Buckhorn Neighborhood

SHELBE, WICKER, EVERS, SUMMERS, JENKINS, ELERS, MOULTON, WEIDEMAN, WALT, HENKELMAN, RICHTERMAN, GREG, SCHEIB, BUSCH, GROENWALD, KOKEMILLER, TEEPLE, WIRTH, BUCK, WATSON, PENCE, MCCRACKEN, BURNER, TAMM, HERKELMAN

Posted By: Ken Wright (email)
Date: 7/9/2008 at 06:14:28

Jackson Sentinel
April 6, 1905

How Our Yankee Neighborhood has Been Germanized.

In looking back across forty years of our neighborhood’s history in the six square miles east, west, and south of Buckhorn, we can only bring to mind a single German native or foreign born. Samuel Shelbe was what is called a “Pennsylvania Dutchman,” and I think of German descent. Wicker lived further west, out of this territory we are speaking of. Now, if some of the old settlers who are sleeping under the acacia were to waken they could not tell whether this neighborhood was a part of South Fork and Monmouth townships or “Bingen on the Rhine”. Where Fayette Crane used to live, lives Chris Evers. On the land entered by Redmond Summers lives Julius Elers and on the Ranec Jenkins place is Horace Scott, while on the Seneca Moulton place there is living John Weideman and on the old Rowley Walt farm August Luett, then comes Carl Henkleman on the Eli Moulton place and Richterman on the James Gregg farm. Gerhard Busch lives on the Samuel Scheib farm, Chris Weideman on the east eighty of the Sam Reed place and Kokemiller on the west eighty, while Henry Groenwald lives on land joining Kokemiller and formerly owned by John Summers. On the Calvin Teeple place is Frank Wirth and Adolph Buck, on the old John Watson farm and Henry Buck north of the William Pence place.

We also find Jepsen on what was known as the Alex McCracken farm; Ehlersop Burner and Chris Tamm in Nashville; Herkleman, on the Geo. Johnson farm; on the north half of the old Wilberger farm lives Dick Busch and on the south half Henry Busch. Chris Groenwald is on the Harvey Crane farm, Tobe where Nelse Mackenzie used to live and John and Carl Groenwaldt on land joining them on the east. On the Isaac Whitney place lived until this spring Mr. Evers, but as another German, a Mr. Elers, moved in this spring, Mr. Evers goes to Maquoketa. In the Busch neighborhood lives Henry Weis; on the old place of Charlie Tozer there lives another German and also one north of where lives Henry Weis.

West of Nashville we find Wm. Groenwald on the Geo. Frank farm and Carl Weide where Redmond Summers lived after moving from near Buckhorn. Further southwest is Henry Luett, Dick Iklechangs and many others. The south and southwest of here is a most solid German. Between Nashville and Lost Nation a man called a yankee is almost a curiosity and irishmen are just as scarce as Yankees. For years, the German tide has been coming in and rising higher and spreading out, until it has occupied the most of this part of Iowa and the most of the settlers of American descent have ausgaspeald. We like our German neighbors first rate. They, as a rule, are honest, economical, persevering and accumulative and build up the country. The only thing that can be said against them is a yankee has to have the alphabet strung on a cork screw before he can spell some of their names. I never could get the letters strung just right and we presume some of these names we have a little bit twisted. If so, we hope it’s not offend any of our German friends. If it does, he can fix us by shooting us with “swie glass of beer.”
Yours truly,
FARMER BUCKHORN