RUDOLPH LORENZEN was born on the island of Fehmarn in eastern Holstein. At age fifteen he went to work as a clerk in a store and worked there for five years, then worked as head clerk in a store in the mainland town of Heilignehafen for five years. Rudolph Lorenzen then emigrated to America and joined his brother, Ludwig, in Davenport, Iowa, where he engaged in various mercantile interests until 1874, when he opened a butcher shop in Maysville, but in 1875 he abandoned this enterprise and moved to the new town of Marne, established by German businessmen from Davenport. Mr. Lorenzen opened the first general store in Marne in the fall of 1875 in partnership with Julius Langfeldt. Two months after opening, the business was moved to the southwest of Second and Washington Streets. The first postmaster of Marne was Julius Langfeldt and he located the post office in the general store. Rudolph Lorenzen bought out Langfeldt's share in the store in 1877 and Langfeldt moved to Wilson, Kansas. Very soon afterward, Mr. Lorenzen moved the location of the store one door south on the west side of Washington Street and continued in business. He also bought corn for the Davenport Glucose Company and shipped large amounts from Marne to the Davenport mills. Rudolph Lorenzen also owned a forty-acre stock farm near Marne. He married Johanna Langfeldt in Marne in October, 1876, and the couple had four children - Laura, Amanda, Rudolph and H. O. Lorenzen.

Transcribed from "The First Century, A History of Marne, Iowa 1875 - 1975", published in 1975, Marne, Iowa: The Marne Centennial Historical Committee, pg. 32. Transcribed (2015) by Cheryl Siebrass and contributed September, 2019.

PREV <== Continue Reading ==> NEXT