My Genealogy Hound

ANDREW RUBEN, the first settler in what is now known as Reuben township, Harlan county, Nebr., and which township was named in his honor, is a native of Sweden, born in 1842. His father, Andrew Anderson, was a carpenter and was born in 1810, and the mother of our subject, Margaret Anderson, was born in the same year — both in Sweden. This couple were married in 1834, and were the parents of six children, namely — Eric and Johanna (both in Sweden); Andrew, our subject; John, in Harlan county; Charles S., in Washington; and Mrs. Christina Cappen, in Furnas county, Nebr.

Andrew Ruben came to America in 1868, and first stopped two years in Des Moines, where he worked on a railroad; thence he came to Omaha, Nebr., where he worked at plastering until 1870, when he came to Harlan county and settled on section 31, township 3, range 19. The fact that he was the first settler in the township, as stated, is sufficient evidence that the country was a vast wilderness, and Mr. Ruben to day bears scars received in his struggles with buffalo, of which he has slain between two and three hundred. He endured all the hardships and privations of pioneer life as a matter of necessity, but has met with an ample reward. He began for himself when but eighteen years of age, with neither money nor assistance, but is now in good circumstances, and his word is accepted as readily as his note. His success is another example for the young, showing what courage and energy can accomplish.

Mr. Ruben was married in 1874, to Miss Ellen Liden, a native of Sweden, and this marriage has been blessed by the birth of five children, namely — Annette, Elizabeth, Adof, Eugene and Earnest (deceased.)

In politics, Mr. Ruben is a republican. In religion he and his family are Lutherans, he having been a trustee of the church for many years.