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History of Sac
County
by William H. Hart -
1914
JACOBSEN, THEODORE -----The little
peninsula of Jetland, in Europe, has furnished a few
sturdy farmers for Sac county, Iowa. The people of
Denmark have always been prosperous and for that reason
a great many of its citizens have emigrated to this
country. A few of the more ambitious and hardy sons of
Denmark have come to America and a few of these have
made their permanent homes in Sac county. History
recounts that in the medieval ages, and even before
then, the Danes were the great rovers of the sea, and
for more than a thousand years people of the little
kingdom of Denmark have been known as a people of sturdy
qualities of character. Among the few citizens of Sac
county who are of Danish descent is Theodore Jacobsen, a
prosperous farmer of Wall Lake township.
Theodore Jacobsen was born
January 28, 1860, in Denmark and is the son of Hans and
Helena Jacobsen. He received a good practical education
in his native land and there learned the little habits
of thrift and industry which have characterized his
successful career in this county. Upon reaching his
majority in 1881 he decided to come to America to seek
his fortune.
Accordingly he came to this country and settled
in Livingston county, Illinois, where he lived until
1902, working by the month, and later by renting farms.
In 1902 he came to Sac county, Iowa, and bought one
hundred and sixty acres for fifty-five dollars an acre.
The family moved to the farm in Wall Lake township in
1903. In the last twelve years this land has increased
fourfold in value and is now worth at least two hundred
and twenty-five dollars an acre. Mr. Jacobsen has always
been a hard working man and has been assisted by an
excellent wife who has done her full share towards the
success of her husband.
Mr. Jacobsen was married on
March 23, 1883, to Margretta Amomsen. of Illinois. She
was born in Denmark and came to this country alone and
settled in Illinois. To Mr. and Mrs. Jacobsen have been
born six children: Hans C, of Pennsylvania; Mrs. Lena
Heath, of Sac City; Mrs. Katie Quinlan, of Wall Lake
township, and John and Theresa, who are still with their
parents.
Mr. Jacobsen has cast his vote for
the Republican party since he was naturalized, but owing
to his many interests on the farm he has never taken a
prominent part in politics. He and his family are loyal
members of the Lutheran church and help with the various
activities of that denomination. Mr. Jacobsen has
truly been the architect of his own fortune and upon his
entire career since coming to this country there rests
no blemish. He has been true to the highest ideals of
American citizenship and has become one of the worthy
and representative men of Sac county,
Iowa.
JENSEN, CHARLES
-----Agriculture has been an honored vocation from the
earliest ages and as a usual thing men of honorable and
humane impulses, as well as those of energy and thrift,
have been patrons of husbandry. The free out-door life
of the farm has a decided tendency to foster and develop
that independence of mind and self-reliance which
characterizes true manhood and no truer blessing can
befall a boy than to be reared in close touch with
nature in the healthful, life-inspiring labor of the
fields. It has always been the fruitful soil from which
have sprung the moral bone and sinew of the country, and
the majority of our nation's great warriors, renowned
statesmen and distinguished men of letters were born on
the farm and were indebted largely to its early
influence for the distinction which they have
attained.
Charles Jensen, one of the
representative farmers of Boyer Valley township, Sac
county, Iowa, was born February 22, 1875, in Clinton
county, Iowa.
He is the son of O. V. and Caroline Jensen. The
ancestral history of the Jensen family is given in the
history of Oliver Jensen, which is found elsewhere in
this volume.
Charles Jensen was educated
in the district schools of Clinton county and Sac
county. He was six years of age when his parents moved
from Clinton to Sac county and has resided since the
spring of 1881 in Boyer Valley township. At the age of
twenty-one he moved upon his present farm and has
improved it to a great extent, since taking possession.
He now has two sets of excellent buildings and has the
farm equipped with all of the modern appliances and
accessories necessary for the successful farmer. Though
he raises all the grains common to this locality, he
makes a specialty of the breeding of black Aberdeen
Angus cattle. For the past twenty years he has made a
specialty of this breed of cattle and has been very
successful in his efforts. He now has a herd of twelve
cows and produces annually about twelve head for the
market. There is no question but what there is a big
demand for well-bred stock and Mr. Jensen has felt that
it was possible in more ways than one to keep only good
cattle, for this reason he has taken a great deal of
pride in keeping his breed up to a good standard.
Mr. Jensen was married March 22,
1901, to Elizabeth Ann Drury, the daughter of J. Reese
Drury and wife, of this township. The genealogy of the
Drury family and their interesting history is set forth
elsewhere in this volume in the sketch of J. R. Drury.
Mr. and Mrs. Jensen have one son living, Milton Reese,
who was born April 25, 1910; they had one daughter,
Eveline Adele, who was born on March 19, 1907, and died
in early infancy.
