HANS MADSEN.
No better indication of the solidity and permanency of a city's progress is afforded than by a glance at the status of its financial institutions. Banks are the thermometers which register the rise and fall of a city's credit. The stability of the commercial and industrial interests are, to a large extent, dependent upon the policy and the condition of the local banks. The heart of commercial life, they are also the avenues of trade, and the arteries through which flows the financial current of business. Among Audubon county's
financial institutions the Landmands National Bank of Kimballton stands out prominently, having an unbroken record of progress since its organization about six years ago. In this brief period the bank has developed into financial strength and secure position among the banking houses of this section of the Hawkeye state, and occupies the largest banking building in the city. The leading figure in the inception of this prominent institution was Hans Madsen, who is now its president, and who is one of the best-known citizens of
this section.
Hans Madsen, the president of the Landmands National Bank, of Kimballton, Iowa, was born, August 19, 1865, in Aro, Denmark, the son of C. P. and Kristine (Albertsen) Madsen who were natives of Aro, Denmark, where the former was a ship and mill builder. The father, after coming America in April, 1874, located one-half mile west of Kimballton, Iowa, in Sharon township, and purchased land and was one of the first settlers on Big Indian creek. After clearing the land and making extensive improvements he lived on the farm continuously until his death, July 4, 1914. His good wife, the mother of Hans Madsen, died about six years previously, on January 17, 1908. The late C. P. Madsen was well known and highly respected at the time of his death when he was eighty-three years old. His wife died at the age of seventy-four. A skillful carpenter, he followed his trade at odd times after coming to Audubon county, did very much toward building up this part of the county. His beloved wife, who was a great church worker, helped to organize the Danish Lutheran church at Elk Horn, Iowa, and was known for miles around. In the early days the families who first came to this community to settle, were accustomed to make their homes with the Madsen family until they could get a start in the world. The late C. P. Madsen and wife started in life in a small way, and during their career made consistent gains on the highway of success. Only once in his life was the late C. P. Madsen a passenger on the railways of this country. He and his wife had six children, of whom Hans, the subject of this sketch, was the third born. Of the others, Albert, the eldest, died in Denmark; M. H. owns the old home place in Sharon township; Maren is the wife of Claus T. Peterson, of Shelby county, Iowa; Albert is deceased; Anna Sophia is the wife of the Rev. J. M. Gregersen, of Solvang, California. Reverend Gregersen is a Danish Lutheran minister and the founder of a Danish colony in that state.
Reared on his father's farm, Hans Madsen attended the common schools of this section, and also the Danish Lutheran sectarian school at Elkhorn, Iowa, in 1885 and 1886. He was a student at Drake University during 1886 and 1887, and then began his active business career as a clerk for Emil Bilharz at Audubon, where he remained for eight months. After this he was employed by M. N. Esbeck until January 12, 1888, when he engaged in the harness business at Shelby and Harlan, Iowa, for a year. In the spring of 1891 he engaged in the harness business at Kimballton, Iowa, and after following this business for eleven years purchased the general store owned by H. Marquesen, of Kimballton. During the first administration of McKinley, and the succeeding period of eight years filled by McKinley and Roosevelt, Mr. Madsen was postmaster. In 1907 he sold the store to Thomas & Larsen, and on October 3, 1907, opened the Landmands Bank with Charles Van Gorder, of Audubon, as president, and himself as cashier. For two years it was a private bank. At the end of this period, Mr. Madsen bought out Mr. Van Gorder, and organized the Landmands National Bank of Kimballton, which opened for business, September 4, 1909. Mr. Madsen is president and his daughter, Alma, is cashier.
The bank has been conducted upon the soundest and most conservative business principles. Its management is characterized by sagacity, energy and ability, coupled with liberality and honorable methods. No other bank has been more closely identified with the many movements that have helped in the growth of Kimballton and its institutions. The Landmands National Bank has excellent facilities for giving the most prompt and satisfactory service in all departments. Insurance is written at the very lowest rate; foreign and domestic exchange dealt in; steamship tickets sold, and all accounts, large or small, are handled with equal care. Many new customers are constantly opening accounts at this bank, on account of its well-known facilities; its strong financial backing of wealthy stockholders; its central location on the busiest street; its superb system of protection afforded by a strong vault and insurance; its policy of keeping business private, and the highly popular personnel of the banking force. As a bank president, Mr. Madsen is known as one of the most courteous and affable of men, and is constantly on the lookout for the interests of his customers. His daughter, Miss Alma Madsen, who has been the cashier for five years, has proven a painstaking, trustworthy business woman.
On November 27, 1887, Mr. Madsen was married to Johanna Ebbesen, of Jylland, Denmark, who came to America in 1878, and who was one of the first Danish school teachers in America. She taught school for three years in Elkhorn, and has always taken a keen interest in educational work. Mr. and Mrs. Madsen have two daughters, Alma E. and Lydia L.
In additional to his heavy business interests, Mr. Madsen is president of the Danish Lutheran church at Kimballton of which he and his family are members. He is president of the commercial club, and is a stanch Republican. In a larger way he is interested in all good movements that has to do with the growtli and prosperity of Kimballton and vicinity.
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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. 420-422.
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