CHARLES BOEHME.
Charles Boehme, a prosperous farmer of Audubon township, Audubon county, Iowa, and the owner of two hundred acres of land in this townhip, was born on March 7, 1859, in Brandon City, Vermont. He is the son of William and Mary Ann Boehme. natives of Rems, Germany, and Lincolnshire, England, respectively.
William and Mary Ann Boehme came to the United States about 1858 and were married in Quebec, Canada, soon after landing in this country. Mrs. Mary Ann Boehme's mother having died, she came over to this country with her father, who took sick, died and was buried at sea. leaving her an orphan. She was the only child born to her parents. After their marriage, William and Mary Ann Boehme went to New York City, where they remained a short time and then removed to Vermont, where they lived until 1866, when they moved to Washington county, Iowa. There Wilham Boehme pre-empted eighty acres of land, paying one dollar and twenty-five cents an acre for it, and there they remained the remainder of their lives.
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Charles Boehme lived at home until twenty-four years old, when he left home and worked at various occupations in different states. After his marriage, he and his wife located at Walnut, Iowa, where he rented land for three years. In the spring of 1889, they came to Audubon county and here he purchased eighty acres of land in section 14, of Greeley township. After living there for five years, he sold out and moved to Audubon township, where he rented land again for six more years. In September, 1900, he purchased one hundred and sixty acres of land in section 12, of Audubon township, and here he now lives. He has since added forty acres to the original farm. Mr. Boehme has made many improvements upon the farm and now has a fertile and highly productive farm, well equipped with all of the modern conveniences and highly suitable to successful farming.
On February 18, 1877, Charles Boehme was married in Montezuma, Poweshiek county, to Alice Kness, who was born on September 20, 1851, in Armstrong county, Pennsylvania, the daughter of Martin and Hannah (Morehead) Kness, who were natives of Armstrong county, Pennsylvania, and moved to Poweshiek county in 1865.
Mr. and Mrs. Charles Boehme are the parents of seven children, five sons and two daughters, as follow: Otis W., born on May 7, 1878, married Jennie Baylor and has one child; Lowell B., was graduated from the pharmaceutical department of Drake University and now owns a store at Osceola, Iowa; Maud E., July 25, 1880, died on May 15, 1910, taught nine terms of school in Audubon township; Elmer, November 4, 1883, married Ethel Wheeler and has two children, Maud Evelyn and Carl Russell; Clyde, August 13, 1885, married Carrie Stephensen and has two children, Lois Elaine and Huriel Owen; Fred, August 21, 1888, married Susie Schwab and has two children, Thelma and Glen; Ray, June 17, 1891, married Dora J. Stephensen; Mabel I., December 31, 1894, attended the Western Normal College at Shenandoah, Iowa, and the Highland Park College at Des Moines and now teaches school in Audubon township.
Mr. Boehme is a Republican. He has served as township trustee for six years and has also served as justice of the peace in Audubon township. Mrs. Boehme is a member of the Baptist church and her daughter, Mabel I., is a member of the Christian church. Mr. Boehme is an adherent of the Methodist Episcopal church.
The Boehmes are highly respected citizens in this community and the family is popular socially in Audubon township. Charles Boehme is known as an enterprising and prosperous farmer and one who thoroughly understands the science of farming as it is interpreted and practiced today. He is a man of honorable and upright character and well liked in the community where he lives.
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Transcribed from History of Audubon County, Iowa Its People, Industries and Institutions With Biographical Sketches of Representative Citizens and Genealogical Records of Many of the Old Families, by H. F. Andrews, editor, Indianapolis: B. F. Bowen & Company, 1915, pp. 816-818.
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