Brown County MN Archives Biographies.....Klossner, Jacob Jr. 1846 - ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/mn/mnfiles.htm ************************************************ File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by: Joy Fisher http://www.genrecords.net/emailregistry/vols/00001.html#0000031 November 23, 2014, 11:16 pm Source: See Below Author: L. A. Fritsche HON. JACOB KLOSSNER. JR. Hon. Jacob Klossner, Jr., former member of the Minnesota Legislature, a well-known retired farmer and merchant, of New Ulm, commander of the local post of the Grand Army of the Republic, acting mayor of the town for five months, former deputy clerk of the court of Nicollet county, for years an influential member of the New Ulm city council, actively connected with extensive banking interests hereabout, owner of much valuable real estate in New Ulm and in other ways interested in the general activities of this community, is a native of Switzerland, having been born in the canton of Bern, December 23, 1846, son of Jacob and Catherina Susanna (Kroepfle) Klossner, both of Swiss parentage, who later became pioneer residents of this part of Minnesota, where their last days were spent. The elder Jacob Klossner was the only son of his parents, Christian and Susanna Klossner, also natives of Canton Bern, he having had a sister, who married Christian Klossner, who, though bearing the same name as that of her father, was not a blood kinsman. The Klossners were small farmers in Switzerland and the younger Jacob grew up as a farmer and a manufacturer of cheese. He served as a soldier in the army of the republic during the War of 1848 and was a sturdy, stalwart citizen. He married Catherine Susanna Kroepfle, first-born of the four daughters of her parents, she having had three sisters, Magdalena, Rosina and Mary. The Kroepfles also were small farmers in Bern. Grandfather Kroepfle died in his native land when forty-two years old and his widow, who was a Stucke, did not long survive him. In 1850 the elder Jacob Klossner and his family came to the United States, proceeding immediately to Joliet, Illinois, in the neighborhood of which then rapidly growing city they lived for six years, engaged in farming. In 1856, attracted by the glowing reports then being sent out from this part of Minnesota, Mr. Klossner and his family came here, proceeding directly to the New Ulm settlement. After a bit of prospecting he secured the relinquishment of a claim on a quarter of a section of land in Lafayette township, in the neighboring county of Nicollet, for which he paid the dispirited homesteader one hundred dollars. He paid the same man forty dollars for a cow. His wife in the meantime had secured a couple of hens and thus equipped the Klossners set up their new home in what then was practically a wilderness, when the final details of settlement were effected Mr. Klossner having left as a cash basis of operations but three dollars and fifty cents. Both he and his wife, however, possessed strong hearts and willing hands and their energy and industry quickly won out. As their children grew up they also were helpful and the family eventually owned four hundred and thirty-three acres surrounding the homestead, a well-improved and well-kept farm. The elder Jacob Klossner was not only a man of substance in his community, but he was a man of large personal influence and both he and his wife did much in the way of bringing about proper social and economic conditions in the formative period of their neighborhood. Mr. Klossner for a number of years was school director, school treasurer and township treasurer in Lafayette township and in other ways contributed of his time and energies in the public service. After living on the homestead farm for about thirty-eight years he and his wife retired from the farm and moved to New Ulm, where Mr. Klossner died in 1897, at the age of seventy-three years. His widow, who still survives him, celebrated her ninety-second birthday on April 23, 1915. To Jacob and Catherina Susanna (Kroepfle) Klossner the following children were born, namely: Jacob, the immediate subject of this biographical sketch; Catherine, who married John Schurch and died in Minneapolis in 1871; Fred, who died in infancy; Fred (second), who lives at Klossners Station, in the neighboring county of Nicollet; John, who occupies the old family homestead in Lafayette township, same county; Caroline, deceased, who was the wife of Henry Kingsberg; Henry, who lives in Texas; William, of Winthrop, in the neighboring county of Sibley; Emily, widow of Frank Kiesling, of Winthrop, and Sophia, wife of Ole Johnson, of Pelican Rapids, in Ottertail county, this state. The younger Jacob Klossner was three years old when his parents came to America and he was nine years old when the family located in the New Ulm settlement. He grew to manhood on the homestead farm over on the other side of the river and, as the eldest son, was from the first a great aid to his father in the development of the place. He had his schooling in the little old log school house in that neighborhood and has a distinct recollection to this day of the manner in which the wind whistled through the unchinked crevices between the logs. He was about sixteen years old when the Indian uprising spread terror throughout this part of the state and he enlisted in Company L, First Minnesota Mounted Rangers, with, which he served valiantly