USA > Iowa > Audubon County > History of Audubon county, Iowa; its people, industries, and institutions > Part 78
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has one child, a daughter, Lois; and Alice, born on February 7, 1894, who attended college at Sioux Falls, South Dakota, and is now living at home. The Turners are earnest members and supporters of the Methodist church and were largely instrumental in the organization of the church of that de- nomination at Greeley Center, Mr. Turner having donated the land on which the church was erected and ever since has been an active supporter of and interested worker of the church.
Mr. Turner is a Democrat, but makes no pretensions to being a politician. Though he has been elected to township offices he has never cared to qualify for the same. His interest in educational matters, however, is of the active sort and for fifteen years he served very acceptably as school director in his district, his services in that connection having proved very valuable to the interests of the youth of the district. The Turners are held in high regard by a large circle of friends and acquaintances and are popular with all.
ANDREW P. TOPP.
Born in Schleswig, Germany, February 22, 1868, Andrew P. Topp, a well-known farmer of Sharon township, and the owner of a splendid farm of one hundred and sixty acres, is the son of Peter and Mary (Peter- sen) Topp, both of whom were natives of Germany, where they lived all their lives, and where the father dealt in live stock and operated a small farm. Their five children, Jacob, Mrs. Mary Hansen, and three others are all living, but only Jacob and Mrs. Hansen are living in Audubon county, besides Andrew.
Educated in the schools of his native land, Andrew P. Topp worked with his father on the farm after leaving school until he came to America in 1886. He located first in Scott county, Iowa, and there he worked as a farm hand for about two years, after which he came to Audubon county and located here permanently. After working in Audubon county for four years, however, he again removed, this time to Minnesota, where he was foreman of a cattle ranch for about two years. Returning once more to Audubon county, Iowa, he purchased eighty acres of land in Sharon township, on which he is now living, and which he subsequently increased to one hundred and sixty acres. The farm was wholly unimproved when Mr. Topp purchased it, and during his ownership and management he has invested approxi- mately thirty-five hundred dollars in various improvements. He is accustomed
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to raising about fifty-five acres of corn which yields on an average fifty bushels to the acre, besides thirty-five acres of small grain, most of which he feeds to live stock, selling annually about eighty-five head of hogs.
Andrew P. Topp was married in 1900 to Helen Christensen, the daughter of Chris and Sine Christensen, and to this union six children have been born, Peter, Sine, Chris, Edward, Mary and Leona, all of whom are living at home. Mrs. Topp is a daughter of native-born Danish parents, although she was born in Illinois, and came to Audubon county, Iowa, when a small child. They located in Sharon township. Her father is now retired and lives in Kimballton. They were the parents of six children, all of whom are living.
Mr. and Mrs. Andrew P. Topp are members of the Danish-Lutheran church, and Mr. Topp has served as treasurer of the church. Politically, he is a Democrat, and has taken an active interest in the civic affairs of his township, serving as school director of Sharon township, and is at present the efficient and capable township trustee. He is also treasurer of the local school board.
Andrew P. Topp is a well-known and successful farmer, a man who is thoroughly engrossed by his vocation; a born optimist, of pleasant and agreeable manners and popular in the neighborhood where he lives, and as a husbandman he has no superiors and few equals in Sharon township.
JORGEN MARCUSEN.
Very few young men born in the thriving little kingdom of Denmark, who have sought fortunes in this country, have failed to achieve a satis- factory measure of success; some, however, have succeeded to a larger extent than others. Among the most successful and enterprising citizens of Audubon county, who have come here from Denmark, is Jorgen Marcusen, a farmer of Sharon township and a well-known banker of this county. He is interested in many enterprises in this section of Iowa and. possessed with genius for good business management, has been eminently successful in his personal and private affairs. Many political honors have also come to Mr. Marcusen and, in no case, has he ever failed in the performance of his duty, whether private or public.
Jorgen Marcusen, who, among other things, owns a splendid farm of two hundred and forty acres in Sharon township, is a native of Denmark,
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born there June 1, 1864. His parents, Christian and Margaret Marcusen, both natives of Denmark, came to America in 1882. The father was a laborer in his native land, who, after locating in section 28 of Sharon town- ship, purchased forty acres of land for which he paid nine dollars an acre; he made many improvements on this farm and remained on it until his death in 1895, his wife surviving him until 1898. They had five children, Jens, Chris, Hans, Nick and Jorgen. Christian Marcusen served in the Danish- Prussian War, of 1848, the period of his enlistment having extended over three years.
