USA > Iowa > O'Brien County > Past and present of O'Brien and Osceola counties, Iowa, Vol. II > Part 60
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Truly a self-made man, he is eminently deserving the position which he holds in the community and the respect and high esteem rendered by his fellow citizens.
JACOB JACOBSON.
In the choosing of an occupation which is to be one's life work it would be difficult to settle upon one which is of greater moment than farming and stockraising Humanity must be fed, and with the forests devastated of the animal life which sustained the pioneers and formed a large part of the diet of our grandfathers, the farmer, and his brother, the stock raiser, has been called upon to answer the further requirement. Consumption has increased by leaps and hounds and exports are gradually becoming greater. The result is that the producer of plant and animal life finds a firm market for the prod- ucts of his farm, where formerly they went a-begging.
Jacob Jacobson, a son of Sivert and Karen (Kaison) Jacobson, was born in Norway in 1859. His parents were both Norwegians, his father having been born in 1830 and his mother in 1836. They were married in 1858 and had nine children, of whom the subject is the eldest. These parents died in 1908 in Marshall county, Iowa.
The subject came to this country with his parents during his early man- hood and settled in Marshall county, Iowa, in 1874. His first employment
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here was as a farm hand in Marshall county, where he remained until 1892. After several years experience with the methods employed on the farms of this country he rented land and remained upon it for a term of seven years. At the end of this time he spent a year farming in Tennessee, but the condi- tions he found here were different from those he had been used to and in 1894 he returned to lowa, this time locating in O'Brien county. The call of the farm remained strong within him and when the rental of a good farm. in Union township was placed before him he was not slow in taking ad- vantage of it .. Later he added to his acreage by leasing land in Cherokee county, Iowa.
During these rental years crops were good and market prices were be- coming higher. Thus he was able in 1900 to purchase eighty acres of land in Union township, a long-desired ambition. He made his home on this land for several years, during which time he was farming it intensively. In 1909 he bought a tract of one hundred and sixty acres. He still owns and cultivates this farm. The first tract of eighty acres was sold in 1912. He has always been interested in high-grade live stock and now has on his place many head of high-grade horses and cattle.
Mr. Jacobson was married in 1887 to Marie Kommedal, who also was born in Norway, in 1868. She presented her husband with ten children and was a faithful, loving and patient wife, beloved by all who knew her. Her work in this sphere was completed during the early part of 1914 and she entered upon her eternal rest. All of the children are living. They are Clara ( Peters). of Denver, Colorado ; Getta, of Paullina, lowa ; and Susan, Harvey, Anna, Seavert, Wilma, Nancy, Maud and Kermit, of whom the last eight are with their father.
Mr. Jacobson adheres to the principles of the Republican party and helps as he may with his vote and influence. He and his family have long been attendants of the Lutheran church He is a member of the Modern Wood- men of America.
JOHN W. MATHERN.
The methods followed by John W. Mathern, a retired farmer and stock- man of Liberty township, O'Brien county, now living in Calumet, were those which ever secure ultimate success. He has used those methods of the up- to-date tiller of the soil, and has been a man who believed in relentlessly pur- suing those ideals and principles which bring not only material success, but
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which are calculated to result in various blessings. He comes from good German parentage and has never been known to refuse his support to any movement looking to the general good of the community in which he has cast his lot, and for this reason he has made many lasting friends in O'Brien county, who admire him for his many good qualities.
lohn W. Mathern, a retired farmer of Calumet, Iowa, was born in Iowa county, lowa, in 1856. He is the son of Anthony and Frances ( Brecht ) Mathern, both of whom were natives of Germany, his father being born in that country in 1832. Anthony Mathern was a son of John Mathern, who was born in Germany in 1790 and died in Tama county, Iowa, in 1888. The Mathern family left their native land in 1843 and came to AAmerica, and first settled in the state of Ohio, where Anthony was married to Frances Brecht and within a short time they moved on westward and located in Iowa.
