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Amon C. SABOE
Colben I. SABOE 
Ole O. FOSSAAN

Photos in book: Mr. and Mrs. Colben Saboe; 
Amon Saboe and family, and Mr. and Mrs. Ole O. Fossaan

Among the prominent citizens of the northern part of Fayette county must be ranked Amon C. Saboe, for he has made this locality his home since babyhood and has been active in the general progress of the community. His birth occurred in Dover township in 1857, the son of Colben I. and Julia  Amondson  Saboe , both born in Norway, where they spent their childhood, coming to America early in life. They were married in March, 1850, and in April of that year they located at Beloit, Wisconsin. Colben Saboe had served five years as apprentice to a blacksmith and he received license as a result of this experience and followed this line for one year in Wisconsin; however, he soon began working on the farm and in May, 1851, settled on the farm now owned by Amon C. Saboe of this review. He first purchased forty acres where the buildings stand. Prospering from year to year as a result of his excellent business qualities, he added additional forties until he had eleven forties, or four hundred and forty acres. He became quite well-to-do and was an influential citizen there, and he carried on general farming and stock raising on an extensive scale, having cleared most of the land himself, assisting the hands in the actual work of preparing the soil for cultivation. His son, Amon C., cleared perhaps one-half of the place. The father first lived in a dug-out where the present comfortable dwelling stands, though before its erection he lived for some time in a log house. All the present buildings were erected by him except the barn, which Amon C. built; it is a substantial structure, fifty-six by seventy-six feet, with a fourteen-foot shed, twenty-six-foot posts and a driveway fifty-six by sixteen feet.

The father of Amon C. Saboe was very active in politics, being first a Whig, later a Republican. He held a position on the school board for a great many years and always took an active interest in the affairs of his county. He and his wife reared nine children, eight of whom are still living.

Amon C. Saboe was educated in the public schools of his native community and he began working on the home farm when but a mere lad, and he has driven a reaper for forty-five years consecutively on the same farm, having begun with a hand-rake when seven years of age; now he rides behind a modern McCormick self-binder. He challenges the state to break the record. He purchased the homestead in 1892, consisting of two hundred and seventy-five acres, his father having sold two hundred and eighty acres. The place is now widely known as the Turkey Valley Stock Farm. He has one hundred and fifty hogs at a time, preferring the Poland-China breed. He well understands the successful handling of hogs and has never had cholera among them. He also keeps from fifty to seventy-five head of cattle. Corn and oats are his chief grains. He has half interest in a general store at Ossian, Iowa, known as the John Moe Mercantile Company, and in all his busines relations he has been very successful.

Mr. Saboe was married in 1892 to Inger Fossaan, who was born and reared on the farm just north of that owned by Mr. Saboe. She is the daughter of Ole O. and Inger Christian Fossaan, who came from Norway in 1852, locating on the farm mentioned above, which is still in the family. This family was always active in township affairs, and highly respected people here. One child, Cora Julia, has been born to Mr. and Mrs. Saboe, and they have an adopted son, Albert Fossaan, a son of Mr. Saboe's brother-in-law. They have also reared Oliver Fossaan and Emma Fossaan.

Mr. Saboe and family are members of the Lutheran church. Politically, Mr. Saboe is a Republican in national affairs and independent locally. He has never aspired to public office, but he has been a member of the local school board for about fifteen years, eleven of which were consecutive; most of the time he was president or secretary of the board. Personally he is a genial, straightforward and hospitable gentleman whom everybody honors and respects.