USA > Iowa > Shelby County > Past and present of Shelby County, Iowa, Vol. 2 > Part 33
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GREGER G. ANDERSON.
There is one man, born in Denmark, with whom every child in America is acquainted and it is safe to say that the name of Hans Andersen is destined to live in the hearts of the children until the end of time. The country which produced this famous man has sent thousands of excellent citizens to America and they have been welcome in every community where they have settled. The name Anderson is one of the most honored in the annals of Danish history and is upheld in Shelby county Greger G. Ander- son, a prosperous farmer and stockman of Clay township. The Danes who have made this county their home have proved to be men of worth and without exception they have become substantial citizens. They know how
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SHELBY COUNTY, IOWAA.
to work and, what is more essential, they know how to save. The native- born American is not as thrifty as his foreign-born brother and often is compelled to call on the latter for help. It is said that it falls to the lot of the adopted citizens of many counties in the state of lowa to support thie native-born citizens in the poor house, certainly a sad commentary on the people who were born in this country.
Greger G. Anderson, the son of Andrew Williamson and Mary ( Christ- ensen) Anderson, was born on October 28. 1874, in Denmark. His father was born in Denmark in 1836 and lived the life of a farmer until his death. in the land of his birth in 1876. His mother, who was born in 1834. was a woman of unusual force and ability and reared her family to lives of use- fulness and honor. She was left with ten children and all but one of them are still living. In 1892 she came with them to America and located in Kimballton, lowa, where she lived until her death, in 1910.
Greger G. Anderson was only two years of age when his father died and consequently never knew what it was to have a father's care. His mother gave him the best education which she could afford in the schools of his native country and he has since supplemented this with wide reading. He was seventeen years old when his mother came to America with her children, on May 25 of 1892, and immediately began to work on a farm in Cass county. He worked as a farm hand for four years and then married and rented a farm in Shelby county for the next eight years. In 1908 he bought the farm of one hundred and sixty acres in Clay township, where lie is now living. He has made many improvements on the farm since acquiring it and has brought it to a high state of productivity. He carries on a general system of farming, but gives the most of his attention to the raising of a high grade of horses, cattle and hogs. He feeds all of his grain. having found that it pays to feed rather than sell it.
Mr. Anderson was married on October 3. 1900. to Martha E. Peterson. She is the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Martin Peterson and was born in Shelby county on June 24, 1871. To this union there have been born five children, Martin, Mary, Andrew, Grace and Harvey. All of the children are still living with their parents and are being given a good education.
Politically, Mr. Anderson is identified with the Republican party and takes a hearty interest in the success of his party. At the present time he is serving as one of the trustees of his township, a position which he has held for the past four years. He and his family are devoted members of the Danish Lutheran church, in whose welfare they are very much interested.
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SHELBY COUNTY, IOWA.
REV. JULIUS FAILENSCHMID.
There are two institutions which go hand in hand with civilization and are to be found in every community throughout the United States where men settle .. These two institutions stand for civilization and in the great plans of men both serve the same purpose and have for their function the same end. The church and the school are the twin handmaidens of civiliza- tion and their work should be found side by side in every community. The object of both institutions is to make men better and to make the community . in which men live a place where harmony, peace and love may dwell. Shelby county. Iowa, is the home of many Catholics, a large number of whom have come from Germany, and wherever these good people have settled they have promptly erected churches and school houses and contributed generously of their means to the support of both. Portsmouth is proud of its churches and schools, and the Catholics of the city and community, who have con- tributed so generously of their substance to the building of the St. Mary's church, the parochial school and the sisters' home in that city, are deserving of great credit. The pastor of St. Mary's church at Portsmouth, Iowa, is Rev. Julius Failenschmid. who has been the moving spirit in his church and school in this place for the past ten years.
Rev. Julius Failenschmid was born in Ravensburg. Germany, November 17, 1875, and is a son of George and Josepha ( Boscher) Failenschmid. His parents lived and died in their native land. His father was a tailor and fol- lowed that occupation until his death in 1907, his wife having died in 1904. George Failenschmid and wife were the parents of four children, Mary, Julius. Josephine and Louise. Mary is the wife of Peter Gubbels, and has two sons, Julius and Rudolph. Josephine is the wife of William Doffing, and has six children, Julius, Evelyn, Edward, Louis, Guadalupe and Melania. Louise is single and makes her home with her brother in Portsmouth.