Most of Jorgen Marcusen's education was received in the schools of his native land and, after he had finished his education, he worked as a farm hand; in fact, Mr. Marcusen has been practically self-supporting since he was seven years old. Immediately after coming to America, when seven- teen years old, he worked as a farm hand for various neighboring farmers, the first year receiving ninety dollars for his services. In 1884 he purchased forty acres of land in section 28 and paid twelve dollars an acre for it. In the meantime, he had broken the sod and four years later he began farm- ing for himself, dividing his attention between his father's farm and the forty acres which he himself owned. At the same time he was engaged in breaking the prairie sod for other people and continued to follow this occupation, saving something each year from his earnings, until he now has the two hundred and forty acre farm in Sharon township. Altogether, Mr. Marcusen has invested seven thousand dollars in improvements on the place; they consist of many outbuildings, good fences, good ditches and good roads. Ordinarily, he raises one hundred and twenty-five acres of corn each year and sixty acres of small grain, and feeds one hundred and twenty head of hogs each year and milks thirty head of cows.
Jorgen Marcusen was married in 1897 to Martha Larson, the daughter of N. C. Larson. Four children have been born to this union: Oscar, Laura, Clara and Orla. Mrs. Marcusen was born in Denmark and her parents are now living in that country. Her father is a government official, located at Fradenburg, Denmark; he takes care of the government timber land and has been employed in this work since he was twenty years old. N. C. Larson and wife have been the parents of fourteen children, eight of whom are living in this country: Mrs. Marcusen, Johanna, Walter, William, Axel, Anna, Sena and Karen. The other six children are living in their native land: Digny, Ingebort, Christian, Marie, Petra and Egner.
Aside from the two hundred and forty acres of land in Sharon town- ship, which Mr. Marcus owns, he is a director and treasurer of the At-
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lantic and Northern Railway Company and is also a director in the Kim- ballton Savings Bank, of which he was one of the organizers. For a young man, who came to this country without any money whatever and who even found it necessary to borrow money to pay for his passage, it must be admitted that Jorgen Marcusen has achieved splendid success in his adopted country. Moreover, Mr. Marcusen's energy, his talent and his in- dustry have been recognized by the people of Audubon county since many positions of trust and responsibility have been bestowed upon him. He has served as justice of the peace and as township clerk for six years. Formerly, he was treasurer of the Kimballton Creamery and is secretary of the corporation at this time.
Mr. and Mrs. Marcusen and family are members of the Danish Lutheran church. In politics, Mr. Marcusen is identified with the Democratic party.
There are no more patriotic citizens living in the state of Iowa than Jorgen Marcusen and no Danish lad has ever come to this country with a fuller realization of his opportunities and a sterner determination to succeed than he. Mr. Marcusen's family is popular in Sharon township and his children are regarded as worthy sons and daughters. Jorgen Marcusen is a man of charitable and kindly impulses, genial in his manners, frank and open in all of his dealings.
GEORGE L. JORGENSEN.
George L. Jorgensen, the owner of a farm containing one hundred and sixty acres, in Sharon township, Audubon county, Iowa, and one of the well-known citizens of this township, was born on July 6, 1861, in Denmark. He is the son of Christian L. and Anna (Albertson) Jorgensen, and is a brother of Albert H. Jorgensen, whose life history is recorded elsewhere in this volume. Mr. Jorgensen's parents were both natives of Denmark; his father, a sailor by occupation, followed this occupation all of his life not only in his native land, but in America. In 1872 he came to this country and after locating in Chicago, sailed on Lake Michigan for three years, at the end of which time he returned to Denmark to his family and lived there the remainder of his life, passing away in 1913. He was a veteran of the Danish-Prussian War of 1848 and the father of the following chil- dren: George L., Carrie, Albert H., Sophia and Anna. Johanna is de- ceased.
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George L. Jorgensen received his education in the Danish schools and after leaving school, worked in the neighborhood as a farm hand until he came to America in 1879; at this time he was only eighteen years old. Nevertheless, he came determined to succeed in the new country and brought with him a strong heart and a sound body, which have served him well in the quest of fortune.
