My Genealogy Hound

JOHN ANDERSON, one of the honored pioneers of Kearney county, is a native of Denmark, and was born January 25, 1840. His father, Andrew Anderson, was a native of the same country and lived the modest and unpretentious life of a farmer. He was twice married and was the father of fourteen children, thirteen of whom were by his first wife, who died in 1862. The senior Anderson lived to a ripe old age, and always remained a loyal subject of his native country. He died in 1886.

John Anderson, the subject of this sketch, served an apprenticeship at the carpenter trade. The year of 1863 marked the breaking out of the war between Germany and Denmark. Young Anderson, loyal to his country, left his workshop and joined the army.

The Danish throne passed that year from Frederick VII. to Christian IX., who began his administration with an attempt to detach Schleswig from Holstein and to incorporate the former province with his own kingdom. This action on the part of Christian was not in accordance with the treaty of Loudres of 1852, and naturally produced great excitement throughout Germany. A diet was convened and it was determined to prevent by force the consummation of Christian’s plans. A German army was accordingly thrown into Schleswig, and the Danes were driven back to a line of fortifications called the “Dannewerk,” which they had drawn across the peninsula. The Prussian army greatly outnumbered that of the Danish, and in April of 1864 these works were carried by storm. The brave and plucky Danes could doubtless have resisted the attacks of four times their own number, but an army of two hundred thousand men against twenty-four thousand was too powerful and they were compelled to succumb to the inevitable. Mr. Anderson belonged to the department of heavy artillery, and was stationed at Fort Dybboel, where the brave Danes were under the constant fire of the opposing armies for five long weeks. John Anderson proved his loyalty to his native country, but, as an industrious and ambitious young man, he longed for opportunities that were beyond his reach. He had already heard considerable about the advantages enjoyed by the citizens of America, and he determined upon further inquiry, which eventually led him to resolve to become a citizen of the western world. He accordingly set sail and arrived on the shores of the new country in the spring of 1866. He journeyed as far west as Milwaukee, and thence soon after to White Hall, Mich., where he worked a short time as a mill-wright. He subsequently established himself at Paintwater, Mich., where he remained for seven years.

Mr. Anderson came to Kearney county, Nebr., in the spring of 1874, and was among the first to take homesteads in Grant township, where he has since resided. Settlers in Kearney county then were few and far between. Antelope, and occasionally a few buffalo, roamed about the vicinity with little fear of molestation.

Mr. Anderson, being an expert carpenter by trade, found plenty of employment in neighboring localities, and concluded to hire his “breaking” done the first season, while he worked at his trade. He planted twenty-five acres of sod corn, which was entirely destroyed by the grasshoppers, that being the first year of their famous raid. He had brought with him from the East, lumber and other necessary material, with which he erected a substantial frame house in the following fall. He planted seedlings, which have since developed into shady groves, and otherwise improved his farm from time to time as circumstances would permit, until he now has one of the choicest farms in the county.

Mr. Anderson was married in November, 1867, to Miss Mary Rassmussen. She, too, is a native of Denmark, born December 21, 1840, and came to America in the spring of 1863. This happy union has been blessed with four children, namely — Clara, born November 15, 1869; Minnie, born September 15, 1873; Annie, born November 6, 1876, and Clara Annie, born April 3, 1880. Great sorrow was brought upon this happy family by the death of the three eldest daughters in a single week, in 1879.

Mr. Anderson has filled the important office of assessor for three times, has served once as supervisor, and took the United States census of Grant and Cosmo townships, in 1880. He is a prominent member of the Farmers’ Club, and enjoys the high esteem of all who know him.