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Jasper County, Iowa
Historical and Genealogical Data Exchange
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Henry F. Pahre The agricultural interests of Elk Creek Township, Jasper County, is well represented by Henry F. Pahre, one of our most typical twentieth-century farmers, enterprising and progressive. His thorough system of tillage, the well-cared-for condition of his fields, the excellent order of his dealings and fences, demonstrate his successful management and substantial thrift. In the community where he has spent his life he has maintained a very high place in the confidence and esteem of his many neighbors and friends, being regarded as a representative citizen in every relation of life, discharging every duty devolving upon him with commendable fidelity and proving himself worthy the large respect with which he is treated by all who know him. He has always been interested in whatever tends to promote the prosperity of his Township and County and to him as much as to any one man is the community indebted for the material development for which it has long been noted. He has also used his influence in behalf of all moral and benevolent enterprises, being a friend and liberal patron of the church and the school, believing these to be the most potential factors for substantial good that the world has ever known or can know. Mr. Pahre was born in Elk Creek Township, this County, on July 19, 1859. He is the son of Ernest and Fredrika (Sanders) Pahre, both natives of Hanover, Germany, the father's birth occurring on November 1, 1822, and the mother's on February 11, 1823. They grew up in their native land and there the father received excellent educational advantages, his parents desiring that he follow the ministry, but it seems that he did not take any too kindly to this idea, and left college and joined a colony of his fellow countrymen who emigrated to Quincy, Illinois, about 1851. Among this number was Fredrika Sanders and she and Ernest Pahre were married in 1851, the first year of their stay in Illinois, and in 1854 they came to Jasper County, Iowa, locating in Elk Creek Township. Here Henry Frederick Pahre, brother of the subject's father had located about 1850, having taken up government land, after he had served in the Mexican war. Then he went back to Germany and returned to this country with his father, the latter buying one hundred and forty-three acres upon his arrival in Jasper County, and here the parents of the subject established a comfortable home, became influential in the community and spent the rest of their lives. The father died on September 13, 1897, and the mother passed away on March 11, 1906. Henry Pahre, brother of the subject, who was one of the pioneers of Jasper County, became well fixed in a material way here, later adding eighty acres to his original holdings. He broke the wild prairie and endured the privations and hardships incident to pioneer life. When he first came here there were deer in plenty and much wild game of various kinds. Politically, he was a Democrat and he served his district as secretary of the school board. Religiously, he was a member of the Lutheran Church. The following children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Ernest Pahre: Louisa, Sophia and Louis all died in early childhood of diphtheria, all within two weeks; Henry F., of this sketch, is the oldest living child; Mrs. Martha Rohrdanz, Mrs. Emma O'Brien and Christina. Henry F. Pahre, of this sketch, grew up on the home farm and there learned valuable lessons relating to the various phases of agricultural work and stock raising. He attended the Andreas district school, and when only nine years of age he began driving a team and assisting in the farm work in a general way. He remained at home until he was twenty-five years of age, then bought sixty acres. He then worked his father's place on the shares until the death of the father, when the subject thought out the other heirs and is now the owner of one of the choice farms of the Township, consisting of two hundred and eight-three acres; he has kept the old place so well tilled, rotating his crops and keeping the fields well fertilized so that the soil has been strengthened rather than thinned, and abundant harvests reward his annual toil. In 1905 he built a commodious, attractive and substantial dwelling and he has good outbuildings. In connection with general farming he raises and feeds livestock in large numbers, especially hogs. As a good and intelligent citizen, Mr. Pahre takes much interest in political affairs, voting with the Democratic Party, the principles of which he believes to be more conducive to the country's good than those of any other political organization. He has ably and acceptably served his locality as Township assessor for a period of eight years and he was also Township Trustee for three terms. He is a member and liberal supporter of the German Lutheran church. On January 15, 1885, was solemnized the marriage of Henry F. Pahre and Catherine O'Brien, who was born in Fulton County, Illinois, on September 2, 1864. She is the daughter of Pat and Ann (Cunningham) O'Brien. The father was born in Ireland and from that country he immigrated to Illinois when a young man. Four children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Pahre namely: Elmer, born July 13, 1888; Lawrence, born July 9,1890; Edna, born September 21, 1892; Roscoe, born September 24, 1895. The Past and Present of Jasper County, Gen. James B. Weaver, Editor-In-Chief, 1912 B.F. Bowen Co., Indianapolis, IN, p. 700. |
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