John W. Mathern is one of eight children, four being dead. He re- ceived his education in the schools of his native county and when twenty- three years of age rented a farm, where he lived for one year, after which he secured work as a farm hand and worked upon the farms in Tama county for the next six years. In 1886 he came to O'Brien county and purchased three hundred and twenty acres of land and has made extensive improvements on this land since buying it and has brought it to a place of high excellence. He has always been an extensive stock raiser and takes a great deal of pride in his high grade stock. In 1893 he retired from the active labor of the farm and moved to Gaza, where he was engaged in the buying and selling of stock for six years, in partnership with his brother. Frank, of Primghar. lowa. In 1899 he moved to Calumet, where he bought and sold grain and stock for a few years and then retired from active business life. He is a man of good business ability and has a reputation for scrupulous honesty in all his financial transactions. In his business life he has always borne the Golden Rule in mind, and for this reason has never incurred the ill will of any of his friends and neighbors. Mr. Mathern was married in 1899 to Cora Breyfogle, and to this union have been born four children. William, Francis, Ronald and John Henry. Mr. and Mrs. Mathern are giving their children the best educational advantages possible, feeling that in this twen- tieth century a good education is the best legacy which can be given to children.
Mr. Mathern and his family are all loyal members of the Catholic church and are generous supporters of their favored denomination. Politically, Mr. Mathern is a Democrat and is a firm believer in the principles as enunciated by President Wilson. He has never held any official position other than that of township constable. Fraternally, he is a member of the Knights of
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Columbus at Sheldon, and takes an active interest in the work of this organ- ization. Mr. Mathern is a man of keen business discernment, is able to foresee with remarkable accuracy the future outcome of a present transaction, and is by nature an organizer and promoter. Obliging and generous, kindly and hospitable, he numbers his friends by the limits of his acquaintances and enjoys the good will and confidence of all with whom he comes into contact.
SEVERT L. TOW.
Northern Europe has sent to our shores many of her citizens, who have brought with them only the high character, energy and thrift which enables them to succeed; but of those who come out from beautiful Norway, few have failed to succeed in this country of ours, bringing credit to themselves, to us and to the country of their nativity. Of these, one of our own citizens and large land owners is worthy of mention.
Severt L. Tow was born in the year 1849 near the town of Stavanger in Norway. Here, among its beautiful mountains and fjords, among the hardy, thrifty toilers of the North, he learned the secrets of successful agri- culture, and when he arrived at manhood's estate he looked to the western horizon and dreamed of the opportunities that would be his in this new country across the sea. And finally, in the year 1871, he courageously set forth and sailed for the shores of America. After his arrival, he made his way at once to the rolling, prairie land of the great, free West, and here, in Benton county, Iowa, he found employment as a farm hand, working for others. So industrious did he prove, however, and so thrifty that in a few years he had saved enough to set up for himself a home. He bought his first eighty acres of land in 1876 in Benton county.
In the year 1883 Mr. Tow was married to Mary Grodem, and in the following year the young couple purchased for themselves their first home in O'Brien county, which consisted of a tract of eighty acres of land. This was cultivated assiduously, and then, as in all the years which have since intervened, he found in his wife a faithful helper and stanch ally in his under- takings.
In the year 1884, he saw in the future of O'Brien county a field worthy of his best endeavor, so he purchased here a tract of forty acres. To this he gradually added similar tracts, until now he is the possessor of two hundred and eighty acres. At the time of purchase, this was all unbroken prairie,
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but his unflagging industry, wisely directed, has changed the place to a beau- tiful homestead. A half acre of various kinds of fruit supplies the needs of the family, and improvements of various kinds have been made to the extent of probably ten thousand dollars.
Six children have blessed the home of Mr. Tow, all of whom are now enjoying the protection of the paternal roof. Lauria is the eldest daughter : Severn and Spencer, the sons, are their father's able assistants in the adminis- tration of the duties of the farm. Edith and Jennie are teaching school ; Jennie at Platte, South Dakota, and Edith at Raymond, Washington. Mildred is in school at Iowa City.
Mr. Tow is a firm believer in the principles of the Republican party. which ticket he consistently votes. He and his family are attendants of the Methodist Episcopal church, where he is well known and highly respected for his sterling qualities. He is not interested in fraternal affairs, preferring to devote his time to the work of the homestead and the upbringing of his children. His home is a handsome structure, where all the comforts of modern life are enjoyed by the family and their friends.
