Marshall County KS Archives Biographies.....Rabe, William 1866 - living in 1917
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File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by:
Joy Fisher sdgenweb@gmail.com July 23, 2005, 5:37 pm

Author: B. F. Bowen

WILLIAM RABE.

    William Rabe, a successful farmer and a well-known stockman of Logan
township, Marshall county, and the president of the Bremen State Bank, was born
in Germany on May 18, 1866, the son of Peter and Catherine (Munstermann) Rabe,
who were also natives of Germany, in which country they were educated, grew up
and were married.

     Peter Rabe was born in 1831 and Catherine Rabe in 1832 and spent the
remainder of their lives in Germany, the former dying in 1905 and the latter in
1902. Peter Rabe after completing his education engaged in farming, owning a
good-sized farm and was recognized as one of the substantial men of the
district. He and his wife were active members of the German Luth-.eran church
and were prominent in the social life of the locality in which they lived and
where they were held in the highest regard. They were the parents of seven
children as follow: Mary Kaiser, who is a widow and resides in Germany; Dora
Bokelmann resides in the land of her birth, where her husband is a tailor;
Harry, now deceased, was a mail carrier; Anna Bartls is the wife of a German
farmer: Chris is a farmer of Washington county, Kansas; William, the subject of
this sketch, and Sophia Johannes, a resident of Germany, where Mr. Johannes is
engaged in farming and bee culture.

    William Rabe was educated in the schools of Germany and at the age of
seventeen years began working for himself and was for some years engaged as a
farm hand, working by the month. In 1884 he came to America and on his arrival
in the United States he came to Marshall county, where he worked on a farm until
1890, when he rented a farm of one hundred and sixty acres near Bremen. After a
residence of nine years on the farm he engaged in the grain and elevator
business at Bremen for ten years, after which he sold the business and went to
Colorado, where he remained for eighteen months, when he returned to Marshall
county, and located in Logan township, where his wife owned a farm and where he
has since resided and has been successfully engaged in farming and stock
raising. He has built a fine, eight-room house on the place and has made many
other valuable improvements. In 1907 he made an extended visit to Germany and
visited many of the places of interest. That same year the Bremen State Bank was
organized and Mr. Rabe was elected president of the institution and through his
management it has become one of the strong banking houses of this section of the
state. He is a thorough biisiness man, and has the confidence of the public. In
addition to his connection with the bank he is also president of the Bremen
Farmers Mutual Insurance Company, which was organized in 1887.

    In 1899 William Rabe was united in marriage to Catherine Kruse, the daughter
of George and Anna (Jurgens) Kruse. Air. Kruse was born in Germany in 1832 and
received his education in the public schools and there worked as a farm hand
until 1859, when he came to the United States and located in Illinois, where he
continued to engage in farm work until 1862, when he enlisted in an Illinois
regiment and served three years in the army during the Civil \Var. At the close
of the war he returned to Illinois, where he rented forty acres of land and
engaged in farming for eight years. He then went to Nebraska by wagon and there
purchased one hundred and sixty acres of land, which he later increased to three
hundred and twenty acres. After a residence there of eight years he sold one
hundred and sixty acres of his farm and came to Marshall county and purchased
three hundred and twenty acres of land in Herkimer township, which he later
increased to eight hundred and forty acres, and here he made his home until the
time of his death in July, 1014. He was a man of much business acumen and was
recog-. nized as one of the substantial citizens of the county. Politically, he
was a Republican, but never aspired to office. Anna (Jurgens) Kruse was also a
native of Germany, where she was educated. She was long a resident of
Marysville, where she died in 1897.

    George and Anna Kruse 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; Margaret Schaefer is the
wife of a farmer of Herkimer township'; Mary Lohse lives in Logan township,
where Mr. Lohse is a successful farmer; William lives in Herkimer; Henry and
Andrew are farmers and stockmen of Herkimer township; George is engaged in
farming and stock raising in Logan township; Anna Geihsler is a resident of
Oklahoma, where her husband is a farmer; Christina Prell is the wife of a
merchant and Andrew is on the home place. Mr. and Mrs. Kruse were active members
of the German Lutheran church and were among the prominent workers of that
organization and were held in the highest regard by the people of the county.

    Catherine (Kruse) Rabe was born in Illinois on September 14, 1867, and was
reared on the farm, where she took an active part in the plowing and other work
on the farm. She received her education in the local schools and remained at
home until the time of her marriage. She and Mr. Rabe are the parents of two
children, Anna and Sophia. Anna Westermann lives on a farm adjoining that of her
father and where her husband is a successful agriculturist. They are the parents
of two children. Sophia died at the age of fourteen years.


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/rabe87bs.txt

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