Henry C. Kolls
Although Henry C. Kolls is one of the younger representatives of farming and stock-raising interests in Crawford county, he is yet one of the well-to-do and prominent citizens of this section of the state, for he has an extensive acreage, his possessions comprising two hundred and eighty acres in East Boyer township and four hundred and six acres in Paradise and Denison townships. He took up his abode on the latter place in the spring of 19II and is now bending his energies to the further development and improvement of this valuable property.
He is a native of Iowa, his birth having occurred in Clinton, February 11, 1873, his parents being Rudolph and Elna Eliza (Neilson) Kolls, The father, a native of Schleswig-Holstein, Germany, emigrated to the United States in 1872 and first located in Clinton, where he spent the succeeding years up to 1879. He then came to Crawford county, locating on a farm in Goodrich township, where he lived until a short time prior to his death, when he removed to Denison, and there passed away on the 29th of November, 1908. He was prominent in the community in which he lived and for a number of years served as trustee of Goodrich township. His wife, who was born in Sweden, went to Germany when but six or seven years of age and was there reared and married. She died in Crawford county in 1895.
Unto Mr. and Mrs. Rudolph Kolls were born nine children: Louisa, the wife of R. H. Brown, a resident of Denison; Carl, deceased; Maggie, who has also passed away; Anna, the wife of Julius Jensen, a resident of South Dakota; Henry C., of this review; Carl, the second of the name, now a resident of Hanover township, Crawford county; Adolph, who lives in Paradise township; Rudolph, a resident of South Dakota; and one who died in infancy.
Henry C. Kolls, the second son and fifth in order of birth, pursued his studies in the district schools of Goodrich township. He was early trained in the work of the home farm and during the period of his boyhood and youth assisted his father, with whom he remained until he had attained his majority. He then began farming on his own account, renting land of his father, and eventually he purchased a farm from him, operating the same for nine years. On the expiration of that period he removed to Denison, where he spent two years, after which he lived one year on a farm two and a half miles south of the city.
In 1908 he took up his abode on a farm which he now rents, comprising two hundred and eighty acres of land in East Boyer township, and in the spring of 1911 removed to his farm of four hundred and six acres, located partly in Paradise and partly in Denison township. He is giving his undivided attention to the further development and improvement of the latter place and it is one of the valuable tracts of that section of the county. He carries on general farming to some extent, but the major part of his time is given to the raising and feeding of live stock. In the year 1910 he fed six carloads of cattle and two carloads of hogs and this branch of his business is proving to him a gratifying source of revenue.
Mr. Kolls chose as a companion for the journey of life, Miss Christina Amelia Christensen, their marriage being celebrated in 1894. She is a daughter of M. and Mrs. M. F. Christensen, well known residents of Denison. Unto Mr. and Mrs. Kolls have been born four children: Ella Louisa, Fred Carl, Henry Adolph and Leona Amelia.
Mr. Kolls gives stanch support to the republican party, always casting his ballot in support of the candidates on that ticket, yet he is not an office seeker. His religious faith is indicated by his membership in the Lutheran church. Perhaps the highest tribute that can be paid Mr. Kolls is that he has been successful in all of his undertakings and that he has so discharged his duties as a citizen and as a business man as to merit the confidence of those who know him best.
Source: History of Crawford County, Iowa. Vol. II. Chicago: The S. J. Clarke Publishing Co., 1911.