Clay Co., KS AHGP-Portrait and Biographical Album of Washington, Clay and Riley Counties-August Kolling
Portrait and Biographical Album of Washington, Clay and Riley Counties Chapman Brothers, Chicago, 1890
AUGUST KOLLING. Bloom Township contains
numbers of well-to-do farmers, and
among them may be mentioned the subject
of this sketch, who owns and operates 160
acres of well-developed land on sections. He purchased
this in 1878, when it was but little removed
from its primitive state, and located upon it in
1881. He came to Kansas from Will County, Ill.,
of which he had been a resident a number of years.
His native place was in Schaumberg Lippe, Prussia,
where he first opened his eyes to the light April 2,
1853.
The father of our subject was Conrad Kolling,
likewise a native of Prussia, and of pure German
ancestry. He acquired a good education, and
learned the trade of a carpenter, and when reaching
man's estate, was married in his native Province
to Miss Caroline Meier. This lady was
likewise born and reared in Prussia, and after the
birth of their five children, of whom August was
the youngest but one, the parents started for the
United States, taking passage on the old sailing-vessel
"Victoria," at the port of Bremen, and landing
in the city of Baltimore, Md., after a seven week's
voyage.
Thence the Kolling family proceeded to Pennsylvania,
where they sojourned three months, and then
removed to Will County, Ill. The father purchased
forty acres of land, and the family lived
there until the death of the mother, which occurred
in 1884, when she was seventy years old. Mr.
Kolling, after the death of his wife, came to Kansas
and makes his home with his son, William, a farmer
of Mulberry Township, Clay County; he is now
seventy-nine years old. Both parents became connected
with the Lutheran Church early in life.
The subject of this sketch was fourteen years old
when his parents came to America, and he attained
to his majority in Will County, Ill. He came to
Kansas a single man in 1881, and was married in
Bloom Township, the 31st of January, 1883, to
Miss Mary Ruegg. Mrs. Kolling was born in the
Canton of Zurich, Switzerland, Nov. 5, 1863, and
is the daughter of Henry and Elizabeth (Weber)
Ruegg, who were also of Swiss birth and parentage.
The latter emigrated to the United States in 1867,
after their marriage and after the birth of most of
their family. They settled in the vicinity of Highland,
Ill., but in 1873, came to Kansas, and located
in Goshen Township, Clay County. In 1878 they
removed to Mulberry Township, where the father
purchased 160 acres of land on section 34, and
where both parents now live, being each about sixty
years old. They are most excellent and worthy
people, and members of the Reformed Church. To
Mr. and Mrs. Kolling there have been born two
children, Henry C. and Rose C. Mr. Kolling, politically,
is a stanch Republican, and with his excellent
wife belongs to the Lutheran Church.
By unflagging efforts in one direction, Mr. Kolling
has established a fine homestead, and built
thereon a comfortable and cozy residence, a view
of which may be found elsewhere in this work.