In manner Mr. Tow is a man of few words, quiet and unassuming, but his sound principles and high character have won for him many friends, and the respect and confidence of the community are his in large measure. Truly a self-made man, he can look back with pride on the accomplishments of the past, and forward to the future with the hope of long continuing to enjoy the fruits of his toil.
WILLIAM M. SMITH.
It is the progressive, wide-awake men of affairs that make the real history of a community and their influence as potential factors of the body politic is difficult to estimate. The examples such men furnish of patient purpose and steadfast integrity strongly illustrate what is in the power of each to accomplish, and there is always a full measure of satisfaction in adverting even in a casual way to their achievements in advancing the inter- ests of their fellow men and in giving strength and solidity, to the institutions which make so much for the prosperity of a community. Such a man is William M. Smith and as such it is proper that a review of his career be accorded a place among the representative citizens of the city and county in which he lives.
William M. Smith, a prominent banker and business man of Sheldon,
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lowa, was born September 4, 1853, near Union Grove, Kenosha county, Wis- consin, on a farm. He is the son of William and Hannah (Morehouse) Smith, both of whom were natives of England. They were born in York- shire and were reared and married in the land of their birth. William Smith, Sr., was a cotton-mill worker and rose from the ranks to the posi- tion of manager. He became a man of some means. but, desiring to give his growing family a chance to gain independence in the New World, he sailed for America in 1847 with his wife and two children, Benjamin and James, and settled in Wisconsin, living there until his death, about 1887. The two sons. Benjamin and James, who were born in England, both served in the Civil War in a Wisconsin regiment and have been dead several years. Five other children were born in America : John, deceased : William M .. with whom this narrative deals: Joseph, the cashier of the Citizens Bank at Hospers, lowa; Mrs. Emma Clark, deceased: Thomas H., who died in November, 1912. in Sheldon.
William M. Smith left his home in Wisconsin when he was twenty- three years of age and went west, stopping at Spirit Lake, Iowa. He first secured work in an abstract office and later took charge of the star mail route between Spencer and Jackson, Iowa. After a few years he engaged in the banking business and assisted in organizing the first bank at Spirit Lake. He was engaged in the banking business at Spirit Lake, Dickinson county, lowa, until 1885. when he went to Milford, Iowa, in the same county, and established the first bank there. He remained in Milford five years and the bank which he established has grown to be a prosperous institution and is now the First National Bank of that place. In 1888 Mr. Smith came to Sheldon, O'Brien county, and assisted in organizing the First National Bank and a year later he moved to Sheldon and took charge of the bank and was its cashier for the next twelve years. During eight years of the time he was president of the bank and was in active connection with the bank up until about three years ago. He is now chairman of the board of directors of this bank. He has also assisted in organizing banks in a half dozen neigh- boring towns, all of which are successful and worthy of confidence, and prove sterling ability on the part of the organizers and managers. Mr. Smith and Fred E. Frisbee own the bank at Hospers in Sioux county and his brother, J. E. Smith, is cashier of the bank. In addition to his banking interests, he has dealt extensively in real estate and has bought and sold thousands of acres of land, but has lately been closing out his land holdings. He still holds six hundred and forty acres in Jackson county, Minnesota.
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and a section of land in Alberta, Canada. He has considerable property in Sheldon and owns the fine home where he lives.
Mr. Smith was married in 1878 to Addie C. Tefft, of Boone, Iowa. To this marriage has been born one daughter, Mrs. Iva Maud Patterson, of Marshalltown, Iowa. Her husband is a large land owner. Mr. and Mrs. Patterson have two children, Warren William and Margaret. Mr. and Mrs. Smith also have one adopted daughter, Marion, now attending Iowa College, at Grinnell. Politically, Mr. Smith is a Republican, while in his church relations he adheres to the Congregational church. Fraternally, he is a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows.
