Jansen, Peter (1852-1923)

Mennonite Weekly Review obituary: 1937 Feb 3 p. 3

Birth date: 1852 Mar 21

text of obituary:

PETER JANSEN A LEADER AMONG NEBR. PIONEERS

From Lincoln State Journal

A man who rejected suggestions that he run for governor of the state of Nebraska because he feared that such an office might place him in a position where he would be required to enforce the death penalty, was honored Tuesday in the hall of agriculture. He was the late Peter Jansen of Jefferson county.

C. J. Classen of Omaha eulogized Jansen in a biographic sketch of his life activities, before a large crowd on the early afternoon program. One such Nebraskan son is honored for his contributions to agriculture each year during organized agriculture.

It was Jansen's religious convictions that kept him from accepting the gubernatorial nomination. Being a Mennonite, he adhered strictly to the obedience of the sixth commandment — "Thou shalt not kill." He came from a family which left west Prussia to join the Mennonite colony in south Russia. It was there on March 21, 1852 that Peter Jansen was born.

In reviewing his life's accomplishments, Classen referred to many incidents showing how Mr. Jansen had served his local community and state in various ways. Heading a delegation of friends from New York, he led this group to the west. Eventually Jefferson county land was decided upon, Peter giving as one of his reasons for making the choice his feeling that a state which had perpetuated the name of the great Emancipator in the name of the capital city would be just a little better palace in which to live. For his own family he bought 1,260 acres of land 18 miles west of Beatrice, then a village of probably 50 houses. He paid an average of $3.75 an acre for the land.

"If Peter Jansen had never done anything besides lead these Mennonite colonists to the state of Nebraska, he would be worthy of a niche in the hall of fame, for their industry, their steadiness, their homemaking instincts and ability, as well as their hereditary knowledge of the soil have been beneficient [sic] factors in the building of our commonwealth," declared Classen.

The honored man was a great sheep producer. He had the first field of winter wheat in Jefferson county. One season he fed 25,800 head of sheep.

Despite the fact that in the countries of the old world the Mennonite church has never permitted its members to take an active part in politics, Peter Jansen reasoned that men who failed to do their part in maintaining a good government in the United States were not useful citizens. He took an active interest in politics. He was one of the four delegates at large to the St. Louis convention which nominated McKinley. Never, however, was he an office seeker, since he felt that political influence disappeared as soon as one sought office for personal gain.

Knew Many Presidents

Twice Jansen was elected to the state legislature, once as representative and again as senator. It was later that he refused the offer of nomination for governor, based on his religious convictions. In 1900 President McKinley appointed him one of 12 United States commissioners to the Paris world's fair. Jansen was intimately acquainted with many presidents.

He was one of the commissioners representing Nebraska at the Louisiana Purchase exposition in St. Louis in 1904.

The Mennonite obituary: 1923 Jun 21 p. 4
The Mennonite obituary: 1923 Jun 28 p. 7