Kit Carson County, Colorado
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Kit Carson County Pioneers:

Harman Taptow/Traptow, 6 South 43 West

Harman proved up a quarter in 10, 6 South, 43W in 1892.
PROBABLY
Herman Heinrich Ludwig Treptow, born March 22, 1864 in Germany. "Herman was the son of August C & Friedericke W (Timm) Treptow. He married Katarina A Schmidt in 1895 and they had twelve children. Ernest, Herman, Arthur, Benjamin, Samuel, Freda, Werner, Augusta, Ralph, Richard, Gerald, and Leola. "
In 1900 Saunders County, Nebraska, Herman and Katie have been married five years, with Ernest Dec 1895, Herman Sept 1897, and Arthur June 1899, all kids born in Nebraska.

Herman Treptow came to America from Pommern, Germany in 1880 as a young man at the age of 17. His parents, 2 sisters, and a half-brother also came. One brother remained in Germany. They settled in the Ithaca community, a German-speaking settlement. August Treptow, Herman's father, bought the land that Gerald Treptow now lives on, in 1891 for $25 an acre. When Herman came to this new land of promise and saw corn bins full of corn, he thought it was gold as he had never seen anything like it before. Herman bought the land from his father in 1893. Through the pastor of his church, Herman became acquainted with Katie Schmidt of Fremont. Katie was the second child of Ernest and Augusta Schmidt. Her father, Ernest Schmidt, came to America when he was 24. He had heard stories of this new country and an American friend encouraged him to come. They had planned to catch wild horses and sell them to the government, but their business venture didn't work out so Ernest enlisted in the army. After his army duty, he went to Colorado and staked a claim to search for gold. Since that was unsuccessful, he headed east and settled on a farm east of Fremont. Ernest met a young immigrant woman, Augusta Muller. Augusta had come to America with her aunt. The aunt needed her to help bring her four young children to America. Her uncle had come a year earlier.
Katie and Herman Treptow were married in 1895. To this union 12 children were born, 9 sons and 3 daughters. Of these 12 children only one, Gerald, now remains in Saunders County. Ernest was the Ithaca Postmaster for 16 years. Ralph had a seed corn business. Ben, Werner, and Gerald were farmers in the community. Leola Treptow Frahm operated a skating rink in Ithaca, and later in Ashland for 25 years. All 12 children attended and graduated from the Ithaca Public School. Libby I. Henry taught all 12 children. Now three generations have graduated from the Ithaca school -- Ralph; his son, Ronald; and Ronald's children, Robert and Ronda Treptow. Five generations attended the Ebenezer Evangelical Church (now the United Methodist Church), beginning with August Treptow. Herman died in 1943 and Katie died in 1962.
Katie was a busy homemaker cooking and caring for her large family. She had a large garden and one of her talents was writing poetry. Providing food for the large family was a challenge. Oatmeal was the daily breakfast fare with cream of wheat as a special treat on Sunday. Oranges were treats at Christmas. Later an overall with a treat in the pocket became the Christmas gift to each son. German was spoken at home and the children learned to speak English when they started public school. The raising of hogs was an important part of farming. The hogs were driven to Ithaca and loaded in a box car on the train when they were ready for market. The youngest son, Gerald, and his son, Glen, continue to have a hog operation. Now they are trucked to market. Submitted by Joan and Doris Treptow

Herman is buried in Saunders County, Nebraska # 49274213.

This page is maintained by href="mailto:stephen.z.stein@gmail.com">Steve Stein.