John Krambier, Sr.
John Krambier, Sr., is one
of those sterling citizens who, after years of close
and effective association with the great basic
industry of agriculture, find that there has come the
well earned prosperity which permits them to lay
aside the arduous labors and responsi bilities that
long fell to their lot and to pass the gracious
twilight of their worthy lives in retirement, with
the repose, peace and prosperity that properly crown
such careers of useful endeavor.
Mr. Krambier was born in Mecklenburg, Germany, on the
8th of December, 1844, and has been a resident of
Clayton county since he was a lad of fourteen years.
He is a son of John and Elizabeth (Schultz) Krambier,
who were born and reared in Mecklenburg, where the
former learned in his youth the sturdy trade of
blacksmith. In 1859 the family immigrated to the
United States and became members of the very
appreciable German pioneer colony that was
established in and about Guttenberg, Clayton county,
in which village John Krambier (I) engaged in the
work of his trade. Later he removed to St. Olaf, this
county, where he established a shop and built up a
substantial and prosperous business as a blacksmith,
besides which he made judicious investment in land
and developed a productive farm, both he and his wife
having been honored pioneer citizens of the county at
the time of their death and both having held
reverently to the faith of the German Lutheran
Church.
Of their children, the subject of this review is the
eldest; Elizabeth died when young; Louise is the wife
of Henry Gilster, of Farmersburg, this county; August
and Lena are deceased; Charles is now a resident of
Austin, Minnesota; Fred and Annie are deceased;
Frederica is the wife of William Jacobi and they
reside in the State of California; and Mary is the
widow of John Tiedeman, her home being in the city of
Seattle, Washington, where her husband’s death
occurred.
John Krambier, immediate subject of this sketch,
acquired his early education in the excellent schools
of his fatherland and was, as before stated, about
fourteen years old at the time of the family
immigration to America. He was reared to manhood on
the pioneer farm in Clayton county and con tinued to
be associated with his father in the work of the home
farm until he had attained to the age of twenty-two
years. He then bought a farm of eighty acres, in
Wagner township, where he continued his activities as
an agriculturist for a period of about ten years. He
then sold the property and went to Minnesota, from
which State he later went to South Dakota, but after
an absence of about twelve years he returned to
Clayton county and purchased a farm of one hundred
and eighty-three acres in Wagner township. After
operating this place successfully for a period of ten
years he sold the property and purchased a farm of
one hundred and ten acres in Monona township, near
the village of the same name. There he upheld his
reputation as a progressive and successful
agriculturist and stock grower until 1911, when he
felt justified in retiring from active labor, with
the result that he sold the farm and established his
residence in the village of Luana, where he has an
attractive home and is enjoying generous peace and
prosperity, the while he is surrounded by a host of
friends who are tried and true.
Mr. Krambier is found arrayed in the ranks of the
Democratic party and both he and his wife are
communicants of the German Lutheran Church, in the
faith of which they were reared. November 14, 1868,
recorded the marriage of Mr. Krambier to Miss Augusta
Englehardt, who was born in Pomerania, Germany, on
the 14th of September, 1848, and who there received
her early educational training. She is a daughter of
John and Mary (Schmidt) Englehardt, who immigrated
from Prussia to America about the year 1862 and who
became early settlers in Clayton county, where Mr.
Englehardt became a prosperous farmer near
Garnavillo, both he and his wife having passed the
closing period of their lives in the village of
Farmersburg. Their eldest child, Rudolph, is
deceased; Bertha resides at Farmersburg and is the
widow of Ferdinand Ranke; William is deceased; Mrs.
Krambier was the next in order of birth; Carl is
deceased; Henry resides in Farmersburg; and Minnie is
the wife of Louis Hockendorf, their home being now in
California.
Mr. and Mrs. Krambier became the parents of fourteen
children, and it is most gratifying to note that
death has never invaded this admirable family circle:
Henry resides at Luana, and William at Rudd, Iowa;
Hattie is the wife of Charles Baumgart and their home
is in Minnesota; Charles is a resident of South
Dakota; Augusta is the wife of August Duering, of
Luana; John, Jr., is a prosperous farmer in Monona
township, Robert in South Dakota and Louis in Monona
township; Emma is the wife of William Rasmussen, of
Britt, Hancock county; Minnie remains at the parental
home; Ida is the wife of William Landt, of Luana;
Benjamin resides at Luana, George at Britt, Hancock
county, and Bertha remains with her parents.
source: History of Clayton
County, Iowa; From The Earliest Historical Times Down to
the Present; by Realto E. Price, Vol. II; pg.
221-223
-OCR scanned by S. Ferrall
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