The son of a Danish fisherman who has long since passed to the great beyond, J. L. Jorgensen, who came to America about twenty-seven years ago, and who has become the owner of one hundred and twenty acres of fine farming land in Sharon township, was born on July 3, 1871, in Denmark. His parents, Albert and Meta Jorgensen, were both natives of Denmark, and lived there until their death. For many years Albert Jorgensen was a farm hand and a laborer in a brick-yard, but after his marriage he became a fisherman and followed that occupation until his death in 1883. His wife, the mother of J. L. Jorgensen, died in 1911, after rearing three children, Peter, Chris and J. L.

J. L. Jorgensen received his education in the Danish schools, and after leaving school worked as a farm hand and cattle herder until he came to America.

Coming to this country in 1888, Mr. Jorgensen located at Kimballton, Iowa, and worked as a farm hand in the vicinity of this town for about seven years. He then purchased forty acres of land in Sharon township, Audubon county, and it is upon this farm that he is now living. Mr. Jorgensen paid twenty-eight dollars an acre for it, but the increase in value of farm land has made his property very much more variable than it was at the time he purchased it. In the meantime he has also added an additional eighty acres, and in his farm he has invested approximately five thousand dollars in buildings, fences and ditches. When Mr. Jorgensen came to America he had very little money and it must be regarded as a tribute to his energy, his economy and his good management that he has been able to save from his earnings sufficient money to own one hundred and twenty acres of productive land.

J. L. Jorgensen was married in 1906, to Nelsene Jorgensen, daughter of Jeppe Mortensen. Two children have been born to this marriage, Albert Chris, who is at home with his parents and George L., deceased.

Mr. Jorgensen feeds about seventy-five head of hogs every year, and raises twenty acres of corn which averages fifty bushels to the acre. He has found mixed farming to be very profitable.

The Jorgensens are members of the Danish Lutheran church, in which Mr. Jorgensen has been a trustee for some four years. He is an independent Republican in politics, and a man who uses his vote wisely, always in the best interest of local, state and national government. Mr. Jorgensen is an intelligent and well informed citizen and recognizes the responsibility which suffrage entails. His home, his family and his farm are his chief interests. He is popular in the community where he lives and is well known in Sharon township.