After locating in Shelby county, Iowa, on coming to America, he worked here as a farm hand for three years and then moved to Cass county, Iowa, where he worked for one year. In 1883, when he was twenty- two years old, he located in Sharon township, Audubon county, Iowa, and purchased the farm upon which he is now living. Having in the meantime been able to save considerable money from his earnings as a farm hand, Mr. Jorgensen first purchased eighty acres of land, for which he paid twelve dollars an acre. He found it necessary to break the sod, as the land con- sisted largely of raw prairie, and he built a two-roomed house, fourteen by twenty-two feet and about eight feet high. Since 1883 he has invested ap- proximately five thousand dollars in various kinds of improvements. He raises sixty acres of corn each year, which averages not less than fifty bushels to the acre. Mr. Jorgensen feeds sixty head of hogs every year and a carload of cattle; he keeps only a very high grade of live stock and this has been the feature of his success of mixed farming. Mr. Jorgensen had only nine dollars in money when he arrived in America, and it must be admitted that he has achieved a remarkable success.
Three years after arriving in this country, or in 1882, Mr. Jorgensen was married to Sarah A. Stone, the daughter of Frank and Mary Stone. Mr. and Mrs. Jorgensen have had eight children, four of whom, three daughters and a son, are now married. The children are, Anna, Frank, George, Nettie, Clara, Albert, Sarah and Carrie. Anna married Chris Jorgensen and has six children, Frank, Elmer, Ralph, Mignus, Thelma and Norma ; Frank married Christena Hansen, and they have one child, Ramona; Nettie married Albert Petersen and has three children, Ralph, Esther and Clifford; Clara married Vigo Rasmussen and has four children, Irma, Donald, Victor and Lanor.
Mr. Jorgensen is prominent as a citizen of Sharon township, which is evident from the fact that he has held nearly all of the township offices. He has served as trustee, school director, road supervisor and township clerk. Politically, he is a progressive Republican and one of the ardent admirers of Senator Cummins in this section. The Jorgensen family are members of
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the Danish Lutheran church and Mr. Jorgensen has held practically all of the offices in the congregation.
No citizen of Sharon township is better known outside of the township perhaps than George L. Jorgensen, and no citizen of Sharon township is better liked by the people of his neighborhood who know him best. While he has been keenly interested in his progress as a farmer, he has not neglected the larger interests, and his support in behalf of worthy public movements can always be depended upon.
CHRIS H. CHRISTIANSEN.
Chris H. Christiansen, who came to this country when a youth of nine- teen, has enjoyed a successful and honorable career in his adopted country. There are few citizens living in Sharon township more widely known than Mr. Christiansen, and few who have a larger circle of friends.
An enterprising farmer, the owner of two hundred acres of land in Sharon and Douglas townships, Audubon county, Iowa, Chris H. Christian- sen was born on December 27, 1861, in Denmark. His parents were Chris and Anna Marie Christiansen, both natives of Denmark, the former of whom was a laborer in his native land all of his life. Mr. and Mrs. Christansen had five children, three of whom are now living: Mrs. Mary Smith, Albert and Chris H., Jr.
Chris H. Christiansen, Jr., received his education principally in the schools of Denmark, and after completing his education, worked in the neighborhood of his home as a farm hand until he was nineteen years old. In 1880 he came to America and after an uneventful voyage across the Atlantic, he came direct to Audubon county and worked here as a farm hand for a few years. Out of his savings, he was subsequently able to buy .eighty acres of land in Sharon township, the place upon which he now lives and for which he paid thirteen dollars an acre. Mr. Christiansen, however, has invested seven thousand dollars in improvements upon the farm. Ordinarily he raises, annually, seventy acres of corn, which in 1914 yielded sixty-five bushels to the acre. When he came to America, he had only about twenty-five dollars in money, and with this small nucleus as a starter, he has been able to acquire a substantial fortune.
In 1889 Chris H. Christiansen was married to Mary Petersen, the daughter of Hans and Anna Marie Petersen. The marriage took place
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about nine years after Mr. Christiansen had come to America, when he was twenty-eight years old. He and his wife are the parents of three children : Chris, Hans is deceased, and Anna. Chris married Christena Larsen and has one child, Maren Hilda.
