William Frohn

FROHN, KLANK, KREUGER, LEPSEY, OBERMEYER, REISS, KANN, BOHL

Posted By: Georgia Nuehring Bruns
Date: 3/13/2004 at 22:05:24

WILLIAM FROHN

Among the enterprising and self-reliant men who settled in Lancaster county in early days and who laid the foundation for its present prosperity was William Frohn, who became the owner of several hundred acres of land here. He was born in Muenchhausen, near Koeln am Rhein, Germany, on the 29th of November 1839. When he was ten years of age he accompanied his parents. Gottfried and Cecelia (Klank) Frohn, to the United States, the voyage being made on a sailing vessel, which required forty-six days to cross from Bremen, Germany, to New York city. The family located in Clayton county, Iowa, which had been thrown open to white settlers only a short time before. The father bought land from the government and passed his remaining days upon his farm.

William Frohn grew to manhood in Clayton county and as a boy and youth divided his time between attending the public schools and helping with the farm work. In 1869 he came to Lancaster county and purchased two hundred and forty acres of wild prairie land in Centerville precinct which he at once began to bring under cultivation. As the years passed his resources increased, for he was a practical and efficient agriculturist and seldom failed to harvest large crops. He invested his capital from time to time in more land and at his death held title to several hundred acres. Mr. Frohn was united in marriage on the 14th of June 1860, in Clayton county, Iowa, to Miss Amelia Kreuger, who was born in Westphalia, Germany, on the 27th of March 1841, and was a daughter of Frederick Kreuger.

Her death occurred in 1878 and later Mr. Frohn was married to Mrs. Elizabeth Lepsey. His living children are as follows: Mary, the wife of William Obermeyer, a resident of Lancaster county; William, who is living in White City, Kansas; Ernestine, the wife of Fred Reiss, of Oklahoma; Cecelia, now Mrs. Hubert Kann and a resident of Oklahoma: Henry and Hubert, both of whom are living in Lancaster county; and Amelia, the widow of Edward Bohl; Lancaster county.

By her former marriage Mrs. Frohn had a daughter Mary, and by the second marriage there is a son Gottfried. Mr. Frohn cast his ballot in support of the democrat party and was never remiss in any of his duties as a citizen. However, he never sought public office as his farming interests demanded his undivided time and attention. He gained financial independence and in 1896 removed to Lincoln, where he lived in honorable retirement until his demise, which occurred in October 1915. He was a communicant of the Roman Catholic church and his many sterling qualities gained him the sincere respect of all who came in contact with him.

- source: "LINCOLN The Capitol City and Lancaster County, Nebraska" Published Chicago, Illinois; The S. J. Clarke Publishing Company; 1916

- transcribed by Kathie Harrison
Coordinator, Lancaster Co. NEGenWeb Project
(posted to the Clayton co. IAGenWeb with permission)