USA > Minnesota > Brown County > History of Brown County, Minnesota: Its People, Industries and Institutions (Volume 1) > Part 45
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nesota Mounted Rangers, with which he served valiantly through all that troublous time. He early began to take an interest in civic affairs and was for many years continuously in the public service in one capacity or another, his willing- ness to serve and his pronounced ability in that direction making him a valuable public servant. When the school district in his neighborhood was organized he was made the first clerk of the same and served continuously in that ca- pacity until he moved to town. For thirteen years, while living on the farm, he was town clerk and for several years he served as deputy clerk of Nicollet county. Mr. Kloss- ner's capacity for public service was recognized by his neighbors, who gladly honored him with the election in three consecutive elections to the position of representative from his district in the lower house of the Minnesota General Assembly and in all his service in the House, Representa- tive Klossner acquitted himself with honor and dignity and with credit to his district. In the meantime Mr. Klossner had married and was developing a very fine bit of farm property. Upon starting farming for himself, Mr. Kloss- ner bought two hundred and twelve acres of "railroad" land, thirty acres of which he gave to a neighbor. He de- veloped the rest and improved the same until he had a model farm and there he and his family made their home until March 17, 1884, at which time they moved to New Ulm, where they have since made their home.
Upon locating in New Ulm Mr. Klossner engaged in the hardware and agricultural implement business and was thus quite successfully engaged until he retired from busi- ness in 1902. Not long after becoming a resident of New Ulm, Mr. Klossner was elected to the city council and for
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six years he served as presiding officer of that body, during about five months of which time he also served as acting mayor of the town. Mr. Klossner owns a beautiful resi- dence at 311 North German street, in New Ulm, which has been his home for more than thirty years. He also is the owner of a fine business block on South Minnesota street and has built several brick business houses on that same street, besides which he owns an admirably improved farm of two hundred and three acres in Milford township and three improved farms and some wild land in Rush and Jackson counties, Wisconsin. Ever since he made his home in New Ulm Mr. Klossner has displayed an active interest in the development of the best interests of that city and has long been recognized as one of the most progressive, ener- getic and public-spirited citizens of the town. He is vice- president of the Citizens State Bank of Gaylord, in Sibley county, and a director of the Citizens State Bank of Fair- fax, in Renville county.
On March 1, 1873, Jacob Klossner, Jr., was united in marriage to Sophia Bloss, who was born in the city of Cin- cinnati, June 9, 1852, daughter of William and Marie (Bie- man) Bloss, natives of Germany, the former of whom was born in Prussia and the latter in Brunswick. William Bloss was the eldest of the five children born to his parents, Will- iam and Margaret Bloss, both of whom died in their native land, and Mrs. Bloss was the eldest of the seven children born to her parents, the others having been Anna, Mar- garet, Herman, Henry, John and Marie. William Bloss and his family came to Minnesota from Cincinnati in 1861 and located in the New Ulm settlement, where they re- mained for about eight months, at the end of which time
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they settled on a farm in Lafayette township, Nicollet county, and thus were neighbors to the Klossners during pioneer days. In their declining years Mr. and Mrs. Bloss returned to New Ulm and there spent their last days, the former dying at the age of seventy-eight and the latter at the age of seventy-six. They were the parents of eight chil- dren, Louisa, Sophia, Henry, Wilhelmina, Anna, Christian, Caroline and Frederick.
To Jacob and Sophia (Bloss) Klossner six children have been born, as follow: Rosalie, who died when three years old; Lillian, deceased, who married Elmer Shepard, to which union one child was born, a son, John, now de- ceased; Franklin, who died when eighteen months old; Eva, who married William B. Mather and has two children, Amy and William B .; one who died in infancy, and Howard. Mrs. Klossner is a member of the Congregational church, as are her children, and the family long has been promi- nently identified with the various social and cultural activi- ties of their home town, being held in the highest esteem by all hereabout. Mr. Klossner is one of the most active mem- bers of Hecker Post No. 48, Grand Army of the Republic, of New Ulm, of which he has been commander since 1900. He also is a member of Charity Lodge No. 98, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons; New Ulm Chapter No. 57, Royal Arch Masons; DeMolay Commandery No. 26, Knights Templar, at New Ulm, and of Zurah Temple, Ancient Ara- bic Order of the Nobles of the Mystic Shrine, at Minneapo- fis, in the affairs of all of which organizations he takes a warm interest.