For a young man, unacquainted with our language and our customs, who began working in this country for seven dollars a month, breaking sod and doing other hard and laborious work, the career of Chris H. Christiansen is a conspicuous success and a splendid example of what other young men may accomplish. When he first came to this country, his house, which was only fourteen by twenty-two feet, consisted of only two rooms and his barn was fourteen by twenty-four feet. Mr. Christiansen now feeds about seventy head of hogs each year, and the raising of hogs he has found to be very profitable.
Mr. and Mrs. Chris H. Christiansen are member of the Danish Lutheran church, of which Mr. Christiansen is a trustee. Politically, he is a Republican and has served as school director in his locality.
Chris H. Christiansen is wholly worthy of the confidence and esteem of the neighborhood where he lives. Mr. Christiansen enjoys this esteem and today he is honored and respected in the community where he has lived so long and where the people have had an opportunity to know what manner of man he is.
ALBERT H. JORGENSEN.
One of the best-known Danish families living in Audubon county, Iowa, is that of the Jorgensens. The family is especially well-known in this county, because of the prominence which the various members have attained, and on account of their success in farming and the interest which the various members have taken in the public affairs of the county. By skillful and careful management of their personal affairs, they have been able to outstrip many of the less active and less able citizens who have come to this county from Denmark and from other lands. Albert H. Jorgensen, a farmer of Sharon township, is one of the best known representatives of the Jorgensen family in this county.
Mr. Jorgensen, who among other things owns three hundred and sixty acres of land in Sharon township, was born on August 5, 1866, in Denmark. His parents, Chris L. and Anna (Albertson) Jorgensen, were both natives of Denmark. Chris L. Jorgensen was a sailor by occupation, and followed
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this practically all his life, not only in his native land, but in this country. In 1872 he came to America and after locating in Chicago, Illinois, sailed on Lake Michigan for three years. Seized with a desire to visit his home people, he returned to Denmark to his family and lived in his native land the remainder of his life. Early in life he had served in the Danish-German War of 1848. He died in July, 1913, ripe in years, honored and respected by the host of people who had known him in his active life. He was the father of six children. five of whom are now living, Johannah being deceased. The others are, George L., Carrie, Albert H., Sophia and Anna.
Albert H. Jorgensen received a good education in the Danish schools before coming to this country. He was only sixteen years old when he arrived in America in 1882, and immediately after coming here located in Audubon county, where he worked as a farm hand for four years. In the meantime, he had saved considerable money from his earnings, and was able to buy forty acres of land, for which he paid fourteen dollars an acre. This small tract of land was located in Sharon township, and it is the same farm upon which Mr. Jorgensen now lives. He has been engaged in general farming all his life, and as he has prospered he has been able to add to his farming holdings from time to time. Usually he raises a hundred and fifty acres of corn, which yields an average of not less than fifty bushels to the acre; he also raises about seventy-five acres of small grain and forty acres of hay every year. Mr. Jorgensen is an enthusiastic believer in the virtues of alfalfa as a forage crop, and has twenty acres sown to that crop. Prac- tically all of his grain and his hay, especially the alfalfa, he feeds to hogs and cattle. However, he is not able to raise enough grain, and generally buys three to five thousand bushels of corn every year in addition to what he raises. He feeds about two hundred head of hogs and seventy-five head of cattle, and only raises thoroughbred Shorthorn cattle, and Duroc-Jersey hogs. The Jorgensen farm, upon which there has been invested more than fifteen thousand dollars in improvements, is believed to be the best in Sharon township; it is equipped with two silos, which have a tonnage of three hundred tons. Mr. Jorgensen was one of the promoters and served as vice-president for three years of the Atlantic & Northern Railway Com- pany.
On November 2, 1888, six years after coming to America, Albert H. Jorgensen was married to Maren K. Clausen, daughter of Claus C. and Christena (Madsen) Clausen, both natives of Denmark, where the former was a blacksmith and where he followed his occupation all his life; he is still living in his native land, but is now retired. He served in the Danish-
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Prussian War of 1864, and has lived to rear a family of nine children, eight of whom are still living, two being in Audubon county, Christian F. Clausen and Mrs. Jorgensen.
