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Kinyon Digital Library

History of Adair
County, Iowa, 1915.

Biographical.  Volume 2.

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James P. Jensen.

Mr. and Mrs. James P. Jensen

In the record of the agricultural activity of Adair county mention should be made of James P. Jensen, who is successfully engaged in the  cultivation of grain and the raising of high grade stock.  He is also identified with other business interests of importance to the community.  He is among those of foreign birth who, recognizing the opportunities offered in the new world, have come here to win advancement without the close and strenuous competition which they would encounter in their native lands.

James P. Jensen was born in Denmark, January 19, 1864, a son of James and Bertha M. Jensen, who are mentioned in connection with the sketch of Christian Jensen on another page of this work.  His youthful days were spent in his native country and his education was obtained in the public schools.  He served one year in the Danish army before he was twenty-one years old.  Starting out to earn his own living, he was employed as a farm hand in Denmark until he reached the age of twenty-six years, when the favorable reports which he had heard concerning the new world led him to cross the Atlantic with the hope of bettering his financial condition.  He traveled across this country to Fontanelle, Adair county, Iowa, and sought employment as a farm hand, spending three years in that way.  He carefully saved his earnings and after three years was able to purchase eighty acres, becoming owner of a tract of that size on section 22, Eureka township.  He then operated his farm until 1906, when he purchased eighty acres more adjoining on the same section.  With characteristic energy he began the further development of that property and today has one of the finest farms in his part of the county.  He has operated it for twenty-two years and it shows the result of careful, systematic cultivation.  He practices rotation of crops and scientific methods that bring about substantial and gratifying results.  He also raises high grade stock and makes this a profitable feature of his business.  He is likewise treasurer of the Eureka Telephone Company and is a stockholder in the Farmers Lumber Company of Fontanelle.

In April, 1885, Mr. Jensen was united in marriage to Miss A Christina Jensen, a daughter of Nels and Ane Marie (Christinsen) Jensen, natives of Denmark, in which country the father worked as a farm hand, but after coming to the new world he retired from active life and now makes his home with Mr. and Mrs. James P. Jensen.  The mother died in the year 1878.  Mr. and Mrs. James P. Jensen have become the parents of eight children:  James; Niels; Marie; Sophie; Carl; Maude; and Katherine and Clara Matilda, both deceased.

Mr. Jensen is one of the trustees of Eureka township, in which position he has served for two years.  He belongs to the Modern Woodmen of America, gives his political indorsement to the republican party and his religious faith is that of the Lutheran church.  In these connections are seen the rules which govern his conduct and shape his relations to public affairs.  Those who know him find that he is faithful in all the relations of life and give him well merited praise for what he has accomplished.  Coming to the new world empty handed, he has advanced steadily through his own efforts, working persistently and earnestly to gain a start and later to enhance his holdings.  His life record shows what may be accomplished when energy and determination lead the way, and should well serve as a source of inspiration and encouragement to others who, like him, are forced to start out in life empty handed.

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