THOMAS B. THOMSEN.
One of the leaders among the younger citizens of Audubon county, Iowa, and especially of Kimballton, where he is now serving his second term as mayor, is Thomas B. Thomsen, who was born on February 27, 1875, in Denmark, the son of Balster and Gunder Maria (Terkesen) Thomsen, natives of Denmark, who came to America in 1884. After living in Vermont for two years, they moved to the state of New York, where they lived for four years and then came to Audubon county, Iowa, purchasing eighty acres in Sharon township. The father is still living upon this farm and is a man highly respected in the community. He and his wife are members of the Danish Lutheran church. They were the parents of seven children, as follow: John G., a farmer of near Exira; Maria, married Nels Johnson, of Sharon township; Annie, married Jurgen Hansen, and lives near Exira; Katherine, lives at home; Minnie, married Andrew Sands, of Poplar, Iowa; Christina, married A. Shupe, of Douglas township, Audubon county; and Thomas B., the subject of this sketch.
With limited opportunities to obtain an education, Thomas B. Thomsen received only a brief training in the public schools of this county, and after working at home on the farm until the age of twenty years, he managed his father's farm for several years and then worked on his sister's place for three years. For two years he was a member of the firm of Thomsen & Larsen, a mercantile firm of Kimballton. He then rented his father-in-law's farm, consisting of one hundred and forty acres, which three years later, in 1914, he purchased.
Thomas B. Thomsen was married, January, 1908, to Nettie Jorgensen, the daughter of Hans J. Jorgensen, who was born on November 8, 1843, in Aro, Island of Marstal, Denmark, the son of Jens Grodt and Ella Neilsen. Her parents came to America in 1870 and, after living four years in the state of Illinois, they moved to Sharon township, Audubon county, where they lived until March 19, 1914, when Mr. Jorgensen passed away. He was twice married, first, in the spring of 1879, to Agnes Hedvig Petersen, a native of Denmark, who is now deceased. They had seven children, as follow: Jens P., a veterinary surgeon at Elkhorn; Peter G., a farmer of Sharon township; Elia Brodersen, of Shelby county, Iowa; Anna, married R. P. Larson, a merchant of Kimballton, Iowa; Cecelia, married Dr. P. E. James, of Elkhorn; Agneta, married Thomas B. Thomsen, the subject of this sketch, and Alfrede, a farmer of near Elkhorn, Iowa. Mr. Jorgensen was married a second time, November 8, 1894, to Anna K. Anderson, of Jylland, Denmark. Two children were born to this union, Agnes and William.
The late Hans J. Jorgensen purchased the land where Kimballton now stands in 1883. He sold the first town lot in the southeast corner of the northeast quarter of the northeast quarter of section 30, on which the Commercial Hotel and the general store now stands and it is now owned by the heirs and occupied by R. P. Larsen, of the firm of Larsen & Jorgensen. One of the organizers of the Landsmen's National Bank at Kimballton, Iowa, organized September 4, 1909, Mr. Jorgensen was its vice-president until his death. He did a great deal to promote building operations in Kimballton and, although he never aspired to ofifice, he was a stanch Republican and served as the first postmaster of Kimballton, beginning in 1884. He was president of the Kimballton Investment Company, organized October 5, 1910, and instrumental in having the hotel built here. He also helped to get the Atlantic Northern railroad built. A splendid type of self-made man, generous to a fault, he was always willing and ready to help in any worthy public enterprise. First a member of the Danish Lutheran church at Elkhorn, Iowa, he later affiliated with the church in Sharon township.
Mr. and Mrs. Thomas B. Thomsen are the parents of three children, namely: Goldie, Edna and Hans. Mr. Thomsen is serving his second term as mayor of Kimballton and during his entire life has taken an active interest in politics. He is now identified with the Progressive party. Mr. and Mrs. Thomsen are members of the Danish Lutheran church at Kimballton.
On the farm, Mr. Thomsen carries on general farming and stock raising. He has a well-equipped farm for stock raising and one which he may truly regard as the fruit of his own industry, economy and good management. Thomas B. Thomsen is highly respected by the people of this community.
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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. 650-652.
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