 |
|
 |
|
0[tto]. A. KOOPMAN, a successful farmer of section 15, Eldorado township, Benton county, Iowa, was born on the farm he now occupies May 3, 1871, a son of Jurgen and Annie C. (Albers) Koopman, both natives of Germany. Jurgen Koopman was born in 1833 and died on April 26, 1904; his wife, born in 1836, died January 26, 1904. They left four children, namely: 0. A.; Emyl, of Minnesota ; Annie, wife of Peter M. Kahler, of Eldorado township; and Minnie, wife of 0. 0. Boomgarden, of Eldorado township. Mr. Koopman was a carpenter and cabinet-maker in Germany, and in 1868 came to the United States, locating in Davenport, Iowa; in the fall of that year he came to Benton county, looking for a farm, and he purchased eighty acres in section 15, Eldorado township, for four dollars an acre. He settled on this farm in the spring of 1869, when it was raw prairie land, and the wolves at first prowled around and stole his chickens. Lumber being cheap, he was able to build himself a better home than that owned by the majority of his neighbors at that time; he made the dimensions fourteen by twenty-four, and it was considered then a fine house. About ten years after coming to the county Jurgen Koopman purchased eighty acres more, for which he paid fifteen dollars an acre. His next purchase was one hundred and sixty acres at thirty-seven dollars and fifty cents an acre and his next and last purchase was one hundred and forty acres, for which he paid forty dollars an acre. None of this land could now be bought for less than one hundred and sixty dollars an acre. He was a successful farmer and remained on the farm until his death, being then possessed of four hundred and sixty acres.
0. A. Koopman remained on his father's farm until his marriage; he received a common school education and attended high school at Vinton three and one-half years, leaving a few months before he would have graduated. He worked on his father's farm from the time he was old enough, and at the time of his marriage located in section 6 of Eldorado township, on one of his father's farms, where he remained two years; he then returned to the home farm, which he rented and carried on until his father's death. He received one hundred and sixty acres of land which was the old homestead. He also owns one hundred and twenty acres of land in Union township. He is a progressive farmer and very successful.
In politics Mr. Koopman supports the measures of the Democratic party. He takes an interest in public affairs, and is serving his third year as road supervisor. He stands well in the community, where he is well known. Mr. Koopman is a member of the Modern Brotherhood of America, No. 662, of Newhall, and his wife belongs to the Catholic church.
Mr. Koopman married, February 20, 1895, Elizabeth Bodicker, born March 30, 1874, in Eldorado township, and they have four children, all at home, namely: Harry, Tillie, John and Alfred.
 |
