Marshall County KS Archives Biographies.....Koeneke, Ernst 1857 - 
************************************************
Copyright.  All rights reserved.
http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm
http://www.usgwarchives.net/ks/ksfiles.htm
************************************************

File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by:
Joy Fisher sdgenweb@yahoo.com May 3, 2007, 1:41 am

Author: Emma E. Forter

ERNST KOENEKE.

    Ernst Koeneke, one of the well-known and successful farmers and stockmen of
Herkimer township, Marshall county, was born in Cook county, Illinois, on
September 30, 1857, and is the son of Thomas and Mary (Schotte) Koeneke.

    Thomas and Mary Koeneke were natives of Germany, the former having been born
in Holstein and the latter in Hanover. They were educated in the schools of
their native country and later came to the United States, locating in the state
of Illinois, where they were married and where Mr. Koeneke engaged in farming
until 1860. At that time they decided that they would locate in Kansas. They
pre-empted a farm of one hundred and sixty acres, where the son, Ernst, now
lives, and for this they paid three dollars and seventy-five cents per acre.
Logs were obtained from the timber on the tract, with which the first house was
built. He had his oxen to assist him in his work, for the family had made the
trip from Atchison, with an ox team and wagon. Mr. Koeneke at once engaged m the
task of breaking his land and preparing it for planting crops. In time he had a
well-established home and here he and his wife lived until the time of their
deaths, he having died in 1893, at the age of seventy-three years, and she in
1910, at the age of eighty-four. They were devout members of the German Lutheran
church, and were among the organizers of the first church in the township. They
were the parents of four children as follow: Henry, now deceased, who was a
stock and grain buyer of Herkimer; Ernst; Mary, the wife of Mr. Gleue, of
Herkimer township, and Christena Fragel, a widow of Herkimer. Mr. and Mrs.
Koeneke were a most estimable people and were held in the highest regard. Their
lives were active ones and they took the greatest interest in their family and
the social, civic and religious life of the township.

    Ernst Koeneke was three and a half years of age at the time his parents left
their home in Illinois and located in Herkimer township. Here he attended the
early schools of the district for a time, and was reared on the home farm, where
he assisted his father with the work of the place. As a young man he became
impressed with the dignity and independence of the life of a farmer and soon
decided that he would follow in the work of his father. He remained at home
after he had reached manhood, but later established himself on a farm which his
father had given him. From 1886 he operated the home farm for his father. After
the death of the father, Mr. Koeneke bought and traded with his brother for the
old home place, where he now lives. Since assuming possession of the place he
has remodeled the house, which is today one of the substantial farm residences
of the county. His bam, thirty-eight by one hundred feet, is a substantial
structure. He is now the owner of nine hundred and sixty acres of splendid land,
the greater part of which is in a high state of development and nicely improved.
He raises high-grade Hereford cattle and Duroc-Jersey hogs, and is recognized as
one of the substantial and successful farmers and stockmen of this section of
the state.

    In 1881, Ernst Koeneke was united in marriage to Agusta Senger, who was born
in Germany. She received her primary education in Herkimer township. When seven
years of age she came with her parents to the United States. They located in
Herkimer township, Marshall county, in 1873, where the father and mother died
some years ago. To Mr. and Mrs. Koeneke have been born the following children:
Amalie, Sophia, Rudolph, George, Edward, Alfred, Ernst and Louise. Amalie is the
wife of Rudolph Cumro, a successful young farmer of Herkimer township, arid they
are the parents of four children; Rudolph Koeneke is a resident of the home
township; Sophia Drinkgern is a resident of Colorado, and the other children are
at home. Mr. and Mrs. Koeneke are prominent in the social and the religious life
of the community in which they live and where they are held in high regard.

    Mr. Koeneke is identified with the Republican party and has served as
township treasurer and is now treasurer of the school board.


Additional Comments:
Extracted from:

History of Marshall County, Kansas: its people, industries, and institutions
by
Emma E. Forter

Indianapolis, Ind.: B.F. Bowen & Co. (1917)



File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/ks/marshall/bios/koeneke387gbs.txt

This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.org/ksfiles/

File size: 4.9 Kb