History of Fond du Lac County, pages 528,529
FOND DU LAC COUNTY WISCONSIN
PAST and PRESENT
Volume ll
The S.J. Clarke Publishing Company
Chicago - 1912

AUGUST L. HANSEN

August L. Hansen is a native of Germany and his father was among the pioneers in Wisconsin's development. He himself has been a resident of the state since he was three years of age and has lived here an upright, usefull and honorable life, devoted to farming. He has been an agriculturist all his life, with the exception of five years spent in Chicago and five years as a carpenter and contractor in Fond du Lac county, and is now the owner of three hundred and twenty acres of land, which he cultivates intelligently along modern lines. He was born August 7, 1850, and is the son of John and Sophia(Ehlers) Hansen, both natives of Germany. The father's birth occured in that country, November 10, 1816. He was a shoemaker by trade and did some farming. He came to Fond du Lac county in 1854 and purchased land in Calumet township where he followed agricultural pursuits until his death, which occured in 1904. His wife passed away in 1880, when she was fifty-four years of age. To their union were born ten children: Martha, who died in Germany: Henry, who is a grocer in Oshkosh and who married Miss Elmira Pickering, by whom he has two children, Harry and Lillian; August L., of this review: Fred, who married Miss Jennie Pickering, of Leroy, by whom he has seven children, Louis,Harry,John,Walter,Elsie,Irene and Fred, all of whom live with their parents in Fond du Lac: Christ, who is a millwright in Neenah and who married Miss Lizzie Gray: Mary, who became the wife of William Mueller, a farmer in Washington, by whom she has three children, Sophia, Addie and William; Sophia, who married Charles Shlanke, a printer in Spokane, Washington, by whom she has six children; Charles, who passed away when he was about twenty years of age; a child who died in infancy; and a daughter who passed away at the age of four years.
August L. Hansen came to America with his parents and was educated in the district schools of Calumet township. His early life was spent in aiding his father in the work of the farm and he was active in all phases of agriculture until he was twenty-one years of age. He thus gained early in his career a knowledge of the most effective and modern methods of operation and a personal experience which aided him in his later work. When he was twenty-one years of age he went to Chicago, where he worked as a carpenter for five years. He then returned to Wisconsin and after a similiar period spent in the carpentering and contracting business, bought one hundred and sixty acres of land in Oakfield township, where he has since resided and cultivated the soil. He since has added to his property and his farm now comprises three hundred and twenty acres, all in excellent condition. He has made needed improvements from time to time and is actuated in all his work by standards of agricultural efficiency. He has thirty head of cattle and eight horses and he makes it a point to keep a high grade of stock. His farm is one of the finest and most productive tracts of land in the district and he is numbered among the progessive and substantial agriculturists.
On June 3, 1878, Mr Hansen was united in marriage at Fond du Lac to Miss Sarah Edwards, a daughter of William and Lydia (WHEATON) Edwards. The father was born in Wales in 1824 and came to Wisconsin in the early days of its settlement, locating in Eldorado township, where he followed farming. He died in 1901. His wife was a native of New York state, where her birth occured in 1831 and she passed away in Wisconsin in 1877. To their union were born the following children:Eliza, who married Charles Etter, of Pennsylvania; Sarah, who died in infancy; Sarah, the second of the name, the wife of our subject; David and Henry, both of whome are now deceased; George, a farmer and stock buyer of Oakfield township, who married Miss Della Worthing, by whome he has three children, Claude, May and Lucille;
Sherman, a retired physician in Oakfield, who married Miss Ruby Armitage; Myron, who resides in North Dakota; Rial, who is married and also lives in North Dakota;Cora,who makes her home in Chicago; and Hattie, who married Andrew Kensler,a teamster of Fond du Lac, by whome she has five children, Irene, Amy, Harry, Robert and Milo. Mrs. Hansen has also two half sisters, Jane and Ann.
To Mr. and Mrs. Hansen have been born twelve children:
William L.,a farmer o fond du Lac county, who married Isabel McArthur, by whom he has three children, Lynn, Victor,and one who died in infancy; Frank, who also follows farming and who married Miss Ida Batterman, of Fond du Lac, by whom he has one child, Duane; Effie, now the wife of George McArthur, a railroad man of Fond du Lac, by whom she has one child, Harold; Pearl, a farmer, who married Margaret Griffith, of Oshkosh: Ira, who is a fireman in Fond du Lac and who married Miss Della Fischer, of Oakfield, by whom he has three children, Arnold, Lucille and Raymond; Earl;Guy;Claude and Maude, twins;Hazel;Annie(is really Amy);
and Agnes.
In his political views Mr Hansen is a consistent democrat and was for five years road superintendent. He belongs to the Lutheran church and is active in the affairs of the Modern Woodmen of America. He holds stock in the Farmers Elevator Company of Oakfield and is recognized as a man anxious to promote local enterprises. He studies his agriculture in its different phases and has been successful from the beginning because of his personal efficiency. He is ranked among the enterprising and substantial citizens if his district and his activities in the cultivation of his fine farm are regarded as a valuable influence in agricultural development