Frederick Dahlenburg Biography This biography appears on pages 1346-1347 in "History of South Dakota" by Doane Robinson, Vol. II (1904) and was scanned, OCRed and edited by Maurice Krueger, mkrueger@iw.net. This file may be freely copied by individuals and non-profit organizations for their private use. Any other use, including publication, storage in a retrieval system, or transmission by electronic, mechanical, or other means requires the written approval of the file's author. FREDERICK DAHLENBURG, one of the sterling pioneers of Bon Homme county, where he has maintained his home for thirty years, is a native of the fair old city of Berlin, Germany, where he was born on the 28th of July, 1843, being a son of John and Mary Dahlenburg, both of whom were likewise born in that city, the father having been a wagonmaker by trade and having followed the same in his fatherland until 1878, when he emigrated thence to the United States, where two of his sons had preceded him, and he located in Grant county, Wisconsin, and there both he and his estimable wife passed the remainder of their lives, his death occurring in 1880, while she passed away in 1900. They become the parents of five children, namely: Mary, who is the wife of John Ness, of Grant county, Wisconsin; Charles, who is one of the representative farmers of Bon Homme county, South Dakota; Minnie, who is the wife of Fred Jack, of Grant county, Wisconsin; Frederick, who is the immediate subject of this sketch; and Augusta, who is the wife of Charles Belz, of Lancaster, Wisconsin. Frederick Dahlenburg was reared to maturity in his native city, in whose excellent schools he secured his early educational discipline, after which he turned his attention to army service, in which he was engaged until 1873, when he came to America, in company with his wife. They located in Grant county, Wisconsin, in April of that year and there remained until May, 1874, when they came to what is now the state of South Dakota, where our subject's brother, Charles, had located in the preceding year, and here they became numbered among the early settlers of Bon Homme county. Mr. Dahlenburg entered a homestead claim of government land, in township 93, and this one hundred and sixty acres constitutes an integral portion of his present fine landed estate. He began the improvement of his land, establishing his home in a primitive sod house, and through his indefatigable energy and good management the wild land has been transformed into a fertile and productive farm, while as prosperity has attended his efforts he has added to the area of his ranch from time to time until he is now the owner of six hundred and seventy-two acres, of which three hundred and fifty acres are under a high state of cultivation, while upon the place have been made the best of improvements, including the erection of a modern farm dwelling, and the large and substantial barn. Good fences surround and intersect the ranch, and on the place are to be found a good orchard and fine groves of shade trees, all planted by the owner. Mr. Dahlenburg secures excellent yields of wheat, oats and corn, giving special attention to the propagation of corn, and he is also one of the successful stock growers of the county, having an excellent grade of cattle and hogs, while he also raises horses for his own use. Mr. Dahlenburg is independent in his political views, and he and his wife are zealous members of the Lutheran church, and enjoy the highest degree of respect and confidence in the community in which they have so long made their home. In his native city of Berlin, on the 28th of November, 1869, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Dahlenburg to Miss Matilda Steffien, a daughter of August Steffien, who passed his entire life in Germany. Mr. and Mrs. Dahlenburg have five children, to whom they have given excellent educational advantages, and of them we enter the following brief record: William, who is associated with his father in the management of the home farm, was married on the 19th of February, 1903, to Miss Delia Paul, who was born and reared in Linn county, Iowa; Annie is the wife of Charles Orth, who is engaged in the furniture business at Tyndall, this county; and Henry, Frederick, Jr., and Robert remain at the parental home and are attending the local school.