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REV. GEORGE MAYER.
Rev. George Mayer, pastor of the Evangelical Frie- dens church (Church of Peace), at New Ulm, this county, is a native of Wisconsin, having been born on a farm twen- ty-five miles northwest of Milwaukee, that state, October 11, 1857, son of George and Julia (Mueller) Mayer, both na- tives of Germany, who came to the United States after their marriage on February 20, 1851, and settled on the farm above mentioned. George Mayer was a good farmer and prospered in his undertakings. The quarter section on which he first settled he bought for two dollars the acre. As he prospered he added to his holdings until he became the owner of four hundred acres of well cultivated land. Before coming to this country he had served in the German army. He and his wife were the parents of five children, of whom the subject of this sketch is the only one living in Brown county.
George Mayer received his elementary education in the schools in the neighborhood of his home and early deter- mined to enter the gospel ministry. With this end in view he entered Elmhurst College, from which he was graduated four years later. Thus equipped by preparatory study, he entered the Evangelical Theological Seminary at St. Louis and upon completing a three-years course there, was or- dained to the ministry on August 23, 1882, at Lenzburg, in St. Clair county, Illinois. Even before his ordination, Rev. George Mayer had been serving a church at Lenzburg and after his ordination was formally installed as pastor of
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that church. He remained there until in December, 1883, at which time he accepted a call to the church at Pana, Illinois, and was pastor of that church until April 25, 1887. He then accepted a call to the churches at Summerfield and Lebanon, in Illinois, and after a service of more than six years in that double parish was called to St. John's Evan- gelical church at Minneapolis, where he remained until 1906, in which year he accepted the call of the congregation of the Evangelical Friedens church at New Ulm and has ever since been serving as pastor of that parish, during which time he has performed a fine service in the way of extending the interests of the church in both a spiritual and a material way. In the year 1907 Reverend Mayer organ- ized the Evangelical Friedens church at Essig, Minnesota, where he holds services every other Sunday. He also holds services at Nicollet, Minnesota, every other Sunday.
On June 29, 1887, the Rev. George Mayer was united in marriage to Louise Schlierbach and to this union seven children have been born, Alma Leona, Rowland, G. L., Olga Anita, Leona V., George F., Laura H. and Dorothy Evelyn. The Rev. Mr. Mayer is an "independent" Republican and gives a good citizen's attention to the political affairs of the county.
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EMIL F. BUENGER.
Emil F. Buenger, well-known furniture dealer and un- dertaker at New Ulm, this county, enjoys the unique dis- tinction of carrying on his extensive business on the site of the place of his birth, he having been born in the building then occupying the site of his present large and well-stocked store building on September 22, 1877, son of Louis and Hen- rietta (Ipps) Buenger, both natives of Germany, the for- mer of whom, a pioneer furniture dealer in New Ulm, is still living in that city, having been retired from business life since 1896.
Louis Buenger was born in Hanover, the second in order of birth of the three children born to his parents, he having had a brother, Henry, and a sister, Mrs. William Jurgens. His parents were substantial people in their na- tive land and spent all their lives there. When he was four- teen years old Louis Buenger joined a party of Germans that was then emigrating to the United States and upon ar- riving in this country proceeded to Cincinnati, where he was engaged in the building trades until 1864, in which year he came to Minnesota, settling at New Ulm, where, in part- nership with William Ruemke, he engaged in general house building, the firm becoming quite successful contractors, many of the most substantial buildings in the rapidly grow- ing town of that day having been erected by them. Not long after locating in New Ulm Louis Buenger married Henrietta Ipps, who was born in Mecklenburg-Schwerin
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and who had come to America when a girl, with her parents, John Ipps and wife, and her two brothers, Henry and Charles, the family locating in New Ulm, being among the early settlers of that place, John Ipps spending the rest of his life there, he being ninety-one years of age at the time of his death, his wife dying at St. Paul.
