DeBruyn, Frank K.

DEBRUYN, VANVARK, DEPENNING

Posted By: Volunteer Transcriber
Date: 8/22/2009 at 12:37:44

DeBruyn, Frank K.

Both paternally and maternally, Frank K. DeBruyn, one of the up-to-date farmers of Richland Township, Jasper County, is descended from Hollander ancestry, who, like many people from the old world, were lured to this country by the prospect of obtaining lands, which was practically an impossible thing to do in their native country by reason of the high price of real estate and its entailment to the wealthy. They became very comfortably established in our free republic and it seems that their aim has always been to do the right and it is to such as they that our country is indebted for the stability of its institutions and for the large measure of prosperity which it enjoys. The immediate subject of this review seems to have inherited many of the sterling characteristics of his worthy forebears.

Mr. DeBruyn was born in Marion County, Iowa, October 12, 1867, the son of Kryn and Mattie (VanVark) DeBruyn, both born in Holland, the latter having been brought to America when but a few days old, her father leaving his native land in order to escape military service in the regular army, so the mother of the subject grew to womanhood and was educated in America, and here also the father of Frank K. DeBruyn spent most of his life, and received practically all his education, having been fifteen years of age when he landed on our shores in 1853, making the voyage with a half-sister and her husband, the grandparents at the time being deceased.

Kryn DeBruyn settled near Pella, Iowa, and there worked out in order to get a start. When the Civil War came on he showed that he was in sympathy with the Federal Government by enlisting in Company G, Thirty-third Iowa Volunteer Infantry, in which he served gallantly for three years. He was taken prisoner and held for ten months in Andersonville. After the War he returned to Iowa and married and for some time he worked in the brickyards at Howell, then called Amsterdam, then he rented land in the vicinity of Pella for, a few years. In 1887 he moved to Jasper County where he lived until his death in 1905, having established a good home and made a good living for his family, which consisted of the following children: Maggie, Mary, Minnie, Anna, Emma, Jennie, Berdie, Mayme, Will, Arrie, Neil, Johnnie (deceased).

Frank K. DeBruyn, of this review, was the oldest of the family. He attended the public schools in Marion County and remained on the home place until he was twenty-one years of age. He being the eldest child, considerable work and responsibility devolved upon him, but the training was of much subsequent value. He then worked out by the month, and after his marriage he rented land. In 1899, having gotten a good start through close application and economy, he purchased two hundred and twenty acres of good land in Richland Township which he developed into an excellent farm where he has, carried on general farming and stock raising. He feeds several loads of cattle each season and has had uniform good luck in this line. He has recently built a large, modern and attractive dwelling, fitted with up-to-date equipment and conveniences.

Politically, he is a Republican.

Mr. DeBruyn was married on November 20, 1890, to Nellie DePenning, who was born in Marion County, Iowa, the daughter of Jacob DePenning, an early settler in Marion County, and to this union the following children have been born: Mattie, Jemmie, Carl and Goldie. The subject is a man of fine physique, jovial, hospitable and pleasant; he enjoys hard work, for which he has an unusual capacity. Past and Present of Jasper County Iowa B. F. Bowden & Company, Indianapolis, IN, 1912 Page 853.