Rev. Julius Failenschmid attended school at Ravensburg, Germany, and when a young man came to America and located in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where he resumed his studies for the priesthood in St. Francis Seminary. He was ordained to the priesthood June 19, 1898, and read his first mass on June 26, 1898, at the Holy Trinity church, at La Crosse, Wisconsin.
The first appointment of Father Failenschmid was as assistant at Keo- kuk, and from there he was transferred to Exira, Iowa, to take charge of the St. Boniface church at that place. He built a new church at Exira and changed the name to the Holy Trinity church. His service at Exira extended
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SHELBY COUNTY, IOWA.
from August 15, 1898, to December 30, 1904. For the past ten years he has been in charge of St. Mary's church at Portsmouth and since coming here he has made a number of fine improvements. He has built a new school building, and without doubt it is second to none in the county, for it is the most handsome building in the city of Portsmouth. He has also erected a new Sisters' house, which is also a handsome building, well equipped and one which serves well the purpose for which it was built.
Father Failenschmid is a man of broad ideas and takes a deep interest in the welfare of his community. He is loved by his parishoners and is highly respected by every one in the community with whom he has come in contact. He is a member of the Knights of Columbus and is deeply inter- ested in the work of that fraternal organization. Politically, he classes him- self with the independent voters, preferring to cast his ballot for the best men, irrespective of their politics, feeling that in so doing he is best serving the interests of society and the cause of good government.
JOSEPH RUESCHENBERG.
The life history of Joseph Rueschenberg is full of many interesting inci- dents. A native of Germany, a veteran of two of the greatest wars of modern Europe, a merchant and farmer of Shelby county, Iowa, for more than forty years, his life has been one of ceaseless activity and he is now justly entitled to a rest from the cares of worldly affairs. He is one of the pioneer settlers of this county and has borne no inconsiderable part in mak- ing this county what it is today. He has carried forward to successful com- pletion whatever he has undertaken, and his business methods have ever been in strict conformity with the standard ethics of commercal life. He has taken an intelligent interest in the civic life of his adopted country and has earned the high esteem in which he is held by all who know him.
Joseph Rueschenberg, the son of Frank and Theresa ( Hense) Rueschen- berg, was born January 10, 1841, in Westphalia, Germany. His father was a farmer in Germany and had a small farm of thirty-three acres, on which he lived until his death in 1862, his widow passing away two years later. Frank Rueschenberg' and wife were the parents of five children : Peter, John, Joseph. Frank and Lazetta. All of the children are deceased now except Joseph and Peter. the latter living on the old homestead in Germany at the advanced age of ninety-seven.
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JOSEPH REUSCHENBERG AND FAMILY
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SHELBY COUNTY, IOWA.
Joseph Rueschenberg was given a good common school education in the schools of his native land and after leaving school assisted his father on the farm for one year and then took up the shoe-making trade. Ile was ap- prenticed to a shoe maker for three years and then worked at his trade for three years in different cities in Germany. He had by this time reached the age when he must serve in the German army, and for the next three years he passed through the military experience which is common to every German youth even to this day. He completed his service, returned home, but within three months his country was engaged in war with Austria and he was again mustered into the army. It was this so-called Seven Weeks War of 1866 which gave Prussia her independence, the battle of Sadowa which terminated this war, being comparable to the battle of Yorktown in this country. Four years later the Franco-Prussian War opened and Mr. Rueschenberg served his country gallantly and well. It was this war which resulted in the utter defeat of France, the cession of Alsace and Lorraine to Germany, together with the payment of 5,000,000,000 francs as additional indemity for the expense of the war. It must be a great satisfaction to Mr. Rueschenberg to know that he fought in the two wars which placed his native land where it is today.
After the close of this memorable conflict. Mr. Rueschenberg returned home and resumed his trade as a shoe maker, but wishing to give his children better opportunities than they could get in their native land, he decided to come to America. He had married in 1867 and in 18;4 he severed all old ties, gathered together his belongings and came to this country with his family. He came direct to Shelby county, Iowa, and settled in Westphalia. his family being the first to locate in the town. He opened a grocery store and at the same time followed his trade as a shoe maker. He continued this dual line of activity for three years and then traded his store for a farm of one hundred and twenty acres in the immediate vicinity of the town. He was a successful farmer from the beginning and in the course of time be- came the possessor of three hundred and twenty acres in this county and one hundred and sixty acres in South Dakota. He continued farming for seventeen years and then bought a general merchandise store at Westphalia, which he managed for the next thirteen years. He then traded the store for land and retired from active work, although still maintaining his home in Westphalia.
