REIBSAMEN, CHARLES

REIBSAMEN, CUNNINGHAM, HART, BOBINHOUSE

Posted By: Jean Kramer (email)
Date: 9/9/2003 at 21:43:39

Biography reproduced from page 593 of Volume II of the History of Kossuth County written by Benjamin F. Reed and published in 1913:

Charles Reibsamen is one of the foremost citizens of Buffalo township, with the progress and development of which he has been actively identified for thirty-seven years. He is a native of Illinois, his birth having occurred on a farm in the vicinity of Alton on the 12th of January, 1856. His father, Frederick Reibsamen, was born and reared in Germany, but looking for larger opportunities and greater advantages, in his early manhood, he took passage for the United States. His destination was Madison county, Illinois, and soon after his arrival there he bought a large tract of timber land in the vicinity of Alton. With the true Teutonic thrift and energy he diligently applied himself to clearing his land and preparing it for cultivation. The further improvement and development of his farm engaged his attention for many years, his efforts in this direction meeting with a good measure of success. In 1875, he sold his property in Illinois, and together with his sons, who were then entering manhood, came to Iowa, investing his capital in two sections of land in Buffalo township. Here he continued his agricultural pursuits for several years and then removed to Virginia, where he passed the remainder of his life.

The first nineteen years in the life of Charles Reibsamen were passed on the farm where he was born, his education being acquired in the local schools. He accompanied the family on their removal to Iowa in 1875, assisting in breaking land and promoting development. After his father went to Virginia he and his brother operated the home place until 1884, when Mr. Reibsamen located on his present farm. The land was without improvements when he bought it, but he has erected a comfortable residence, a commodious barn and substantial outbuildings during the intervening years and he has also planted a grove and an orchard. The place is well kept up, the entire tract having been tiled, and presents a most attractive appearance, a beautiful lawn surrounding the residence and a broad driveway, on either side of which have been planted large evergreen trees, leading from the road. Mr. Reibsamen’s holdings comprise two hundred and thirty acres of section 23, and here he is engaging in diversified farming, in connection with which he is raising a good grade of Aberdeen Angus cattle and Poland China hogs. He also does dairying and is one of the stockholders of the Titonka Cooperative Creamery Association, of which he was one of the promoters. Diligence and enterprise united with foresight and good judgment in the promotion of his interests have bought Mr. Reibsamen a gratifying degree of success, and he is numbered among the substantial citizens of his community.

In this township on the 22d of September, 1879, Mr. Reibsamen was united in marriage with Miss Margaret Cunningham, who was born in Ohio and reared in Kossuth county and is a daughter of J. Cunningham, one of the pioneers of Buffalo township. They have become the parents of eight children, two sons and six daughters: Glen C., who with his father owns a bank at Legrand, of which he is the cashier and manager; Vance; Elsie, the wife of Larkin C. Hart, of Williams county, North Dakota; Grace, who married Henry Bobinhouse, of Eagle Grove; Mayme, who is one of the Kossuth county teachers; Ethel, who will complete her course at the Iowa State Teachers’ College at Cedar Falls this year; and Vera and Ruth, who are still at home. The elder members of the family received good education and the other children are being afforded equal advantages, the father being an enthusiastic advocate of higher education.

Public affairs have engaged much of Mr. Reibsamen’s attention, particularly those pertaining to the schools, as for many years he was a member of the school board, and for twenty president of the board of directors of the local district. For a long period he also discharged the duties of township clerk. He is financially connected with various enterprises in this section of the state and is one of the stockholders of the bank at Woden. Through the long period of residence here he has not only been an interested observer of the township’s development but has assisted in promoting its progress, both as a private citizen and through is service as a public official. He has witnessed the transformation of Kossuth county from wilderness and swamp into one of the most fertile and productive agricultural sections of the state, with well improved farms and thriving towns and villages, which stand as visible proofs of many years of pioneer labor.