Mr. Jensen cast his first vote for William
McKinley in 1896, and has been casting his ballot
regularly for the Republican party since that time. He and his wife
are attendants of the Presbyterian church and render it
such assistance as is within their power. Mr. Jensen
takes an active interest in the affairs of his community
and is justly regarded as one of the representative men
of his township, who are always on the alert to promote
the general welfare.
JENSEN, OLIVER
-----Successful men of Danish birth, nr whose parents
have been natives of this progressive European country
and who have emigrated to western Iowa and become very
prosperous as tillers of the soil, are much in evidence
in this section of the country. Wherever they may be
found they take front rank among the citizens of the
various communities in which they reside. Oliver Jensen,
substantial retired farmer of the town of Lake View, is
the son of Danish parents who came to America and found
fortune in the rich prairie lands of western Iowa and
Sac county.
Oliver Jensen was born August
9, 1870, in Clinton county, Iowa, and is the son of Olaf
V. Jensen, who was born in 1836 and died in October of
1910, His mother's maiden name was Caroline Nicholson,
who was born in June, 1836. Olaf and Caroline Jensen
were both born on the small island of Fahr in the North
sea and which was a Danish possession at that time. Here they were
both reared and married. They came to America in
1865. Olaf
V. was a sailor who followed the sea for fourteen years
from the time he was fourteen years of age. At the time
of the breaking out of the Civil War he was in the city
of New Orleans. To avoid impressment in the Confederate
service he sailed away from New Orleans on a lumber
vessel bound for San Francisco and the Puget Sound
region. He followed the western seas for some time
thereafter and was engaged in sailing far up in the
Bering sea. During his seaman's career in America he
made several trips around Cape Horn and during his life
he traveled or sailed entirely around the world. While a
sailor he saved over nine hundred dollars in gold. With
this small fortune he returned to the island of Fahr to
get married and then brought his wife to America.
He traveled westward by way
of Chicago and after a stay of about three months in
that city he located in Clinton county, where he
purchased one hundred and twenty acres of partly
improved land in 1866. He sold out his holdings in
Clinton county in 1881 and came to Sac county, buying a
half section of land in Boyer Valley township. After
living here for some time, he went to Dixon county,
Nebraska, and invested in two hundred and forty acres of
land. Later
he purchased another half section in Boyer Valley
township and also one hundred and sixty acres in Cook
township. He afterwards added three hundred and twenty
acres in Delaware township to his extensive farm
interests.
It is recorded that when he first contemplated a
trip to Sac county his neighbors in Clinton county told
him that the Indians would kill him and advised him not
to venture northward, but he was desirous of getting
hold of cheaper land in Sac county and future events
showed the wisdom of his choice. At the time of his
death he was the owner of one thousand one hundred and
twenty acres in Sac county. In the spring of 1896 he
removed to his second farm in Boyer Valley township and
resided thereon until 1900, when he retired to the town
of Early, where he died. Olaf V. Jensen
was the father of the following children: Oliver, the
eldest; Charles, a farmer in Boyer Valley township; Mrs.
Anna Struchen, of Boyer Valley township : Julius,
deceased.
He of whom this review is
written was educated in the common schools and was
reared to farming as a vocation. When he became
twenty-five years of age he took charge of the home
place in Boyer Valley township and cultivated his broad
acres until March 1, 1912, when he moved his family to
the town of Lake View and purchased a fine residence in
the southeastern part of the town, on the shore of Wall
lake. Mr. Jensen is the owner of a half section of well
improved land in Boyer Valley township. Mr. Jensen was
married in September, 1895, to Ethel Russell, who was
born and reared on a farm in Boyer Valley township, the
daughter of Andrew and Neita Russell, the former a
native of Ohio and the latter a native of Indiana. The
father is now deceased and the mother lives in
Washington. Mrs. Jensen is the mother of a family of
eight children, as follows: Violet A., George Dewey,
Sylvia Neita, Viola, Millard (deceased), Orian, Ellinor
and Charlotte.
Mr. Jensen is interested in a
financial way in the Early Concrete Stone Company,
recently located in Lake View. He is politically allied
with the Republican party and has filled various
township offices. He is affiliated with the Presbyterian
church and is a member of the Brotherhood of American
Yeoman. He is widely and favorably known for his
geniality and his many sterling qualities which go far
toward making a good and useful citizen in his adopted
community.
 JOHNSON, ANDREW
E. -----Andrew E. Johnson, proprietor of the Forest Hill
stock farm, located in section 19 of Wheeler township.
