Biography - Andrew P. Broden
ANDREW PHILLIP BRODEN (born Anders Anderson, son of Anders). The
attention of the passing traveler is invariably attracted by the beautiful
country home of this gentleman, which is located in Sherman Township, Clay
County, and which, tastefully furnished without and cozily furnished within,
reflects great credit upon the master hand that contrived it. The residence
is commodious and conveniently arranged, adapted to the wants of a large
family and surrounded by a well-kept lawn, while in the rear are the
granaries, a good, large barn, corn cribs, poultry house and other
outbuildings that contribute to the material property of a farm and a
farmer. The estate is neatly fenced, chiefly with hedge and wire, while the
homestead is subdivided into nine lots for the stock, of which he feeds
quite a number, making a specialty of hogs and cattle, though he also owns
some good horses.
Mr. Broden is the son of Andrew and Christina Broden, who were residents of
the county of Bollnas in the northwestern part of Sweden, where their son,
our subject, was born, on the 24th of June, 1830. He was reared in the faith
of the Lutheran Church, to which organization his parents adhered, and
likewise their progenitors as far as known.
In 1853, Andrew determined to emigrate to America. Accordingly in the fall
of that year he set sail from the harbor of Christiana, the capital of
Sweden, on a sailing vessel, which soon became disabled and drifted by the
wind, while the crew gazed helplessly around, unable to manage or guide it.
After a time, it floated to the vicinity of Londonderry, Ireland, where
passengers were transferred to a steamer which conveyed them to Liverpool,
whence they took passage by packet ship for New York. In that city they
landed in safety, and our subject then proceeded to Victoria, Illinois,
where he arrived eighteen weeks after he had embarked at Christiana. Upon
his arrival his worldly possession consisted of only $1, which amount he
owed to a man who accompanied him.
Our subject experienced little or no difficulty in securing labor on a farm,
where he worked by the day for a short period, and afterward was employed by
a railroad in Illinois; in Iowa he engaged until the spring of 1854 in
chopping wood. Returning to Illinois he was again a railroad employee during
the summer months, and in the winter was a teamster and drove a coal wagon.
The summer of 1855 found him employed on a farm, while his varied fortunes
led him the ensuing year to labor in a coal mine.
In the spring of 1859 our subject started out with a party of men for Pike's
Peak, but only proceeded as far as Ft. Kearney, Nebraska; then turning
backward they stopped for a time in St. Joseph, Missouri, where Mr. Broden
worked on a farm until the following autumn. He did not, however, remain in
the West but retraced his steps to his former home in Illinois, where he was
a miner until 1862.
In the meantime, the great national conflict was exciting popular feeling,
and even foreigners joined in the warfare with an enthusiasm and
determination second not even to that felt by native-born citizens. Sharing
the excitement of the day, Mr. Broden, August 14, 1962, enlisted in Company
I, 102nd Illinois Infantry, in which he served two years and a half. When
participating in the Battle of Resaca he was wounded in the right foot by a
gunshot, and on this account was discharged February 7, 1865. After the
cessation of hostilities, he returned to Knox County, Illinois, which was
his home until June, 1869. Not being entirely satisfied with prospects in
Illinois, he determined to seek a home in the growing West, and accordingly,
in that year, he came to Kansas and homesteaded eighty acres of his present
farm, and later gained possession of another 80-acre tract of land on his
soldier right. He has since purchased 160 additional acres, so that he now
owns 320 acres in this farm, all being fertile and yielding bountiful
harvests to the careful labor of the husbandman.
His first residence was a log cabin, which he bought in Clay Center and
hauled up to his farm, in which he lived for three years; finding it lonely,
however, he persuaded Miss Ann Edling, a native of Sweden to share it with
him. They were united in marriage August 13, 1871, and she has been his
faithful helpmate ever since. Mrs. Broden was a resident of an adjoining
county in Sweden to that in which our subject was reared, and was a member
of the Lutheran Church. A few years after their marriage Mr. Broden built a
frame addition to the log cabin, and this was their home until the summer of
1886. Then feeling the necessity of a more commodious and convenient
residence he erected his present large and attractive home, it being one of
the finest in the township. Their family consists of eight children, namely:
Edward, Anna Albertina, John P. William P. Mattie, Minnie, Mabel and Alex.
All are living and are receiving the benefits of good, practical educations.
They are regular attendants of the Methodist Church and Sunday-school, in
which our subject is one of the Trustees. He has been an efficient member of
the School Board of his district during almost all the period of his
residence here, and politically votes with the Republican party. As a man of
untiring energy, perseverance, benevolence and devotion to his family, Mr.
Broden merits and receives the respect of the entire community.
Contributed by Todd Walter, extracted from the 1890 Portrait and Biographical Album of Washington, Clay, and Riley Counties, Kansas, by Chapman Bros.
