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Jacob Matthiessen
December 18, 1864–September 5, 1943
]. Matthiessen Buried Tues.
Died Sunday At Monti Hospital

Jacob Matthiessen, a resident of Monticello for twenty-five years, died at the John McDonald hosptial at 10 a.m., Sept. 5. He had fallen in front of his home Aug. 25 and fractured his hip. This illness together with infirmities of advancing years was responsible for his death. Funeral services were held from the Goettsch funeral home Tuesday afternoon at 3 o'clock, with Rev. William J. Grossheim, Presbyterian minister, officiating. Burial was made at Oakwood cemetery.
Matthiessen was one of fourteen children born to Jacob and Anna Eilers Matthiessen. He was born Dec. 18, 1864, on the Matthiessen homestead in Wayne township.
Until he was twelve years old, he assisted neighbors in herding cattle on the prairie near his home. The land now is a part of the John Null and Thomas Faust farms. Matthiessen received fifty cents a week and free board and lodging for his labor. When he was twelve years old, he began working with his father at the masonry and carpenter trade. He and his brother, Peter, quarried rock and built the foundation under the barn on the home farm in 1877 and it is still standing today.
In 1884 Matthiessen started thirteen years of work as foreman with the stump-puller manufacturing company operated by James Milne and sons in the Scotch Grove neighborhood. He built the first model stump-puller for the company.
In 1895 the Matthiessen family moved to Monmouth, Ill., with the company, and later, in 1890, bought the Matthiessen homestead. In the fall of 1901 they sold their farm to Herman Bartels and bought a farm in Sand Spring, from which they came to Monticello in 1918, buying the J. S. Hall residence at the end of North Walnut street. He was a member of the Presbyterian church.
Matthiessen was married Sept. 21, 1887, to Anna Eliza Aldrich at the home of the former's brother, Frederick Matthiessen, on a farm west of Monticello. The ceremony was performed by the late Rev. C. Mardorf. Four sons were born to this union, one of whom, Paul, passed away in 1932. The surviving sons are Fred G. Matthiessen, William J. Matthiessen, and Clarence J. Matthiessen of Monticello. There are also four grandchildren: Betty Maree (Mrs. Ernest Waldee), Cedar Rapids; Virginia (Mrs. Robert Weir), Cedar Rapids; James and Marilee Matthiessen. In addition to his wife and children, he is survived by two brothers, John Matthiessen, Monticello, George Matthiessen, Viola, and a sister. Mrs. Gene Himebaugh, of Oelwein.

Source: Monticello Express, September 9, 1943

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