Sac county, Iowa, is one of the most widely known
farmers of the county, having resided in the one
township for almost forty years. He is one of the more
prominent members of the Swedish colony and, like many
others, has reached his present station through his own
efforts. His large, attractive residence is thoroughly
modern in every respect and is most beautifully
situated, being placed on a beautiful hill and
surrounded by trees, mostly evergreens, which have been
artistically grouped and arranged by the proprietor,
some of these trees having been brought over from his
native country. In addition to the material
attractiveness of this home, it breathes an air of
genuine hospitality which is extended to friend and
casual stranger alike.
Mr. Johnson was born in
Sweden on August 12, 1846, being a son of John Engleson
and his wife Essina. The father died in the home country
and the mother emigrated to America with the children,
locating in Pennsylvania, where she died. The subject
still has two sisters residing in that state. It was in 1871
that Mr. Johnson came to America, landing at the port of
New York with but thirty-five cents in his pocket,
representing the full amount of his worldly goods, but
he had other assets upon which no monetary estimate can
be placed, attributes of character and marked
characteristics which have enabled him, alone and
unaided, to attain his present enviable position. His
first work in this country was obtained at Smithville,
New Jersey, where he stayed for a few months, later
working several months in Franklin, the same state. Then
he was in New York state for a short time and then went
to Canada, where for a time he worked not far from the
town of Niagara Falls.
It was in 1874 that he first
came to this state and, in company with Henry Hanson (an
account of whose career will be found elsewhere in this
volume), he purchased a tract of land containing three
hundred and twenty acres. This they owned and operated
in partnership for four years, when they separated, the
subject taking the northeast quarter of section 19 and
Mr. Hanson taking the balance. For this land they had
paid six dollars and sixty cents per acre. Mr. Johnson
continued to work for others, and in 1878 moved on the
land which has since been his home. His first residence
was a small house with a floor space of fourteen by
twenty-two feet, which he later enlarged as he
prospered, and this a few years since was superseded by
the handsome home the family now occupies. This home
farm consists of four hundred and sixty acres and
running through it is a fine stream of water, a most
coveted object, especially where much livestock is
raised. Mr. Johnson raises for the market about fifty
head of Aberdeen-Angus cattle annually and one hundred
or more hogs. To assist m the work of the farm he keeps
eighteen head of fine Percheron horses, and for the
proper housing of his livestock he has three large
buildings, with all possible equipment, as well as
numerous other farm buildings. Mr. Johnson approves
modern methods of agriculture and this, together with
the excellent management he displays, results in fine
crops. In addition to the acreage of the home farm, he
also owns two hundred acres in section 20 of Wheeler
township, on which his son Emil resides, which brings
his total possessions in land up to six hundred and
sixty acres.
In October of 1880 Mr.
Johnson was united in marriage with Augusta Lundberg,
also a native of Sweden, born April 14, t86i, and to
their union have been born twelve children, out of which
family two daughters, Josephine and Lillian, are
deceased, the latter dying May 29, 1914, at the age of
Twenty-nine years. Emil is married and resides on the
farm in section 20, as above stated; Seth is also
married and is engaged in farming in Wheeler
township.
The rest of the family are still at home, namely:
Elmer, Mabel, Esther, Henry, Enoch, Minnie, Evaline and
Joseph. There is one grandchild, Andrew, the son of
Emil. Mr. Johnson is a man of marked domestic traits and
finds in his home and family his truest enjoyment. To
the rearing of his family he gives the most careful and
earnest consideration, greatly desiring to fit both sons
and daughters for useful lives as they pass from under
his guidance to assume their individual places in the
world.
Upon becoming a citizen of this
great republic, Mr. Johnson found the principles laid
down by the Republican party most closely approaching
his ideals, and for many years was a stanch supporter of
that party, but of late he has been disposed to favor
the more progressive attitude. He has ever taken an
active interest in politics as related to his community,
and for thirteen years served as a school director. His
religious affiliations are with the Baptist church, of
which he is an active and consistent member. Throughout
the years of his residence here, Mr. Johnson has proven
himself to be of the highest type of manhood,
trustworthy and high-minded in every respect. His
accomplishments and the high regard in which he is held
by all, prove beyond any question his true qualities,
and throughout his community his influence has been only
for the best and highest in every phase of
life.
JOHNSON, GEORGE W. -----The life of a
veteran pioneer is full of interesting details which are
not usually discernible in the writings concerning the
common place and mediocre. The story of the
settlement of Sac county and western Iowa will always
have a fascinating effect upon the discriminating
reader. What at one time was ignorantly referred to as
the Great American Desert has been transformed into a
garden of luxuriant fertility unsurpassed in the
American continent. Many of the
early pioneer settlers were Union veterans, who.
becoming restless with the environments of their earlier
homes, moved westward with the tide of empire and became
important fixtures in stable conditions which later
followed the redemption of a wilderness and its
subsequent transformation. One of these who
has lived a useful and honorable life and is still
enjoying the power of enjoyment and possessing a keen
zest for all that is good and desirable in living is
George W. Johnson, of Schaller. Iowa.
