CASSEL, Andrew F. - 1912 Bio (1831-1915)
CASSEL, ANDERSON, STEPHENSON, SCOTT
Posted By: Debbie Nash - Volunteer (email)
Date: 3/11/2005 at 17:22:46
From the “History of Jefferson County, Iowa” – 1912, Volume II
Pages 202-208ANDREW F. CASSEL
“Andrew F. CASSEL is widely known throughout this section of the country for the numerous political offices he has held and for his interest in educational and religious questions touching the intellectual and moral welfare of his community. He has the further distinction of being the son of one of the first Swedish settlers in the western states. His father, Peter CASSEL, came to this country in 1845, locating in Jefferson county, Iowa. In Sweden he had been a farmer by occupation, but his love for machinery and the mechanical arts had led him to spend most of his time in the manufacture of threshing machines. He had also been a proficient millwright and worked in this capacity for some time after his arrival in this country. Like the others of the little band of Swedish immigrants who had crossed the ocean with him and accompanied him to his destination in Iowa, he bought a plat of land in Lockridge township and entered upon a career of farming. It was raw, unbroken land that he found out on the wind-swept prairie, but Swedish industry and Swedish thrift worked a marvelous transformation in the once barren landscape. Green fields of waving corn, barley and wheat appeared in their due season to gladden the hearts of the toilers and give them promise of riches to come. Mr. CASSEL’s farm comprised one hundred and forty acres of land which he cultivated for the remainder of his life. On March 4, 1857, death too soon claimed him, cutting short his labors. His wife, whose maiden name was Katherine ANDERSON and became by her marriage the mother of Andrew P. CASSEL, outlived her husband by twenty years, passing away in May, 1877.
When thirteen years of age Andrew F. CASSEL, whose birth occurred December 3, 1831, accompanied his parents to the United States. He had already received a good fundamental education in Sweden which he continued in the district schools of his township in order to acquire a ready use of English. He remained at home assisting with the chores and the work in the fields so that, when his father died, he was prepared to take full charge of the operation of the farm. At the death of his mother he came into possession of the home farm by purchasing the place and adding more land to it until now he owns one hundred and ninety acres, a part of which he rents keeping the rest for his own use.
The marriage of Mr. Andrew F. CASSEL to Miss Louise PETERSON was solemnized November 13, 1857. She was a daughter of Andrew and Christina PETERSON, natives of Sweden. Her parents had severed their home ties in order to seek better opportunities for themselves and their children in the land of promise across the sea, but on the voyage over Mr. PETERSON and two of the children died of cholera. It was a sad little band consisting of the mother and seven children who came at length to join the Swedish colony in Lockridge township, Jefferson county, Iowa. Undaunted in her determination, however, the mother bought forty acres of land and began farming with the aid of her children until these were old enough to take from her the heavy burdens which the responsibility of providing for the needs of her family had thrust upon her. It is to women like Mrs. PETERSON that we owe an unpaid tribute, the widowed mother with a crown of sorrow on her brow going forth cheerfully from home and friends to endure hardships and toil, to suffer privation, to encounter sickness and the bereavement of death, and yet through it all retaining a faith unshaken in its sublime serenity. At the shrine of her memory let us pause for a moment in silent adoration.
Mr. and Mrs. Andrew F. CASSEL had ten children born to them, four of whom died in infancy. Those living are: Mary Ella, living at home; John Wesley, book-keeper in the Iowa State Savings Bank at Fairfield; Simon P., employed as an engineer on the Union Pacific Railroad and residing in Omaha, Nebraska; Andrew E., a rural mail carrier living in Fairfield, Iowa; Clara S., the wife of George STEPHENSON, a farmer of Lockridge township and Esther A., the wife of G. V. SCOTT, farmer and trustee of Lockridge township.
Mr. CASSEL is a republican in his political sympathies. He cast his first vote for Fremont as president. Always an eager worker for the good of his community, he has often and repeatedly been called to office by the many warm friends who appreciate his sincere and progressive spirit. He served as state representative from his district in the twenty-ninth, the thirtieth and the thirty-first general assemblies, was for nine years a member of the board of supervisors, and for a long period of years acted in the capacity of trustee of the township and director of the school in his district. In the general conference of the Methodist Episcopal church held at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in 1884, Mr. CASSEL, on account of his active interest in the work of this church, was sent as one of the delegates from the state of Iowa. He is a stockholder in the Iowa State Savings Bank of Fairfield, Iowa, and has served as the secretary of the Swedish Mutual Fire Insurance Association ever since its organization January 1, 1870. His wife died June 27, 1900, having been an invalid for six years preceding.
Few men in Jefferson county have lived a fuller life than Mr. CASSEL nor have been more willing to give of their time and services for the good of the family, the school, the church, the state and the nation. He has never shirked a responsibility; and whatever duties were laid upon him he has discharged with utter willingness, asking for no other reward than the joy that comes of service well performed.”
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