HERMAN ULLERICH.
In the study of the history and habits of foreigners, who have come to America to gain their fortunes, no characteristic is so strongly presented to our view as that of restlessness. In fact, it was this very characteristic that prompted Columbus to undertake his hazardous voyage of exploration. It was in the make-up of our colonial and Revolutionary ancestors, very few of whom remained where they first settled on arrival, and the same spirit is as strong today in their descendants as it was in them. It is present in business, as well as the home, and so strong is its influence that practically few American families remain banded together after the age of maturity has been reached. This spirit is perhaps better known as "progression," masquerading under another name. Herman Ullerich, general farmer and stockman of Lincoln township, was born on August 22, 1871. He is a son of George and Barbara (Lauer) Ullerich. His early education was secured in the schools of Lincoln township, after which he attended school for one year at Milwaukee, quitting at the age of sixteeen, when he went to work for his father, with whom he remained until twenty-seven years old. He was married on November 25, 1897, to Nancy Ketelsen, daughter of Henry Ketelsen, and lived in Crawford county one year after his marriage, going from there to Manning, where he bought a farm of eighty acres, which he sold two years later and bought his present home place of two hundred and forty acres in section 27. He rented this place out and moved to Charter Oak, where he engaged in business. After living here a year and a half, he went back to Manning and bought eighty acres more, on which he lived a year and then moved onto his farm in Audubon county, where he still resides and now is the owner of four hundred acres of land and is also a stockholder in the bank. All the grain and feed for the stock is grown on the farm. He has spent between four thousand and five thousand dollars in improvements on the place and raises and feeds cattle and hogs. Both Mr. and Mrs. Ullerich are members of the German Lutheran church, while, in politics, Mr. Ullerich is a Republican. To these parents were ' ojn the following children : Clara, Walter, Herbert, Julius, Linn, Victor, .irwin, Rose and Hugo, who died. The living children are all still at ho i. The parents of the subject, Gef rge and Barbara Ullerich, were both born in Germany, where they continued to reside for sixteen years after they were married. From there they came direct to Audubon county, Iowa, and took up a homestead of one hundred and sixty acres, paying nine dollars an acre. They came as far as Iowa City on the railroad, and there bought a team and wagon, with which they drove the balance of the way. In the early years they had many hardships to endure, living in a sod house. Carroll, Westside, Exira and Atlantic were their nearest trading points and they had to travel thirty to thirty-five miles over the prairie with no house in sight for miles, crossing creeks where there were no bridges, and sometimes getting lost in the snow storms, so it often took three to four days before they returned. They also had to fight prairie fires to protect their property. They had eight children, namely : Lottie, who lives in Missouri ; George, deceased; Anna, who lives in Crawford county, Iowa; Barbara, deceased; Carrie, who lives in Crawford county; Mary, who lives in Charter Oak; Christ, who also lives at Charter Oak, and Herman.
|
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. 819-820.
|
|
