JENSEN, H. EDWARD

JENSEN, JACOBSON, HANSEN, HELGESON, CHRISTENSEN

Posted By: Jean Kramer (email)
Date: 3/8/2004 at 13:03:14

Biography reproduced from page 479 of Volume II of the History of Kossuth County written by Benjamin F. Reed and published in 1913:

H. Edward Jensen, who is engaged in general agricultural pursuits and stock-raising on section 21, Seneca township, was born on the farm which he is now cultivating, on the 28th of July, 1888. His father, Peter W. Jensen, was born and reared in Norway, but early deciding that America afforded greater opportunities for enterprising young men than were to be found in Europe, in 1869 he came to the United States, locating in Rock county, Wisconsin. He remained there for two years, devoting his energies to agricultural pursuits. During that time he met and married Miss Mariah Jacobson, the mother of our subject, who is also a native of Norway and a daughter of Jacob and Carrie (Hansen) Jacobson. Soon thereafter, in 1871, the young couple came to Kossuth county, settling on a farm of eighty acres in Seneca township, which the father had previously purchased. He diligently applied himself to the cultivation and improvement of his place, meeting with such success that he was subsequently able to extend the boundaries of his farm by the purchase of another eighty acres. Subsequently he still further increased his holdings by the purchase of two one hundred and sixty acre tracts, to which he added another eighty acres, thus making his entire farm aggregate five hundred and sixty acres. He subdivided his acreage and put three sets of buildings on it, and here he continued his farming until the 1st of September, 1911, since which time he and his wife have lived retired in Ringsted. Of their marriage there were born nine children, of whom our subject is the eighth in order of birth. The other members of the family are as follows: John Clark a resident of St. James, Minnesota, and the incumbent of the office of auditor of Watonwan county, that state; Mary, the wife of E. O. Helgeson, who is engaged in farming in the vicinity of Armstrong; Louise, who resides with the parents at Ringsted; Julius M., a merchant of Ringsted; Otto A., who is farming in Seneca township; Fred E., also a farmer of Seneca township, whose biography appears in this work; Henrietta, who died at the age of twenty-two years; and Martha, who is attending school in Des Moines.

The entire life of H. Edward Jensen has been passed on the farm where he now resides. He obtained his education in district school No. 5, Seneca township, and while engaged in the mastery of the common branches was qualifying for the vocation he now follows by assisting his father with the work of the fields and care of the stock. After leaving school he continued to work for his father until March 1, 1910, when he leased the homestead, which contains two hundred acres, and began farming for himself. He also makes a specialty of feeding hogs for the market. Mr. Jensen is likewise a stockholder in the Cooperative Creamery Company of Seneca township and the Farmers Elevator Company of Ringsted. He has prospered in his undertakings and is regarded as one of the most efficient and highly promising young agriculturists of Seneca township.

On the 12th of July, 1910, Mr. Jensen was married to Miss Minnie May Christensen, a daughter of C. M. and Malvina Christensen, who are mentioned at greater length elsewhere in this work. Mr. and Mrs. Jensen have become the parents of one son, Everett Duward, who was born on the 19th of December, 1911.

Mr. and Mrs. Jensen belong to the Norwegian Lutheran church of Seneca township, and latter is also a member of the Ladies Aid Society. In politics Mr. Jensen is a republican. He is progressive in his ideas and takes an active and helpful interest in all movements that tend to improve the conditions of the agricultural community.