Peter Frederick Jepsen
Thirty-six years ago Peter Frederick Jepsen came to Crawford county. He was then a young man of twenty-eight years and by education and experience well qualified to note the agricultural possibilities of this county. He applied himself diligently to his chosen occupation and today is one of the large landowners of the county and one of its most respected citizens.
Born in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany, January 13, 1847, he is the son of John and Elsobao (Petersen) Jepsen. The father was a weaver by trade and followed that occupation in early life but later engaged in farming. Seeking to improve his condition he emigrated to the new world in 1869 and spent six years in Clinton county, Iowa. In the spring of 1875 he came to Crawford county and bought a seaton of land in Goodrich township, upon which he took up his residence. becoming one of the well known farmers of that section. He died in 1878 at the age of sixty-two years. The mother of our subject departed this life in 1865, being then forty-eight years of age. She and her husband were both members of the Lutheran church. He was greatly respected by his neighbors and friends and was mayor of the village of Jagel in Germany.
John Jepsen, the paternal grandfather of our subject, was a weaver and small farmer and devoted his attention to teaching during the winter seasons. He married Margaretta Jepsen and there were four children in their family: Jurgen, John, Claus and Margaretta.
The maternal grandfather was Peter Petersen, a farmer in the fatherland, whose wife was Obel Petersen. He died in middle life but Mrs. Petersen lived to be about eighty years of age. There were seven children in their family, namely: Henry, Claus, Detloff, Peter, Elizabeth, Elsobao and Kathrina.
Seven sons came to bless the union of John and Elsobao Jepsen: John, now living in this county; Peter Frederick, the subject of this review; Henry and Hans, both deceased; Frederick, of Goodrich township; August, deceased; and Jurgen.
Peter Frederick Jepsen was reared upon a farm in Germany and early became acquainted with the business to which he has devoted a large part of his life. He received his education in his native land, and, being an ambitious young man, he decided at twenty years of age to seek his fortune in America. Accordingly, in 1867, he crossed the ocean and settled in Clinton county, Iowa, but later spent one year on a farm in Dakota.
In the fall of 1875 he purchased one hundred and sixty acres of land in Goodrich township, Crawford county, which he improved to good advantage, making it one of the valuable farms of the township. As years passed he showed remarkable ability in the acquisition of land and he now owns nine hundred and sixty acres in Goodrich township, also one hundred and twenty acres in Milford township, one hundred and seventy-eight acres in East Boyer township, and six hundred and forty acres in Hayes township. He has sold a farm of one hundred and twenty acres and in addition to land heretofore designated he owns one hundred and ninety-one acres near Dunlop in Harrison county. He now has all told two thousand and ninety nine acres. In 1904 he removed to Denison, where he has since lived retired.
On the 10th of October, 1867, Mr. Jepsen was united in marriage to Miss Anna Laumbach, who was born in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany, October 10, 1842, a daughter of Henry and Wiepke (Utermann) Laumbach, her parents being also natives of Germany. The father died in 1857 and the mother in 1864, aged forty-two and forty-eight years respectively. The maternal grandfather of Mrs. Jepsen was Hans Utermann, and his wife before her marriage was Margaretta Herringsen.
The union of Mr. and Mrs. Jepsen has been blessed by the birth of nine children, five sons and four daughters, as follows: Anna married William Gehring of Hanover township and has three children, William, Edward and Otilla. Johan, a farmer of Goodrich township, married Maria Nath and has two children, Peter and Anna. Peter, also a farmer of Goodrich township, married Margaretta Schroeder, by whom he had three children, Emma, Peter and Walter and Hilda. Carolina married Martin Saggan and has seven children, to this union, Elizabeth and Edna. Elsobao married Joannas Saggan and they have five sons, Henry, Hogel, Martin, Edward and Harry.
Henry, a farmer of East Boyer township, married Marie Hallender and they have two children, Walter and Hilda. Carolina married Martin Saggan and has seven children, Emma, Anna, Carolina, Joannas, Bernhard, Marie. and Martin. Jurgen, of Goodrich township, married Anna Johansen and is the father of three children, WiIhelmina, Albert and Johan. Julius, also of Goodrich township, married Anna Rassow and has three children, Martin, Otilla and Malinda. Emma, now living at Denison, married Henry Nath and is the mother of two children, Henry and Edna.
Mr. and Mrs. Jepsen are consistent members of the Lutheran church and active workers in its behalf. Politically, Mr. Jepsen is in sympathy with the democratic party and gives his earnest support to its principles and candidates. He is a good friend of education and served for five years as member of the school board of Goodrich township and for a number of years as township trustee and school treasurer. By an industrious and straightforward life he years ago gained an established reputation for integrity and fidelity to duty and his personal worth is fully demonstrated by the esteem in which he is held by a wide circle of friends and acquaintances in Crawford and adjoining counties.
Source: History of Crawford County, Iowa. Vol. II. Chicago: The S. J. Clarke Publishing Co., 1911.