as justice of the peace for a number of years in Polk county, also filling the office of township assessor and for twenty-seven years performed his duty to the cause of education as a member of the school board. He is a stanch believer in the Bible, and he and his wife are valued members of the United Brethren church. He has raised a remarkable family, all of whom are performing their share in the duties of life. He has been industrious, economical and persevering and, therefore, successful in his work, at the same time gaining the respect of his neighbors and of the entire community. By honorable methods in business and by an upright character he has maintained an untarnished name, which to his children is a legacy much more precious than gold or silver.
OLE NIEHLSEN.
Ole Niehisen, one of the esteemed and successful farmers of Story county, was born in Denmark on the 17th of May, 1841, a son of John and Marie Niehisen. The parents were both natives of Denmark in which country they spent their entire lives. The mother passed away in 1860 and the father eight years later.
The early years of Mr. Niehlsen's life were spent in his native land, but the many stories he heard of the advantages offered men of limited means in America at last proved irresistible and in 1876 he crossed the Atlantic, landing at Boston. He straightway made his way across the country to Marshall county, Iowa, where his brother had located three years previously. For six years he worked on the railroad at Marshalltown, carefully laying aside a portion of his wages each month, until in 1882 he had acquired sufficient capital to enable him to buy eighty acres of land in Warren township, Story county. For twenty-five years he made this his home and then in 1907 he bought another eighty acres in Richland township, where he continues to reside. Everything about his farm has an air of prosperity; the stock is well housed, the fences kept in repair and the residence has an air of, comfort, while the carefully cultivated fields yield profitable returns.
Mr. Niehisen married Pauline, the daughter of Nelson and Christine Nelson. She is also a Dane and has become the mother of seven children: Christine; Inga Marie; Anna Dorothy, who became the wife of Luke O'Donnel, of Sherman township ; Carrie ; Annie Christina ; Jens; and Peter Nelson.
The family attend the Lutheran church in which the parents hold membership. Before coming to the United States Mr. Niehisen had served seventeen months in the Danish army and had seen some active service, going to the front with his regiment in the war with Germany in 1864. He is a loyal subject of the United States and has never regretted his deci-