John Braase
John Braase, who resides on a well cultivated farm of two hundred acres located on sections 1 and 2, Hanover township, Crawford county, was born in Germany on the 2d of March, 1862.
His parents, Henry O. and Sophia (Petersen) Braase, were born, reared and married in the fatherland but emigrated to America with their family in 1883 and settled in Jackson county, Iowa. During the first year of their residence in the United States they worked out but at the end of that time they removed to Ida county, this state, and rented one hundred and sixty acres of land, which they farmed for two years, and then carne to Crawford county, continuing to lease land for six years. During this period by thrift, hard work and much self-denial they were able to accumulate the capital which enabled them to realize their great ambition-to hold property of their own, and in 1892 they bought one hundred and sixty acres of land upon which they located.
They cultivated this for six years and during that time added another one hundred and sixty acres to their original tract, all of which was well improved and under a high state of cultivation at the time of Mr. Braase's demise in 1898. Mrs. Braase still survives at the venerable age of seventy-eight years and makes her home in Schleswig, Iowa. The first born of their five children died in Germany. The eldest of those surviving is John, and the others are as follows: August, a resident of Crawford county; Dora, the wife of Fred Berendes, of South Dakota; and Fred, who lives on the old homestead.
John Braase was twenty-one years of age when his parents became citizens of the United States so that his education was acquired in the schools of Germany. He remained at home until he had passed the twenty-eighth anniversary ,of his birth, when he began farming as a renter, which method he continued for three years. His industry and application, assisted by the ambition and strength of youth, made it possible for him to save during that time the money necessary to become a property owner. His first farm contained eighty acres and after cultivating this for a time he traded it for a portion of the land contained in his present homestead in Hanover township.
Mr. Braase completed arrangements for a home of his own by his marriage on the 8th of January, 1890, to Miss Dora Hansen, who was born in Scott county, Iowa, on the 20th of September, 1872. She is a daughter of Peter and Theresa (Struve) Hansen, who were born in Germany but were married in the United States, and for thirteen years thereafter they cultivated rented land in Scott county and other places and then bought a farm in Morgan township, Crawford county, which they operated until the time of their retirement in 1906. They are now living in Schleswig, enjoying the ease and comfort made possible in the evening of life by the thrift and industry of their youth.
They were the parents of the following children besides Mrs. Braase, who is the eldest of the family: Louisa, deceased, the wife of Johannes Lorenzen, of Morgan township; Emma, who died at the age of eighteen years; Adolph, a resident of Schleswig, Iowa; Henry, who is living in Morgan township; John, of Morgan township, this county; Theresa, the wife of Henry Rickett, of Schleswig; and Helmina, the wife of Ernest Boock, of Schleswig.
Mr. and Mrs. Braase have become the parents of four children, as follows: Henry, who was born on the 26th of October, 1893, and is still at home; John, born on the 15th of June, 1896; Herbert, born on the 16th of August, 1899; and Emma, who was born on the 10th of August, 1908.
The family attend the services of the Lutheran church, with which the parents are identified by membership. Although he has always supported the principles of the democratic party, Mr. Braase does not actively participate in political affairs, as he does not aspire to public office. However, he meets the requirements of good citizenship by going to the polls on election day and casting his ballot for the candidates of his party. He is held in high regard in his community and is considered one of the substantial farmers of the township.
Source: History of Crawford County, Iowa. Vol. II. Chicago: The S. J. Clarke Publishing Co., 1911.