Fred S. Hansmeier

 

That Fred S. Hansmeier has been found reliable, conscientious and efficient in positions of public trust is indicated by the fact that he is now in the eighth consecutive year of his service as assessor of Makee township, and that he is also an able agriculturalist and a progressive business man his fine farm of one hundred acres on section 27 gives ample testimony. He has been a resident of Iowa since 1869, but is a native of Germany, born in Lippe, June 13, 1860, a son of Fred L. Hansmeier, also a native of that principality. The father married there Minnie Kollinge, who was born and reared in Lippe, and the family emigrated to America in 1869, settling directly in Iowa and making a permanent location in Allamakee county. One year later Fred L. Hansmeier purchased one hundred acres of land provided with a log house and with a few acres under cultivation. For many years thereafter he continued to reside on this property, adding to it the adjoining farm and carrying forward the work of improvement and cultivation. He died upon his holdings in 1909, having survived his wife three years.

Fred S. Hansmeier is the eldest in a family of seven children, all of whom reside in Allamakee county. He was reared and educated here and remained upon the homestead until he was twenty-one years of age, aiding in the work of its development and improvement. He afterward learned the carpentering trade and for some years engaged in business as a contractor and builder, many of the finest residences in Waukon and upon the farms in the vicinity of the city standing as evidence of his architectural skill. Eventually he succeeded to the old home place and has since resided thereon, giving his attention to its further development and improvement. He has erected upon it a fine modern residence, good barns, a granary, a corncrib and a henhouse, and has besides sunk a well three hundred feet deep, provided with a gas engine to pump the water to Oak Ridge Farm, by which name it is known. As a result of his efforts he has one of the finest agricultural properties in this vicinity, nothing being neglected which will add to its attractive appearance or its value. Mr. Hansmeier is numbered among the able exponents of enlightened and scientific agricultural methods. In addition to general farming he is also a stock-raiser on an extensive scale, breeding a good grade of shorthorn cattle, Chester White hogs and Shropshire sheep. He is a stockholder in the Farmers Cooperative Creamery of Waukon and is now in his fourth year of service as president of that concern, to which he sells the products of the model and sanitary dairy which he operates.

In St. Paul, Minnesota, November 27, 1887, Mr. Hansmeier was united in marriage to Miss Annie Umbriet, who was born in Wabasha county, that state. They were the first couple married in North St. Paul and in the Presbyterian church there, an edifice which Mr. Hansmeier aided in erecting. Seven children were born to their union: Clara, the wife of Ed Raymond, of Waukon; Ella; Calvin A.; Esther; Lillian; Alfred L.; and Arna. Mr. and Mrs. Hansmeier and their children are members of the Waukon German Reformed church.

Mr. Hansmeier is a stanch republican in his political beliefs and takes an intelligent interest in public affairs, cooperating heartily in all movements to promote the permanent interests of the community. In 1901 he was elected assessor of Makee township and after serving one term was reelected. After an interval of one term he was again elected to the office and has since served eight consecutive years, discharging his duties in a capable, reliable and energetic way. He has been a resident of Allamakee county since 1869 and the intervening years have brought him success, prominence and fortune and a place among the substantial agriculturists and men of affairs.

-source: Past & Present in Allamakee County; by Ellery M. Hancock; S. J. Clarke Pub. Co.; 1913
-transcribed by Linda Earnheart

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