Mr. Rueschenberg was married October 17, 1867. to Josephine Sasse. the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Sasse, of Germany. To this union there have been born eleven children: Frank, who married Mary Ruden ;
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Robert, who married Kate Mumchrad; Joseph, who married Edith Hin -. richs: Ernest, who married Nell Corbett; Christenia. the wife of Albert Mages: Bertha, the wife of Frank Gross: Annie, the wife of Frank Mages; Elizabeth, the wife of John Bloom: Clara, single: and two who died in infancy. The mother of these children was born December 26, 1844, and died March 10, 1914.
Mr. Rueschenberg has been a Democrat since coming to this country and has always been interested in local politics. lle served for four and a half years as postmaster of Westphalia and was for several years a member of the school board. He was the first secretary of the Westphalia Mutual Fire Insurance Company and was one of the main men to organize the company. Ile and all his family are loyal members of the Catholic church and con- tribute liberally of their time and substance to its support. Mr. Rueschenberg has lived such a life since coming to this county as to win the hearty com- mendation of every one with whom he has been in any way associated. He has a very extensive acquaintance throughout the county and no man has more loyal friends, a tribute to his sterling integrity and worth as a citizen. It is such men who have brought Shelby county to the front and no one is more justly entitled to be called a representative citizen of this county.
THEODORE SCHNUETTEGEN.
The two score years which Theodore Schnuettegen has spent in Shelby county, Iowa, since arriving in this country from Germany, have made him one of the substantial men of the township in which he settled. The forty years which he has spent in Westphalia township have been years of labor and that they have been fruitful is shown by the fact that Mr. Schnuettegen started in with nothing and now owns a fine farm of four hundred and eighty acres. He arrived in this county when he was twenty-four years of age and by good management, close economy and persistent energy and industry, has arisen from a place of pennry to a position of pecuniary independence. His career is like that of many other excellent German farmers who have come to this country and strikingly shows that the German citizens of our country have played an important part in every phase of its development.
Theodore Schnuettegen, the son of Anton and Marie Anna ( Hitzboth) Schnuettegen, was born in Westphalia, Germany, February 7, 1850. His parents lived all their lives in Germany, his father's death occurring March
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SIIELBY COUNTY, IOWA.
17, 1859, and his mother's in July, 1883. His father was a farmer in his native land and followed that occupation all of his days. Seven children were born to Anton Schnuettegen and wife, Anton, Frank. Joseph, Marie. Theodore, August and John. Of these children, Frank. August and Anton are deceased. John married Mary Weiland, while Joseph is still living in Germany.
Theodore Schnuettegen received a good common school education in the schools of his native land and after leaving school, took up the carpenter trade and followed that occupation until he came to America in 1874. IFe arrived at New York harbor August 1, 1874. with just enough money to take him to Iowa. Upon arriving in Shelby county in the fall of 1874. he found employment as a carpenter and continued to follow this occupation for the first five years after coming to this country. He saved his money and in 1879 bought a farm of one hundred and seventy acres near Westphalia. He worked hard and divided his attention between carpentering and farming with the result that he prospered to an extreme degree, and as the years rolled by was able to add to his possessions from time to time. When he retired to Earling in 1912 his farm had increased to four hundred and eighty acres. Upon this farm he has erected handsome and substantial buildings so that its value today is more than fifty thousand dollars. Such is the record of an honest German emigrant who came to this country as a young man of twenty-four, and his history sets forth in a clear manner what good ability and hard work will do on the land in Shelby county.
Mr. Schnuettegen was married at Westphalia, Iowa, March 9, 1886, to Fredericka Koester, and to this union six children have been born : Marie, the wife of Anton Workman; August, who married Chrystine Schochinger ; Louise, the wife of John Workman; Odelia, the wife of John Gaul; Antonia, who died in 1892; Emma, who is single and living at home.
Mrs. Schnuettegen's parents were Joseph and Brigta Koester, natives of Germany. They reared a family of eight children, Kasper, Anton, John, Robert, Joseph, Hubert, Richard and Fredericka. The history of .Anton Koester, which appears elsewhere in this volume, gives the family history of the Koester family.
