Kidder County
NDGenWeb
NICKLAUS KAUTT. This gentleman has devoted his career to agricultural pursuits,
and has met with unbounded success in his vocation since taking up his residence
in North Dakota, and is now proprietor of one of the fine farms of township 140,
range 71, in Kidder county.
Our subject was born in Germany, May 10,
1850. His father, William Kautt, was born in Germany, in October, 1817, and came
to America with his family in 1853 and settled in McHenry county, Illinois,
where he followed farming. The mother of our subject bore the maiden name of
Maria Figen, and was of German descent, and was born in the same place as our
subject. The mother died in America when our subject was but five years of age,
and he was the second child in her family. The father afterward remarried and
our subject had several half brothers and sisters.
Mr. Kautt was reared
on a farm in McHenry county, Illinois, and attended the country schools and the
Catholic school at Johnsburg, Illinois, and remained at home part of the time
until he was twenty-four years of age. He and the family went to Dakota county,
Minnesota, in 1865, and our subject assisted his father and also worked for
others, and in 1874 he left home and went to Minneapolis and worked in a lumber
mill two years, and in 1876 went to Kavanaugh county, Michigan, where he worked
for the government in clearing out a channel into Eagle harbor one summer, and
then went into the lumber woods and was thus employed several years. He then
spent one winter at bridge work in Duluth, and from there went to North Dakota
in the spring of 1878, and went to Fargo where he purchased a team of horses
with his savings, and then "squatted" on land and the team he afterward found
was mortgaged and the sheriff took them away. He went to Tappen, Kidder county,
in 1880, and took government land and built a claim shanty and made a home on
section 22, in township 140, range 71, and then worked on the Troy farm at
twenty dollars per month, and then hired breaking done on his own farm. He also
worked on the Northern Pacific Railroad at section work and on the construction
train, and in the fall of 1883 began permanent residence on his place, but he
and his wife worked out the first year. Then followed years of success and
failure each in turn, and it was not until 1896 that his success was assured. He
now engages in grain farming and stock raising and dairying, and has met with
unbounded success in diversified farming, and now has one hundred and sixty
acres of well-improved land.
Our subject was married in the fall of 1883
to Miss Maria Ludwick, who was born in Austria, Germany, and came to America in
October, 1880, with relatives who became early settlers of Dakota. Five children
have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Kautt, who are named as follows: Annie, Louisa,
Katie, Willie and Lena. Mr. Kautt is a Democrat in political sentiment, and is
an earnest worker for party principles and has attended numerous county
conventions.
Extracted 22 Nov 2020, by Norma Hass, from Compendium of History and Biography of North Dakota published in 1900, page 789.
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This page was last updated
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