Siegfried, Ferdinand

DAALMAN, BRANDT, KNOLL, PRIES, LEMKE, KRAUSE, STEINBERG, KARSTEN, ZANDER

Posted By: BCGS
Date: 12/8/2009 at 09:07:47

Since 1883 Ferdinand Siegfried has been connected with agricultural interests of Bremer county and in the intervening period has worked diligently and intelligently for the attainment of success, with the result that he is today the owner of one hundred and twenty acres of valuable land and ranks with the progressive and successful agriculturists of Sumner township. He was born in Pomerania, Germany, September 3, 1859, and is a son of Fred and Louisa (Daalman) Sigfried, who came to the United States in 1885, afterward making their home with their children in Bremer county. The father died in 1894 and is survived by his wife, who lives with her daughter in Fayette county. To their union were born five children: Johanna, the deceased wife of Ferdinand Brandt, of Tripolli; Ferdinand, of this review; Wilhelmina, who married Fred Knoll, of Fayette county; Amelia, the wife of William Pries, of Fayette county; and Bertha, who married Herman Lemke, of Sumner.

Ferdinand Siegfried acquired his education in the public schools of Germany and afterward spent three years in the German army. In 1883 he came to the United States and settled in Bremer county, where he worked upon a farm belonging to William Krause for some time. He later purchased this property and upon it he has since resided, carrying on general farming and stock-raising. He owns one hundred and twenty acres on sections 27 and 34 and has made excellent improvements upon the property, having remodeled some of the buildings, erected others and installed modern equipment. The place is today one of the finest in the township and its condition is a striking evidence of the care and labor which the owner has bestowed upon it. Mr. Siegried is a stockholder in the Sumner Creamery and is well known in business circles.

On the 27th of October, 1884, Mr. Siegfried married Miss Louisa Krause, who was born in Germany in 1862, a daughter of William and Louisa (Steinberg) Krause, natives of Pomerania, Germany. The parents came to the United States in 1865, settling in Wisconsin, where the father worked in a tannery for ten months. At the end of that time he moved to Bremer county and bought a farm west of Sumner, later disposing of this and buying one hundred and sixty acres, now occupied by the subject of this review. William Krause died upon this property in 1910, having survived his wife seven years. In their family were five children: Fred, a resident of Charles City, Iowa; Charles, who makes his home in Oregon; Ferdinand, of Dubuque, Iowa; Mrs. Fred Karsten, of Sumner; and Louisa, wife of the subject of this review. Mr. and Mrs. Siegfried became the parents of three children: Carl, who died in infancy; Hattie, the wife of Louis Zander, of Fayette county; and Artie, at home. The family are members of St. John's Lutheran church.

Mr. Siegfried is a democrat in his political views and has been school director for several years. He is one of the most substantial farmers of this vicinity, well known throughout the township for his diligence and enterprise, and he deserves great credit for his present prosperity, which is due solely to his own exertions.

History of Bremer County, Iowa Vol. II 1914