farm hand for one year. The following summer he spent in Colorado working on the railroad, and the next winter he spent in Arizona. From this time until 1883 he was located near San Francisco, where he was engaged in working on a farm.
In 1883 Jesse Nymand came to Audubon county, at which time he and his brother, Hans, purchased a farm of two hundred and forty acres in Oak- field township. They operated this farm from 1883 until 1908, in partner- ship, when Jesse sold his interest to Hans. Jesse Nymand purchased a ten- acre lot in Brayton, and here he is now living retired.
Jesse Nymand was married in 1886, four years after coming to America, and one year after coming to Audobon county, to Anna Christena Hansen, the daughter of Hans Hansen. After the death of Mrs. Anna (Hansen) Ny- mand, Mr. Nymand was married to Christena Jacobsen, who has been the mother of one child, Catherine. Catherine married Walter Nelson, and they have two children, Catherine and Florence.
Mr. and Mrs. Nymand are members of the Danish Lutheran church, and formerly Mr. Nymand was a trustee in this church. He has also served as township trustee, having been nominated and elected as a Democrat, the party with which he has been affiliated since coming to America.
Mr. Nymand has a host of friends in this section of Audobon county, where he is well known for his quiet and unassuming manners, and for his genial and friendly disposition. He is a man who has never failed to dis- charge faithfully and conscientiously, not only the duties of a private citi- zen, but the duties of a public official. He well deserves the confidence and esteem which he so generally enjoys.
WILLIAM GEORGE ONKEN.
One of the best-known and most successful farmers of the last gen- cration in Audubon county, Iowa, was the late William George Onken, who passed away at the age of sixty-five, October 27, 1913. Born in Schleswig, Germany, April 13, 1848, he was the son of Hoegh and Mary Onken, both natives of Germany, where the former was a farmer and where both lived and died.
The German schools have always been known for their thoroughness and particularly for the skill with which they master local problems. It
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is the rule in this country that young men who expect to be farmers will be educated in those things which will best fit them for their vocation. It was in the German schools that William George Onken received his education and he was therefore well equipped for farming when he had completed his school days. After leaving school, he worked with his father on the farm until he came to America.
After arriving in this new country, the late William George Onken located in Marne, Iowa, remaining with his uncle on a farm near that place for two years. Coming to Audubon county in 1873, at a time when there were very few settlers in the county, he purchased two hundred and eighty acres of land on Buck creek and farmed there for sixteen years; when he sold out, purchasing two hundred acres of land near Brayton, Iowa, where he was engaged in farming until two years before his death. He then retired, having accumulated a substantial competence, and moved to Brayton, where he died.
On August 22, 1874, William George Onken was married to Elizabeth Hardwick, who was born on February 12, 1856, a daughter of George and Mary (Beech) Hardwick, both natives of England, where they lived and died. Elizabeth Hardwick came to America with her brother and located on Buck creek, in Audobon county.
To Mr. and Mrs. William George Onken were born nine children: Mary, Anna, Amelia, Bertha, William, Henry, Kate, Fred and Lillie. Mary married Peter Leander and had six children; George, Minnie, Clarence, Harry, Bessie and Mabel, the latter two deceased. Anna married George Astings and has one child, Pearl. Amelia became the wife of John Kracck and has two children, Carl and Donald. Bertha is the wife of Henry Bell and has two children, Henry and Glynn. William married Anna Anderson and has two children, Walter and Ethel. Henry married Lena Anderson. Kate is the wife of Asa Brewer and has one child, Gerald. Fred married Dorothy Anderson and has one child, Mildred. Lillie married George An- derson and has one child, Harry.
William George Onken was a Democrat and held several offices of local importance. He served many years as road supervisor, and was also a school director and served as president of the Oakfield creamery one year. The Onken family are all members of the Lutheran church.
At the time of his death, William George Onken had a host of friends in Audobon county and today, now that he is gone, his memory is revered, not only by his loving sons and daughters, but by those friends who knew
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him for his worth as a neighbor and citizen. He was a man of generous and kindly impulses, a friend to the poor and charitable to a fault. He took a keen interest in his family and his home, and at his death his children were well provided with the comforts of life.
CHARLES A. PARDEE.
Charles A. Pardee, the proprietor of "Pleasant View Farm," in Greeley township, Audubon county, Iowa, and one of the well known farmers of this township, was born on August 7, 1867, in Johnson county, Iowa, the son of Edward L. and Marinda (Burdick) Pardee, natives of New York and Vermont, respectively. The latter came to Iowa with her parents, and the former was a young man when he came to Iowa alone. He was a soldier in the Civil War, serving in the Twenty-second Iowa Infantry as a private for three years, and was wounded in the hand at the battle of Port Gibson. In 1871 the family moved to Pottawattamie county, Iowa, where the father purchased land. In 1881 he again removed to Audubon county, Iowa, where he purchased a farm in Lincoln township, living there until 1890, about which time he made several moves, finally purchasing a farm south of Walnut, Iowa, where he lived for several years. Subsequently, however, he retired and moved to Omaha, where he lived until his death, and where the mother is still living. They were the parents of nine chil- dren, as follow: Mrs. Eva Travis, Edwin L., Charles A., George, Mrs. Mary Martin, Mrs. Etta Martin, William, Mrs. Inez Lahr and Roy.
