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Allamakee County >> 1913 Index Past and Present of Allamakee County Iowa F Unless otherwise specified, these biographies are submitted by Dick Barton. T.
G. Faegre owns four hundred and eight acres of rich land on sections
9 and 3, Center township, constituting the farm upon which he was born.
It is a valuable property, well improved, and in its further development
the owner is giving evidence of a thorough understanding of the most
modern and progressive methods of agriculture.
He was born August 1,
1859, and is a son of Gilbert H. and Catherine (Hendrickson) Faegre,
natives of Norway, where their marriage occurred and where their two
eldest children were born.
They emigrated to the Untied States in 1851
and in that year located on the farm in Center township, Allamakee
county, Iowa, whereon their son now resides.
Their first home was a
cave dug in the side of a hill, but they later built a log house, which
they afterward replaced by a comfortable frame dwelling.
From the
government the father purchased two hundred and eighty acres of land and
he continued to develop and improve it until his death, which occurred
February 14, 1904.
He was survived by his wife only a few weeks, her
death occurring March 10, of the same year.
Both were members of the
Norwegian Lutheran church and in politics Gilbert H. Faegre was a loyal
republican.
In their family were seven children:
Martha and Hans,
natives of Norway, both of whom are deceased;
Mrs. S. O. Nordvold, of
Pierre, South Dakota; Kasper, who lives in New York city; Albert,
deceased; T. G. , of this review; and Lena, who has passed away.
T.
G. Faegre was reared upon his father's farm in Center township and
acquired his education in the district schools.
Before his father's
death he assumed charge of the homestead and later bought the property,
which he has since continued to develop.
He has made several additions
and improvements and he now owns four hundred and eight acres, the neat
and attractive appearance of which evidences his careful supervision and
practical methods.
In addition to general farming he buys and sells
land to some extent and this proves a profitable source of income to
him.
Mr. Faegre married Miss Sarah Thorstenson, born in Allamakee county, a daughter of Ole and Gunhild Thornstenson, natives of Norway, the former of whom has passed away, while the latter makes her home in Paint Creek township. Mr. and Mrs. Faegre became the parents of six children, two of whom died in infancy. The others are Gilbert, Florence, Selma and Goldie. The parents are members of the Norwegian Lutheran church and Mr. Faegre gives his political allegiance to the republican party. He has served as township trustee and school director and his influence is always given for the furtherance of education and other interests which he deems essential to the welfare and upbuilding of the county. The
history of the pioneer settlement of Allamakee county contains the
record of no more honorable, worthy and upright man than that of
Christian Frahm, who, landing in America with only one dollar in his
pocket, has worked steadily and courageously during the intervening
years, winning finally success, prominence and an honored name.
He is
one of the earliest settlers in Allamakee county, his residence here
dating from 1856, and he has borne an active part in the work of
progress which has since reclaimed the wilderness for purposes of
civilization.
He was born in the province of Holstein, Germany,
December 23, 1830, and in 1853 took passage aboard a three-masted vessel
called Hemisphere, sailing from Liverpool.
After a long journey he
arrived in New York and pushed westward to Chicago, landing in the
latter city with a capital of one dollar.
He found employment in
Chicago, working at anything he could find to do, his occupation
including the plowing of a cornfield which grew where the business
section of the city now stands.
From Chicago he made his way to
Dubuque, Iowa, and there worked on the railroad and at other
occupations until he came to Allamakee county, settling in Lansing,
November 10, 1856.
He proceeded to Waukon, where he spent three months,
but in the spring of the same year obtained a position as a farm laborer
on what is now known as Lansing Ridge.
He later was employed by his
brother in Lansing township and afterward was for seven years on the
Adam Hirth farm.
Being ambitious, economical and energetic, he saved
his money, gradually accumulating enough to rent land.
He engaged in
farming in this way for one year and then, on the 7th of March, 1864,
purchased the farm, buying at that time sixty-two acres, about forty of
which could be cultivated.
He erected a home upon this property and
with confidence, courage and steadfast purpose carried forward the work
of development, replacing the old buildings by new ones when necessary
so that only one of the original structures now remains.
He later added
forty acres to his holdings, so that his farm now comprises one hundred
and two acres.
It is said that in the early days he could plow a
straighter furrow across eighty acres of land with a yoke of oxen with
no reins nor anything to guide his team but "gee" and
"haw" than can be
done today with a team of horses and the best plow manufactured.
He
engaged in general farming for many years, success steadily attending
his well directed and practical labors, and he accumulated finally a
comfortable competency, on which he was able to retire from active
business life.
He has given over the management of the homestead to his
son and daughter, who care for their father in his old age.
In
Lansing township, in 1868, Mr. Frahm married Miss Mary Wessel, born
in Hanover, Germany, August 7, 1840.
