ANDREW GUSTAF FORSBECK.
Among the enterprising and progressive farmers of Audubon county now living retired, none stands higher in the esteem of his fellow citizens than Andrew Gustaf Forsbeck, of Gray. He has long been engaged in agricultural pursuits in this county and the years of his residence here have served to strengthen the feeling of admiration on the part of his neighbors and fellow townsmen because of his honorable, upright life. He has set a worthy example for the younger generation and is therefore entitled, as one of the representative citizens of Audubon county to representation in this volume.
Andrew Gustaf Frosbeck was born in Sweden on December 9, 1846, the son of Peter Peterson and Anna (Peterson) Frosbeck, the former of whom died in 1851, and the latter of whom died when Andrew Gustaf Forsbeck was a mere lad. Before Mr. Forsbeck reached his majority he became a sailor, sailing on the Atlantic ocean and on the Mediterranean Sea. His service expired January 30, 1874, and after this he came to America, locating in Whiteside county, Illinois, where he engaged in farming and on February 20, 1879, was united in marriage to Mary Antoinette Aikman, who was born on April 8, 1852, in Lyons, Iowa, the daughter of Robert and Sarah Aikman, natives of New Jersey and Canada, respectively, and old settlers in the state of Iowa. To Andrew G. and Mary A. (Aikman) Frosbeck three children have been born, Sadie, the wife of Chris Christensen, of Cameron township, this county; Ella, the wife of Lou Hansen, who lives on the home farm, and Carl D., county engineer of Audubon county, living in Audubon. Mr. and Mrs. Forsbeck have five grandsons. Nelson, Carl, Lyle and Roy and Ralph Christensen, sons of Mr. and Mrs. Chris Christensen, of Cameron township.
Andrew Gustaf Forsbeck came to Audubon county on August 23, 1881, settling in Lincoln township. Previously, in 1879, he had come from Whiteside county, Illinois, to this county and had purchased eighty acres of raw prairie land in section 36, at sixteen dollars an acre. At that time there was no town where Gray now stands. Mr. Forsbeck erected there a house, sixteen by twenty-four feet, hauling the lumber all the way from Illinois. He still owns his original purchase of eighty acres. In January, 1912, Mr. Forsbeck retired from the farm and moved to Gray, where he erected a 'fine, modern home on a hill, which gives him a splendid view of the surrounding country.
Mr. Forsbeck is well acquainted with the early history of Gray, where he now lives. He relates that Doctor Warner was the first physician of Gray; that George Schroeder was the first saloon keeper; that Will Johnson was the first merchant and that Mr. Reeves kept the first hardware store, later selling out to Stotts & Myers. The first store building was a rough board shack; the first drug store was kept by Doctor Hinsdale, and the first liveryman was a Mr. Eby.
Andrew Gustaf Forsbeck is one of the best-known citizens of this community. He is a Republican and has held various minor township offices and for years has been looked to for counsel and advice in local political matters. Although Mr. Forsbeck was reared as a Lutheran, the family attend the United Brethren and Methodist Episcopal church. Mr. Forsbeck is a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows at Gray and the Woodmen of the World, in the affairs of both of which orders he takes a warm interest, and is held in high regard by all who know him.
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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. 502-504.
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