Mr. Schnuettegen is a Democrat in politics and has always been inter- ested in local affairs. He takes a deep interest in educational matters and is a member of the school board of Westphalia township at the present time. He and his family are all devout members of the Catholic church, in whose welfare they are interested and to the support of which they are generous contributors.
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SHELBY COUNTY, IOWA.
BENEDICT LEUSCHEN.
The man who has spent forty years in this county is justly entitled to the honorable title of pioneer, and the historian of this volume is glad to find so many of the early settlers of Shelby county represented in the list of citizen- presented in this book. A life of forty years in this county covers practically all the active history of the county, and Benedict Leuschen has been a participant in the various activities here for that length of time. Coming to Westphalia township in 1874. he has had the satisfaction of tak- ing an active part in every movement which promised to benefit the county. and that he has done his part well is evidenced in the high esteem in which he is held by his fellow citizens.
Benedict Leuschen, the son of Nicholas and Anna Mary (Mullitor) Leuschen, was born June 7, 1848, in Schoenecken, Germany. His father was a school teacher for four or five years and then learned the cabinet maker's trade, following it the remainder of his life. To Nicholas Leuschen and wife were born eight children: Benedict, whose interesting career is here briefly set forth: Elizabeth, the wife of John Schmitz; Valentine: Mag- dalena, the wife of John Hansen: Katherine, the wife of Nicholas Thielan ; Frank: Susan, who is still living in Germany on the old homestead; and Nicholas, who died young. The mother of these children died in 1850 and the father in 1881.
Benedict Leuschen attended school in his home town of Schienecken and, being a young man of much more than ordinary ability. taught school for a few years, as his father had done before him. He then learned the cabinet maker's trade with his father and followed this until he was married in the summer of 1875. He decided to come to America in 1871 and with high hopes and enthusiasm he set out on the voyage across the broad Atlantic. That was a memorable June when he came across and first settled in Chicago. where he spent the first eight months working at his trade. Benedict fol- lowed his trade of cabinet making in Chicago and then went to Mattoon, Illinois, where he and five other mnen engaged in the furniture making busi- ness, but the panic of 1873 put them out of business.
He then came to Shelby county, Iowa, and bought a small farm of forty acres in Westphalia township. There were no improvements upon the land and he put up a rude cabin until such a time as he could afford a better home. That he prospered as the years went by is shown by his present farm of two hundred and eighty acres, which is one of the best improved farms
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BENEDICT LEUSCHEN AND FAMILY
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in the county. Not only has Mr. Leuschen prospered materially but he has at the same time taken a prominent part in the various communal activities of his township. For ten years he was a school director and he was one of the organizers of the Westphalia Fire Insurance Company, a mutual com- pany which has been of great benefit to the citizens of this county. He has been the secretary of the company since its incorporation, twelve years ago.
Mr. Leuschen was married May 22, 1875, to Anna Mary Nolles, the daughter of Joseph and Anna Mary ( Finken) Nolles, and to this union there have been born eight children: Joseph, who married Susan Schwery, and has seven children, Beatrice, Benedict, Adelaide. Leonard, Dorothy. . Walter. and an infant: Nicholas, who married Elizabeth Thielan, and has three children. Hilda. Henrietta and Mary; Lena, the wife of Henry Thomas (deceased, 1911), and the mother of two children, Benedict and Henrietta ; Mary, the wife of William Hargarten, of Saskatchewan, Canada, and the mother of one son, Benedict; Frank, who married Rosa Pulvemacher, of Canada, and has two children, Loretta and Winifred: Matthew and Benedict, both single: Katherine, the wife of Anthony Gosser. The mother of these children died March 16, 1911. Her parents were both natives of Germany, and after the death of her mother in her native land, her father and the children came to this country, arriving here in 1872. He located in Mills county, in this state, with his four children: Lena, John. Valentine and .Barbara. The fifth and other child was Mrs. Leuschen. Mr. Nolles died in 1900.
Mr. Leuschen has supported the Democratic party since coming to this country. He and all the family are devout Catholics and he is a member of the Knights of Columbus.
JAMES P. JORGENSEN, D. V. S. 1
The treatment of the diseases of animals has made great advances within the past few years. Many of our state colleges are giving courses in veterinary science and there are several other colleges which are giving such instruction. One of the best courses in this new science is given by the Iowa State College at Ames and its graduates are recognized as being pecul- iarly well equipped for this line of work, It is a fact that the farmers of the country are being saved thousands of dollars each year because of skilled veterinary surgeons and no locality should be without a man who is
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trained in the treatment of animal diseases. One of the best veterinary surgeons of this section of lowa is Dr. James P. Jorgensen, who is prac- ticing his profession in Elkhorn.
