August Benson is another of
the sterling sons of the fair Norseland who have
found in America the advantages and opportunities for
the achieving of definite independence and
prosperity, and he has been a resident of Clayton
county for over thirty years. Here his industry and
progressiveness are indicated in his ownership of one
of the fine farms of Highland township, and he is
specially worthy of representation in this
publication.
Mr. Benson was born in
Goteberg, Sweden, on the 5th of August, 1855, and is
a son of Bengt Anderson and Bertha (Larson) Anderson,
who passed their entire lives in their native land,
their son August receiving the surname of Benson, in
accordance with the ancient custom of Sweden, that of
giving to children for surnames the full or a
derivative from the personal name of the father. He
whose name initiates this review was reared on his
father's farm and gained his early education in the
schools of his native land. He was the eighth in
order of birth in a family of twelve children, of
whom the eldest, Anna Breta, remains in Sweden;
Christina and Andrew died in their native land; Lars
and Johannes still reside in Sweden; Carl and August
(first of the name) are deceased, the latter having
died in infancy and the same name having been given
to the subject of this review, who was the next
child; Magnus is deceased; Johanna is the wife of
Halvor Torkleson, a progressive farmer of Clayton
county; John resides in the city of Chicago, as does
also Emma, who is the wife of August Jacobson.
August Benson remained at
the parental home until he had attained to the age of
twenty-one years, when he severed the ties that bound
him to his native land and came to America, fortified
with energy and ambition and determined to make
advancement through his own efforts. He resided for
some time in the state of New York, maintaining his
home first at Brockton and later at Dunkirk, and
incidental to his work at this period of his career
it is interesting to record that he had the
distinction of driving the first spike in connection
with the construction of the line of the Nickel Plate
Railroad in the Empire state. Later he was for five
years in the employ of a physician, Dr. Williams, at
Dunkirk, and he then, in 1885, came to Clayton
county, where he worked one year on a farm. He had
carefully conserved his earnings during the period of
his residence in the United States, and thus he found
himself at the expiration of this first year
justified in the purchasing of his present farm of
one hundred and sixty acres, in Section 1, Highland
township. He has made the best of improvements on the
place, has a substantial and modern residence of two
stories, and in addition to the homestead he now owns
a tract of twenty acres of timber land, in Highland
township. Mr. Benson is a practical, industrious and
progressive farmer, gives special attention to the
raising of clover, and propagates also the other
crops best suited to the soil and climate of this
section of Iowa, including alfalfa, which he has
grown quite successfully in a small way for the last
few years, besides raising fine grades of live stock.
The splendid prosperity that has attended his
indefatigable efforts is further attested by his
having in recent time purchased in Highland township
an additional tract of one hundred and ninety-seven
acres, in which he has given to his sons a
partnership interest. He is a staunch Republican, is
serving as school director of his district and he and
his wife are earnest communicants of the Lutheran
church.
In 1884 was solemnized the
marriage of Mr. Benson to Miss Elizabeth Jacoby, who
likewise was born in Sweden, and she has proved his
devoted helpmeet during the years of their gracious
companionship. Of the children born to this happy
union, all received the advantages of the excellent
schools of Clayton county. Hilma, the oldest, is
married to Mr. Levy M. Erickson of Farmersburg;
Charles August is a graduate of the Iowa State
College of Agriculture at Ames, and is the present
deputy clerk of the District Court of Clayton county.
Jerda is a successful and popular teacher in the
district schools, and Oscar Arthur is preparing
himself for a collegiate course at Ames College. It
is planned soon that Charles shall resign his
official position and that father and sons shall join
in the improvement of the old homestead and their
newly acquired land, which is all in one body, and
convert it into a first-class stock farm.
source: History of
Clayton County, Iowa; From The Earliest Historical
Times Down to the Present; by Realto E. Price,
Vol. II; pg. 36-37
-OCR scanned by S. Ferrall
