GEORGE KYHNN.
George Kyhnn is one of the representative farmers of Hamlin township, Audubon county, Iowa. Mr. Kyhnn owns a splendid farm of two hundred and fifty-five acres and carries on the various departments of the farming enterprise with that discretion and energ}^ which are certain to find their material sequence in a definite measure of success. Mr. Kyhnn has always been a hard worker and a good manager, and of economic habits. He has been fortunately situated in a thriving farming community. It is no wonder that he stands today in the front rank of the farmers in this favored section of the great Hawkeye commonwealth.
George Kyhnn was born on September 3, 1861, in Schleswig, Germany. He is a son of John and Mary A. (Kruse) Kyhnn, who were also natives of Schleswig, where John Kyhnn was a farmer. John Kyhnn and wife were the parents of eight children, of whom George Kyhnn was the eldest.
George Kyhnn attended school until he was sixteen years of age, during which time he received a very creditable education. After leaving school he worked out until he came to the United States. He was married in Germany.
In November, 1883, Mr. Kyhnn came to the United States, landing at New York city, thence coming directly to Audubon county, Iowa, where he had some cousins living. At first, Mr. Kyhnn located at Audubon, where he obtained work with the Rock Island Railway Company as a section hand. He worked for this company five years, after which he rented a farm fpr three years. Subsequently, he purchased eighty acres of land in section 16, of Hamlin township, and Mr. Kyhnn has gradually added to his original land holdings until he is now the owner of two hundred and fifty-five acres of land. He has erected nearly all of the buildings now standing on the farm and put upon it nearly all of the present improvements, and he now has one of the best-improved and highly-productive farms within a radius
of several miles.
George Kyhnn was married on June 30, 1883, in Lygumkloster, Schleswig, to Eliza Jepsen, who was born on November 29, 1857, in Schleswig, and who is a daughter of Soren and Christina (Petersen) Jepsen. Her father was a farmer and tax collector in his native country, in which latter capacity he worked for the Danish government.
Mr. and Mrs. George Kyhnn are the parents of eight children: John, who married Agnes Nelsen, the daughter of Rasmus Nelsen, and they have one child, George; Sherman, Anna, Christina, Chris, Ida, Arthur and Rosa. The seven unmarried children are still living at home.
Mr. Kyhnn is engaged in general farming and stock raising. He feeds quite a number of cattle and hogs each year for the market, and is also interested in the dairy business, milking about fifteen cattle. Mr. Kyhnn is a stockholder in the Elkhorn-Marne Telephone Company.
Mr. Kyhnn is a Republican, and has served as township trustee for Hamlin township for the past eight years, the duties of which office he has discharged in a most satisfactory manner and has won the praise and approval of all the citizens of the township, regardless of politics. He and his family are members of the Danish Lutheran church at Hamlin, and are active in the affairs of this church, and are liberal contributors to its support.
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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. 507-508.
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