Frank W. Riesenberg, born December 21, 1856, in Peoria, Illinois, was a successful farmer in Nemaha County, Nebraska, owning 480 acres in Glen Rock Precinct. Moving to Nebraska in 1879, he initially bought and later sold land in the southwestern part of the state. In 1896, he purchased land in Nemaha County, where he established a prosperous farm. Known for his mechanical inventions, Riesenberg’s ingenuity contributed to his success. He married Frances Virginia Peck in 1885 and, after her death, Isabel Tapping Foster in 1898. Riesenberg was active in his community and a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church.
Frank W. Riesenberg, an enterprising and prosperous agriculturist of Nemaha County, Nebraska, where he owns four hundred and eighty acres of choice land in Glen Rock Precinct, with Auburn as his post office and on rural delivery No. 1, has been more or less identified with Nebraska agricultural interests since 1879. That year, he came to this state and bought four hundred and eighty acres in the southwestern part, which twenty years later he sold without profit at ten dollars an acre. He was more fortunate when he decided upon Nemaha County as his location, and on August 27, 1896, he purchased two hundred and forty acres here, paying thirty dollars an acre. He later acquired eighty acres at forty dollars an acre, and his present estate is one of the best in the entire county. He has a two-story frame residence, which he erected in August 1897, and he keeps two tenants on the place. Each year he grows about one hundred acres of corn and fattens a hundred head of hogs, besides raising other livestock, and has one hundred acres in pasture and timber.
Mr. Riesenberg has made his present prosperous condition largely by his own efforts. He was blessed with a mechanical genius, and most of his life has been spent in mechanical pursuits. He has made many inventions, some of which have been profitable from a financial standpoint as well as useful to the world in general, and from these sources he has made the beginning of his prosperity and been enabled to gain the foothold in agricultural interests which he has in Nebraska. He has also been a man of mark in his relations with his fellow citizens and has always displayed sound common sense and a high degree of fairness in his dealings with his fellow men.
Mr. Riesenberg was born in Peoria, Illinois, December 21, 1856. His father, Carl Riesenberg, was born in the Riesenberg Mountains, Germany. The family was noble in its connections. He was by profession a musician and teacher, and later in life was a merchant. He and his family left Germany to locate in Brazil, but in the passage they were thrice wrecked, and after thirteen weeks arrived in New York. He came to Peoria, Illinois, and had a prosperous career during the remainder of his life, retrieving in large measure his early losses. He died in Peoria at the age of about fifty-six. His wife was Josephine Ellsner, who died in 1896, aged seventy-three years. They were the parents of eight children, all born in Germany but two, and only three of these are now living: Mrs. Mary Erion, a widow, of Peoria, with six children; Frank W.; and William, a merchant.
Frank W. Riesenberg was educated in the high school at Peoria, from which he graduated at the age of sixteen. Then he entered the machine shops at Peoria and served three years, and for many years worked in various states at good wages, often carrying on his trade while interested in farming. He has been successful in both departments of activity, and they together with his inventions have brought him a good income for a number of years.
In 1885 Mr. Riesenberg was married at Bainbridge, Nebraska (now known as Huntley), to Miss Frances Virginia Peck, who was born in Xenia, Ohio, and died in 1897, in Auburn, at the age of thirty-three, leaving three children, namely: Walter, at home and in school; Ralph, in the district school; and Frances, aged seven years. On April 14, 1898, Mr. Riesenberg married Miss Isabel Tapping Foster, who was born in Peoria, Illinois, January 8, 1872. Her parents, Benjamin F. and Christiana (Clark) Foster, were both born in Deal, County Kent, England, on April 14, 1829, and April 2, 1833, respectively, and were married April 30, 1856. They were the parents of the following children: Benjamin Franklin Foster, born in 1857, died in Peoria, in 1880, unmarried; Mary Amelia, the wife of John Bryner, of Peoria, is a lady of much ability and especially interested in the International Sunday-school work; Zilla, the wife of Moses T. Stevens, of St. Louis, Missouri, has two children; Edgar Charles Foster, is a manufacturer of strawboard in Peoria; Alfred Lincoln Foster, born January 2, 1866, died August 2, 1868; Amanda Agnes Foster is a bookkeeper and accountant in Peoria; Mrs. Riesenberg is the seventh of the family.
Mrs. Riesenberg was educated in the high schools of Peoria, and was a successful stenographer before her marriage. One child has been born to her and her husband, which happy event occurred May 23, 1903, and the name they have selected for this beautiful baby boy is Benjamin Foster Riesenberg. He is a great favorite in the family, and as a present for his first birthday received from his uncle E. C. Foster twenty-five shares in the strawboard factory. Mr. and Mrs. Riesenberg are both members of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and he has always advocated and voted for Republican principles.
Source: Lewis Publishing Company, A Biographical and Genealogical History of Southeastern Nebraska, 2 volumes, Lewis Publishing Company, 1904.