In 1908 Mr. Smith met with a serious accident which came very near depriving him of his life. He had been called to his former home in Union Grove, Wisconsin, by the news of his brother's death. While in Wisconsin, the rig which he was driving out to his brother's home was struck by a fast train and he was badly injured. He lay for twenty-one consecutive days in a hospital in an unconscious condition. His right arm and hand were crushed and his head was also badly injured ; it took him a long while to re- cover and he still suffers from the effects of the accident. Mr. Smith owns a cottage at Okoboji, in Dickinson county, Iowa, where he spends his sum- mers. It is interesting to know that a few days before his sixtieth birth- day he swam one mile across Lake Okoboji in fifty-one minutes, a feat which would be a credit to a man of much younger years. Mr. Smith has been a prominent and influential factor in the public affairs of his county and has gained his success through legitimate and worthy means. No work has been too hard or task too difficult for him to undertake and accomplish and though he has been successful materially, he has never forgotten his duties to his friends.
WILLIAM STRAMPE.
William Strampe, one of the successful and substantial farmers of Union township, O'Brien county, was born in the year 1869 in Germany, the son of Joachim Strampe, also a native of Germany, whose birth occurred in the year 1835. Here the father was reared and received his schooling, and at the age of twenty-six years was united in marriage to Dorathea Burmeister, whose birth occurred in 1837. Four children were born to this worthy couple, all of whom are now residents of O'Brien county. These
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are Henry, now a successful farmer of Union township; Sophia (Mrs. Meyer, of Paullina ; Frederick, also a farmer, and William, to whom this review is mainly devoted.
The homestead of the family in the fatherland was in the country, and here the sons learned the secrets of agriculture, and developed in the free, pure atmosphere of "God's out of doors" that brawn and strong physique which make for success in this vocation. In the year 1883 the father, being a progressive man, saw in the broad prairies of which he had heard in the western hemisphere the opportunities for which he longed for himself and his family. Consequently they undertook the tedious voyage and came directly to the new fields of O'Brien county. Here. in Caledonia township, he was enabled to purchase a tract of land, and with characteristic industry and thrift, the place was rapidly improved and a competence for the future was assured. In 1906 the father retired from active labor and is, together with the faithful wife, now enjoying the fruits of his earlier years of toil, in a comfortable home in Paullina.
The son, William, while but a lad in Germany, left the homestead of his father and went to work on the farm of a neighbor ; but when his par- ents decided to take the long journey to the shores of the New World, he gladly accompanied them to the new home. Soon after their arrival in O'Brien county he obtained employment upon a neighboring farm and for four years he labored in this manner for others. Then came the oppor- tunity for a change which is so dear to the heart of youth, and he learned the carpenter's trade. to which he clung for the succeeding four years. At the expiration of this period he opened a creamery in the country, four miles southwest of Paullina, and for eighteen years his time and his energies were devoted to the upbuilding of this establishment. Unremitting industry, directed by sound judgment, could not fail to bring the success which he craved and when, at the expiration of this period, in the year 1910, he sold the business he was enabled to purchase a tract of two hundred and forty acres of improved land in Union township. Remembering the training of his youth, it was not a difficult matter for him to again assume the duties of farm life, and in this, as in all his previous business ventures, he has been successful. His farm shows the care which has been lavished upon it, and the high grade of live stock which is found upon the place is evidence of the sound judgment which he exercises in this department of his work.
In the year 1890 was taken one of the most important steps of Mr. Strampe's career, for in this year he was united in marriage to Elizabeth Gruenhagen, who was born in Cook county, Illinois, in the year 1871. Ten
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children have blessed this union, nine of whom are still enjoying the protec- tion of the parental roof, some attending school and some assisting the par- ents in the various labors and activities of the homestead. Arthur, the eldest son, is a resident of the town of Paullina, also. The children at home are William. Edward. Amanda, Bernard. Walter. Alvina. Laura. Harry and Clarence.
Politically. Mr. Strampe is a faithful adherent of the principles of the Democratic party. He is a devoted member of the German Lutheran church, where he is well known and highly respected. That he holds an enviable position in the confidence of his fellow men is evidenced by the fact that he has been selected to act as county supervisor for O'Brien county.
