702HISTORY OF WOOD COUNTY



his fellow citizens as a man of public spirit ready to do his full duty to
the com-
munity. Mr. Johns was married at Nekoosa in 1899, to Bertha Manske, daughter
of John and Otelia Manske. Her parents were natives of Germany, where the
father followed the profession of a school teacher. After emigrating to the
United
States and to Wood County, Wis., he worked many years for the Nekoosa Edwards
Paper Co., and is now living retired on a pension allowed him by that company.
Mr. and Mrs. Johns have had five children, of whom four are living, Arthur,
Edward, Raymond and Ernest, all of whom are residing at home with their parents
except Edward who married Viola Plenke, daughter of John and Bertha Knoll,
of Wisconsin Rapids, and is keeping house at Nekoosa. The other child was
Leonard, who died at the age of six months.
   August Knospe, of Hansen Township, widely known in the pure-bred Hol-
stein cattle industry, was born in Dodge County, Wis., June 21, 1879, son
of
August and Minnie (Sette) Knospe. The parents were natives of Germany;
the father was born in 1846, and came with his parents to the United States
when
six years old, the family settling on a farm in Dodge County. The mother's
family also settled in Dodge County when she was but two years old, and both
grew up in Dodge County, and were there married. They were the parents of
three children: August, subject of this sketch; Felix, a sketch of whose
life also
appears in this volume; and Louisa, now deceased. The parents were farmers
in Dodge County until the death of the father in 1907, after which time the
opera-
tion of the farm was carried on by the son August until 1915, when, with
his mother,
he came to Wood County and bought 154 acres of improved land in Sections
22
and 27, Hansen Township. Here he has since carried on general farming and
dairying, but has chiefly interested himself in raising pure-bred Holstein
cattle
for market. In pure-bred cattle lies the great future of the Northwest; the
pioneers
in agriculture, who cleared the land and overcame the obstacles of life in
the wilder-
ness to the end that a great agricultural country should spring from the
wilderness,
have built the present; the future will be due to those clear-visioned men
who
are to-day fostering in every possible way the pure-bred cattle industry
which
is to continue and increase the greatness of the Northwest; and to this group
Mr.
Knospe belongs; his life, dedicated to this industry which is still in its
infancy,
but whose development is vital to the country, is one of true service. His
achieve-
ments in this development are notable; out of his herd came Oak de Kol Ollie
Homestead, No. 85529, a bull of wide note who twice won national honors;
Piebe
Laura Ollie Homestead King; Wisconsin Bess Piebe Laura No. 97555, who at
the age of five years gave 52812 pounds of milk in seven days, and 29.63
pounds
of butter in seven days; Ollie Watson Prima Donna; Iowana Sir Ollie, another
bull of very wide repute; and the great bull Ollie Sir Fayne, which was sold
as
a calf for $250.00. Mr. Knospe bred and sold to the government of New Zealand
for $600.00, Oak de Kol II Homestead Fobes; and many other cattle whose records
have spread the fame of Wisconsin as a dairy state and have carried forward
the
whole pure-bred cattle industry, have been bred and raised by him. He is
a
member of the Wood County Holstein Breeders Association and of the Vesper
Club. Politically Mr. Knospe is a Progressive Republican; fraternally he
is
affiliated with the Modern Woodmen of America, the Independent Order of
Foresters, and the Beavers. He makes his home on his farm, with his mother
keeping house for him, and is highly respected as a member of the community.
   Felix J. Knospe, making his home for the most part with his brother, August
Knospe, prominent dairyman of Hansen Township, was born in Dodge County,
-Wis., Oct. 14, 1877, son of August and Minnie (Sette) Knospe, whose family
records appear in this volume in connection with the sketch of their son
August.
Fe'lix J. Knospe was reared on his parents' farm in.Dodge County, attending
school
there and helping with the work of the farm until he was 21 years of age,
when
he became manager of the retail lumber yard at Clyman, in Dodge County, re-
maining as such for 12 years. He then engaged in the metal trade at Ft. Atkinson,
and in 1919 went to Milwaukee with the Republic Manufacturing Co., in which
he is a stockholder and director. He still spends part of his time in Milwaukee,



702