J. F. Moellenhof

MOELLENHOF, STOECKEN, KOLL

Posted By: Ken Wright (email)
Date: 5/18/2010 at 21:50:58

History of Jackson County, Iowa, 1910, James W. Ellis

J. F. MOELLENHOF.

A well tilled farm of one hundred and sixty acres annually pays tribute to the careful and systematic cultivation practiced by J. F. Moellenhof. He has lived in America little more than a score of years and has been identified with Fairfield township for less than a decade, but his time has been utilized to good advantage and he may now be numbered among the substantial citizens of this prosperous community. He was born in Germany, April 2, 1871, a son of Henry and Anna (Schuldt) Moellenhof. The parents were also natives of the fatherland and are still living in the land of their birth. Unto them were born six children, of whom J. F. Moellenhof is the eldest. The others are Adolph, Henry, Nicholas, Mathews, and Margaret.
It was on the 3d of March, 1888, that J. F. Moellenhof came to America. He was then a lad of seventeen years, who had enjoyed the educational opportunities afforded by the public schools of Germany and was filled with the ambition of youth and the determination to achieve success in this country that would justify to himself and his relatives his decision to come here. For seven years he worked as a farm hand and at the end of that time rented land in Sac county, Iowa, which he operated for three years. He had kept his ambition constantly before him, however, and had saved as well as worked, so that about 1898 he was able to buy one hundred and seventy-one acres in that county. He lived thereon until 1900, when he came to Jackson county and bought the farm on which he is now residing. It is a fine tract of one hundred and sixty acres lying in Fairfield township, and its fertile soil makes a generous return for the thought and labor expended in cultivating it.
In 1900 Mr. Moellenhof was married to Miss Dora Stoecken, who was born in this county, October 10, 1873. She is a daughter of Henry and Mary (Koll) Stoecken, of whom mention is made on another page of this work. Mr. and Mrs. Moellenhof have one son, Henry Allen, who was born December 14, 1907.
The parents affiliate with the Lutheran church and their lives are in harmony with its teachings. Since he has become a citizen of this republic Mr. Moellenhof has given unfaltering support to the democratic party, for he believes thoroughly in the principles enunciated in its platform. Nor has he been remiss in any of the duties of citizenship, but loyal to the country of his adoption, which afforded him the opportunities he sought, -which by the way are always open to the ambitious, energetic man,—he has repeatedly identified himself with those measures which look toward progress and the substantial betterment of the community.