USA > Iowa > Sac County > History of Sac County, Iowa > Part 57
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Perry S. Hoskins, a prosperous farmer of Cedar township, Sac county, lowa, was born August 16, 1858. in Marshall county, Illinois, the son of C. W. and Elizabeth ( Tanquary ) Hoskins, both of whom were natives of Pickaway county, Ohio. In 1865 a colony of Ohio people, numbering fifteen families in all and including Abner Hoskins, the grandfather of P. S. Hos- kins, left Ohio, and settled in Marshall county, Illinois. The Tanquarys were among the families who made this change of residence. Here the Hoskins family lived until 1899, when they moved to Sac county, lowa. where the parents died. C. W. Hoskins and wife were the parents of six children: P. S., whose history is here given: Mrs. Laura McCully, of Marshall county, Illinois: Cornelius, of Cedar township; Ed, who lives in Buena Vista county, Iowa: Abner, of Portland, Oregon, and William. of Marshall county, Illinois.
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P. S. Hoskins received his education in the public schools of Illinois, and when twenty-four years of age married and began farming for him- self. For the first few years he rented land. then his father-in-law gave him and his wife seventy-five acres of land with the condition that he should improve and develop it. This he did to a very satisfactory degree and later sold it and came to Sac county, arriving here on February 19, 1907. He immediately bought a farm of two hundred and sixteen acres in the northeast quarter of section 18, and the north fifty-six acres of the south- east quarter of section 18 in Cedar township, paying ninety dollars an acre for it. At that time this was the highest priced land in the county, its value being enhanced because of the natural fertility of the soil and also because it had already been partly tiled. His land is now easily worth two hundred and twenty-five dollars an acre. He has improved the tract in every way by erecting new buildings and fencing and draining it. Since going on this farm he has placed over six hundred rods of tiling, an improvement which has more than paid for the original outlay. In 1913 he had sixty-nine acres in corn, which averaged about sixty bushels to the acre. He sells annually about two car loads of cattle and stock. He brings to his work a fair knowledge of all the phases of farming and by means of farmers' institutes and agricultural magazines, keeps in close touch with all the latest develop- ments in farming.
Mr. Hoskins was married in 1882, to Adeline Ingram, the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Seth Ingram, who were both natives of West Virginia, and to this marriage there have been born two children, Lillian and William, the former of whom is still at home with her parents, while William is farming in Cedar township. this county, on his father's farm.
Politically, Mr. Hoskins is a Republican, but owing to the comparatively short time which he has been in the county, and the arduous duties con- nected with his agricultural interests, he has never felt that he had the time to mix much in the game of politics. Fraternally, he is a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, subordinate lodge and encampment. He also belongs to the Rebekah lodge and the Modern Woodmen of America. Enough has been said concerning his career in this state and county to show what can be accomplished by a man who determines to make a success of farming. There is no better farming territory in the world than in this county and certainly the farmers of this section have proved equal in ability to the farmers of any other spot in the world. Mr. Hoskins is maintaining his reputation as one of the best farmers who have ever followed that voca- tion in this county.
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HENRY F. DETTMANN.
The subject of this review is a representative farmer and stock grower of Cedar township, Sac county, Iowa. and he is known as one of the alert, progressive and successful agriculturists of this favored section of the Hawk- eye state. In his labors he has not permitted himself to follow in the rut in a blind, apathetic way, but has studied and experimented and thus se- cured the maximum returns from his enterprising efforts, while he has so ordered his course at all times as to command the confidence and regard of the people of the community in which he lives, being a man of honorable business methods and advocating whatever tends to promote the public wel- fare in any way.
Henry F. Dettmann, a prosperous farmer of Cedar township, Sac county, was born in 1875 in Bremer county, Iowa. His parents were Henry and Mary Dettmann, both of whom were natives of Germany. They came to this country and settled in Bremer county. Iowa, shortly before the birth of Henry F., the oklest one of their children, and in 1880 moved near Sac City in Sac county. Mr. and Mrs. Henry Dettmann are the parents of seven children, five of whom are living: Henry F .: Mrs. Caroline Heck, of Cal- houn county: Mrs. Dora Reman, of Calhoun county; Mrs. Augusta Rob- bins, of Calhoun county, and Fred, who is now on the old home farm. Henry Dettmann is still living in Coon Valley township, but his wife has heen dead several years.
