FABER, JACOB

FABER, RANDOLPH, FERSTEL, SCHAEFFER

Posted By: Jean Kramer (email)
Date: 4/22/2004 at 12:01:51

Biography reproduced from page 672 of Volume II of the History of Kossuth County written by Benjamin F. Reed and published in 1913:

Jacob Faber, who engages in general agricultural pursuits and stock-raising in Prairie township, was born in Winneshiek county, Iowa, September 22, 1864. His father was born and reared in France, whence he emigrated to the United States in 1838 or 1840. He was a volunteer in the Mexican war and subsequently located in Iowa, being one of the pioneers of Winneshiek county, where for many years he was engaged in farming. In 1881, he removed to Kossuth county and purchased wild land, which he improved and cultivated the remainder of his active life. For his wife Mr. Faber chose Barbara Randolph, to whom he was married in Cincinnati. Both parents are now deceased, the mother having passed away in 1910, at the age of eighty-one years, while the father was eighty-two at the time of his death. Six children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Faber, as follows: John, who is living in Prairie township, this county; Mary, who is keeping house for her brother Jacob; Caroline, the wife of Joseph Ferstel, of St. Benedict, Iowa; Jacob, our subject; Barbara, the wife of George Schaeffer, of Dell Rapids, South Dakota; and Leo, who died in 1904. Mr. Faber had a brother, an officer in the French army, who resigned his commission and came to America. During the Civil war he enlisted in a company of Indiana cavalry and was killed in the service.

The education of Jacob Faber was acquired in the common schools of Winneshiek county, where he passed the first seventeen years of his life. He early began to assist his father with the work of the farm, assuming more and more of the responsibility connected with its operation until he had entire charge. He now owns one hundred and sixty acres of land, located on section 10, Prairie township, and a tract of eighty acres about a mile northwest of there. The majority of the improvements on the place have been made during the ownership of Mr. Faber, who is enterprising and progressive in his methods and is meeting with excellent success in the development of his interests. His fields are tiled and in a high state of productivity, and annually yield crops that fully compensate him for his years of toil expended in their cultivation. In connection with general farming, Mr. Faber raises stock, of a high grade, and good horses. His place is well cared for, its general appearance suggesting system and method in its cultivation and close attention to details.

The political allegiance of Mr. Faber is accorded to the democratic party at national elections, while locally he gives his support to such men and measures as he deems best qualified to subserve the highest interests of the community. He is a member of the Wesley Catholic church as is also his sister. Mr. Faber is highly regarded in Prairie township, where during the long years of his residence he has at all times manifested those qualities that entitle him to the esteem and respect of all with whom he has dealings.