SIEFKEN, Henry 1863-1940

SIEFKEN, POPPEN

Posted By: Tammy (email)
Date: 8/21/2010 at 07:49:43

Henry Siefken Died Saturday; Sick Over Year

Henry Siefken died at his home in Holland about 2:30 Saturday afternoon following an illness covering about a year and three months. Anemia and cancer of the stomach was the cause of his death. The family had known for months that he couldn't get well and the end on Saturday was not unexpected.

Funeral services were held at the home Tuesday afternoon and later at the Christian Reformed church in Holland with the local pastor, Rev. P. H. Eldersveld, officiating.

Came to County In a Covered Wagon

Mr. Siefken was born in Loga, Eastfriesland, Germany, August 31, 1863. When he was two years of age he came to America with his parents. That was the year the Civil War ended. The family came over in a sailing vessel and it took them three weeks to make the crossing. They came to Freeport, Ill., near which place they lived on a farm for four years. In 1868, Mr. Siefken's father came to Grundy county, Iowa, to look for another home for his family. He liked it here and he bought a farm in Colfax township a short distance west of Holland on which the family resided many years and which is still known as the home Siefken farm. The next spring one of the two oldest sons, Dietrick, came here and broke the sod on the farm to get it ready for a crop the following year. The family came from Freeport to their new home in Grundy county early in the fall of 1869. They were put up by neighbors until they could build a house of their own. The lumber for the house had to be brought here from Ackley which was the nearest railroad point. The trip from Freeport to Grundy county was made in a covered wagon.

There were seven children in the pioneer Siefken family. Henry was next to the youngest. The oldest of the family were twins, Ranco and Dietrick, Caroline, Rudolph, John, Henry and Mrs. Joe Snittjer. Of this family now only two remain, John and Mrs. Snittjer.

Married 49 Years

Mr. and Mrs. Siefken were married in Grundy county 49 years ago. They lived on the farm two years following their marriage. In 1893 they moved to Holland which has been their home ever since. They were the oldest residents in town.

Was Best Known Blacksmith

Mr. Siefken opened a blacksmith shop in Holland and he worked there daily from 1893 until poor health compelled him to quit about a year and three months ago. He was one of the few blacksmiths in central Iowa who was able to compete with the motor equipment that has replaced former methods of farming. Work in late years came to him from all parts of the county and he was kept constantly busy at his forge. He treated his customers as fairly as he expected them to treat him. And he got along well. He kept the confidence and friendship of his customers who helped his to live as comfortably as he wished to live. He filled an important place in the community because he was always ready and willing to give that community his best service and he left a better and a richer community because he was a part of it for so many years.

Surviving are the widow, four sons and three daughters. The sons are August from Bristow, Adam from DesMoines, and John and Henry from Holland. The daughters are Mrs. Anna Heronimus from Holland, Mrs. Kelly Mayfield from Allison, and Mrs. Albert Algood from Holland. One daughter, Mrs. Sam Heronimus is dead.

--newspaper clipping, source unknown

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Henry A. Siefken Passes Away At Holland Home

Henry A. Siefken, for many years the blacksmith at Holland, and who had spent almost an entire lifetime in that community, passed away at his home on Saturday, May 18, 1940, at the age of 76 years, eight months and eighteen days. Funeral services were held on Tuesday, May 21, from the Holland Christian Reformed church, with the pastor, Rev. P. H. Eldersveld in charge of the services. Interment was made in the Holland Lutheran cemetery with John A. Meyer, Ben P. Heronimus, Alfred Brower, John Venenga, Jerry Peters and Henry Dirks, Jr., acting as casket bearers.

Henry A. Siefken was born at Loge, East Friesland, Germany, on August 31, 1863, and with his parents came to this country at a very early age. After living a few years in Illinois the deceased came to Holland, where he spent the remainder of his lifetime, an important cog of the business and civic life of the village.

In 1891 he was united in marriage with Miss Annie Poppen and to this union eight children were born, seven of whom are left, with their mother, to mourn the passing of a kind and loving father. They are Mrs. Paul Heronimus, of Holland; Gus Siefken, of Bristow; Mrs. Kelly Mayfield, of Allison; Adam Siefken, of Des Moines; Mrs. Albert Allgood, John Siefken and Henry Siefken, of Holland. Mrs. S. Heronimus passed away some years ago.

He leaves to mourn his passing his wife, children, grandchildren, other relatives and a great host of friends and acquaintances picked up through a long life of friendliness and honest and straightforward business dealing. He will be greatly missed in the community where he has so long made his home.

--Wellsburg Herald (Wellsburg, Iowa), 1 May 1940