Nickolaus Poss, 1899 Biography

POSS

Posted By: David Reineke (email)
Date: 6/6/2004 at 18:11:47

I translated the following biography from Der Carroll Demokrat, a German-language newspaper published in Carroll, Iowa, between about 1874 and 1920. It was originally published in a special 25th Anniversary Edition of the paper on Friday, 20 September 1899. I have not changed the place or name spellings, but I have added some notes at the end. It reads as follows:

Nickolaus Poss

Mr. Nickolaus Poss is a very old settler of Carroll County who is connected to a part of the county’s history and who is admired and respected among all his acquaintances as quite an honorable man. He was born on 6 December 1827 at Ernzen, near Trier, Germany. He spent his youth and attended elementary school in his home village, after which he devoted himself to the occupation of agriculture and gained practical experience working on his parents’ farm. In 1850, he carried out his long-held plan to emigrate to the free country of America. At first, he went to Tiffin, Ohio, where he found work on the railroad and remained until the following spring. After this, he worked for a time on a farm, and then moved to Freeport, Illinois, then to Dubuque, Iowa, and then to Galena, Illinois. He worked eight years in Illinois, and then moved to Wisconsin where he remained four years. In 1864, near the end of the Civil War, he was conscripted as a soldier and was assigned to the troops manning the forts around Washington. After peace was reestablished in 1865, he was honorably discharged and moved to Black Hawk County, Iowa, where he again took up farm work and remained four years. In 1869, he came to Kniest Township, Carroll County, where he purchased a 160-acre parcel of land. Later, he sold this property and, in the same township, purchased a 200-acre farm of the best land which he equipped with good, solid buildings. On 6 October 1875, he married Miss Margaretha Grossmann. This happy and Christian marriage produced four children, all of whom, however, died at a young age. In the spring of 1866, he and his wife moved to the town of Carroll and purchased a pretty house with a garden close to Saints Peter and Paul Church where they might lead a more tranquil life and enjoy the fruits of their hard but prosperous work. After the couple had lived here happily for eight years, Mr. Poss suffered the greatest loss of his life when his dear companion passed away on 12 October 1895. It was a hard blow for the old gentleman, but he retains the comfort and compassion of his friends and the respect and affection of all his acquaintances.

NOTES: The town of Ernzen is in the far western part of Germany, about 10 to 15 miles northwest of Trier and just north of the Luxembourg border. There is also a town called “Enzen” a few miles farther north.