Sedgwick County KSGenWeb

Portrait And Biographical Album of Sedgwick County, Kan.

Chapman Brothers 1888

Pages 315 

CHRISTIAN PINGEL, prominent among the stock-raising interests of Grant Township, is one of its most wealthy and energetic men, and from a humble beginning in life has accumulated a handsome property. He not only commenced without means, but was obliged to battle with the elements of a foreign soil and the customs of a strange country, as he is of German birth and parentage. He was born Oct. 24, 1842, and received his education and was reared to manhood in his native country. 

     Our subject is the youngest child of David and Dora (Pingel) Pingel, who were the parents of five children, and spent their entire lives upon the soil of their native land. David Pingel carried on farming on a small scale, and was notable as an honest and industrious man, who provided comfortably for his family, and is remembered by his children with affection and respect. He died at the old homestead where he had lived and labored so many years. The wife and mother subsequently came to America and spent her last years in Hall County, Neb., where her death took place Nov. 17, 1887. 

     Our subject, at the age of eighteen years, not being satisfied with his condition or his prospects, resolved to seek his fortune on the other side of the Atlantic. He bade adieu to the friends of his childhood, not without regret, it is true, but with a hope of something better in the future. Repairing to the city of Hamburg he set sail on the steamer "Globe," and after a pleasant voyage of sixteen days, landed in New York City in the fall of 1860. Thence he proceeded to the home of his brother in Kane County, Ill., and was employed in that locality as a farm laborer for ten years following. 

     Our subject, with true German thrift and forethought, had saved a snug sum of money from his earnings, and in the fall of 1870 came to this county and homesteaded eighty acres of land on section 18, which is now included in his present farm. To this he added another eighty acres in due time, and has brought the whole to a fine state of cultivation. It is well stocked with blooded horses, high-grade Short-horn cattle and Poland-China hogs. Each year has added something to the beauty and value of his property, and his upright course as a business man, together with his kindliness as a neighbor, has secured for him a large circle of friends among the people of this section. He has fulfilled all the duties of a good citizen with one exception, that being that he is still a bachelor. 

     Mr. Pingel assisted in organizing several of the school districts in his township, and thoroughly believes in the education of the young, which is carried out so admirably in his native Empire. He acquainted himself with the English language after coming to this country, by studying nights after the labors of the day were over, and keeps himself well posted upon matters of general interest to the intelligent American citizen. He cares very little about; politics, but endorses Republican principles, and votes with that party upon occasions of general elections. 

     Mr. Pingel, before the building of the railroad from Emporia to Sedgwick, was engaged for a time in teaming, and many times has hunted buffalo over the Kansas plains. He has watched with lively interest the growth and development of Sedgwick County, and has contributed largely to its reputation as one of the most desirable farming districts in Southern Kansas.

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