ERIK P. SIMONSEN.
It requires great strength of manhood and rare courage to sever the ties that bind one to home and native land and to seek a fortune in a new country. Erik P. Simonsen, a well-known retired farmer of Sharon township, Audubon county, Iowa, and the owner of two hundred and twenty-seven acres of land in this township, came to America when twenty-eight years old, leaving behind him all that was near and dear and breaking all of the associations of childhood and youth. Mr. Simonsen was born on July 4, 1849, the son of Hans and Anna (Clausen) Simonsen, both of whom were natives of Denmark, where Hans Simonsen was a farmer, and where he lived all his life. Of their ten children, four are now living, but only two are living in this country.
Erik P. Simonsen received his education in his native land, and after leaving school worked as a farm hand until he came to America in 1877. Arriving in this country he located first at Bowmans Grove, Shelby county, Iowa, and remaining there for one year he then went to Cass county, and worked a year. After this he lived in Audubon county, and here he purchased a farm of sixty acres, for which he paid eight dollars an acre. Engaged in general farming, Mr. Simonsen prospered from year to year and, as new land was added, broke the sod and reduced the soil to an excellent state of cultivation. He was accustomed to feed about one hundred and fifty head of hogs every year, fifty head of cattle, and to raise ninety acres of corn. In 1913 his corn averaged sixty bushels to the acre, and in that year he also raised fifty acres of small grain, all of which was fed to hogs and cattle. Coming to America with only eight hundred dollars, Mr. Simonsen has been able to increase his wealth until he now owns two hundred and twenty-seven acres of fine farming land in Sharon township.
Shortly after his arrival in America, Mr. Simonsen was married to Carrie Albertsen, daughter of Knud Albertsen, and to this happy union nine children were born, as follow: Anna, Elena, Stena, Eugena, Hans, Alfred, Emma, Arthur and Amanda. Anna married Anders Jensen, and they are the parents of eight children, Elena, Dagmar, Astra, Gonda, Edna, Herluf, Elenora and Erna. Elena married V. S. Jensen and to them were born five children, Halvor, Thorwald, Arthur, Ydun and Thelma. Stena married T. G. Jensen, and they are the parents of four children, Areling, Amanda, Eva and Thelma Viola. Eugena married Hjalmar Rasmussen and to them were born four children, Edel, Veta, Hilga and Eva. The remainder of Mr. Simonsen's family are unmarried and live at home. Mrs. Simonsen, who was born in Denmark, came to America in 1878, and was married to Mr. Simonsen a very short time after her arrival in America.
Mr. and Mrs. Erik P. Simonsen are members of the Danish Lutheran church, and Mr. Simonsen is a trustee in the church. Politically, he is identified with the Democratic party.
Erik P. Simonsen is a well-known citizen of Sharon township, and during the active and productive period of his career while he was engaged in farming he was considered one of the most skillful agriculturists in this section of the county. His success is evidenced by the large increase in personal and real property since coming to America. Mr. Simonsen is a highly-respected and honored citizen of Audubon county.
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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. 821-822.
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