Graber, Jakob K. (1860-1942)

Christlicher Bundesbote obituary: 1942 Jun 23 p. 11

Birth date: 1860 Sep 26

text of obituary:

Jakob K. Graber, Sohn von Peter O. und Freni Göring Graber, ward am 26. Sept. 1860 in Polen geboren, war aber schweizerischer Herkunft. 1874 kam er mit Eltern nach Yankton, S. Dakota. Die 10 Jahre in Dakota auf offener Prairie waren schwer, wo er als junger Mann auf Tagelohn im Leihstall und 4 Jahre am Bau und als Streckenarbeiter an der Chicago, Milwaukee und St. Paul Eisenbahn tätig war. Der belle Schneeglanz auf weiter Flur blendete ihn einst so, daß er 3 Tage im dunkeln Zimmer bleiben mußte um wieder sehen zu können. Im Blizzard von 1885 verlor er einen Bruder und mehrere Freunde. Am 18. Mai 1878 ward er von Aelt. John. Schrag getauft und Glied der Salem Gemeinde. Am 18. Okt. 1883 heiratete er Maria Graber, die, wie er übers Wasser kam. Im März 1884 kamen sie nach Pretty Prairie, Kansas, wo er 57 Jahre wohnte und die Gegend von roher Prairie zu einer fruchtbaren Gegend sich umwandeln sah und dazu mithalf. Sein Leben war ereignisvoll, von Leiden nicht verschont, was Geduld und geistliche Festigkeit erforderte. Heiterer natur, sah er das leben von der besten Seite an, und trug körperliche Verletzungen und Unglück. Er war einer der letzten der Gründer der Pretty Prairie Gemeinden, und auch von denen, die hier zuerst ansiedelten und hier Kinder und Kindeskinder aufwachsen sahen. Er starb plötzlich am Herzschlag am 8. Juni 1942 im Alter von 81 Jahren, 8 M. und 12. Tagen, und hinterläßt 5 Töchter, 4 Söhne, 5 Schwiegersöhne, 4 Schwiegertöchter, 5 Halbbrüder und viele Freunde. Beim Begräbnis dienten die Prediger P. P. Wedel und P. P. Tschetter mit Trostworten.

---

Mennonite Weekly Review obituary: 1942 Jun 18 p. 5

text of obituary:

J. K. Graber

After a very pleasant Sunday, at church in the morning, and walking around in the yard at his home at Pretty Prairie, Kansas, in the afternoon, visiting with his friends and relatives, J. K. Graber was summoned home about midnight Sunday night, June 8, and passed quietly away. He had been a resident at Pretty Prairie for almost sixty years, and was past the 81 year mark at the time of his death.

Funeral services were held June 10, at the Mennonite church, conducted by the Rev. P. P. Tschetter and Rev. P. P. Wedel. Interment was made in the Mennonite church cemetery.

Jacob K. Graber, son of Peter and Freni Goering Graber, was born on September 26, 1860, in Northwestern Poland, of Swiss ancestry. He came with his parents to the United States in 1874, settling near Yankton, S. D., where he experienced the rigors and hardships of frontier life on what was then one vast prairie domain.

The ten years he lived in Dakota Territory, were hard ones, for he worked as a hand laborer, livery stable driver, and helped build two of the early railroads that linked together the towns southeast and northwest from Marion Junction. For [word illegible in newspaper] years, Mr. Graber, as a young man, worked for the Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul Railway, both in building tracks and as a section hand.

The intense reflections of sunshine against vast stretches of snow-covered prairie, often caused snowblindness. At one time he was so severely afflicted that he had to sit for three days in a dark room to regain his sight. During the blizzard of 1885, several of his companions froze to death.

On May 18, 1978, upon confession of his faith, he was baptized by Elder John Schrag, and became a member of the Salem church. Five years later, Oct. 11, 1883, with Rev. Christian Kaufman officiating, he was joined in wedlock to Mary Graber, who like him had crossed the ocean with her parents.

In March, 1884, this couple set out from South Dakota, for Kansas, and settled in Reno County, nine miles east of the present site of Pretty Prairie. In this locality, for 57 years, Mr. Graber shared, with his wife, the physical hardships and trying experiences of pioneer life. She preceeded [sic] him in death April 17, 1941. Together they sought to establish a home in the new land, and to rear their family.

The life of Mr. Graver was eventful and filled with a number of unusual happenings, which resulted in much physical suffering and required considerable spiritual fortitude to endure. He had an unfailing spring of energy, a capacity to look at matters in a broadminded way, a faculty to take life calmly and to make the best of things. The patience with which he bore permanent physical handicaps as a result of a railway accident won for him the admiration of his friends and acquaintances. No doubt he was sustained by his abiding faith in his God. He was essentially a strong man — one of the last surviving founders of the Pretty Prairie Mennonite Church.

Mr. Graber was one of the few left who still knew the picture of this prairie domain as it existed 60 years ago. Much of the land today is already in the hands of the children and grandchildren of the original settlers, only a handful of whom remain, and they are rapidly passing to the exit that marks the end of an epoch.

Death came suddenly, at 12:45 a.m., June 8, 1942, as a result of a heart attack. He had reached the age of 81 years, 8 months, 12 days.

Mr. Graber leaves to mourn nine children. Five daughters and four sons: Frances, Jonas, Emma, Joe, Arthur, Hulda, Lena, Edna and Walter. He is likewise survived by four daughters-inn-law: Elizabeth, Elsie, Marie and Jean, and five sons-in-law: J. J. Kaufman, Ed. Krehbiel, Paul Voran and Arthur Waltner, all of Pretty Prairie, and B. J. Stucky of Hutchinson. Only one full brother remains, John P. O. Graber of Hutchinson, in addition to a half-sister, Mary Stucky of Elyria, and five half- brothers, Andrew, Jonas, Ben and Henry of Pretty Prairie, and Christ of Moundridge. Moreover, he is mourned by twenty-six grandchildren and one great-grandchild, as well as a host of friends in Kansas and South Dakota.