Ernst Heinrich KUHL

Alias:<ALIA> /Henery/

REFN: 3367

From Iowa GenWeb Project, Mills County, a biography was written on Pet

er Kuhl and son Henry Kuhl. This is a copy of it...

KUHL, HENRY

German industry and thrift has had much to do with making theprairi

es of the west the garden spot of the world. Iowa has benefited material

ly by this good element in our population, and Mills county has its quo

taof German and German-American citizens who have been successful persona

lly and have been influential for the general prosperity of the people amo

ng whom they have cast their lot. One of the best known farmers of Germ

an birth in Ingraham township is Henry Kuhl, whose farm is in section 2

Henry Kuhl was born in northern Germany, May 5, 1857, a son of Peter Kuh

l, a farmer, and was reared to the work of the farm. His father, who was b

orn in 1817, is now living inIngraham township, aged eighty-three. He mar

ried Anna Steffen in 1841 and oftheir ten children they reared five so

ns and three daughters. The first of the family who came to America was An

na, the wife of Hentz Snecklot, who camein the spring of 1864 and liv

es in Nebraska. In the following fall Hans Kuhlcame, accompanied by his s

ister, Maggie, who is now the wife of James Kay, ofOak township, Mills co

unty. John is a prosperous Nebraska farmer. Klaus Kuhl, another broth

er of Henry Kuhl, came three years later. In the spring of 1873 Katie, ano

ther sister, came and she is now Mrs. John Helkan, of Scott county, Iow

a; and Henry, the subject of this sketch, came in the fall of the sameyea

r. William came about 1878 and Peter and Anna (Steffen) Kuhl in the spri

ng of 1880.

When Henry Kuhl came to America he was between sixteen and seventeen yea

rs old. He joined his brothers and sisters who had come to Scott county, I

owa, and worked there on farms until his parents arrived early in 1880, wi

th Ferdinand, his youngest brother. In 1884 he bought his first farm of t

wo hundred and forty acres, on which he had located the year before as a t

enant, at the beginning of his married life. He paid thirty-seven doll

rs an acrefor the place and began with a debt upon him of seven thousa

nd dollars, but applied himself so diligently to the task he had assumed t

hat he overcame allobstacles and not only paid for the farm but made mon

ey on it and sold it in1900 at sixty-four dollars an acre. He then boug

ht three hundred and fifty-three acres south of Silver City at fifty-two d

ollars an acre, and in the fallof the same yer he bought eighty acres mor

e. He owns also twenty acres of timber land. Beginning without cash capit

al he has made a marked success in lifeand now ranks as one of the hea

vy farmers and prominent stockmen of his township. He breeds shorthorn

s, of which he has about fifty head of registered stock, and forty thr

ee of which he purchased at one hundred and thirty-five dollars a hea

d. He keeps also sixty head of grade stock, raises about forty calves ea

ch year, and has sold one yearling bull and two heifers at two hundred dol

lars each.

Mr. Kuhl was married August 20, 1883, to Johanna Bickel, of Mills count

y, a daughter of Fred Bickel, of Germany, and they have had childrenas fo

llows: William, now fifteen years old; Lennie, fourteen; Ferdinand, thirte

en; Fritz, eleven; Lizzie, nine; Rudolph, five; and Emil. Mr. Kuhl's fath

er and mother celebrated their golden wedding in 1891. His mother soon aft

erward fell and broke her hip and the accident resulted in her death, in t

he spring of 1892, when she was seventy-five years old. His father, in fa

ir health, has his home with his son, Henry. Mr. Kuhl was reared in the Lu

theran faithand he is independent in politics.

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