Charles A. Pardee lived at home until twenty-one years of age, hav- ing in the meantime received a common-school education. After leaving home he worked out at farm work in the summer and taught school in the winter, teaching seven or eight terms of school in Lincoln township.
About 1892 Mr. Pardee purchased eighty acres of land in Lincoln town- ship, and farmed it for one year before he was married. After his mar- riage he rented his farm out and he himself rented one hundred and sixty acres of land, selling his eighty-acre farm in 1897. In 1906 he purchased one hundred and sixty acres of land north of Ross in Cameron township, living there until 1909, when he purchased two hundred acres of land in section II, Greeley township. Although fairly well improved at the time he purchased it, Mr. Pardee has built another large barn and has made many minor improvements. The farm has been named and registered as
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the "Pleasant View Farm." Mr. Pardee is engaged in general farming and stock raising; he owns a few thoroughbred Shorthorn cattle, but has never undertaken to make a specialty of raising this breed. Gradually, how- ever, he expects to acquire only thoroughbred live stock of all kinds.
On May, 1897, Charles A. Pardee was married in Manning, Carroll county, Iowa, to Celia Martin, who was born, July 22, 1871, in Fulton county, Illinois, and who is the daughter of John and Jane (Roy) Martin, who came to Audubon county about 1884. Mrs. Pardee is a sister of the two Martin boys who married Mr. Pardee's two sisters. Mr. and Mrs. Pardee are the parents of eight children: Earl, born on June 22, 1898; Giles, December 29, 1900; Grace, June 29, 1902; Ernest, November 19, 1904; Irma, November 22, 1906; Wayne, November 17, 1908; Mary, Au- gust 2, 1910, and Bernard, May 22, 1912.
Upon the formation of the Progressive party, Mr. Pardee identified himself with this organization. For many years he has been a loyal and devoted follower of Colonel Roosevelt, and has held firmly to the policies for which he stands. The only office which he has ever held is that of township constable.
For many years Charles A. Pardee has been considered an influential man in the community in which he lives. He is a man who is well read and well informed and who not only has kept himself fully advised as to present-day progress in farming, but in other lines of endeavor as well. He has many friends in this section of Audubon county. The Pardee family are all members of the Catholic church.
FRED KLINE.
Fred Kline, one of the successful farmers of Audubon township, Au- dubon county, Iowa, who, with his wife owns an excellent farm of two hundred acres in this township, was born, July 9, 1867, in Johnson county, Iowa, and is the son of Alexander and Este (Martin) Kline, natives of Pennsylvania and Virginia, respectively, the former having been born near Pittsburgh.
Alexander Kline's father, having died before Alexander was born, and his mother having died when he was three years old, he was bound out to one of his uncles, where he remained until he was eighteen years old, when he ran away and, in company with some drovers, he left Pennsylvania for
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Indiana; from Indiana he went to Illinois, and from Illinois to Iowa, about 1863. Following his marriage in Johnson county, Iowa, he came west to Audubon county in 1871, arriving in the fall of that year, when he pur- chased eighty acres of land from the railroad company, paying six dollars an acre. After improving the farm and holding it for five years, he bought eighty acres just north of the original farm, and after improving that, keep- ing it seven years, he sold out and purchased eighty acres one mile east of the second farm, where he lived for three years; but as a consequence of bad luck and various misfortunes, was compelled to return to renting. After renting land for eight years he purchased a hundred and sixty acres east of Exira, where he lived for six years, when he again sold out and bought a farm in Audubon township, where he lived for a few years and then re- tired to Exira. After living in Exira for some time, he came to live with his son, Andrew J., with whom he remained until his death. Although a wagon maker by trade, he was always more pleased to work at the carpenter's trade, or with an old threshing machine. For thirty-six consecutive sea- sons he operated a threshing machine in Audubon county. Alexander and Este (Martin) Kline were the parents of nine children, six sons and three daughters, of whom Fred, the subject of this sketch, was the second born.
Receiving only a very limited education in the country schools of the various neighborhoods where he lived, Fred Kline lived at home until twenty- five years of age, at which time he was married and began renting land. After renting for one year he purchased sixty acres of land in section 17 of Audubon township but held it only one year, when he sold out and be- gan working for his father-in-law, continuing for four years. After rent- ing land southeast of Exira for four years, he farmed a hundred and twenty acres of land owned by Mrs. Kline, located in section 21, Audubon township, and in 1907 purchased an additional eighty acres, where he now lives, having removed the buildings from the first farm to their present location.
On September 3, 1891, Mr. Kline was married in Audubon to Leona Davis, daughter of William and Martha (Davis) Davis, both natives of Wales. The former came to America with his parents, David and Lucy Davis when five years old, and first settled in Pennsylvania near Miners- ville, where they lived for several years, and where he was a coal miner for more than forty years. He followed his occupation, however, in different parts of the country. Mrs. Kline's father and mother both were married twice. Each had one child by a former marriage. David, the father's son by his first wife, lived in St. Louis, and Mrs. Elizabeth Hill, the mother's
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child by her first husband lived near Exira. Mrs. Kline is one of four children born to her parents. One is deceased and the others, William and Frank, are living in Audubon county. About 1879 the Davis family came to Audubon county, and there established a family home, originally buying land from the Rock Island railroad.
To Mr. and Mrs. Fred Kline have been born five children, as follow : Jay D .; Eunice, who married Frank Klemish, and who is the mother of one child, Lawrence; Veda, Florence and Chester.
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