In manner Mr. Strampe is unassuming and sincere, deserving and re- ceiving the respect of those with whom he is associated throughout the county.
REV. BERT J. RHODES.
There is no earthly calling higher than that of the Christian ministry: no life can be more uplifting and grander than that which is devoted to the amelioration of the human race, a life of sacrifice for the betterment of the brotherhood of man. One of the self-sacrificing. ardent, loyal and true spirits that has been a blessing to the race, and who, though yet a young man, has left in his wake an influence that tends to make the world brighter, and better the lives of those who follow, is the Rev. Bert J. Rhodes, pastor of the Congregational church at Primghar, Iowa, whose life forcibly illustrates what a fixed purpose can accomplish when animated by noble aims and cor- rect ideals.
Rev. Bert J. Rhodes was born at Shirland, Illinois, in the year 1877. He is a son of Henry and Mary Ann (Seagrist) Rhodes. Henry Rhodes, who was born at Rochester, New York, in 1847. was a farmer. He settled in the state of Illinois, remaining there a short time, removing then to Green county, Wisconsin, where he resided for four years. He then removed to Cerro Gordo county, Iowa, retiring from active work in 1894 and removed to Garner, lowa. He was married in 1867 to Mary Ann Seagrist, who was born in canton Bern, Switzerland, in 18.43. To them were born seven chil- dren, the others beside the subject being: George, who lives at Wakaon, Iowa; Mrs. Cloey Suhumskie, who resides in North Dakota; Mrs. Viola Braund, who lives in Winnebago county, Iowa: Louis, residing at Los
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Angeles, California ; Warren lives at Hinsdale, Montana, and Perry lives in South Dakota.
Rev. Bert J. Rhodes was reared on the parental farmstead and received his primary education in the public schools. From his boyhood he had taken a deep interest in spiritual matters, and at the age of twenty-two began study and preparation for the ministry. He attended Ellsworth College at Iowa Falls, Iowa, and finished his academic training at Grinnell College, Grinnell, lowa. His first pastorate was at Wesley, Iowa, where his labors were fruit- ful in good results, and where he earned the commendation of his church. He came to Primghar in 1912, and here he has shown a zeal and perseverance most commendable in building up the spiritual welfare of his congregation. His work has met with the enthusiastic approval of his own people and others as well. He takes an active interest in the welfare of his community, and is recognized by all as a loyal, high-minded citizen.
Rev. Rhodes was married in 1903 to Maud Perkins, who was born at Freeport, Illinois, in 1880. Four children have blessed their home. These are Frances, Paul, Claire and Selbert, all of whom remain in the family circle.
Rev. Rhodes' useful life as a worker in the cause of his Master is one of devotion, even consecration, to his calling. As an earnest, faithful and devoted minister of the Gospel, no hardship is too severe, no labor too ardu- ous, no demands too exacting to deter him from answering any call in behalf of those who need spiritual advice or consolation, and he wields an influence for good that can never be measured by infinite standards of value.
LOUIS B. SCHAEFER.
The record of the subject of the present article is one of strenuous endeavor and achievement, and is a fair example of the accomplishment of indefatigable energy, wisely directed by sound judgment and keen business acumen.
Louis B. Schaefer is one of our representative young men, a prominent merchant of Paullina. He was born in 1881 in the city of Chicago, of German parentage, and here, amid the city's noise and clamor, its ceaseless activities and spirit of progress, his childhood and youth were spent. His father, Louis B., was a native of Hamburg, Germany, born in the year 1850. In his childhood, however, he was brought by his parents to America, and here, in the city of Chicago, he received his start in business. As a young
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man he obtained employment as a day laborer, but he was ambitious for better things and, after three years of this work, succeeded in being engaged by a wholesale shoe firm as stock keeper; for six years he remained in this position, giving faithful attention to the responsibilities entrusted to his care. But as he labored, he observed the various departments of the business, and finally was conversant with the details of manufacture and salesmanship to such a degree that he was given a position as traveling salesman, a position which he filled with credit the remainder of his life. He was united in marriage to Mary A. Brook, a native of Germany also, born in the year 1848. Four children were born to this couple, all of whom are still surviving.
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