ANDERSON, ANDERS

ANDERSON, MCGRADER, PETERSON, OLSEN, HANSON, LARSEN, TOOTHMAN, GODFRESON

Posted By: Jean Kramer (email)
Date: 5/27/2004 at 15:59:07

Biography reproduced from page 131 of Volume II of the History of Kossuth County written by Benjamin F. Reed and published in 1913:

Anders Anderson is a true son of the soil. He has farmed in various parts of Denmark and the United States, having been an agriculturist from earliest youth. His father was a farmer in his native country, and the lessons which the son learned through personal experience and work there have been valuable assets to him in the management of his two hundred and seventy-six acres of land in Burt and Portland townships, Kossuth county, Iowa. Mr. Anderson was born in Denmark, June 30, 1847, and is a son of Anders and Anna (McGrader) Peterson. His father was a native of Denmark and served for five years in the Danish army, taking part in the war with Prussia in 1848-50. He came to the United States in 1873 and located in Story county, Iowa, where he lived for a short time. He later removed to Hamilton county in the same state and followed the occupation of farming, in which he had been engaged all during his active life. He died in Hamilton county in 1876 and is buried in Story City, Iowa. His wife was a native of Denmark. She came to this country with her husband and died in 1901. Her grave is in Burt, Iowa. They were the parents of ten children: Hans, who is now deceased; Anders, the subject of this sketch; John, a resident of Des Moines, Iowa; Lewis, Stina, Peter, Mary and Sophia, all of whom has passed away; Nels, now living in Chicago, Illinois; and Mary, who makes her home in Copenhagen, Denmark.

Anders Anderson was reared and educated in Denmark and worked in that country on a farm until 1869. In that year he crossed the Atlantic to the United States and located in Lee Center, Illinois, where he remained for four years. At the expiration of that time he came to Story county, Iowa, and there engaged in the cultivation of the soil until 1886 when he came to Kossuth county. He rented a tract of land in Plum Creek township and cultivated it until 1894 when he bought a farm in Burt township. The land which he purchased was entirely unimproved and Mr. Anderson gave his time and attention to its development. He built barns and buildings, erected sheds for the protection of his grain and cattle, laid out his farm into convenient fields and made extensive improvements along modern lines. He planted many groves of timber and has found his activities in this respect extremely profitable. At various times during his years of farming in Burt township he added to his holdings in other sections of Kossuth county until his property aggregated, when it was sold, two hundred and seventy-six acres of productive land. In 1911 Mr. Anderson bought a beautiful home in Algona where he is now residing.

In 1873 Mr. Anderson’s brother Hans was united in marriage to Miss Anna Olsen, who came to America in the same year. She is a daughter of Ole and Carrie (Hanson) Larson, natives of Denmark who lived and died in their native country. They were the parents of four children: Maria, who is now deceased; Anna, the wife of our subject; Lars Olson, who is now living in Denmark; and Hans, a resident of Seattle, Washington. Hans Anderson died in 1876, leaving his widow with two children: Lewis P., now manager of the Farmers’ Cooperative Creamery of Algona, Iowa, of whom more extended mention is made on another page of this work; and Walter, who is now deceased. In 1877 Anders Anderson was united in marriage to his brother’s widow and they became the parents of five children: Walter, now living in Mason City, Nebraska; Carrie, the wife of E. Toothman who resides near Burt, Iowa; Emma, who married Anders Godfreson, of Union township, Kossuth county; William, engaged in the butter making trade in Seneca township; and May, the wife of Oscar Anderson of Algona.

Mr. Anderson gives his political allegiance in general to the republican party but reserves the right to vote independently in local affairs. He takes an active interest in the welfare of his community and has served as trustee and director of the school board of Burt township. He was reared in the faith of the Lutheran church but now holds membership in the Methodist Episcopal church of Algona. He is a charter member of the Yeomen lodge of Bancroft, Iowa, and takes an active interest in the affairs of that organization. He is essentially a self-made man. He was entirely penniless when he reached America, his only assets being his native industry and his practical experience in the cultivation of the soil. His early life gave him a knowledge of agriculture and a love for outdoor life which aided him greatly in his career. The farms of Kossuth county are important items in the prosperity of the central west, and the men who cultivate them are contributing to the present prosperity of a great section and are active influences in the development of its future greatness.