Harrison County Iowa Genealogy

HISTORY OF HARRISON COUNTY, IOWA, 1915
BIOGRAPHIES
Page 838
WILLIAM HERMAN

A native of Germany and a resident of Harrison county, Iowa, since 1879, William HERMAN has met with the success which invariably accompanies the German-American farmers of this county. He started by renting land, but within a few years became a land owner and now has a well-improved farm in Magnolia township, as well as extensive business interests in Magnolia and Logan.

William HERMAN, the son of Carl and Marie (DAHN) HERMAN, was born March 20, 1861, in Mecklenburg, Germany. His parents had ten children, Minnie and Carl, who died in Germany; August, a farmer of this county; William, with whom this narrative deals; Lena, who married J. C. Michael, a farmer of this county; Mrs. Freda Kucks, deceased; Mrs. Augusta Kucks, whose husband is a farmer in Allen township; John and Frank, farmers of Magnolia township, and Mrs. Elizabeth Donn, whose husband is a farmer in Allen township.

Carl HERMAN was born in Germany in 1832, and learned the carpenter trade, following this trade until he left his native land in 1872. He brought his family to Cleveland, Ohio, upon landing in America, and followed his trade as a carpenter in that city until 1879. In that year he removed to Harrison county, Iowa, and worked in different towns in the county as a carpenter and contractor. He bought land in Magnolia township, but never engaged in farming. In 1889 he retired and lived on the farm with his children until his death in 1902. He was an active worker, and although he never learned to speak the English language, it never interfered in any way with his success in this country. Hie wife, who was born in Germany in 1834, is now living on the old home place with her son, John.

William HERMAN was twelve years of age when his parents came to America. He attended school in Cleveland, Ohio, where he learned to speak and write the English language. Upon coming to Harrison county, in 1879, with his parents, he began his farming career on a farm owned by his father. He continued his work on the home farm for seven years, after which time he purchased one hundred and twenty acres of land in Magnolia township, where he now lives. The land was prairie when he purchased it and cost him only nineteen dollars an acre. On this farm he has placed at least six thousand dollars' worth of improvements, including two acres of fruit trees. He keeps high-class live stock and derives no small part of his annual income from the sale of stock. In 1913 he made an exhibit of his corn at the short-course exhibition. In addition to his farming interests he is vice-president and a stockholder and director in the Magnolia Bank, and is also a stockholder and director of the Farmers' Mercantile Company, of Logan. He has a share of stock in the creamery at Magnolia and is a director in the Magnolia Creamery Company.

Mr. HERMAN was married in 1897 to Ida MICHAEL, who was born in Cleveland, Ohio, in 1867, a daughter of Fred and Marie (BANLOW) Michael, and to this union have been born seven children, all of whom are still living with their parents, Edith, Herbert, Erma, Elmer, Marie, Ella and Charlotte.

Mrs. HERMAN's father was born in Germany in 1842, and when about twenty-two years of age came to America and located in Cleveland, Ohio. He worked there as a laborer for about six years and then went west and located in Harrison county, Iowa, where he farmed. He built a log house on the eighty acres of land which he bought, and followed farming until 1900. In that year he moved to California and three years later located in Omaha, Nebraska, where his death occurred in 1906. Mrs. HERMAN's mother was born in Germany in 1841, and is now living in Magnolia, Iowa. Mr. and Mrs. Michael were the parents of four children, HERMAN, deceased; Ida, the wife of Mr. HERMAN; Frank, a farmer of Minnesota, and Mrs. Elizabeth Sahn, of Missouri Valley, Iowa.

Mr. HERMAN and his family are all earnest members of the German Lutheran church; he is a trustee in his denomination and an active worker in all church affairs. He gives his allegiance to the Republican party, but has never cared to be an aspirant for public office, but was elected township trustee in the fall of 1914. Mr. HERMAN is a highly respected citizen of the community where he lives because of the clean and wholesome life he has led.

Return to 1915 Biographical H Surnames Index

Back to 1915 Biographies Index