When a young woman she crossed the
Atlantic to America, landing in this country after a journey of forty-
nine days.
After her arrival she worked for wages in order to obtain
the money to pay for her passage over, and her life was afterward filled
with the hard work always to be found upon a farm.
All difficulties she
faced with confidence and courage, proving a worthy helpmate to her
husband and aiding him materially in his struggle upward to success.
She passed away in Lansing township, August 8, 1893.
Mr. and Mrs. Frahm
became the parents of five children, two of whom survive, Sophia and
Henry.
They live upon the homestead, Henry managing the work of the
farm and Sophia taking charge of household matters.
For
the past fifty years Mr. Frahm has been a member of the German
Methodist church.
He affiliated with the republican party until the
election in November, 1912, when he allied his interests with the
progressives.
He is a splendid example of the self-made man, for,
unaided by capital or influential friends, he has worked out his own
success.
His life of toil and labor has been crowned with a gratifying
measure of prosperity and by his perseverance, industry and integrity he
has won an honored name as well as success.
John
H. Hermanson Fretheim, or as he was better known in Allamakee
county, John H. Hermanson, proved his loyalty in citizenship by active
and able service in the Union army during the Civil war, his reliability
in business by his many years of close connection with farming interests
of Allamakee county, and his faithfulness to all ties and obligations by
his upright and honorable life.
He passed away on his farm in Waterloo
township, July 6, 1904, and his death was widely and deeply regretted,
for in his passing Allamakee county lost a pioneer citizen and a man who
during the half century of his residence here made tangible and
substantial contributions to the agricultural development and general
upbuilding of this part of the state.
Mr.
Hermanson was born in Norway, in which country the family name was
Fretheim.
He came to America with his parents in 1854 and the family
remained for a short time in New York where the father and one brother
of the subject of this review passed away.
Afterwards the mother and
the remainder of the family came west and after spending one year in
Wisconsin, settled in Allamakee county, Iowa, where they took up
government land and also added to their holdings by purchase.
Assisted
by her sons the mother operated this tract for many years thereafter and
under her able management it became a productive and valuable farm.
Eventually she retired from active life, selling the land to her sons,
and a few years later passed away.
She and her husband became the
parents of nine children, three of whom survive:
John, of Decorah;
Mrs. Christina Ellingson, of Austin, Texas; and Mrs. Ellen Peterson, of
Allamakee county.
John
H. Hermanson began farming in Waterloo township at an early age,
cultivating first an eighty acre tract of land which he purchased from
his mother's homestead.
He suspended his agricultural labors in 1861,
when he enlisted in Company B, Twenty-seventh Iowa Volunteer Regiment,
for service in the Civil war.
He went to the front as private and
served for three years, taking part in many of the important engagements
of the war and also the battle with the Indians at Lake Mills,
Minnesota.
With a creditable military record he returned to Iowa and
resumed the operation of his farm, remaining active and prominent in
this line of work for forty years thereafter.
During this period he won
success, prominence and substantial fortune and his landed holdings
increased steadily until he owned a one hundred and eighty acre farm in
Allamakee county with one hundred and thirty acres in a high state of
cultivation and an eighty acre tract in Wharton county, Texas.
He gave
practically all of his time to the cultivation of his Iowa farm and upon
it steadily carried forward the work of improvement and development,
erecting upon it substantial buildings and installing modern equipment.
In the course of years it became a valuable and productive property and
stands today as a worthy memorial to his life of industry and thrift.
Shortly
after his discharge from service in the Civil war Mr. Hermanson
married and to him and his wife were born eleven children:
Albert, who
is engaged in farming in Ross, North Dakota;
Anna, who married Albert
Langen of Allamakee county;
Mrs. Nettie Loe, of Pekin, North Dakota;
Iver, a farmer of Ross, North Dakota;
Henry, engaged in farming in the
same locality;
Emil, a farmer of Elsworth, North Dakota;
Mrs. Andrew
Klefstad, of Pekin, in the same state;
John, who is assisting his
brother and mother in the operation of the homestead;
Ida, who lives at
home;
Sanders, aiding in the conduct of the home farm; and Mayme, at
home.
All these children received excellent educations in the public
schools of Allamakee county and Mrs. Loe engaged in teaching previous to
her marriage.
The family are devout members of the Lutheran church.
John
H. Hermanson gave his political allegiance to the republican party
and was eminently progressive and public-spirited in matters of
citizenship, cooperating heartily in all measures and projects to
advance the general interests of the community.
On several occasions he
rendered the township excellent service as trustee and was found always
prompt, capable and reliable in the discharge of his official duties.
His death on the 6th of July, 1904, took from Allamakee county one whom
she could ill afford to lose - a man of high principles, progressive
standards and upright life, who during almost a half century of earnest
and capable work along agricultural lines made many substantial
contributions to the upbuilding and development of the state.
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