Naberhuis, Herman, 1853-1937

NABERHUIS, DERAAD, MIERAS, PANNECOOK

Posted By: Lydia Lucas - Volunteer (email)
Date: 7/14/2019 at 23:11:28

From the Sioux Center News, February 22, 1934:

H. Naberhuis Celebrates His Eightieth Birthday Tues. Feb. 20

In April, 1884, a small family caught their first sight of the Statue of Liberty. The family was aboard one of the ships which ran on schedule from the Netherlands to America. At that time the symbol of freedom was not yet entirely completed. Two more years were needed to finish the work. However, the unfinished masterpiece represented to this Holland family as much as the completed Statue of Liberty does to immigrants today. To these foreigners the edifice was symbolical of a new land, a land of freedom, rights, and opportunities. The head of that family was Harman Naberhuis, who celebrated his eightieth birthday Tues., Feb. 20.

The family was anxious to leave the Old World of unrest, eternal peasantry. The entire trip from the Netherlands to their new home in Sioux County took but sixteen days. When Mr. Naberhuis and his family arrived in Sioux Center the only landmark beside a few scattered homesteads and farms here and there was a general store in the old town of which T. Prins was the proprietor. Mr. Naberhuis bought a farm shortly after he made his home here. He had an opportunity to buy the town site of Sioux Center for $28.00 an acre but considered it a better investment to purchase a half section two miles farther north. Mr. Naberhuis still owns 240 acres of this tract, having sold one-fourth of the amount for almost double the cost of the entire 320 acres.

During his time here Mr. Naberhuis has witnessed the steady rise of land values from a few dollars an acre to several hundred dollars and even, during the post-war to nearly a thousand dollars. Altho the subsequent deflation has affected the prices of farm lands mightily he still has strong faith in Sioux County farms and considers a good farm here worth at least $125 an acre. Moreover, he firmly predicts that the future will bring another rise in the values of the lands around here and that farms will again command a price of over $200 an acre.

Mr. Naberhuis has traveled extensively through the United States. Five times he has journeyed to the Pacific Coast and also made trips as far south as Florida. Mr. Naberhuis has two children, one of whom, Henry, is a resident of Miami, Florida; and the other is Mrs. Gerrit Kloek, living at Sioux Falls.

Like so many of the early settlers here the old gentleman likes to recall the olden days. Despite his advanced age of eighty years he still leads an active life and spends considerable of his time splitting wood and attending to miscellaneous chores about his property, or looking after his farm interests. Mr. Naberhuis is a man of few words. He has always attended carefully to his own interests and modestly gone his own way through life. Those who know him best consider Mr. Naberhuis “One of the quiet in the land.”

Mr. Naberhuis spent ten years from 1884 to 1894 on his farm, after which time he retired, and moved to Sioux Center. During his forty years in this town he has lived all that time in the same block, a rather unique record.

[Transcriber’s note: the Sioux County Cemetery Index, FindaGrave.com, and his obituary (posted separately) all have him as Herman. FindaGrave shows his wife as Elizabeth DeRaad Mieras (1860-1931), and an added note says they were married in 1917. The Sioux County marriage register for 1916/1917 shows groom Herman Naberhuis, age 63, Sioux Center, a retired farmer, born in Gelderland, parents Albert H. Naberhuis and Janneje Pannecook, second marriage; bride Elizabeth Ter[sic] Raad Mieras, age 57, resident of North Yakima, Washington, born in Pella, Iowa, parents Arie De Raad and Gertrude Rysdam, second marriage; married at Sioux Center June 28, 1917.]