Marshall County KS Archives Biographies.....Saathoff, A. B. 1844 - 
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Joy Fisher sdgenweb@yahoo.com April 16, 2007, 2:03 am

Author: Emma E. Forter

A. B. SAATHOFF.

    It is a well-established principle, that wherever the native German has
settled, he has for the most part made a success of his work, and this is
especially true of those who have engaged in farming and stock raising. Among
the number who have met with success in Marshall county, is A. B. Saathoff, who
was born in Germany in 1844, and in that country was educated and grew to manhood.

    In 1868, at the age of twenty-four years, A. B. Saathoff left his home in
Hanover and came to the United States. On his arrival in this country, he
located at Livingston county, Illinois, where he engaged as a farm hand. There
in 1870 he was united in marriage to Folcke Flessner, who was born in Hanover,
Germany, in 1849. She grew to womanhood in her native country and in 1868 came
to Illinois. After his marriage, Mr. Saathoff rented land in Illinois and
engaged in agricultural work .until 1883, when he came to Marshall county, where
he purchased one hundred and twenty acres of land in Oketo township. He had but
little money to pay for the tract and was given time to make his other payments.
He had two good teams of mules and at once engaged in the task of developing and
improving his farm. He and his wife worked with diligence, practicing the
strictest economy, and they soon had their farm paid for. They continued to buy
more land and became the owners of eight hundred acres, seven hundred and
twenty-eight acres being in Oketo township and eighty acres in the state of
Nebraska.

    At the time Mr. and Mrs. Saathoff came to their farm they had a house with
but three rooms, the house being but fourteen by eighteen feet. The house was
the only building on the place and there was no building to shelter the stock.
The house stood on the northwest corner of the place, and Mrs. Saathoff
remembers well when the family would have breakfast in Kansas, dinner in
Nebraska and return to Kansas for supper. Those days, while hard ones to the new
settlers, were made happy with anticipations of a better home in the near
future. They worked with a determination to accomplish their desired goal, and
today Mr. Saathoff is recognized as one of the substantial and successful
farmers and large stock raisers of the county.

    Mr. and Mrs. Saathoff are the parents of the following children: Ben, who
lives two miles northwest of the home farm, where he is a farmer and stockman;
Margaret Gerdes lives one mile east of her father's home and there Mr. Gerdes is
situated on a farm: Elsie is the wife of Wilke Tjaden, a farmer of Oketo
township; Henry is farming in the township, being located on a part of his
father's farm; John is at home; Fannie Ubben is a resident of Oketo township,
where her husband is engaged in general farming; Annie Saathoff resides on a
farm one-half mile north, but in the state of Nebraska: and Gertrude is at home
with her parents. Mr. and Mrs. Saathoff are active members of the Lutheran
church and have always taken much interest in all church work, Mr. Saathoff
having served for many years as a deacon and trustee of the local congregation.
They have devoted their lives to the interests of their children and the good
that they might do in the moral and educational development of the township.

    Mr. Saathoff is identified with the Republican party. While he has not been
an office seeker, He has been interested in the civic life of his home county
and state. He is a firm believer in substantial public improvements and the
election of the best men to administer public affairs. Being a man of sound
judgment and having met with a marked degree of success in his own affairs, he
is often consulted relative to the public affairs of his own community.


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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