PETER KNUDSEN.
Peter Knudsen, who purchased and now owns the fine farm of one hundred and twenty acres in Oakfield township, which his father before him owned, was born on January 28, 1866, in Denmark, the son of Knud C. and Caroline (Phillipson) Knudsen. A farmer in his native land until he came to America in 1874, Knud C. Knudsen located in Cass county, Iowa, and there worked as a section hand on the railroad for one year, after which he moved to Audubon county and located in Oakfield township. One year later he purchased a farm of eighty acres and subsequently added forty acres to the original tract. He farmed this land until his death in 1906. His wife, the mother of Peter Knudsen, died in 1910. Knud C. and Caroline Knudsen were the parents of four children: Chris, Peter, Mary and Caroline.
Eight years old when his parents brought him to America, Peter Knudsen received all of his educational training at the schools of Oakfield township, and after leaving school was engaged with his father in farming until the latter's death in 1906. When the estate was settled, Peter Knudsen purchased the farm, and since 1906 has invested about five thousand dollars in buildings, fences, drains and various processes to improve the fertility of the soil. He raises on an average of forty acres of corn and thirty acres of small grain every year. He also feeds out about seventy head of hogs. The high prices paid for hogs for the last few years has made it profitable to raise as many as possible.
On April 24, 1888, when Peter Knudsen was twenty-two years old, he was married to Minnie Nelson, the daughter of Martin Nelson. Mr. and Mrs. Knudsen have had eight children: Lillie, Henry, Christ, Esther, Anna, Theodore, Arthur and Marie. Lillie married Chris Jensen and has two children, Arthur and Harry. Henry married a Miss Hoegh and has two children, Ethel and Harry. The remainder of the family are unmarried and live at home with their parents.
The Knudsen family are prominent members of the Danish Lutheran church, in which Peter Knudsen is a trustee. He is also a school director in Oakfield township and is identified with the Republican party.
For his enterprise and industry, Peter Knudsen has established a comfortable home in Oakfield township, and he and his wife are rearing a large familv of children to honorable and useful lives. This is their greatest contribution to the happiness of the neighborhood where they live and where they have always been popular. Like so many of his fellow countrymen who have made commendable successes of farming in the new country, Peter Knudsen has become an enthusiastic and patriotic American, one who admires our institutions and appreciates the opportunities our country offers.
|
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. 701-702.
|
|