Dr. James P. Jorgensen, the son of Hans J. and Agnes ( Petersen) Jorgensen, was born in 1881, in Kimballton, Iowa. His father was born in Denmark in 1833 and was a farmer and stock raiser in Denmark until 1874. In that year he came to America and settled in Illinois, where he worked as a farm hand for about four years. He then moved to Audubon county, Jowa, bought umimproved land and farmed until 1912. He then retired from active farm work but continued to live on the farm until his deatlı, in 1914. Hans J. Jorgensen was twice married. His first wife, Agnes Petersen, was born in Denmark in 1856 and died in Audubon county, lowa, in 1892. Seven of the ten children born to this first marriage are still living. In 1898 Mr. Jorgensen was again married, his second wife being Anna K. Anderson, who was born in Denmark in 1859. To this second union three children were born, two of whom are living. The widow of Mr. Jorgensen is now living at Kimballton, Iowa.
Doctor Jorgensen was educated in the schools of Kimballton and then entered Iowa State College at Ames, where he took the four years' course in veterinary science. After his graduation he returned to Kimballton and commenced to practice his profession. He remained there until his mar- riage, in 1907, when he came to Elkhorn, where he is now residing. He has bought fifteen acres in the northern part of the city, where he is raising some pure-bred Duroc Jersey hogs. Since locating in this county, Doctor Jorgensen has built up a large and lucrative practice and has had the gratifi- cation of feeling that his services have been altogether satisfactory.
Doctor Jorgensen was married on June 26, 1907, to Minnie Rasmussen. who was born in this county in 1883. Mrs. Jorgensen is a daughter of Peter M. and Karen ( Miller ) Rasmussen, natives of Denmark. Both came to America when young and located at Port Amboy, New Jersey, where they were married. Later they moved to Shelby county, Jowa, and located in Clay township, where they lived the rest of their lives. Six children were born to Mr. Rasmussen and wife, Jens M. and Rasmussen (twins), Minnie, Viggio and two deceased. To Doctor Jorgensen and wife there have been born two children. Hans J. and Alvin P. The family are members of the Danish Lutheran church. in whose welfare they are deeply interested. Po- litically, the Doctor is allied with the Progressive party, but the nature of his business precludes him from taking an active part in political affairs.
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SHELBY COUNTY, IOWA
JACOB A. BRUCK.
An enterprising and successful business man of Earling, lowa, is Joseph Bruck, the manager of the Earling Mutual Creamery Company. He has been a resident of this county for the past fourteen years, during which time he has been actively identified with the business life of Earling, and such has been the excellent management of his business interests that he has come to be regarded as one of the substantial men of his community. Born of Ger- man parentage he has inherited those qualities which have made the Germans successful men in whatever line of activity they chose to enter.
Jacob A. Bruck, the son of Anton and Mary Katherine (Schmitz) Bruck, was born December 27, 1882, in Luxemburg, Germany. Anton Bruck was the son of Nicholas and Mary (Diederich) Bruck, and was a farmer in his native land all of his life. Nicholas Bruck and wife had three children, John, who married Margaret Schmitz; Anton. the father of Joseph. and Mary, the wife of John D. Dewatcher. Anton Bruck was educated in Germany, and after leaving school worked out as a farm hand until his marriage. He then began farming for himself in his native land and in 1892 came to America and located in Stone City, Jones county, Iowa. where he worked in the stone quarry for eight years. In 1900 he moved to Shelby county and located in Westphalia township. where he rented a farm for the first five years and in 1905 bought the farm on which he is now residing. He is a man who is enterprising and thrifty and has met with more than usual success in his agricultural operations. Anton Bruck was married in 1881. in Wicherding, Germany. to Mary Katherine Schmitz, the daughter of Anton and Margaret (Fogan) Schmitz, and to this union six children were born, Jacob A., John, Fred, William, Charles and Susan. John and Charles are single. Fred married Cecelia Funk and has one son, Anthony. William married Sarah Winderhausen. Susan is the wife of Aloyious Wil- werding and has one daughter, Elizabeth. Mary Katherine Schmitz was one of three children. the other two being Margaret and Susan. Margaret be- came the wife of John Bruck, while Susan married C. Leider.
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