Kooistra, Herman W.

KOOISTRA, OLIVIER, ELSCOTT, BRAND

Posted By: Volunteer Transcriber
Date: 9/10/2009 at 17:53:44

Kooistra, Herman W.

Another of the thrifty Hollanders who have honored Jasper County by their citizenship and have benefited alike themselves and the community in general is Herman W. Kooistra, of Linn Grove Township, where, in a scientific manner, he is successfully engaged in agricultural pursuits and where he enjoys the friendship and good will of all his neighbors and acquaintances, for his record stands without blemish as a citizen in both public and private affairs, and he is in every way entitled to just consideration and representation in this biographical work.

Mr. Kooistra was born in Holland, January 16, 1885, and he is the son of Wytze and Baukje (Olivier) Kooistra, both born in Holland, the father in 1853 and the mother in 1855, and there they grew to maturity, were educated and married and began life on a small farm. The family immigrated to America in 1889, when the subject was four years of age. They located at Pella, Iowa, but soon afterwards came to Jasper County, and during their first four years the father and sons worked out as farm hands until they could get a start; then the father rented land in this County for a period of nine years, principally in Elk Creek Township. In 1900 he bought one hundred and ninety-six acres in Lynn Grove Township. Here he prospered and added to his original holdings until he owned one of the best farms in the Township, consisting of two hundred and thirty-three acres and there he lived until his death in 1906. He was a quiet, hard-working, kindly gentleman who had the respect of all who knew him.

His family consisted of the following children: John, Mrs. Kate Elscott, Wytze, Herman W., of this sketch, and Dora. They all attended school in Elk Creek Township and they helped their father on the farm and since his death Herman W. and Wytze have operated the homestead in an able and successful manner, carrying forward the work inaugurated by the elder Kooistra. The subject has remained unmarried, but Wytze was married in February 1905, to Katie Brand, the daughter of Jacob Brand, a very early settler in Jasper County, whither he had come from Holland. To Wytze Kooistra and wife two children have been born, Lenora and Edna.

In connection with general farming the Kooistra brothers devote considerable attention to stock raising. They are both hustlers and very promising young farmers. The subject is independent in politics, always voting for the man and what he personally stands for, irrespective of party. Past and Present of Jasper County Iowa B. F. Bowden & Company, Indianapolis, IN, 1912 Page 836