In 1874 Louis Buenger gave up his work as a building contractor and engaged in the furniture business in New Ulm, establishing his store on the site it still occupies under the present proprietorship of his son, and made his home in rooms above the store room. There he continued in busi- ness, enlarging the store as the growing demands of the business necessitated, until 1896, in which yeare he retired from business and his son, Louis J. Buenger became his successor. In addition to being one of the leading business men of New Ulm in an early day, Louis Buenger was also one of the leaders in the civic life of the developing com- munity and for years served the public very usefully in the capacity of a city councilman. He and his wife were de- voted Lutherans and were among the leaders in the work of organizing the congregation of that communion in New Ulm, having been enrolled among the charter members of the church there. Mrs. Buenger died in 1903, at the age of fifty-five years, and her husband still survives her. They were the parents of nine children, namely: Louis J., who now makes his home in Minneapolis; Emma, wife of Fred Backer, of New Ulm; Anna, wife of Robert Fritsche, of Aberdeen, South Dakota; Charles H., of Kenosha, Wiscon- sin; Emil F., the immediate subject of this biographical sketch; Matilda, wife of Paul Hackbarth, of New Ulm;
(15a)
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Otto, of Ortenville, this state, and two who died in early childhood.
Emil F. Buenger grew to manhood in New Ulm and early learned the details of the furniture business in his father's store. Upon completing the course in the public schools of his home town he took a comprehensive business course in the Dr. Martin Luther College and was thereafter a valuable aid to his father in the latter's store. Upon the retirement of the elder Buenger in 1896 and the taking over of the business by the elder son, Louis J., Emil F. Buenger continued his connection with the store, under the direction of his brother, until 1900, in which year he went to Lam- berton, where he and his brother, Louis, had established a branch store and there he remained for two years, manag- ing the latter store. In 1902 he returned to New Ulm and was engaged there in the offices of the Eagle Roller Mill Company until 1912, in which year he bought the old fur- niture store from his brother, Louis, and has since then been conducting the business alone, making a fine success of the same. The store occupies three floors and a base- ment and Mr. Buenger carries a large and first-class stock of goods. His undertaking department also is well equipped, the business in that department being carried on in full accordance with the latest and best approved prac- tices of the modern funeral director.
On August 3, 1904, Emil F. Buenger was united in mar- riage to Louisa Vogelpohl, who was born in New Ulm, just one block from the Buenger furniture store, daughter of Henry and Louisa (Schroer) Vogelpohl, the former of whom died in 1901 and the latter of whom is still liv- ing. To this union three children have been born, Es-
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ther, Edmund and Verna. Mr. and Mrs. Buenger are members of the Lutheran church and are held in high regard by their many friends throughout the county. Mr. Buenger is a Republican and takes a good citizen's interest in local political affairs, but has never been included in the office-seeking class. He is public spirited and enterprising and occupies a high place in local business circles.
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ATHANASIUS HENLE.
Athanasius Henle, who, in connection with his younger brother, John, is engaged in the farm-loan and general real- estate business at New Ulm, this county, is a native son of Brown county, having been born on a pioneer farm in Mil- ford township, seven miles west of New Ulm, May 2, 1861, six years after the erection of the county in 1855, son of Athanasius and Elizabeth (Fink) Henle, natives of Wur- temberg, Germany, who were among the original settlers of that part of the county and long honored residents of this part of the state, whose last days were spent in New Ulm.
