CHARLES N. AGNE

View Portrait of Mr. & Mrs. Charles N. Agne

The citizenship of Cedar county, Iowa, is largely composed of those who either had their nativity in the fatherland or trace their ancestry to German origin, and prominent among the latter class is numbered Charles N. Agne. He was born on a farm a quarter mile south of Buchanan, in Cass township, Cedar county, on the 1st of April, 1854, a son of Nicholas and Mary Magdaline (Laubscher) Agne, both natives of Bavaria, Germany. The Agne, Laubscher and Pfaff families were all neighbors in Germany and together emigrated to the United States, first locating in Ohio and later, in 1845, becoming residents of Cass township, this county, where they cast in their lots with the early settlers and assisted in the work of reclaiming the wild prairie lands for purposes of civilization.

Nicholas Agne was a young man of twenty-five years when he arrived in Ohio and was there married. Two years later he took up abode in Cass township, Cedar county, where he continued to make his permanent home throughout his remaining years. In 1849, however, at the time of the gold excitement in California, he made the overland trip with ox-team and remained on the Pacific coast for two years. Returning by way of the isthmus route, he located on a half section of land in Cass township, and was there engaged in agricultural pursuits until his demise, which occurred on the 25th of June, 1884. His wife, who was born on the 30th of March, 1816, was eighteen years of age when, in 1834, she accompanied her parents to the new world, the family home being established near Canton, Darke county, Ohio. There she was united in marriage in 1839 to Nicholas Agne, and unto this union were born seven children, as follows: Jacob, deceased; Lena, the wife of Sam Kauffman, of Tipton; Henry, residing in Tipton; Charles N., of this review; William, making his home in Mount Vernon; Josephine, the deceased wife of Jacob Seitzsinger; and Emma, who wedded R. P. Stout, of Milford, Missouri. The mother was called to her final rest on the 23d of November, 1900, when she had reached the advanced age of eighty-four years.

Charles N. Agne remained under the parental roof until the time of his marriage, when he established his home on a farm of one hundred and sixty acres, constituting a part of his present place, but he has since added forty acres, so that he now owns two hundred acres in one body, located on section 24, Cass township. The place is well named the Prairie View Stock Farm, for in the pastures are found fine grades of horses, Mr. Agne making a specialty of raising Shire horses. A portion of the land is devoted to general farming and he takes great pride in making his farm attractive in appearance. In addition to this farm he likewise owns three hundred and six acres in Hartley county, Texas.

Mr. Agne was married in 1884 to Miss Margaret D. Blattler, who was born in Johnson county, Iowa, April 23, 1862. Her parents, L. F. and Margaret (Fankhauser) Blattler, were natives of Switzerland and Ohio respectively, but the mother was of Swiss parentage. The father was brought to the United States by his parents during his infancy, their home being established in Ohio, where he was reared. He was married in the Buckeye state to Miss Fankhauser, in the year 1849. They eventually removed to Johnson county, Iowa, in 1855, but after a few years came to Cedar county and Mr. Blattler engaged in farming in Cass township until his death, which occurred December 7, 1892. The mother survived for several years and died October 5, 1903. In their family were nine children: Edward, who died in 1907; Emma, who died when twenty-one years old; Norman, who died in childhood; Abigail, the wife of John Baldwin, of Mount Vernon; Homer, a resident of Solon, Iowa; Margaret, now Mrs. Agne; Arthur, who resides in New Mexico; Charles, of White Lake, South Dakota; and Mary, twin sister of Charles, who died at the age of five years. Unto Mr. and Mrs. Agne has been born one son, Glen L., whose birth occurred on the farm May 31, 1885, and he now manages the place. He is a graduate of the Agricultural College at Ames.

Mr. Agne is a democrat in politics but at local elections votes independently. In former years he led a very active and useful life, but his persistent efforts have brought him a goodly competence and he is now able to spend much of his time in leisure, leaving the management of his farm to his son, who is an enterprising young man. The family is highly esteemed in the community which has so long been their home.