C. H. Wiese
One of the many sons of Germany who have come to America with very limited capital but an inexhaustible supply of energy and determination and by means of well directed effort has won where a man with less strength of purpose would have been defeated, is C. H. Wiese.
He is a native of Schleswig-Holstein and the youngest son of John Henry and Margaret Katrina (Ghoul) Wiese, his birth occurring on the 22d of March, 1862. His parents, who were also from the province of Schleswig-Holstein, emigrated to the United States and located at West Side, Iowa, where the father passed away in 1904. The mother was also a resident of Crawford county at the time of her death, which occurred in 1885. Only three of the five children born to them survive, those besides our subject being: Ida, who is married and living in the fatherland; and John, a resident of Omaha, Nebraska.
C. H. Wiese acquired the greater portion of his education in Germany, only attending school one winter after his arrival in the United States. As soon as he was old enough to begin work he obtained employment as a section hand, following that occupation at Aspinwall four years. At the end of that period he worked in a lumberyard for five years and then began farming in Iowa township. After living there three years he removed to a farm in Hayes township, which he cultivated four years, and then returned to West Side, where he spent two years.
In the meantime he had become very enthusiastic about Nebraska, and migrating to that state, he bought a half section of land in Dixon county, upon which he resided for three years. Returning to Crawford county at the expiration of that period, he located on sections 21 and 22, Washington township, where he now owns two hundred and forty acres of excellent farming land. He has made many improvements upon his homestead during the period of his residence here, so that it is now one of the most valuable farms in the township. He engages in general farming and stock-raising and is meeting with marked success in both ventures.
On the 22d of March, 1885, Mr. Wiese was united in marriage to Miss Katrina Schmahl, who was born in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany, February 14, 1865, a daughter of Kai and Katrina (Mueller) Schmahl. Her father is now deceased, but her mother is still living in Germany. Mrs. Wiese has one sister in America, Sophia, the wife of Otto Passick, residing in Carroll county, Iowa.
Mr. and Mrs. Wiese have become the parents of eight children, who are as follows: Minnie, the wife of Detlef Peterson, Washington township; and Emil, Bridget, Emma, Ida, Florence, Etta and Elsie, all of whom are. at home.
The family affiliate with the Lutheran church. The democratic party is always given the political support of Mr. Wiese, and although he does not actively participate in local governmental affairs he meets the requirements of good citizenship by casting his ballot on election day. He is in every sense of the word a self-made man, as the success he has achieved in life is due solely and directly to his own effort, and as such he justly deserves the respect accorded him in the community where he resides.
Source: History of Crawford County, Iowa. Vol. II. Chicago: The S. J. Clarke Publishing Co., 1911.