Johann Ocken, 1899 Biography

OCKEN, SCHMIEDING

Posted By: David Reineke (email)
Date: 7/24/2004 at 14:51:28

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. Information in brackets and notes at the end are my own explanations. It reads as follows:

Johann Ocken

This gentleman was born in Hegensdorf, county of Büren [Bueren], Westphalia, on 28 August 1846. He attended school in his home village, and then took up agriculture, assisting his parents in working on a farm. He immigrated to America in 1872, and settled in Alton, Illinois, where he again sought employment on a farm. He remained there one year, and then he moved to Petersburg, Iowa, where he worked for three years on various farms. On 23 January 1877, he married Miss Katharina Schmieding, a fine young lady, and in the same year, the young couple moved to Wheatland Township, Carroll County, where Mr. Ocken had purchased a 180-acre farm back in 1874. In 1893, he increased his property by 160 acres, so that the extensive farm, with a fine residence, good stalls and a good barn, consists of 280 acres of the finest land.

Mr. Ocken is a true “son of the red earth” [Westphalia is sometimes called the land of the red earth], upright and honest, and he and his wife are esteemed and respected by all their acquaintances. The marriage is blessed by eight children, whose names are: Johann, Elisabeth, Theresia, Maria, Anna, Katharina, Anton and Franz.

NOTES: Büren and Hegensdorf are in northwest Germany, just southwest of Paderborn.