Union County, SD Biographies.....Behnke, Julius E. June 12, 1848 - 
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Joy Fisher http://www.genrecords.net/emailregistry/vols/00001.html#0000031 February 14, 2022, 6:41 pm

Source: MEMORIAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD OF Turner, Lincoln, Union and Clay Counties, South Dakota. (1897)
Author: Geo. Ogle & Co.

JULIUS E. BEHNKE, a leading German citizen of Prairie township, Union county, is one
of the most successful farmers and stock-raisers of which South Dakota boasts. His
estate is pleasantly located in section 15, and there he operates his farm after the
most approved methods. He is now in the prime of life, having been born June 12,
1848, and is one of the three surviving children of a family of seven born to
Gottlieb and Minnie (Sommervelt) Behnke. They were both natives of Prussia, where
also our subject first saw the light of day, and emigrated to America with their
family in 1855, setting at Galena, Ill. He was a farmer and rented a farm there on
which he followed agricultural pursuits until 1871, coming in that year to Dakota
territory and settling on a claim in section 9, of Prairie township. For several
years they resided on this property, improving it, and then sold out and removed to
Dubuque county, Iowa, on another farm, shortly after disposing of this property and
locating permanently in Dubuque city, where Mr. Behnke is now living a retired life.
His wife departed this life in 1885. The surviving children, besides our subject,
are Sophia Fickbohm and Ernstena Steadman.

Julius E. Behnke was seven years old when he saw the shores of the fatherland recede
as the voyage to the new world began. He received a common-school education in the
institutions of learning which were afforded in Jo Daviess county, Ill., where he
was raised to manhood, helping his father in the cultivation of the farm until he
established a home of his own. This occurred in April, 1871, when he was united in
marriage to Miss Kunigunda Schmidt, at Galena, 111. This lady is also a native of
Prussia, Germany, and was born in 1852. Her father, Leanhardt Schmidt, came to
America about the same time as did the parents of our subject, and settled in Jo
Daviess county, Ill., on a farm. He has since passed to the world beyond, but his
wife, the mother of Mrs. Behnke, still survives. A month after their marriage Mr.
and Mrs. Behnke came to Union county, Dak. Ter., and settled on their present farm.
He built a little frame house, and in this, took up his domestic life with his young
wife. The land was little better than a wilderness then, and the couple had a hard
row to hoe, as their only worldly possessions when they came to the county j
consisted of a team, wagon and harness, two cows, a sheep, and $15.75 in money. From
this small beginning Mr. Behnke has steadily and surely risen by industry and
perseverance to a state of affluence and plenty. So well has he prospered that he
now owns 500 acres of land, 137 of which are under cultivation, and in 1893 built
his present residence at a cost of about $2,500. A finer piece of property with
buildings to match it would be hard to find in Union county, and all the more credit
is due its owner, from the fact that he owes it all to his own industry. He has
interested himself quite a little in school matters, having been a director in the
board of education of the district in which he resides for a period of twenty-two
years. Politically he has always been a Republican, and has been active locally in
the interests of that party, serving as delegate frequently to the county and state
conventions. He has held the position of assessor for four years, and as a public
officer has always discharged the duties imposed with marked ability.

To Mr. Behnke and his companion on life’s journey have been born the following
children: Minnie, Annie, Paulina, Edward, Mary, Lizzie, Bertha, Henry, William and
Elmer. Both Mr. and Mrs. Behnke are members of the German Lutheran church of Big
Springs township, and take an active interest in all church work as members of that
denomination.


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