KSGenWeb Digital Library Biographical Sketch of Michael Hansz Nemaha County, Kansas

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The following transcription is from a 750 page book titled "Genealogical and Biographical Record of North-Eastern Kansas, dated 1900.  These have been diligently transcribed and generously contributed by Penny R. Harrell, please give her a very big Thank You! for her hard work!

Michael Hansz resides on section 35, Nemaha township, Nemaha county, where he owns and operates 280 acres of land.  He is one of the worthy citizens that France has furnished to the new world, his birth having occurred in Alsace on the 24th of January, 1835.

In the land of his birth he remained until eighteen years of age, spending his boyhood days upon a farm and in attendance at the schools near his home.  Determining to try his fortune in the United States he made arrangements for the voyage and landed in New York on Christmas night of 1852.

For three years he remained in the Empire state, where he was engaged in the lumber business, and in 1855 he went to Kane county, Illinois, where he was employed as a farm hand by the month, continuing in the Prairie state until 1858.  That year witnessed his arrival in Nemaha county, where he secured a claim of government land (his present farm), but the highly cultivated tract now bears little resemblance to the property when it first came into his possession.

He was sixty dollars in debt when he landed in the eastern metropolis and had to borrow money in order to get to Buffalo, New York.  There he worked three months for his board and for the year he received only six dollars in compensation for his services.  It, therefore, required his first year's earnings to repay the money which he had borrowed in order to meet the expense of the voyage to this country.

The next year he received seventy-two dollars, with which he paid off his indebtedness and purchased some clothes.  He then emigrated westward and during his residence in Illinois he saved two hundred dollars from his salary as a farm hand.  This he invested in land in Kansas and upon his farm he erected a little board cabin, 14 x 16 feet, making it his home during the early years in which he placed his land under cultivation and made the beginning of a good farm.

He has divided the place into fields of convenient size by well kept fences, and as the result of his excellent methods of cultivation he has secured good profits, which has brought to him an excellent financial return.  He now owns 280 acres altogether, his property interests causing him to be numbered among the substantial citizens of the community.

As a companion and helpmate of life's journey Mr. Hansz chose Margaret Sturmer, a native of Germany.  Their wedding was celebrated on the 21st of December, 1861, and their union has been blessed with six children: Louisa, George, Mary, Alvina, Rosa and Eddie.  Mr. Hansz exercises his right of franchise in support of the men and measures of the Democratic party, but has never sought office, preferring to give his attention to his business interests.

The only sure road to success is that of labor and when guided by sound judgment it always leads to the goal of prosperity.  It has been in this manner that Mr. Hansz has overcome difficulties and obstacles, steadily advancing to a place among the substantial and representative citizens of Nemaha county.

Last update: Thursday, January 15, 2004 00:51:08

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