Fred N. Meyer
Fred N. Meyer, who since 1890 has lived upon his present farm
in Allamakee county, where he is numbered among the prominent and
representative agriculturists, was born in Germany in 1853. He is
a son of Fred and Hanna Meyer, both natives of Germany, where the
mother died in 1886. In the following year the father came to
America and settled in Allamakee county, Iowa, where the
remainder of his life was spent, his death occurring in 1908.
At the age of thirty Fred N. Meyer left Germany and crossed the
Atlantic to America, settling in Allamakee county in 1883, and
for two years thereafter he worked as a farm laborer, following
this by three years’ connection with railroading. In 1888 he
again turned his attention to agricultural pursuits, working in
the employ of others for two years, after which he bought land of
his own, the tract which he purchased constituting a portion of
his present farm. It was raw and unimproved and he had to clear
it of timber before beginning the work of cultivation. This,
however, he has steadily carried forward through the years, and
adding to his holdings as circumstances justified he owns today
two hundred and twenty-two acres of the finest and best improved
land in Iowa township. There are excellent buildings upon the
property where Mr. Meyer carries on diversified farming, his
stock-raising interest being an important source of income to
him. He is a stock holder in the Farmers Bank of New Albin, the
Farmers Produce Cooperative Company and the Farmers Telephone
Company, and his business investments have always been made with
discrimination and have therefore resulted profitably.
Mr. Meyer married in 1886 Miss Kate Krukenberg, who was born in
Germany and who came to America in 1883. They have become the
parents of seven children, Dora, George, Herman, Emma, Minnie,
William and Laura, all at home. The family are members of the
Lutheran church.
Mr. Meyer is a republican in his political beliefs and has always
taken an active interest in public affairs, serving in various
responsible official positions. He was elected township trustee
in 1908 and is now in his third term and he is in addition
secretary of the township school board. He is a progressive,
reliable and enterprising citizen and is well known and favorably
regarded in the community, to the agricultural development of
which he has made substantial contributions in the past
twenty-five years.
-source: Past & Present of Allamakee County; by
Ellery M. Hancock; S. J. Clarke Pub. Co.; 1913
-transcribed by Diana Diedrich
Return to 1913 biographies index