Henry F. Dettmann was educated in the schools of Sac county and re- mained with his parents on the farm until his marriage in 1890. He then moved on to the farm of one hundred and sixty aeres which he had pur- chased in 1898. He paid one hundred dollars for his first one hundred and sixty and later bought sixty aeres more, for which he paid eighty-five dol- lars an acre. Since going on to the farm he has placed ten thousand dollars worth of improvements, consisting of buildings, tiling, ditching and fencing. In the summer of 1912 he remodeled his house, making it more convenient and modern and in 1902 erected a large barn: in 1913 he had eighty acres of corn, which averaged forty bushels to the acre. He raises a considerable amount of stock and last year had ten head of horses, fifteen head of cattle and five sheep. He now has his farm of two hundred and twenty acres in a condition where it is netting him handsome returns annually, and by his systematic course of crop rotation he is able to keep his soil up to the high- est state of productivity.
Mr. Dettmaifn was married in 1899 to Emma Leggett, of Sac county.
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and to this marriage have been born seven children, six of whom are living : Eldora, born December 23, 1901 ; Evelina, born August 19, 1904; Albert, born February 16, 1907; Harry, born June 2, 1909; Emma, born August 12, 1912; Theodore, born October II, 1900, and died a year later; Frederick, born November 28, 1913.
In politics, Mr. Dettmann is independent, believing that the interests of his community and county, as well state, will be the best served by voting for the right man at all times irrespective of political affiliations. He and the members of his family are earnest adherents of the German Lutheran church and give generously to its support. Mr. Dettmann is a man of gener- ous impulses and because of his public-spirited way and mingling in all the civic and other enterprises of his community, he is highly regarded by all of those with whom he is associated.
CHRISTIAN SCHAEFER.
It is not conceivable that a complete history of Sac county could be written without taking due cognizance of the fact that a sturdy and thrifty German element has had considerable to do with the settlement and develop- ment of the county. At the present time the younger generation of the German-American population are firmly intrenched in the component make-up of the body politic and are the leaders of progress in their communities. The older pioneers are a substantial class of well-to-do citizens who have borne the brunt of the fight for conquest of the wilderness and are now calmly and contentedly enjoying the fruits of their earlier endeavors. Christian Schaefer belongs to the class of capable and energetic Germans, who, coming to the United States, endowed with an inherited equipment for success as tillers of the soil, sometimes achieve it in large degree.
Born in the rural district of Germany, December 28. 1840. Christian Schaefer came to this country at the age of six years in company with his parents, Frederick and Fredericka Schaefer, in 1847. The family settled in Sheboygan county, Wisconsin, and there hewed a home out of the forest wilderness. They migratedl to Alamakee county, Iowa, in 1864. Years later, after several of the children had located in Sac county, the aged father and mother followed them and ended their days on a farm in Eden township. The Schaefer children were: Christian: Fred. a soldier in the Union army who gave his life in defense of his country, dying while in the service : Mary.
CHRISTIAN SCHAEFER AND FAMILY.
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deceased in Wisconsin; Simon died in Wisconsin; William, a resident of Schaller: Mrs. Sophia Hahne, of Schaller; Mrs. Lena Sonneman, a resident of Canada ; Henry, of Mason City.
Mr. Schaefer is the oldest living settler of Eden township in point of years of residence in the community. May 17, 1870, marked an epoch in the history of the northern part of Sae county, for it was on this day that a little band of homeseekers from Alamakee county, consisting of Christian Schaefer, Christian Lucke. Fred Hahne and Adolph Martin, crossed the Boyer river and entered the promised land. The smiling prairies beckoned them onward and invited them to abide with it and teach the bosom of the flower and grass-covered landscape to yield forth its riches of grain and edibles. These men were the first settlers of Eden township west of the Boyer river, and journeyed from the town of Waukon. Alamakee county. Henry Luhman followed in the fall of the same year. Previous to this migration, Fred Hahne and Christ Lucke had made a trip to the section in July of 1869 and spied out the territory for the purpose of locating the fol- lowing year. These German-Americans were the actual and bona fide settlers who remained to develop the country; but they had been preceded by two men, a Mr. Hibner and Walter Toll, who did not become permanent settlers in the neighborhood.
