LYON COUNTY GENEALOGY

 

MARTIN MAURER

Martin Maurer was the son of August Maurer and Bertha Schoelerman. He was born in 1910 and passed away in January 1987.

He farmed with his father after graduating from Lester High School and they purchased Lakewood Farm in 1945.

Lakewood Farm was first purchased by Horace C. MacMillan who was appointed by Presidents McKinley and Theodore Roosevelt to be a Federal Attorney for the State of Iowa. Becoming interested in northwest Iowa land, he made his first purchase of 500 acres in 1887 and this was to become Lakewood Farm.  By 1908 it consisted of 1020 acres.

Lakewood farm derived its name from a small, pictureous lake named Crystal Lake which at one time lay in the center of a particularly beautiful pasture area and was fed from underwater streams of the Rock River. The river channel shifted and destroyed the lake.

James McMillan, a graduate of the State Agricultural College at Ames, and the son of Mr. Horace McMillan, became the manager of Lakewood Farms. It then became the greatest breeding and show farm of Percheron horses, Calypso being the outstanding stallion.

Lakewood went through several owners until in 1938, Mr. Wm. Reichmann of Barrington, Illinois, became interested in the property. He too was an outstanding lawyer. They repaired the house and the farm buildings. They stocked the farm with heavy draft Belgian horses and in the lush pastures along the Rock River, they stocked Hereford cattle.

In 1945. August Maurer and son, Martin, purchased the place in what the Lyon County Reporter called, “The Biggest Land Deal In The History Of The County.” The deal was handled by John Dirks and W. F. Oldenburg of Rock Rapids. The raising of Hereford cattle continued but at that time horses were being replaced by tractors.

Martin Maurer farmed this land until his death. He was assisted by Wendell Selken who continues to manage it under a trust.