The elder Athanasius Henle was the original promoter of the sturdy German colony which first settled Milford township and was for many years one of the leading citizens of this county. He was reared in Germany, eldest son of his parents, and was trained to the carpenter's trade. In 1852 he and his brother, Anton, and his sister, Mary, came to the United States and for a year were located in Chicago, get- ting "the lay of the land." Two years later, in 1854, Athan- asius Henle organized a considerable colony of Germans who had temporarily located in Chicago and the party came to Minnesota home-seeking. The party paused at Shako- pee, down the river in Scott county, while Mr. Henle, Louis Meyer, Alois Palmer and Franz Massafurst, came on up the river looking for a proper location for their colony. They selected a site eight miles west of the present city of New Ulm and entered a considerable tract of government land in what later became Milford township, which land was appor-
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tioned among the colonists and thus the settlement of that section of the county was begun. About that time a colony of Germans came to this section from Cincinnati and located about eight miles east of the Henle colony, thus forming the nucleus around which gathered the settlement of New Ulm. The next year, in 1855, Brown county was erected as a civic entity and from the very beginning of local government Athanasius Henle took a prominent part in civic affairs, becoming a man of large influence in the community, and one of the early and most useful county commissioners. He also served as assessor and for years was on the school board. In addition to his labors in connection with the de- velopment of his land tract he did considerable carpenter- ing and helped to get lumber and shingles out of the timber. For some time he worked at the carpenter's trade at Ft. Ridgely, daily walking to and fro from his home to that place, a distance of nine miles. As he became settled in his new home he prospered and eventually became the owner of four hundred acres of fine land in Milford township.
One of the members of the Henle colony that settled in Milford township was a young German girl, Elizabeth Fink, who had come to America with her parents, John M. and Monica Fink, and her brother Max and her sisters, Zettel, Lucretia and Monica, from far-away Wurtemberg. Not long after the establishment of the colony, Athanasius Henle and Elizabeth Fink drove to St. Paul with an ox-team and were there united in marriage by the Catholic priest, re- turning straightway to their friends in the wilderness and there set up their home. The colonists had hardly become settled in their promising new homes when the Indian uprising occurred in 1862 and both Athanasius Henle and
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his wife barely escaped with their lives during the conse- quent massacre, in which fifty-four residents of Milford township were cruelly slain by the savage redskins, this number including twenty-four of the Henle connection. Mrs. Henle's parents, John M. Fink and wife were locked in their cabin by the savages and the cabin was burned over their heads, both perishing miserably in the flames. The subject of this sketch was then a babe in arms, little more than one year old, and his devoted parents exerted their utmost courage and resourcefulness to save him and them- selves and their other small children from the fury of the bloodthirsty redskins. The elder Athanasius Henle and his wife reared their family on the homestead farm and remained there until 1893, in which year they retired from the farm and moved to New Ulm, where Mr. Henle died the next year, 1894, at the age of sixty-five years. His widow survived him until 1908 and was seventy-two years of age at the time of her death. Both were earnest and devoted members of the Catholic church and their children were reared in that faith. There were eleven of these children, of whom seven grew to maturity, as follow: Mary, wife of John Lauderbach, of Redwood Falls, this state; Martin, now deceased; Grace Crecencia, wife of Frank Schlump- berger, of Wanda, in Redwood county, this state; Athana- sius, the immediate subject of this sketch; John, who is associated with the last named in business at New Ulm; Anton, who remains on the old homestead in Milford town- ship, one of the most substantial farmers in the county; Joseph, now deceased, and four who died in youth.
The junior Athanasius Henle was reared on the home- stead farm in Milford township and was brought up amid
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the many hardships which marked the early days of the pioneers in this section. He attended the district school in the neighborhood of his home and for awhile attended the parochial school at New Ulm, and remained at home until he was well grown, after which he went to New Ulm and learned the wheelwright's trade and was engaged as a wheel- wright for thirty-five years, twenty-eight years of which time he was in business for himself, one of the best-known artificers in that line in this part of the state. During that time Mr. Henle was engaged in business at Springfield, this county, for nine years and the rest of the time he had his headquarters and factory in New Ulm. He made hundreds of stanch wagons and regularly kept a considerable force of men employed at his place. In 1910 Mr. Henle gave up his factory and since that time has been quite successfully engaged in the business of making farm loans, together with a general real-estate business, in association with his brother, John, at New Ulm.
On May 5, 1885, Athanasius Henle was united in mar- riage to Ida Baer, who was born at St. Paul, this state, but who was reared at New Ulm, daughter of Joseph and Bar- bara (Hitz) Baer, natives of Germany and early settlers at New Ulm, the former of whom is now deceased, but the latter of whom is still living there. Joseph Baer and wife were the parents of seven children, Adolph, Sophia, Ida, Edward W., Helena, Amelia and Paul.
