H. P. LAURITZEN.
H. P. Lauritzen, a very successful farmer and stockman of Sharon township, Audubon county, Iowa, was born on March 23, 1872, in Schleswig, Germany, the son of Claus and Anna (Mortensen) Lauritzen, the former of whom was born in December, 1832, and passed away on August 17, 1904, and the latter, born on October 3, 1839, passed away on July 11, 1912.
Claus Lauritzen and his wife came to America from Denmark, where he was a farmer, in 1881, and located in Shelby county, Iowa, where they purchased seventy-three acres of land at fifteen dollars an acre. After improving the place in various ways, especially by the erection of a small house, fourteen by fourteen feet, and farming in that county until 1899, they removed to Audubon county, and located in Sharon township, where he purchased one hundred and sixty acres of land. This farm he improved in various ways and here he lived until his death in 1904. They had six children, H. P., N. P., Claudie, Sine, Mary and Hannah.
H. P. Lauritzen, who was educated in Germany and in Shelby county, Iowa, after leaving school took up farming with his father, and remained with him on the home farm until thirty-one years of age.
In 1904 Mr. Lauritzen was married, at the age of thirty-one, and after his marriage purchased one hundred and sixty acres of land and began farming for himself. The farm was greatly improved under his ownership and management, and in 1910 he purchased the place upon which he now lives, consisting of three hundred and twenty acres. Here Mr. Lauritzen has invested about two thousand dollars in improvements. He raised approximately one hundred and twenty acres of corn every year, which yields an average of fifty bushels to the acre; fifty acres of small grain, sixty-five acres of hay, and feeds all these products to hogs and cattle. Mr. Lauritzen finds it necessary, in order to feed two hundred and twenty-five head of hogs and six carloads of cattle, to purchase in addition to what he raises from four to five thousand bushels of corn every year. He has been very successful in farming and is considered one of the most prosperous farmers in this section.
H. P. Lauritzen was married on January 27, 1904, to Cecelia Arp, daughter of Joachim and Margaret (Nelson) Arp. To this happy union four children have been born, as follow: Anna, Clarence, Edward and Florence. Mrs. Lauritzen is a native of Shelby county, Iowa, a daughter of native-born German parents, her father having been a farmer, who came to America unmarried, and who settled in Shelby county, Iowa, where he purchased a farm and farmed until his death, January 25, 1891. His wife, born on January 10, 1858, is still living at Elkhorn, Iowa. They had four children, Mrs. Lauritzen, Charles, Fred and Elvena.
Mr. and Mrs. Lauritzen are members of the Lutheran church, in which both take a prominent part. A Republican in politics, H. P. Lauritzen formerly served as township trustee of Sharon township and discharged the duties of this office to the satisfaction of the people of the township.
Not only is Mr. Lauritzen one of the largest farmers in this community, and one who maintains on his farm a barn large enough for one hundred and twenty head of cattle, besides other buildings for hogs and other live stock, but he is considered very successful in the cultivation of corn and other grains and cereals. He has always taken a keen interest in the educational development of Audubon county, and believes strongly in the very best educational facilities for his children and the children of his neighbors. Upon matters affecting the public welfare Mr. Lauritzen's counsel and advice are freely sought, and his assistance in all worthy movements can always be depended upon. He is popular in the neighborhood where he lives.
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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. 838-839.
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