Christian Schaefer settled on the east half of section 17. in Eden town- ship, which he purchased for five dollars an acre. His first place of abode was a small shanty, fourteen by sixteen feet in dimensions, in which he lived for the first summer and then. in the fall, erected a larger house, fourteen by twenty-two, in which he resided until 1882, when he built a large two-story house on the same site. and here he lived and reared his large family until July, 1906. when he and his faithful helpmeet moved to a comfortable home in the nearby town of Schaller. To tell of the early struggles this pioneer family endured in making a home out of the wilderness would require a longer chapter than the one which we are writing. Suffice to say, that Christ Schaefer overcame his early difficulties with true fortitude, reared a large family and amassed a competence sufficient to insure comfort or even luxury in his declining years and enabled him to give each of his many children a fitting start in the battle of life. He is the owner of five hundred and twenty acres of the best Sac county land and also possesses eight hundred acres of rich land in South Dakota. He is a progressive Republican in politics and keeps closely abreast of developments which are having a ten- dency to revolutionize the existing order of things in this land, and he is
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heartily in favor of good, honest government in behalf of all the people. He is a member of the Methodist church.
Mr. Schaefer's wedded life began on April 21, 1865, when he took for his life helpineet Minnie Pertner, who was born in Germany in 1846, and came to America with her parents, Fred and Lottie Pertner, in 1854. They settled in Alamakee county, Iowa. Mr. and Mrs. Schafer are the proud parents of fourteen children, thirteen of whom are now living and grown to stalwart manhood and womanhood. The children of this estimable couple are: Mrs. Alvina Woodke, of Schaller ; Mrs. Mary Lemke, Denison, Iowa ; Fred. a minister at Eureka, South Daktota; Alfred, a citizen of Warren, Illinois : August. a resident of Parker, South Dakota: Philip, also of Parker, South Dakota; Walter, a farmer near Windfred, South Dakota: William and Mrs. Elizabeth Wendt, of Parker, South Dakota: Reuben, of Greenville, Iowa : John, who cultivates a part of the old homestead farm : Leo, of Parker, South Dakota; Mrs. Lillie Buehler, residing near Odebolt, Iowa. They have thirty-six grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.
The biographer doubts very much if a single settler in Sac county has made a more enviable and praiseworthy record than he of whom this review is written. For the benefit and inspiration of his children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren, and for the perusal by the many warm friends of this aged and respected couple, this chronicle is respectfully submitted. That it may be a lasting tribute to their accomplishments and be a valued memento in years to come is the wish of the historian.
EDWARD S. RINGGENBERG.
Any person who will investigate the facts in the case will be surprised to learn of the great number of people of Germanic descent now living in the United States. Unquestionably the greatest number of emigrants reach- ing the shores of the New World comes from that nation, and statistics show that there is more Germanic blood in the United States than any other. This being a fact, it is easy to account for the prosperity and morality of this country. Not only that, but it will afford an explanation for the love of learning shown by the people of this vast nation. Germany is famous the world over for its remarkable universities, for its educated men, for its poets and philosophers, and for the industry, patience, intelligence, morality and sturdiness of its citizens. These qualities have been brought to this country
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by the immigrants, and are now part and parcel of our wonderful nation- its progress in domestic economy. its advancement in every branch of ma- terial improvement and its love of country and home.
Edward S. Ringgenberg, a prosperous farmer of Cedar township, Sac county, Iowa, was born in Polk county, Iowa, on September 15, 1874, and is the son of Peter and Anna ( Imboden) Ringgenberg, natives respectively of Ohio and Germany. Peter Ringgenberg and wife were early settlers in Polk county, Iowa, where they came in the sixties. They reared a family of twelve children.
