John Rodenberg is the owner of one of the large
and well improved farms of Jefferson township and his
prominence and success as a representative of
agricultural and live-stock industry in his native
county are the more interesting to contemplate in
view of the fact that a portion of his present landed
estate was the pioneer farm on which his paternal
grandfather settled upon coming to this county more
than sixty years ago.
Mr. Rodenberg was born in Jefferson township on
the 11th of August, 1872, a scion of the third
generation of the family in Clayton county. He is a
son of William and Annie (Kaiser) Rodenberg, both
natives of Germany, the father having been born in
the kingdom of Hanover and the mother in the province
of Mechlenburg. William Rodenberg accompanied his
parents on their immigration to America, about the
year 1840, and after remaining about two years in the
city of Cincinnati, Ohio, the family came to Clayton
county and established a home on a pioneer farm in
Jefferson township. The founder of the family in this
county was Christopher Rodenberg, and he and his wife
here passed the residue of their lives on their old
homestead, a part of the splendid rural domain now
owned and occupied by their grandson, John, subject
of this sketch. William Rodenberg was a boy at the
time of the family immigration to the United States
and was reared to manhood in Clayton county, where he
availed himself of the advantages of the pioneer
schools and where he eventually purchased the old
homestead and became one of the representative
farmers of the county. For about a decade prior to
his death he lived virtually retired, and he was one
of the substantial and honored citizens of the county
when he was summoned to eternal rest, on the 22d of
November, 1914, his widow still remaining with her
son, John, in whose home she is accorded the deepest
filial solicitude, her birth having occurred November
19, 1839. She is a devout communicant of the German
Lutheran church, as was also her husband, and Mr.
Rodenberg was a loyal supporter of the cause of the
Democratic party, his loyal interest in local affairs
of a public order having been shown by his service as
township trustee, as township assessor for ten years
and as constable for one term.
Concerning the children the following brief record
is consistently entered at this juncture: August is a
resident of Guttenberg, this county; Catherine is the
wife of John Hill, of Honey Creek, Wis.; Mrs. Annie
Hendrickson resides in Minnesota, where her husband
is a prosperous farmer; Caroline is the wife of Henry
Friedlein, of Guttenberg; William is a progressive
farmer of Jefferson township; Emma is the wife of
John Schorg, of Spencer, South Dakota; John, of this
sketch, was the next in order of birth ; Minnie is
the wife of Henry Morarend, of Jefferson township;
Bessie is the wife of John Brandtman, of Crown Point,
Ind.; and Sophia died in childhood.
John Rodenberg is indebted to the schools of his
native township for his early educational discipline
and he continued his active association with the work
and management of the old homestead farm until he was
properly fortified for the purchasing of the
property, which comprised two hundred and sixteen
acres. He has since added one hundred and twenty
acres to his valuable landed estate, and upon the
place he has made many excellent improvements,
including the erection of modern buildings. His
attention is given energetically and with marked
success to well ordered agriculture and to the
raising of high-grade cattle and swine, with
preference given to the Hereford type of cattle. His
political allegiance is given to the Democratic
party, and he is serving as school director of his
district. Both he and his wife are communicants of
the Lutheran church at Guttenberg, which village is
their postoffice address.
On the 23d of August, 1900, Mr. Rodenberg wedded
Miss Dora Lindemann, who was born and reared in this
county and who is a daughter of William and Mary
Lindemann, now residing at Elkader, the county seat.
Mr. and Mrs. Rodenberg have five children—
Minnie, Albert, Henry and Clara and Elmer.
