Joe
&
Anna (Hansen) Kuper
( 1885 - 1955 )
Joseph James Kuper (I think it was
John Joseph *father *... see Sprenger history
link below) was born 9 Apr., 1883, on the
family northeast of Orient,
Faulk County, South Dakota to Abehard (Ebehard?) and
Agnes Sprenger
Kuper who had come to America from Germany and settled in
Wisconsin
before coming west to Dakota Territory. Joe died in 1977, at the Good
Samaritan Nursing Home in Miller and is buried at Faulkton Cemetery.
Anna Caroline Hansen (see link
below) was born 9 Dec.1885 in
Wisconsin to Christopher (5'6") and Ingaborg
(4'11") Iverson Hansen.
The Hansens, from Norway, settled in Wisconsin
for 3 years before moving
near Orient, Faulk County, Dakota Territory. The Hansens were
parents of
the first child born in Faulk County ( Elizabeth ). Anna died in June of 1955,
at
Faulkton
of complications from diabetes.
Anna had homesteaded northwest
of Miller, Hand County, and was in the
process of building her own home when Joe
met her. They were married
Nov. 11, 1912 at the Hansen homestead nine miles west
of Orient. She
brought to the family her daughter, Ethel Elizabeth, (b. Apr. 22,
1911).
He helped her build the home they were to live in for the next few years,
supplementing their income by digging water wells for their neighbors
using
horse-drawn power to rotate the drill. After selling the homestead
they bought a
farm west of Orient, selling in 1920 and moving to a farm
south of Burkmere (no
longer in existence.) This farm was sold and the
family moved 14 miles
southwest of Faulkton. The next move was to
south of Seneca where they lived for
four years before moving for the
last time to a farm 30 miles north of Highmore,
Hyde County, SD.
Anna was to learn at the age of
40 that she had diabetes. She had
spilled hot rhubarb on her foot and it refused
to heal. They retired from
farming in the spring of 1948, when they sold their
farm and moved in to
Orient. That fall fire swept through Hollobird, Highmore
and to Lebanon,
destroying everything in its path including their last farm. The Kupers had
purchased an acreage in Rockham in 1947. Her illness had progressed
to
the point of
blindness and she was admitted to the Good Samaritan Nursing
Home in
Faulkton. Before her passing on 18 June 1955, she was to know
the
heartache of losing a leg to her disease.
( Of interest, in speaking with
Alice, Anna's youngest child, remembers when her
mother was dying. Alice had gone to the hospital to visit.
Anna was out of
consciousness but mumbling and speaking understandable words.
As Alice
remembers her mother's words: " Jesus please help me. I
can't climb the steps."
A short silence then........"Thank you Jesus." Then she died.
Alice says "I know
mother is in heaven." It gives me, John renewed hope in faith
that there is a life
after death.)
At the age of 85, Joe, fearing
the ravages of old age decided to hire a live
-in companion to be with him until
his final days. The companion died,
leaving Joe alone once again. Undaunted, he
simply hired another
companion who also died. He then decided not to hire
another companion
because, as he said, he would "just get attached to him and he
will
probably die, too."
His faithful dog aroused him
one morning as the house was burning and
the twosome escaped through a window as
the house burned to the
ground. He drove to Pierre and purchased himself a small
trailer and set it
up on the acreage he had purchased in 1947.
At the age of 89, he was still
able to dance a jig, had all but one of his
own teeth and stood straight as an
arrow. His skin was as brown and
tough as the leather of a football. At age 91,
Joe was admitted to the
Prairie Good Samaritan Nursing Home in Miller, although,
not exactly willingly,
but of necessity. He continued to live there for the next
three years, passing
away on 6
Nov. 1977.
Joe and Anna are buried in the
Faulkton Cemetery.
Children of Anna & Joe
1.
Ethel
2.
Lewis
3.
Clarence
4.
Josephine
5.
Harold
6.
Alfred
7. Edna
8.
Alice
[ Presently lost links to Barbara Speck's site. She moved them from
geocities to freepages and
for some reason I can't get the
hyperlink to stick. In the meantime go to her main
website. ]
http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~stallman/Kuper/kuper.joe-anna.htm
[ It will open in a new window,
but this page should remain in your tabs. ]
Barbara Speck made webpages on
Anna's children. Above, I already linked Alice's, Harold's and Clarence's to
Barbara's. The others listed I made my own. However for Barbara's
link to Ethel,
Lewis,
Josephine,
Alfred's and
Edna's click on
their names for more data.
Margaret Gross & Anna Hansen
( Margaret was Josephine Hansen's sister-in-law, being Frank Gross's sister from
the Orient area )
circa 1910-1911
As explained to me
by Barbara Speck, this is either a 'cook' or 'sleeping' wagon for the farmhands
in the field. The women would cook out in the field in the 'cook' wagon
and the men would sleep for 3-4 days out in the field in another 'sleeping'
wagon.
(1919) Anna's two brothers Ham & Ted.
Family photo taken
circa 1940.
Back: Otto, Helmer, Halbert, Ida, Anna, John, Karl, Ted
Sitting: Ingeborg and Christ
Children of Joe and Anna Kuper
Left - right: Alice Hippens, Edna Iverson,
Harold Kuper
Josephine Speck, Clarence Kuper,
Ethel Hall
Taken ca 1995 in Edna Iverson's home in Ree Heights
Descendents of Anna and Joe Kuper
http://www.geocities.com/kuperfam/index.htm ( Link
to Kupers of Hand Co. website )
The most interesting events for me on doing this website
are meeting and learning about family members. I have discovered we have a
professional photographer in our family. She is Jill Fleming, daughter to
Mavis, daughter to Clarence Kuper. I think her work is great. Check
out her website and perhaps if you need some photography done, you will think of
her work.
http://www.jillflemingphotography.com/
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