WILLIAM C. TIBBEN.
A native of Rock Island county, Illinois, an enterprising farmer of Audubon township, where he owns an excellent farm of two hundred acres, William C. Tibben was born on October 27, 1873, and is a son of John and Catherine (Schwenneker) Tibben, who were natives of Friesland, and Holstein, Germany, respectively.
Mr. Tibben's parents came to the United States when young people and were married in Rock Island county, Illinois, where they lived until 1881, at which time they came to Audubon county, and they made this county their home until their death. They were the parents of seven children, Henry, Amos, Anna, John, William C., Mrs. Minnie Carson, and Mrs. Emma Porter.
William C. Tibben attended school until about fifteen years of age in Audubon township, during which time he lived at home with his parents, assisting with the farm work until his marriage, at which time he rented a farm for five years. Subsequently, he purchased two hundred acres of land where he now lives, but at that time it was poorly improved, and the house, which was a small building, fourteen by twenty-four feet, had only two rooms; the barn, however, was a fairly good building. Mr. Tibben has since erected a large, eight-room house, equipped with gas lights, furnace, hot and cold water and other conveniences which make it entirely and thoroughly modern. At the time this house was erected in 1902, it was by far the best house in the community. In 1909 Mr. Tibben built a large barn and a corn crib with a capacity of five thousand bushels of ear corn and shelled grain. He has also erected a substantial machine shed, in which he keeps his stock of modern machinery with which his farm is well equipped.
In December, 1894, Mr. Tibben was married in Audubon county to Catherine Bireline, who was born on March 21, 1874, in Johnson county, Iowa, the daughter of Fred and Julia (Michels) Bireline, natives of Germany, who came to the United States before their marriage.
Mr. and Mrs. Tibben are the parents of six children: Clarence, born on September 27, 1895; Charles, October 2, 1897; Walter, March 21, 1902; Arthur, November 10, 1906; Harry, August 4, 1909; Johnnie, June 23, 1913. All of these children are living at home with their parents.
A Republican in politics, William C. Tibben has served as township trustee of Auduloon township for two years, and is the present secretary of the local school board. The Tibben family are members of St. John's Lutheran church.
A general farmer and stock raiser who feeds several hundred head of hogs and from one to two carloads of cattle each year for the markets, William Tibben is well known in Audubon township, where he has been successful in a large measure in his chosen vocation. Mr. Tibben is still a comparatively young man, but so diligently and wisely has he applied himself to the business of farming that he has already accumulated a substantial competence, and at the same time he has not neglected his larger duties, and is today recognized as one of the foremost citizens of the community in which 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. 769-770.
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