Marshall County KS Archives Biographies.....Kruse, William 1875 - 
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File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by:
Joy Fisher sdgenweb@yahoo.com April 16, 2007, 3:20 am

Author: Emma E. Forter

WILLIAM KRUSE.

    William Kruse, a successful farmer and a well-known stockman of Logan
township, Marshall county, was born in Nebraska on December 17, 1875, the son of
George and Anna (Jurgens) Kruse.

    George and Anna (Jurgens) Kruse were born in Germany, the father in 1832 and
the mother in 1842. They received their education in that country, grew to
maturity and were there married in 1864. They established their home in their
native land and there Mr. Kruse engaged in farming for a time. They then decided
to come to America and after landing in the United States they at once proceeded
to Illinois, where they established a new home and where they resided for some
years. They then moved to Nebraska and engaged in farming for a time, after
which they came to Marshall county, in 1882. Here Mr. Kruse purchased three
hundred and twenty acres of land, the greater part of which at that time was in
a wild state. After some years of hard work the tract was developed and improved
and became one of the ideal places in the township. The farm was enlarged until
Mr. Kruse owned eight hundred and forty acres. He erected a magnificent house,
two large barns and other substantial buildings. Here he and his wife lived the
rest of their lives, the latter having died in 1895 and the former on July 18,
1914.

    George Kruse was prominent in the affairs of the locality but did not aspire
to office. Mr. and Mrs. Kruse were active members of the German Lutheran church,
and took a deep interest in the moral and social development of their home
township as well as the county. They were the parents of the following children:
Catherine, Margaret, Mary, William, George, Henry, Anna, Christina, Andrew and
two that died in infancy. Catherine is the wife of William Rabe, a farmer and
banker of Bremen, Kansas, where he is at the head of the State Bank; Margaret
Shaefer lives in Herkimer township, where her husband is a farmer; Mary Lohse is
the wife of a farmer and stockman of Logan township; George A. is a farmer of
Logan township and William and Henry are farmers in Herkimer township; Anna
Geihsler is a resident of Oklahoma, where her husband is engaged in agricultural
work, and Christina is the wife of Mr. Prelle, a merchant of the county, and
Andrew is farming on the home place.

    William Kruse was reared on the home farm and educated in the local schools.
He assisted his father with the farm work until he was twenty-six years of age,
at which time he rented one of his father's farms, on which he lived by himself
for two years. He was then married and he and his wife continued to live there
for more than a year. Mr. Kruse then rented his father-in-law's farm at the edge
of Herkimer and engaged in farming for three years. He then went to Nebraska on
the farm given him by his father and remained in that state for two years, when
he returned to Marshall county, where he purchased one hundred and seventy acres
near Herkimer. After a residence of two years on this farm he rented the place
and moved to the father-in-law's farm. Mr. and Mrs. Kruse continued to live with
her father until his death, when Mr. Kruse purchased the place of the heirs and
they have since made it their home.

    On May 4, 1904, William Kruse was united in marriage to Sophia Koeneke, the
daughter of W. H. and Julia (Brockmeyer) Koeneke. W. H. Koeneke was born in Cook
county, Illinois, July 15, 1852. He attended the common schools of that county
for a time, and when eight years of age, he came with his parents to Kansas,
where they located on a tract of wild land in Logan township, Marshall county.
Here the family established their home on the wild prairie, amid the most
primitive conditions, and there they experienced many of the hardships of
pioneer life. The farm was developed and enlarged and in time was improved with
substantial structures. W. H. Koeneke, in addition to his farm interest, engaged
in the lumber business with his brother-in-law, with whom he remained for a
number of years. In 1888 Mr. Koeneke purchased the business, which he managed
with the buying and selling of grain. He erected a large elevator at Bremen and
there did an extensive business. During his active life he purchased much land,
becoming the owner of fourteen hundred acres, all under high cultivation and
nicely improved.

    W. H. Koeneke was married to Julia Brockmeyer in May, 1878. She was the
daughter of Frederick and Fredericka (Martin) Brockmeyer, who were natives of
Germany. They came to the United States in an early day and for a time lived in
Connecticut, but later came to Kansas, when the state was one wild stretch of
prairie, and here they established their home in Hanover, where the father
engaged in farming until the time of his death on March 25, 1913. The wife,
Julia Koeneke, who was born on June 5, 1859, and was the first child of the
family born after their arrival in Kansas, died on May 17, 1910. Mr. and Mrs.
Koeneke were the parents of eight children as follow: Sophia, E. W., Mary,
Henry, Martha, Julia and two that died in infancy. Sophia is the wife of William
Kruse; E. W. is assistant cashier of the State Bank of Herkimer; Mary Geyer is a
resident of Waterville, Kansas, where her husband is manager of the telephone
system; Julia Hermann and husband reside on a. farm in Logan township; Henry W.
is cashier of the bank at Herkimer and Martha is a student in the schools of the
county. Mr. and Mrs. Koeneke were long active members of the German Lutheran
church and prominent in the social life of the township.

    Sophia (Koeneke) Kruse was born in Marshall county, Kansas, and was reared
in Herkimer where she was educated in the public schools, of that place. Her
birth occurred on October 19, 1880, and she remained at home until the time of
her marriage. She and Mr. Kruse are the parents of seven children as follow:
Myrtle, born on July 14, 1905: Laura, August 25, 1907; William, April 11, 1909;
Julia Anna, September 27, 1910; Victor, November 12, 1912; Juergen, July 18,
1914, and Roland, September 25, 1915. Mr. and Mrs. Kruse are prominent members
of the German Lutheran church and are popular in the social life of their home
community.

    William Kruse now owns six hundred and ninety-two acres of land in Marshall
and Washington counties. He devotes his time to high-class farming and stock
raising. He is interested in Polled Hereford cattle and Percheron horses. Of his
fine herd of cattle, he has thirty-five registered and of the horses, eight are
registered. He has over one hundred and sixty acres of alfalfa and raises much
seed for the market, having his own huller for threshing. He cultivates but
forty acres of small grain, the balance of his farm being in meadow, pasture
and. timber. His home place, in the corporation of Herkimer, consists of ninety
acres. The place is nicely improved and is centrally located, the residence
being but one block from the Lutheran church. He has always taken much interest
in local affairs and is recognized as one of the influential men of the
township. He is identified with the Republican party and his advice is often
sought in the party's councils as well as in the affairs of the county. He is
secretary of the church organization and to him is due much of the success of
the local society. He has long been an advocate of the good roads movement and a
better system of public schools. Not alone in civic affairs does he believe in
progress, but he practices it on his large farms, which are models of modern
methods and systematic work.



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)


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