through all that troublous time. He early began to take an interest in civic affairs and was for many years continuously in the public service in one capacity or another, his willingness to serve and his pronounced ability in that direction making him a valuable public servant. When the school district in his neighborhood was organized he was made the first clerk of the same and served continuously in that capacity until he moved to town. For thirteen years, while living on the farm, he was town clerk and for several years he served as deputy clerk of Nicollet county. Mr. Klossner's capacity for public service was recognized by his neighbors, who gladly honored him with the election in three consecutive elections to the position of representative from his district in the lower house of the Minnesota General Assembly and in all his service in the House, Representative Klossner acquitted himself with honor and dignity and with credit to his district. In the meantime Mr. Klossner had married and was developing a very fine bit of farm property. Upon starting farming for himself, Mr. Klossner bought two hundred and twelve acres of "railroad" land, thirty acres of which he gave to a neighbor. He developed the rest and improved the same until he had a model farm and there he and his family made their home until March 17, 1884, at which time they moved to New Ulm, where they have since made their home. Upon locating in New Ulm Mr. Klossner engaged in the hardware and agricultural implement business and was thus quite successfully engaged unti1 he retired from business in 1902. Not long after becoming a resident of New Ulm, Mr. Klossner was elected to the city council and for six years he served as presiding officer of that body, during about five months of which time he also served as acting mayor of the town. Mr. Klossner owns a beautiful residence at 311 North German street, in New Ulm which has been his home for more than thirty years. He also is the owner of a fine business block on South Minnesota street and has built several brick business houses on that same street, besides which he owns an admirably improved farm of two hundred and three acres in Milford township and three improved farms and some wild land in Rush and Jackson coun1 es, Wisconsin. Ever since he made his home in New Ulm Mr. Klossner has displayed an active interest in the development of the best interests of that city and has long been recognized as one of the most progressive, energetic and public-spirited citizens of the town. He is vice-president of the Citizens State Bank of Gaylord, in Sibley county, and a director of the Citizens State Bank of Fairfax, in Renville county. On March 1, 1873, Jacob Klossner, Jr., was united in marriage to Sophia Bloss, who was born in the city of Cincinnati, June 9,1852, daughter of William and Marie (Bieman) Bloss, natives of Germany, the former of whom was born in Prussia and the latter in Brunswick. William Bloss was the eldest of the five children born to his parents, William and Margaret Bloss, both of whom died in their native land, and Mrs. Bloss was the eldest of the seven children born to her parents, the others having been Anna, Margaret, Herman, Henry, John and Marie. William Bloss and his family came to Minnesota from Cincinnati in 1861 and located in the New Ulm settlement, where they remained for about eight months, at the end of which time they settled on a farm in Lafayette township, Nicollet county, and thus were neighbors to the Klossners during pioneer days. In their declining years Mr. and Mrs. Bloss returned to New Ulm and there spent their last days, the former dying at the age of seventy-eight and the latter at the age of seventy-six. They were the parents of eight children, Louisa, Sophia, Henry, Wilhelmina, Anna, Christian, Caroline and Frederick. To Jacob and Sophia (Bloss) Klossner six children have been born, as follow: Rosalie, who died when three years old; Lillian, deceased, who married Elmer Shepard, to which union one child was born, a son, John, now deceased; Franklin, who died when eighteen months old; Eva, who married William B. Mather and has two children, Amy and William B.; one who died in infancy, and Howard. Mrs. Klossner is a member of the Congregational church, as are her children, and the family long has been prominently identified with the various social and cultural activities of their home town, being held in the highest esteem by all hereabout. Mr. Klossner is one of the most active members of Hecker Post No. 48, Grand Army of the Republic, of New Ulm, of which he has been commander since 1900. He also is a member of Charity Lodge No. 98, Ancient Free and Accejrted Masons; New Ulm Chapter No. 57, Royal Arch Masons; DeMolay Commandery No. 26, Knights Templar, at New Ulm, and of Zurah Temple, Ancient Arabic Order of the Nobles of the Mystic Shrine, at Minneapolis, in the affairs of all of which organizations he takes a warm interest. Additional Comments: Extracted from: HISTORY OF BROWN COUNTY MINNESOTA ITS PEOPLE, INDUSTRIES AND INSTITUTIONS L. A. FRITSCHE. M. D. Editor With Biographical Sketches of Representative Citizens and Genealogical Records of Many of the Old Families VOLUME II B. F. BOWEN & COMPANY, Inc. Indianapolis, Indiana File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/mn/brown/bios/klossner409gbs.txt This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.org/mnfiles/ File size: 10.9 Kb