Arthur Behrens
Arthur and Mary (Meier) Behrens
Arthur Behrens, one of the substantial agriculturists and
representative citizens of Allamakee county, owns and operates a
well improved farm of two hundred acres on section 28, Post
township. His birth occurred at Cedarburg, Ozaukee county,
Wisconsin, on the 20th of August, 1862, his parents being Ahrend
and Caroline (Mintzlaff) Behrens, both of whom were natives of
Germany, the former born in Oldenburg on the 30th of September,
1832, and the latter in Pommern on the 18th of January, 1842.
Ahrend Behrens emigrated to the United States when a youth of
eighteen, while the mother of our subject was brought to this
country as a babe of three months, her parents settling in
Milwaukee, Wisconsin, when it was a mere village. Making his way
direct to Cedarburg, that state, Mr. Behrens secured employment
as a farm hand but subsequently purchased land and engaged in
general agricultural pursuits on his own account with gratifying
results. The last eighteen years of his life were spent in
honorable retirement at Cedarburg, where his demise occurred in
1908. His widow there continued to make her home until she passed
away in 1912, her death occurring while she was returning from a
trip to California.
Arthur Behrens, the oldest in a family of seven children,
acquired his education in the schools of Cedarburg township. At
the age of twenty years, having learned the carpenters’
trade, he began work at that occupation and was thus actively
engaged until 1897. In that year he rented a tract of land in
Garnavillo township, Clayton county, Iowa, continuing its
cultivation for five years, at the end of which period he
purchased the farm of two hundred acres in Allamakee county which
has since remained in his possession. The property is one of the
best equipped in the county and is highly improved and developed,
the well tilled fields annually yielding generous harvests as a
reward for the care and labor which is bestowed upon them. Mr.
Behrens has long been widely recognized as one of the most
progressive and successful agriculturists of the community and is
likewise a stockholder in the Farmers Mercantile Association of
Postville, the Postville Citizens Bank and the Luana Bank.
On the 2d of February, 1892, Mr. Behrens was joined in wedlock to
Miss Mary Meier, who was born in Garnavillo township, Clayton
county, on the 31st of October, 1867, her father being H. W.
Meier, of whom more extended mention is made on another page of
this work in connection with the sketch of Charles H. Meier, a
brother of Mrs. Behrens. She is now the mother of three children,
as follows: Arbe, whose natal day was May 20, 1895: Lorene, whose
birth occurred in 1902 and who is attending school; and William,
who was born January 19, 1909.
Mr. Behrens gives his political allegiance to the republican
party and is now serving for the second term as trustee of Post
township, making a creditable record in this connection. His
religious faith is indicated by his membership in the German
Lutheran church at Postville. He has been straightforward and
honorable in all his dealings, has manifested public spirit in
matters of citizenship and has been loyal to the ties of home and
of friendship. These qualities, therefore, have made his record
one of honorable manhood well worthy of emulation.
-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