Nahnsen

NAHNSEN, DIERSEN, NAMANNY, MEYER, CRUISE, STALLE, CARSTENSEN, BERGER, PRICE, STOLLEY, CRUISE

Posted By: Volunteer Subscribers
Date: 2/21/2003 at 09:35:26

From Past and Present of Greene County Iowa by E. B. Stillman, 1907
Pg. 309
Claus Nahnsen, a leading and representative agriculturist residing on section 5, Dawson township, is one of the sons that Germany has furnished to this county and in him are embraced all the salient characteristics of the natives of the fatherland. He was born in Schleswig-Holstein, January 12, 1851, and was a son of Broder and Agorda (Diersen) Nahnsen, also natives of Germany, in which country the father passed away at the age of forty-three years, having followed farming as a life work. His wife survived him and emigrated to the United States, her demise occurring at the home of our subject when she had reached the age of sixty years.
Claus Nahnsen remained in his native land until twenty years of age, but he had heard favorable reports of the larger opportunities which were to be enjoyed in the new world and thus when he had attained his majority he crossed the briny deep to the United States. He first secured work as a day laborer in Clinton county, Iowa, and in 1876 purchased forty acres of prairie land in Greene county, where he now resides. The place was destitute of improvements, but with unfaltering determination and perseverance he took up the task of developing the land and also erected a good residence. As the years have passed he has met with success in his agricultural interests, owing to his untiring labor and excellent business management and is today the owner of five hundred and twenty acres of well improved and arable land in Greene and Webster counties. He is recognized as a leader among the German people of Dawson township, having inspired their confidence and good will by his straight- forward dealing and honorable business methods at all times.
In 1873, in Clinton county, Iowa, Mr. Nahnsen was united in marriage to Miss Bregoda Namanny, a native of Germany, who came to the United States with the mother of our subject when twenty-five years of age. She passed away, however, in 1885, leaving a family of nine children, as follows: Broder, who married Mary Meyer and follows farming in Dawson township; Nick, also a farmer of Dawson township, who wedded Freda Meyer; Sophia, who became the wife of Lewis Cruise and resides in Calhoun county, Iowa; Albert, who married Anna Stalle and is an agriculturist of Dawson township; Gertrude, the wife of John Carstensen, residing in Webster county, Iowa; Mary, who is living in Calhoun county, Iowa, and is the wife of Rudolph Berger; John, at home; Bernhardt, who is married and lives at Waterloo, Iowa; and one who passed away in infancy. For his second wife Mr. Nahnsen chose Miss Louisa Price, a native of Webster county, and they have become the parents of eight children: Emil, Anton, Adolph, Hilda, Laura, William, Alta and Leo, who are all at home.
Mr. Nahnsen is a democrat in his political affiliations and has served as school director for several years, the cause of education finding in him a firm friend. In 1882 he helped to organize the German Lutheran church here and has been an elder in the same from that time to the present, his work in behalf of the church being recognized as an important factor in the moral development of the community. He was one of the earliest settlers of Dawson township and is there fore classed with the pioneers who aided in transforming a wild region into a rich agricultural district with all the attendant conveniences of advanced civilization. The hope that led our subject to leave his native land and seek a home in America has been more than realized. He found the opportunities he sought -- which, by the way, are always open to the ambitious, energetic man -- and, making the best of these, he has steadily worked his way upward, being a credit alike to the land of his birth and that of his adoption.
Albert Nahnsen pg. 657
Albert Nahnsen is a well known farmer living on section 18, Dawson township, and it was in this township that his birth occurred on the 8th of May, 1874. He was a son of Claus Nahnsen, of whom mention is made elsewhere in this volume. He obtained his education in the country schools while spending his boyhood days under the parental roof and in the summer months he worked in the fields, remaining at home with his parents until twenty-four years of age. The occupation to which he was reared he has always made his life work and he is now the owner of one hundred and twenty acres of rich and productive land situated on section 18, Dawson township. This he purchased from his father a year ago and he is now carrying on general farming, his careful supervision of his fields enabling him to gather rich crops annually.
On the 1st of February, 1905, Mr. Nahnsen was married to Miss Annie Stolley, who was born in Davenport, Iowa, a daughter of John and Lena (Cruise) Stolley, who were farming people of Calhoun county, Iowa. By this marriage there has been born one son, Rudolph.
Mr. Nahnsen is a member of the Lutheran church and is interested in the moral as well as the political and material advance of his community. His political views are in accordance with the principles of the democratic party and he always votes its ticket, but has never been an office-seeker, as his time and energies are fully taken up with the work of the home farm.
Broder Nahnsen pg. 399
There is in Dawson township quite a settlement of German-American citizens -- men who display in the conduct of their business affairs the sterling traits of character which indicate a German nationality or ancestry. To this class belongs Broder Nahnsen, who is energetically and successfully carrying on general farming on section 8, Dawson township. He is the eldest son of Claus Nahnsen, of whom mention is made elsewhere in this volume. His birth occurred in Clinton county, Iowa, on the 11th of June, 1874, and when but two years of age he was brought by his parents to Greene county, where he has since lived. This locality was at that time a pioneer district of the state. There were no regularly established schools in the township where the family lived and the subject of this review pursued his education in the little schools which were held in the different homes of the neighborhood. His training at farm labor, however, was not meager. On the contrary, he early became familiar with all the difficulties and labors that fall to the lot of the agriculturist as he performed the arduous task of developing and cultivating new land. Throughout his entire life he has carried on general farming, and as the years have passed he has met with a measure of success which now classes him with the substantial residents of the community.
At the age of twenty-five years, Mr. Nahnsen was united in marriage to Miss Mary Meyer, a native of Germany and a daughter of William and Mary Meyer, who are now residents of Highland township, this county. Mrs. Nahnsen has spent almost her entire life in the county and by her marriage she has become the mother of two sons and a daughter, William, Clara and Elmer.
Their home stands in the midst of eighty acres of well improved land, which Mr. Nahnsen purchased on contract for his father. His early experiences as an agriculturist came into good play when he started out in life on his own account and he has worked persistently and energetically to bring his fields under a high state of cultivation, that they may produce good crops as the years go by. he and his family attend the Lutheran church, in which he holds membership, and his political views are indicated by the unfaltering support which he gives to the men and measures of the republican party at the polls.