 |
 |
What's
New | Bios | Birth/Marr/Death | Cemeteries | Census | Courts | Directories/Lists | History | Maps | Military | Photos | Resources | Schools
1907 Past and Present Biographies
Claus NahnsenClaus Nahnsen remained in his native land until twenty years of age, but he had heard favorable reports of the larger opportunities which were to be enjoyed in the new world and thus when he had attained his majority he crossed the briny deep to the United States. He first secured work as a day laborer in Clinton county, Iowa, and in 1876 purchased forty acres of prairie land in Greene county, where he now resides. The place was destitute of improvements, but with unfaltering determination and perseverence he took up the task of developing the land and also erected a good residence. As the years have passed he has met with success in his agricultural interests, owing to his untiring labor and excellent business management and is today the owner of five hundred and twenty acres of well improved and arable land in Greene and Webster counties. He is recognized as a leader among the German people of Dawson township, having inspired their confidence and good will by his straightforward dealing and honorable business methods at all times. In 1873, in Clinton county, Iowa, Mr. Nahnsen was united in marriage to Miss Bregoda Namanny, a native of Germany, who came to the United States with the mother of our subject when twenty-five years of age. She passed away, however, in 1885, leaving a family of nine children, as follows: Broder, who married Mary Meyer and follows farming in Dawson township; Nick, also a farmer of Dawson township, who wedded Freda Meyer; Sophia, who became the wife of Lewis Cruise and resides in Calhoun county, Iowa; Albert, who married Anna Stalle and is an agriculturist of Dawson township; Gertrude, the wife of John Carstensen, residing in Webster county, Iowa; Mary, who is living in Calhoun county, Iowa, and is the wife of Rudolph Berger; John, at home; Bernhardt, who is married and lives at Waterloo, Iowa; and one who passed away in infancy. For his second wife Mr. Nahnsen chose Miss Louisa Price, a native of Webster county, and they have become the parents of eight children: Emil, Anton, Adolph, Hilda, Laura, William, Alta and Leo, who are all at home. Mr. Nahnsen is a democrat in his political afliliations and has served as school director for several years, the cause of education finding in him a firm friend. In 1882 he helped to organize the German Lutheran church here and has been an elder in the same from that time to the present, his work in behalf of the church being recognized as an important factor in the moral development of the community. He was one of the earliest settlers of Dawson township and is therefore classed with the pioneers who aided in transforming a wild region into a rich agricultural district with all the attendant conveniences of advanced civilization. The hope that led our subject to leave his native land and seek a home in America has been more than realized. He found the opportunities he sought - which, by the way, are always open to the ambitious, energetic man - and, making the best of these, he has steadily worked his way upward, being a credit alike to the land of his birth and that of his adoption. |
Transcribed from "Past and Present of Greene County, Iowa Together With Biographical Sketches of Many of Its Prominent and Leading Citizens and Illustrious Dead," by E. B. Stillman assisted by an Advisory Board consisting of Paul E. Stillman, Gillum S. Toliver, Benjamin F. Osborn, Mahlon Head, P. A. Smith and Lee B. Kinsey, Chicago: The S. J. Clarke Publishing Company, 1907.  Site Terms, Conditions & Disclaimer |