One of the many sons of Germany who have come to America with very
limited capital but an inexhaustible supply of energy and determination and by
means of well directed effort has won where a man with less strength of purpose
would have been defeated, is C. H. Wiese. He is a native of Schleswig-Hol-
stein and the youngest son of John Henry and Margaret Katrina (Ghoul)
Wiese, his birth occurring on the 22d of March, 1862. His parents, who were
also from the province of Schleswig-Holstein, emigrated to the United States
and located at West Side, Iowa, where the father passed away in 1904. The
mother was also a resident of Crawford county at the time of her death, which
occurred in 1885. Only three of the five children born to them survive, those
besides our subject being: Ida, who is married and living in the fatherland;
and John, a resident of Omaha, Nebraska.

C. H. Wiese acquired the greater portion of his education in Germany, only
attending school one winter after his arrival in the United States. As soon
as he was old enough to begin work he obtained employment as a section hand,
following that occupation at Aspinwall four years. At the end of that period
he worked in a lumberyard for five years and then began farming in Iowa town-
ship. After living there three years he removed to a farm in Hayes township,
which he cultivated four years, and then returned to West Side, where he spent
two years. In the meantime he had become very enthusiastic about Nebraska,
and migrating to that state, he bought a half section of land in Dixon county,
upon which he resided for three years. Returning to Crawford county at the
expiration of that period, he located on sections 21 and 22, Washington town-
ship, where he now owns two hundred and forty acres of excellent farming
land. He has made many improvements upon his homestead during the period
of his residence here, so that it is now one of the most valuable farms in the
township. He engages in general farming and stock-raising and is meeting with
marked success in both ventures.

On the 22 of March, 1885, Mr. Wiese was united in marriage to Miss
Katrina Schmahl, who was born in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany, February 14,
1865, a daughter of Kai and Katrina (Mueller) Schmahl. Her father is now
deceased, but her mother is still living in Germany. Mrs. Wiese has one sister
in America, Sophia, the wife of Otto Passick, residing in Carroll county, Iowa.
Mr. and Mrs. Wiese have become the parents of eight children, who are as
follows: Minnie, the wife of Detlef Peterson, Washington township; and Emil,
Bridget, Emma, Ida, Florence, Etta and Elsie, all of whom are at home.

The family affiliates with the Lutheran church. The democratic party is
always given the political support of Mr. W'iese, and although he does not
actively participate in local governmental affairs he meets the requirements of
good citizenship by casting his ballot on election day. He is in every sense of
the word a self-made man, as the success he has achieved in life is due solely
and directly to his own effort, and as such he justly deserves the respect ac-
corded him in the community where he resides.