E. S. Ringgenberg is a fine type of a successful German settler of Sac county. In 1894 he left the parental roof in Polk county and journeyed to Sac City with fifty cents in his pocket. He then walked ten miles to his orother's home in Calhoun county, and, due to the fact that there was a short corn crop in that county and little work to do, he came back to Sac county and shucked corn for the farmers in this county, saved every possible rent and rented a piece of ground, where from the first he was successful. The short space of twenty years, with a working basis of fifty cents in 1894. has attained for him at least fifty thousand dollars, all of which has been made by good, honest work. He first bought eighty acres in Calhoun county at twenty-eight and a half dollars an acre and lived on it two years. This he sold and bought one hundred and twenty acres at thirty-five dollars an acre elsewhere in Calhoun county; afterward he added forty acres to this in the same county, paying seventy-seven and a half dollars an acre. In the spring of 1909 he bought a farm in Sac county, adjoining Lytton, for which he paid one hundred and twenty-two and a half dollars an acre. In February of 1914 he and his brothers bought two hundred and forty acres in Buena Vista county at a cost of one hundred and sixty-six dollars an acre. The Sac county land is now easily worth two hundred and fifty dollars an acre and the Calhoun land one hundred and seventy-five dollars an acre. In 1913 his Sac county farm, which lies near Lytton, produced sixty-five bushels of corn to the acre. He had thirty-five acres of oats which averaged fifty bushels to the acre. He keeps on an average of thirteen horses, ten head of cattle and seventy-five hogs each year. His farms are well improved in every way, including good buildings, fencing and extensive drainage systems.
Mr. Ringgenberg was married in the spring of 1897 to Ida Dunaway. of Calhoun county, Iowa, and to this marriage have been born six children, all of whom are still at home : Iva, Pearl, Rosetta, Leon, Clarence and Leota. In politics Mr. Ringgenberg is a stanch Democrat, but his large agricul- tural interests prevent his taking an active part in politics. He and his
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family are members of the Lutheran church and give it their earnest sup- port. Mr. Ringgenberg is a man who is highly respected, because of his cor- rect principles and clean manner of life. He has conquered adversity and has won. not only pecuniary independence, but what is far greater and higher, the respect and confidence of those with whom his active years have been spent.
WALTER T. HIGHLAND.
Among the strong and influential citizens of Sac county the record of whose lives have become an essential part of the history of this section, the gen- tleman whose name appears above occupies a prominent place and for years he has exerted a beneficial influence in the locality where he resides. His chief characteristics are keenness of perception, a tireless energy, honesty of pur- pose and motive, and every-day common sense, which have enabled him not only to advance his own interests, but also largely contribute to the moral and material advancement of the community.
Walter T. Highland, ex-trustee and a prosperous farmer of Jackson township, Sac county, Iowa, was born on June 4. 1847, in Bradford, Orange county, Vermont. His parents were Thomas and Eliza ( Grow ) Highland. In 1866 the Highland family moved to Sank county, Wisconsin, and ten years later settled in Sac City, this state, where the father and mother both died in 1902. Thomas Highland and wife were the parents of two children, John M., of Sac City, and W. T., whose history is portrayed in this con- nection.
Walter T. Highland first came to Sac City September 10, 1872, by im- migrant wagon, accompanied by his wife, and shortly afterward settled in Jackson township on section I. He purchased eighty acres of land at ten dollars an acre, later adding another eighty, for which he paid thirty-one dollars an acre. This one hundred and sixty acres he improved in various ways, built buildings, and resided on it until 1902, then sold it for eighty dollars an acre and bought his present farm in Jackson and Cedar townships for which he paid sixty dollars an acre. He also bought five acres with good buildings, within the corporate limits of Sac City, which cost him three thon- sand dollars. He now owns ninety-two acres in all, and his land is rapidly increasing in value year by year.
Mr. Highland was married on January 18, 1870, at Merrimac, Sauk county, Wisconsin, to Helen M. Shell, the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. David
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Shell. She was born in Waddington, St. Lawrence county, New York, No- vember 8, 1848, and removed to Sauk county, Wisconsin, in 1850. To this union have been born two children, Clyde W., who was born in 1878 and is now a farmer on the home farm. Clyde was married in 1912 to Ethel Hay- den and has one daughter, Maurine. Ethel, the other child of Mr. and Mrs. Highland, died at the age of fourteen months and eighteen days.
Politically, Mr. Highland is a Republican and has always taken a promi- nent part in local politics. He is a man of good judgment and business abil- ity and his fellow citizens have entrusted him with various offices during the course of his residence in this county. An indication of the respect and esteem in which he is held in his township is shown by the fact that he has been township trustee for fifteen years in Jackson township. In addition he has held other offices of trust, all of which he has filled to the entire satis- faction of his constituents, due to his faithful and efficient administration of the various duties connected with then. He and his family are regular attendants of the Presbyterian church and give it their earnest support. Mr. Highland is a fine type of the farmer, who is not only able to attend to his agricultural interests, but also takes an intelligent interest in the body politic.