Mr. and Mrs. Albert H. Jorgensen have been the parents of a large family of children. Of the ten children only one, Anna, the eighth-born, is married. She married Albert Jensen, and they have one child, Herluf. The other children are, Chris L., Clarence, Albert, Marcius, Mads, Jens, Nels, Anna, Christina and Bertha.
Albert H. Jorgensen is prominent in the affairs of the Danish Lutheran church, of which he was treasurer for a number of years, and also was trustee. Politically, he is an independent Republican.
Among the other enterprises in which Mr. Jorgensen is interested, has been his connection with the well-known stock breeders of Audubon, and Mr. Jorgensen himself makes a specialty of Belgian and Clyde horses, and his profit in this industry has been no inconsiderable factor in his success. Albert H. Jorgensen well deserves the high standard which he enjoys among the people of Audubon county. He has gone on from year to year, looking carefully after the details of his business, yet he has never neglected the larger interests of the public, and is regarded as a man of charitable habits and kindly disposition. It must be said in justice to the history of this section, that no man has had a larger part in its commercial and agricultural de- velopment than Albert H. Jorgensen.
IRA STETZEL.
Ira Stetzel, who is a well-known farmer of Cameron township, Audubon county, Iowa, where he owns eighty acres of land and is engaged in farm- ing one hundred and sixty acres, was born on January 17, 1885, the son of George and Catherine (Albright) Stetzel. George Stetzel was born in Alsace, France, and his wife, who before her marriage was Catherine Al- bright, was born in Pennsylvania. The father was a miner in his native land, who came to America in 1860, and after arriving in this country lo- cated in Johnson county, Iowa, where he purchased a farm and farmed for twenty-six years, or until 1886, when he came to Audubon county.
After locating in Audubon county, George Stetzel purchased a farm in Douglas township, of three hundred and twenty acres, and engaged in general farming until his death, January 17, 1903. He was born, July 25,
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1830, and therefore was almost seventy-three years old at the time of his death. George and Catherine (Albright) Stetzel had sixteen children born to them, and all are still living. They are as follow: Elizabeth, Lena, Anna, Henry, Barbara, Cassie, Daniel, Charles, Emma, Martha, G. Wesley, Sarah, Louis, Rosa, Ira, the subject of this sketch, and Ella.
Ira Stetzel, who received his education in the public schools of Audubon county, and who after leaving school farmed with his mother until he was of age, began farming for himself and since has been so engaged. Mr. Stetzel is accustomed to raise about sixty-five acres of corn and forty acres of small grain. He feeds some fifty head of hogs every year, and keeps only thoroughbred Shorthorn cattle on the farm. He has been very success- ful in mixed farming and is considered one of the enterprising young farmers of Cameron township. Mr. Stetzel has invested approximately five thousand dollars in various kinds of improvements upon his Cameron township farm,
Religiously, Mr. Stetzel belongs to the Evangelical association and is president of the Sunday school. Politically, he is identified with the Re- publican party.
Although Ira Stetzel has never married, and is still a comparatively young man, he has enjoyed unusual success in farming, largely because he devotes his undivided attention to his life's vocation. Mr. Stetzel is keenly interested in farming and his natural liking for his life's vocation has been no small factor in his success. Mr. Stetzel has many warm friends in Cameron township, where he is well known.
CHARLES BOEHME.
Charles Boehme, a prosperous farmer of Audubon township, Audu- bon county, Iowa, and the owner of two hundred acres of land in this townhip, was born on March 7, 1859, in Brandon City, Vermont. He is the son of William and Mary Ann Boehme, natives of Rems, Germany, and Lincolnshire, England, respectively.
William and Mary Ann Boehme came to the United States about 1858 and were married in Quebec, Canada, soon after landing in this country. Mrs. Mary Ann Boehme's mother having died, she came over to this country with her father, who took sick, died and was buried at sea, leaving her an orphan. She was the only child born to her parents. After their marriage, William and Mary Ann Boehme went to New York City,
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where they remained a short time and then removed to Vermont, where they lived until 1866, when they moved to Washington county, Iowa. There William Boehme pre-empted eighty acres of land, paying one dollar and twenty-five cents an acre for it, and there they remained the remainder of their lives.
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