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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
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 factors in the building of our commonwealth," declared Classen.
The Mennonite obituary: 1923 Jun 21 p. 4
The Mennonite obituary: 1923 Jun 28 p. 7
