Fred C. Lemcke Biography


	This biography is from "Memorial and biographical record; an illustrated
 	compendium of biography, containing a compendium of local biography,
	including biographical sketches of prominent old settlers and 
	representative citizens of South Dakota..." Published by G. A. Ogle & 
	Co., Chicago, 1899. Pages 499-500

	Scan, OCR and editing by Maurice Krueger,mkrueger@iw.net, 1998. 

	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.

	This file is part of the SDGENWEB Archives. If you arrived here inside
	a frame or from a link from somewhere else, our front door is at

	http://usgwarchives.org/sd/sdfiles.htm


FRED C. LEMCKE. Among the young men of Aurora county who have selected 
agriculture as their vocation in life, and judging from their present 
indications are bound to succeed in their chosen calling, is the 
subject of this biographical notice, who makes his home on section 10, 
Crystal Lake township. He was born in Iowa in 1874, and is a son of 
Frederick and Maria (Potas) Lemcke, natives of Germany, who came to 
America in 1869 and took up their residence in Iowa. Oar subject is the 
second in order of birth in the family of six children, and upon the 
home farm he was reared, his education being obtained in the country 
schools of the neighborhood, which he attended from the age of six to 
fourteen years.  

The father's farm in Iowa consisted of ninety acres of land, of which 
forty were under cultivation, but as this was not large enough to 
support his family, the father came to South Dakota in 1889, where land 
was more plentiful and cheaper. In Aurora county he purchased the 
southeast quarter of section 10, Crystal Lake township, and erected 
thereon a house in which the family still live. About the only live 
stock he brought to the county were two horses and five cows. He had 
enough money to begin operations here as a farmer, but during the first 
two years spent here his crops were failures, one being destroyed by 
hail, the other by drought. Since then, however, things have prospered 
on the farm. F. C. Lemcke owns a farm of one hundred and sixty acres in 
his own right, southwest quarter of section 22, Crystal Lake township.  

On the death of the father in 1895 the management of the farm fell upon 
the shoulders of our subject and his younger brother, John E., and in 
its operation he has displayed excellent ability, both as an 
agriculturist and a business man. He was quick to perceive that stock 
raising was the most profitable source of income to the farmer, and 
accordingly has given his attention largely to that branch of the 
business, keeping forty-five head of cattle and a few hogs. At present 
he has eighty-five acres of the land under cultivation, the remainder 
being pasture and range. He has a barn, 42 x 44 feet, with plenty of 
room for his stock, and a good granary, corn cribs and all the 
necessary machinery needed by the modern farmer. He also has plenty of 
fruit, including plums, raspberries and gooseberries, and the neat and 
thrifty appearance of the place testifies to the careful supervision of 
a painstaking owner.  

Mr. Lemcke is not identified with any political party, but votes for 
the man whom he considers best qualified to fill the office. He has 
most capably and satisfactorily filled several township offices, and is 
now one of the supervisors of Crystal Lake township, also postmaster of 
Flynn. In religious faith he is a Lutheran.