JACOB, ROBERT

JACOB, PIECHEL

Posted By: Jean Kramer (email)
Date: 3/10/2004 at 08:48:21

Biography reproduced from page 453 of Volume II of the History of Kossuth County written by Benjamin F. Reed and published in 1913:

Prominent among agriculturists of Burt township is Robert Jacob who is operating a farm of two hundred and forty acres of good land on section 30. He is a native of Germany and was born in Silesia, March 28, 1863. He received a thorough education in the public schools of his native country and remained in the fatherland until 1884. When he had finished his education he clerked about ten years in a general merchandise store and received during this period a practical business training which has been of valuable assistance to him during all his life. In 1884 he crossed the Atlantic to America, going direct to Chicago where he tended bar for a little over a year. He later went to Dundee county, Nebraska, where he operated a farm with much success. He married in that section in 1890 and continued to follow agriculture in Nebraska until 1897, when he removed to Iowa and located in Greenwood township, Kossuth county. Here he bought eighty acres of land and began its cultivation. He almost immediately added to his holdings and was soon in active operation of three hundred and twenty acres of productive soil in Kossuth county, where he carried on general agriculture. In 1902 he disposed of his original purchase and located on section 30, Burt township, where he is developing and cultivating two hundred and forty acres of fertile land. He has improved his property by the addition of barns and outbuildings and by the installation of sanitary and efficient equipment. For years he has carried on a large and continually increasing dairy business, keeping a large herd of cows for this purpose. He supplies the Lone Rock Creamery Association with the products form this branch of his enterprise, and is a stockholder and director in that organization, and for the past two years he has served as its secretary. He is also a stockholder and director in the Farmers Elevator Company of Lone Rock and is always a leading factor in any movement looking toward agricultural or commercial expansion in Kossuth county.

On February 18, 1890, Mr. Jacob was united in marriage to Miss Rosalie Piechel, a native of Germany who was reared and educated in the fatherland. She came to America after she had grown to maturity and located in Nebraska where her marriage occurred. To Mr. and Mrs. Jacob have been born eleven children, ten of whom are still living. The family is comprised of five sons and five daughters, Fred V., John, Ernest, Henry, Robert, Helena, Amelia, Theresa, Mary and Emma. Mr. and Mrs. Jacob lost their eldest daughter, Bertha, who died when she was two years of age.

In his political views Mr. Jacob is a consistent republican, and while he has never sought public office he is a prominent figure in local affairs. He is interested in the cause of education and for eleven years served as director of the school board, of which organization he is now president. He has also served as delegate to various county conventions and has done capable work in this direction. He affiliates with the Lutheran church and to this religion his wife and family also give allegiance.