Theodore Bochmann submitted by Conley Wolterman An enterprising and prosperous farmer residing on 234 acres of land in Section 1, Battle Township, Ida County, Iowa, has been identified with the agricultural interests of this place since 1881. Mr. Bochmann was born in the year 1839 and, was a native of Germany. His parents, Frederic and Minnie Bochmann, came with their family to the United States when he was small and settled at Buffalo, New York. They spent the rest of their lives in New York, the mother dying while Theodore was yet a mere lad. After her death, he went to Chicago, and in the vicinity of that city spent his youth and early manhood, engaged in farm work and other employment. During the rebellion, he enlisted in the Union Army and served until the close of the Civil War, when he was honorably discharged and paid off at Chicago. During his service, he was in the thickest of the fight, and, although never wounded, had a bullet shot through his hat and one through his coat. After the war, Mr. Bochmann located in Cook County, Illinois, and engaged in farming. From 1871 to 1881, he farmed in Butler County, Iowa, and from there came Ida County, first purchasing 160 acres of land at $8.50 per acre, and afterward buying 80 acres more. He improved the farms. His frame residence was 16 x 24 feet, a story and a half, with an L shape, 16 x 18 feet, one story. He had a nice grove and orchard of 3 acres and vineyard; barn 24 x 36 feet; crib 26 x 32 ft; granary 16 x 22 feet; hoghouse 24 x 48 feet; and good fences. He kept an average of 16 horses, 25 cattle, and 50 hogs. When he was 26 years of age, Mr. Bochmann was married, in 1866, in Cook County, Illinois, to Maria Riebesel, who died in 1882, leaving 4 children: Gustav, Hermann, Charley and Caroline. In 1883, he took as his second wife, Emma Eichler, and she became the mother of 3 children: Clara, Otto, and Bruno. He was a member of the Holstein G.A.R. Post No. 423.

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