To Athanasius and Ida (Baer) Henle eight children have been born, namely, George, who is operating a har- ness shop at Morris, this state, in partnership with his younger brother, Raymond; Elizabeth, who is a clerk in a jewelry store at New Ulm; Ida, who is a Sister in the con-
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vent at Wilkesbarre, Pennsylvania; Robert, a chef at Roch- ester, this state; Raymond, who is associated with his brother, George, in the harness business at Morris; Athana- sius the third, who is a linotype operator in a newspaper office at Redwood Falls, this state; Eleanor, a stenographer and typewriter at New Ulm, and Arthur, who died when about six years of age. Mr. and Mrs. Henle are members of the Catholic church and their children have been reared in that faith. Mr. Henle is a member of the Knights of Columbus and of the German Catholic Benevolent Society of Minnesota, in the affairs of both of which orders he takes a warm interest. He is a Democrat and has ever given his thoughtful attention to local political affairs, but has never been included in the office-seeking class.
John Henle, younger brother of Athanasius Henle, and who is associated with the latter in the real-estate and farm loan business in New Ulm, the firm being one of the most active hereabout, was born on the Henle homestead farm in Milford township on March 28, 1864, and remained there until he was fifteen years old, having meanwhile attended both the public and parochial schools, at which time he went to New Ulm and began to learn the harness-making trade, presently becoming a very skilful craftsman in that line. In 1884 he established a harness-making plant of his own at New Ulm and was quite successfully engaged in that enter- prise until 1905, in which year he gave it up in order to en- gage in the insurance business, which he has continued ever since and in which he has been quite successful, being one of the best-known insurance men in this section. Mr. Henle is an ardent Democrat and for years has been active in local politics. He served for some time as a member of the
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city council of New Ulm and in 1910 was elected as a member of the board of county commissioners, in which capacity his service on behalf of the public was so greatly appreciated that he was re-elected and is now serving his second term in that office. In other ways also Mr. Henle has given unselfishly of his time to the public service and for eighteen years was a valuable member of the city school board. He is recognized as one of the substantial business men of the community and is one of the directors of the Citizens State Bank of New Ulm.
On November 22, 1892, John Henle was united in mar- riage to Mary Gratz, who was born at Owatonna, this state, daughter of Mathias and Mary (Sullivan) Gratz, the for- mer a native of Germany and the latter of Ireland. For years Mathias Gratz and wife, both now deceased, were well-known residents of New Ulm. They were the parents of four children who grew to maturity, John, Catherine, Alice and Mary. Mr. and Mrs. Henle have an adopted daughter, Gladys. They are members of the Catholic church and Mr. Henle is a member of the Knights of Co- lumbus and of the St. Joseph Society, in the affairs of both of which organizations he takes a warm interest. The Henle brothers and their respective families ever have displayed a proper interest in the social and cultural activities of the community and are held in high esteem throughout the en- tire county. The family is one of the oldest in the county, as set out in the preceding paragraphs of this biographical sketch, and has done well its part in assisting in the devel- opment of this region to its present high standard.
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WILFRED CHRISTIANSEN.
Wilfred Christiansen, the popular register of deeds for Brown county and a former well-known merchant of this county, is a native son of Brown county, having been born on a farm in Linden township, November 26, 1884, son of Rasmus and Johanna (Jacobson) Christiansen, natives of Denmark, for many years well-known residents of this county, now living retired at Madelia, in the neighboring county of Watonwan.
Rasmus Christiansen was born and reared in a village near the city of Copenhagen in his native land, last born of the four sons born to his parents, and there became a miller. While still a young man, about 1866, he came to the United States and for some time lived in Wisconsin. About 1875 he came into Minnesota and for some time was engaged as a miller at Mankato, from there coming to Brown county, where he entered an eighty-acre homestead in Linden town- ship and set himself to the task of clearing and developing the same. Three years later he married Johanna Jacobsen, who also was born in Denmark, daughter of Jacob and Anna Jacobsen, who, upon coming to this country, first settled in Wisconsin and later came to this county, locating in Linden township. Jacob Jacobson in early life was a sailor, but after coming to America followed farming the rest of his life, both he and his wife spending their last days on the Linden township farm, he being eighty-five years of age at the time of his death, she also having been well along in
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