GEORGE JESSEN, JR.
George Jessen, Jr., a farmer of Oakfield township, Audubon county, Iowa, the son of a veteran of the Franco-Prussian War of 1870, was born on October 22, 1878, in Schleswig, Germany. His parents, George and Elizabeth (Christensen) Jessen, after coming to America in 1881, located at Atlantic, Iowa, where the father worked on the railroad for two years, and then moved to Audubon county, locating upon the farm where his son, George, now lives. He began with a small tract of land and gradually increased his holdings until he owned six hundred and forty acres of fine farming land. Although he had very little when he came to this country, by earnest and unceasing toil, by careful management and frugal living, he has come to be very prosperous as a farmer and stockman. George and Elizabeth (Christensen) Jessen were the parents of four children, Chris, Mary, George and Theodore.
Educated in the public schools of Oakfield township, Audubon county, George Jessen, after leaving school, farmed with his father until twenty-eight years old, when he rented the farm upon which he now lives, and where he has remained since that time. Mr. Jessen raises on an average eighty acres of corn, eighty acres of small grain, and feeds most of the grain raised to live stock. He sells about one hundred and twenty-five head of hogs every year and three carloads of cattle. He is well known in this township as a breeder of Shorthorn cattle, and has been extensively engaged in this business for a number of years. Approximately ten thousand dollars has been invested in various kinds of improvements upon this farm, and it is one of the highly productive farms of the township.
On July 8, 1900, George Jessen, Jr., was married to Bertha Marie Jensen, the daughter of Klaus Jensen. Bertha Marie Jensen was a native of Denmark, as were her parents. To Mr. and Mrs. Jessen have been born six children, George, Nannie, Clara, Theodore, Bertha and Alice, all of whom are living at home with their parents.
George Jessen, Jr., is not identified with any particular political party. He is an independent voter, and has little faith in the platforms of political parties or the pledges of party candidates. He is a member of the Modern Woodmen of America, and also of the Danish Brotherhood. Air. Jessen has always been deeply interested in the civic life of his township, and has filled the position of school director and also that of a member of the school board of his township, and discharged the duties of these offices to the entire satisfaction of the community which he served.
Mr. Jessen is a man who uses only the most improved modern methods in his farming operations, and has been very successful in his chosen vocation. He is a popular young citizen of Oakfield township, and already is recognized as having made a good start in life.
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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. 696-697.
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