JOSEPH S. YOUNG.
In the history of Sac county, lowa, as applying to the agricultural in- terests, the name of Joseph S. Young occupies a conspicuous place, for through a number of years he has been one of the representative farmers of Cedar township, progressive, enterprising and persevering. Such quali- ties always win success, sooner or later, and to Mr. Young they have brought a satisfactory reward for his well-directed effort, and while he has benefited himself and community in a material way, he has also been an influential factor in the educational, political and moral uplift of the community favored by his residence.
Joseph S. Young, a prosperous farmer of Cedar township, Sac county, lowa, was born March 20, 1853, in Athens county, Ohio, the son of Alexan- der and Caroline ( Herrold) Young, both of whom were natives of that county. Alexander Young was born in 1826, and died in 1895, being sixty- nine years, seven months and twenty-seven days old at the time of his death. His widow died June 17. 1909, at the age of eighty-eight years, and was the oldest pioneer woman of Sac county at the time of her death. They
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were the parents of three children : Harriett, who died in 1868; W. S., who is now a farmer in the northwestern part of Alberta, Canada, and Joseph S. Alexander Young and family left Ohio in 1855 and located in Laporte county, Indiana, where they lived for five years. In the fall of 1860 the family went farther West, locating in Louisa county, Iowa, where they entered land. In 1870 they came to Sac county, and settled on the farm where Joseph S. is now living.
Joseph S. Young has lived on the homestead farm in this county ever since his parents purchased it, with the exception of three years when they lived in Sac City to educate the children. His farm of one hundred and sixty acres was bought in 1870 by his father for five dollars an acre and is today worth at least two hundred dollars an acre. At that time, of course, there were no fences, no drainage, no improvements of any kind. The farm is now well drained, has buildings of convenience and attractive appearance. which add greatly to the value of the farm. Mr. Young remodeled his home in 1903 and now has a fine home which is modern and up-to-date in every way. He has a large barn and corn cribs, which are sufficiently commodious to accommodate his crops and stock. He keeps on an average about eight head of horses and eighteen head of cattle a year and makes a specialty of the breeding of Duroc Jersey hogs. Mr. Young was married in 1880 to Mary Maxwell. the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. W. H. Maxwell, of Illinois. and to this union have been born six children, five of whom are living : Howard, of Sac City, who is married and has two children, Kenneth and Robert: Minnie, who is a twin sister to Howard, married Elmer Cox and lives in this township on a farm near Sac City; Harriet, the wife of J. C. Harper, of Oakland, California, has one daughter. Vivian: Woodward, who was drowned in the river at Sac City at the age of seventeen years in the fall of 1901 while skating; Linus, who is with his parents on the old home- stead farm, and Catherine, who was a graduate in June, 1904. from the high school at Sac City.
Mr. Young has taken a prominent part in the politics of his township and county and has identified himself with the Republican party. who, recognizing his worth as a man and his ability as an official, nominated him for the office of assessor and he was elected as township assessor of Cedar township, and performed the important duties of that office to the entire satisfaction of all his fellow citizens, irrespective of party lines. He and his family are loyal members of the Methodist Episcopal church and render it substantial support. He is a member of the Ancient Order of United Work- men and takes a deep interest in the deliberations of this fraternal organiza-
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tion. Mr. Young is a man who has gained the respect and confidence of his fellow citizens because of his frank and upright manner at all times. He is a plain and unassuming man who attends strictly to his own business and yet is always found working for the best welfare of his community.
THOMAS LONGMAN.
To write the personal record of men who raised themselves from humble circumstances to a position of responsibility and trust in a com- munity is no ordinary pleasure. Self-made men, men who have achieved success by reason of their personal qualities and left the impress of their individuality upon the business and growth of their place of residence and affect for good such institutions as are embraced in the sphere of their use- fulness, unwittingly, perhaps, built monuments more enduring than marble obelisk or granite shaft. Of such we have the unquestionable right to say belongs the gentleman whose name appears above.
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