- JOHN H. BEELEN, farmer and dairyman of Buchanan township, and one of the h ighly respected citizens of his community, whose farm of sixty-two acr es is located in section 28, is a native of Holland and was born July 2, 1 864, a son of Martin and Elizabeth (Toonen) Beelen, natives of that countr y. They came to America in 1868, settling in the town of Buchanan, where M r. Beelen bought eighty acres of raw timber land. His first work on this p roperty was to cut down and hew trees and build a log cabin, two stori es in height, 18x24 feet, and in this house he lived until 1882, then bui lt a frame structure, 18x28, two stories, with a wing 16x26, and in this h ouse he lived practically all the remainder of his life, dying May 23, 190 6, at the advanced age of eighty-one years. His wife passed away Augu st 6, 1894, in her seventy-third year, and is buried in Little Chute, t he father having been interred at DePere, Wisconsin. John H.Beelen was the youngest of four children, and he secured his educati on in the district schools, remaining at home with his parents until he w as twenty-six years old. He then engaged in farming his father's propert y, later farmed on rented property for eleven years and-finally bought t he place on which he now lives, the old family homestead, where he has be en successfully operating since 1899.He was married in 1897 to Miss Anna M. Coonen, daughter of Martin and Cath erine (Verstegen) Coonen, also natives of Holland, who were married in Lit tle Chute, Outagamie county. They remained in Little Chute for about one y ear after marriage and then bought the homestead of Mrs. Coonen's widow ed mother in Buchanan, to which they moved, the father now being seventy-o ne years old and the mother sixty-two. Mr. Coonen was a soldier during t he Civil War.Mrs. Beelen was the fifth of a family of eleven children, and was born Nov ember 12, 1874. Four children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Beelen: Cathe rine Elizabeth, Rosella Peternella, Martin Alexander and Richard Peter. M r. Beelen has fifty-five acres under cul- tivation, all fenced with barb ed and woven wire. He carries on general farming, markets dairy product s, hay and grain, sugar beets and potatoes, and milks six cows, keeping t he mixed Jersey, Holstein and Guernsey breed, and Poland China hogs. He re modeled his house in 1908, making it an up-to-date, two-story, frame struc ture of thirteen rooms, in addition to clothes closets, pantry and stairwa ys and halls. His finished basement barn is 22x68 feet, and was built by M r. Beelen's father in 1871, and he expects to put up a new barn in a sho rt time. Mrs. Beelen, like her husband, is of an enterprising turn of min d, and has had much success in raising White Wyandottes, Plymouth Rock a nd Rhode Island Red chickens. Mr. Beelen is a believer in the value of li fe insurance and carries a $1,000 endowment policy in the New York Mutua l, as well as holding miembership in the Catholic Order of Foresters for $ 1,000. In political matters he is a Democrat, and for nine years has be en a member of the school board. With his family he attends Holy Guardi an Angels Church of Darboy.
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1864 - 1945 (80 years)
Immigration