Mr. Johnson was born
September l0, 1836, on a farm in Franklin county, Ohio.
His father was William Johnson, a native of New York,
and who died in July, 1890, at the great age of one
hundred and one years. His mother was Mahala Thomas,
whose nativity was in the state of Pennsylvania. She lived to the
age of ninety-four years, dying in March 1893.
In the year 1838 William
Johnson migrated to Belmont, Grant county, Wisconsin,
and erected the first territorial capitol building for
Wisconsin in the town of Belmont. He then traveled to
what is now Sauk county, Wisconsin, across the Wisconsin
river, and settled upon an immense prairie farm. Habitations were
few and far between in the early days, but William
Johnson was a pioneer by virtue of his upbringing and
ancestry and he had a broad and favorable outlook of
what the future would eventually bring to him and his.
They, the father and sons, cultivated an entire section
of land in Sauk county and in time built a beautiful and
substantial home in the midst of the estate. William
became very wealthy and was one of the influential and
commanding figures of his part of Wisconsin. He and his
eight stalwart sons tilled their land with oxen, as
horses were not plentiful in those days and the ox was
the best beast of burden on many pioneer farms. He was the
father of the following children: John, Benjamin,
Roswell, deceased; George W., Thomas, deceased; William
and Joseph, of Baraboo, Wisconsin, James, a resident of
Rice Lake, Wisconsin. George W. was a member of the
Twenty-third Indiana Regiment; Benjamin was a member of
the Third Regiment of Union Volunteers; William was a
soldier in the Eleventh Wisconsin Regiment, and Joseph
enlisted in the Forty-seventh Wisconsin Infantry
Regiment.
George W. Johnson enlisted
August 13, 1862, in Company K, Twenty-third Wisconsin
Volunteer Infantry, and served for two years and eleven
months, or until the close of the conflict. He
participated in sixteen important engagements, among
them being the great battle of Vicksburg, Sabine Cross
Roads, Carrion Crow Bayou, Jackson, Mississippi,
Jackson, Louisiana. Fort Blakely and
the Battle of Mobile Bay. It can be truthfully said of
him that he was a faithful and willing soldier who
uncomplainingly bore the hardships of the soldier's life
and was ever ready to take his place in the fighting
ranks of the army.
In September, 1865, Mr.
Johnson came to Iowa and located on a farm near
Grinnell, Poweshiek county, where he resided until 1877.
He then migrated to Sac county and purchased one hundred
and sixty acres of land in section 23, Cook township,
for a consideration of one thousand seven hundred
dollars. He later invested in eighty acres in section
25, just over the line in Boyer Valley township paying
fourteen dollars and fifty cents for his second
investment. In the fall of 1892 he disposed of his land
holdings at forty-five dollars per acre and moved to
Alta in the spring of 1893, and one year later he
removed to Schaller and has here made his home. Mr.
Johnson's wealth is wisely and safely invested in
desirable residence properties located in Schaller and
Storm Lake, which yield him a good income from rentals.
He devotes much of his time to personal supervision of
his properties and to keeping them in good repair. He
and his faithful wife have traveled extensively of late
years and enjoy their winters in California and Florida
each season.
Mr. and Mrs. Johnson are both
members of the Presbyterian church. Mr. Johnson is a
Progressive Republican, and is a member of Price Post
No. 392, Grand Army of the Republic, and is fraternally
connected with the Ancient Free and Accepted Masons and
Eastern Star, of the latter of which Mrs. Johnson is an
active member.
Mr. Johnson was married March
20, 1861, to Mary L. Baldwin, a daughter of Philander
and Charlotte Baldwin, natives of New York, and who
migrated to Wisconsin in 1836 and became pioneer
settlers of that great commonwealth. This worthy and
progressive couple are the parents of the following
children; George, a prominent citizen of Sioux City, who
served as chief government inspector of the Sioux City
stock yards for over sixteen years and who is now
engaged in the cereal manufacturing business; Mrs. Myrtilla A.
Satchell, of Schaller, Iowa; Orville C, who died in
June, 1903, at the age of twenty-eight years. He was the
father of one child, Orville C, who was born four months
after his father's death. This son followed the
illustrious example of his father and enlisted as a
soldier in the Union army for services in the
Spanish-American War. His lamented death was caused by
his contraction of typhoid fever on the eve of his
embarkation for service in the Philippines and which
weakened his health to such an extent that he never
recovered.
In the plenteous and even serenity
of enjoyment of their declining years, secure and
peaceful in the knowledge that they have lived a useful
and honorable life, we leave this grand old veteran
pioneer and his faithful wife to live many, many years
more in the esteem of their fellow citizens. This
tribute is given with the hope that a perusal of this
review will be an inspiration to the
reader.
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