AUGUST DREIER.
August Dreier, who owns a well-improved farm of eighty acres in section 2 of Audubon township, with a splendid house, barn and other buildings, equipped with all modern conveniences, was born on January 28, 1874, in Mecklenburg-Schwerin, Germany, the son of Fritz and Augusta (Schowlo) Dreier, also natives of Germany, born in the same place as their son. Fritz Dreier was a laborer in his native land but engaged in farming after coming to the United States. Mr. and Mrs. Fritz Dreier had eight children: Fritz, Jr., August, William, Minnie, Louisa, Herman, Charles and Louis, all of whom are living in the United States. Besides August, his brother, William and his sister, Minnie, live in Audubon county. Minnie is the wife of William Nieman.
Coming to the United States in 1892 alone and landing at Boston, August Dreier came directly to Audubon county, Iowa, where his uncle, August Burr, already lived. Four years later, in 1896, his parents and the remainder of the family came to this country, settling in Audubon county, where the father lived until his death.
August Dreier attended school until he was fifteen years old and then worked at various occupations until he was twenty, when he decided to come to this country. After arriving here he worked by the month for six years and farmed for his father for about three years. In 1901 he went to Garrett, Indiana, and worked in the Baltimore & Ohio railroad shops for two years. He then came back to Audubon county, where he rented land until 1910. In that year, Mr. Dreier purchased eighty acres of land in section 2 of Audubon township and here he now lives. He has rebuilt the house which now consists of six large rooms, and he has also built a new corn crib and made other improvements, such as the erection of hog houses, a hen house and the installation of waterworks on the farm.
On September 12, 1900, August Dreier was married to Edna Niemann, who was born on March 12, 1880, in Mecklenburg, Germany, and who is the daughter of Carl and Christina (Aherend) Niemann, also natives of Mecklenburg, Germany. Mrs. Dreier's father, who was a shepherd in the old country, took up farming on coming to America. He and his wife were the parents of ten children: William, Herman, Minnie, Agusta, Louisa, Eda, Paul, Elbert, Carl and one who died in infancy. The Niemann family, after coming to this country in 1894, came direct from New York City to Audubon county. The parents are now deceased.
Mr. and Mrs. August Dreier are the parents of six children: Anna, born on June 17, 1901; William, March 29, 1903; Minnie, June 17, 1904; Martha, March 23, 1907; Elmer, November 24, 1908, and Clara, November 2, 1910.
A Democrat in politics, the only office which Mr. Dreier has ever held is that of school director, in which he served with conspicuous satisfaction. The Dreier family are members of the German Lutheran church.
Although Mr. Dreier is engaged in general farming, he keeps several milk cows for dairy purposes and those have proved very profitable investments. He is a skillful farmer, a man of modest demeanor, wholly unassuming in his relations with his neighbors, and one who, for that reason, is popular in the community where he lives.
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Transcribed by Gunter Schanzenbacher, Waynesboro, PA, March 27, 2013 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. 847-848.
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