HISTORY OF MANITOWOC COUNTY


the year i910. He is likewise a member of the school board of Kiel, the cause
of education finding in him a stanch friend. His is, in fact, the champion
of
material, intellectual and moral progress, recognizing that each has its
place in
the scheme of the world, and his labors have been an element of growth along
all those lines during the period of his residence in Kiel. His is a career
in which
various interests have formed an even balance and not only is he numbered
among the most prominent and progressive business men of his section but
also
among the most valued and representative citizens.
LOUIS HORSTMAN.
Louis Horstman, who owns and operates two hundred and twenty-four acres
of land on section io, Liberty township, is a native of Manitowoc county,
his birth
having occurred on the place where he now resides on the 27th of July, i86o.
His
parents were John and Wilhelmina Horstman, natives of Germany, whence they
emigrated in their youth to the United States. They were married in Louisville,
Kentucky, and there passed the first years of their domestic life, coming
to this
county about I855. When they came here they purchased one hundred and sixty
acres of government land in Liberty township, and Mr. Horstman immediately
had
five acres of this cleared and a log cabin erected thereon at a cost of about
fifty
dollars. He and his family then began life in their new home amid the primitive
conditions that yet prevailed in this section, which at that time was but
sparsely
settled. Their farm seemed to be little more than a small clearing in a dense
wood, while the most of the roads they used were only blazed trails. Here
the
father devoted his entire time and attention to the further improvement and
cul-
tivation of his land until his death in I879. He was long survived by the
mother,
who passed away in i896, and was laid to rest in the Lutheran cemetery at
Liberty by the side of her husband. Mr. Horstman was one of the enterprising
and public-spirited men in the township and always took an active interest
in
all local governmental affairs, having served for three years as supervisor.
Louis Horstman is the fourth in order of birth of the six children born unto
his parents. His entire life has been passed on the farm where he now lives,
while he is indebted to the district schools in the vicinity for his education.
In common with other pioneer lads reared on the farm, from his early childhood
he assisted with the cultivation of the fields and the care of the stock,
and thus
while engaged in the mastery of the fundamentals of English learning he was
also fitting himself for his life vocation. He 'early laid aside his textbooks
and
gave his entire attention to the work of the farm, the greater part of the
re-
sponsibility connected with its operation devolving upon him after the death
of the father. Only a portion of Mr. Horstman's present holding was embraced
in the old homestead, the remainder having been purchased by him after he
began farming for himself. One hundred and sixty of his two hundred and
twenty-four acres, all of which is surrounded by a barbed wire fence, are
under
high cultivation, and this he devotes to such cereals as are best adapted
to the
soil, annually reaping abundant harvests. lie also raises hay and clover
seed
to a considerable extent, which he markets as well as his dairy products.
In


414