KIFFE, GEORGE. The list of honored pioneer farmers of Blue Earth-county includes the name of George Kiffe whose face was once familiar to the people of his vicinity, but who has now entered into eternal rest. It was during the spring of 1856 that he sought a home in the then undeveloped northwest, concerning whose resources and opportunities he had heard much. For some years before coming here he had lived in Missouri, but on the 8th of April, 1856, he and his young wife left that state and traveled toward the north in a "prairie schooner" containing their worldly effects. When they arrived at Dubuque, Iowa, they found that further travel by wagon was impractical and hence they took passage on a steamboat. On the 19th of May they landed at Mankato and shortly afterward secured a tract of land on which they began farming. The first purchase comprised eighty acres, but this was increased until their landed possessions aggregated large areas, and the widow now owns two hundred acres of valuable land, all the result of their economy, industry and sagacity.
The son of wealthy parents, George Kiffe was born at Borken Wesphalia, Germany, June 16, 1831, and grew to manhood upon the home farm. Upon starting out for himself at the age of twenty years he came to the United States and proceeded from New York westward to Missouri, where he secured employment on a farm near St Charles. While living there he was united in marriage, February 15, 1855, with Gertrude Amptmann, a native of Germany, born September 1, 1834, being the daughter of Casper Amptmann, a prosperous shoemaker of Brattinghaus, her native village. Of her marriage to Mr Kiffe twelve children were born, all but three of whom are yet living. The seven sons and two daughters remain in Blue Earth county, where they are well known and universally honored as worthy citizens. The youngest child, Anna, is her mother's companion and tenderly ministers to her comfort in her declining years. The family left the farm in June of 1896 and moved into Mankato, purchasing a comfortable home on the principal residence street of the city. Here Mr Kiffe spent his last years surrounded by the comforts his industry had rendered possible and here he closed his eyes in death, March 28, 1904. His body was interred in Calvary cemetery after appropriate funeral services under the auspices of the German Catholic church, to which he belonged.
After having taken out naturalization papers as a citizen of the United States, George Kiffe became an ardent supporter of the Democratic party and took a warm interest in its local affairs. For some time he served as town clerk and he also was honored by election as a supervisor of Blue Earth county representing Mankato township. While he was a pronounced Democrat and active in the party, his friends were not limited to men of the same belief. On the contrary, he was popular with all, for his sterling traits of character commanded the confidence and good-will of all. Sharing with him in the general esteem was his wife, who has been spared to the age of more than three score years and ten and retains her faculties unimpaired by time. Her pleasant manner and motherly face win the friendship of all, but especially of the little children near her home, among whom she is a general favorite.
[source: History of Blue Earth County and biographies of its leading citizens, by Thomas Hughes, pub 1909]
KIFFE, GEORGE. The list of honored pioneer farmers of Blue Earth-county includes the name of George Kiffe whose face was once familiar to the people of his vicinity, but who has now entered into eternal rest. It was during the spring of 1856 that he sought a home in the then undeveloped northwest, concerning whose resources and opportunities he had heard much. For some years before coming here he had lived in Missouri, but on the 8th of April, 1856, he and his young wife left that state and traveled toward the north in a "prairie schooner" containing their worldly effects. When they arrived at Dubuque, Iowa, they found that further travel by wagon was impractical and hence they took passage on a steamboat. On the 19th of May they landed at Mankato and shortly afterward secured a tract of land on which they began farming. The first purchase comprised eighty acres, but this was increased until their landed possessions aggregated large areas, and the widow now owns two hundred acres of valuable land, all the result of their economy, industry and sagacity.
The son of wealthy parents, George Kiffe was born at Borken Wesphalia, Germany, June 16, 1831, and grew to manhood upon the home farm. Upon starting out for himself at the age of twenty years he came to the United States and proceeded from New York westward to Missouri, where he secured employment on a farm near St Charles. While living there he was united in marriage, February 15, 1855, with Gertrude Amptmann, a native of Germany, born September 1, 1834, being the daughter of Casper Amptmann, a prosperous shoemaker of Brattinghaus, her native village. Of her marriage to Mr Kiffe twelve children were born, all but three of whom are yet living. The seven sons and two daughters remain in Blue Earth county, where they are well known and universally honored as worthy citizens. The youngest child, Anna, is her mother's companion and tenderly ministers to her comfort in her declining years. The family left the farm in June of 1896 and moved into Mankato, purchasing a comfortable home on the principal residence street of the city. Here Mr Kiffe spent his last years surrounded by the comforts his industry had rendered possible and here he closed his eyes in death, March 28, 1904. His body was interred in Calvary cemetery after appropriate funeral services under the auspices of the German Catholic church, to which he belonged.
After having taken out naturalization papers as a citizen of the United States, George Kiffe became an ardent supporter of the Democratic party and took a warm interest in its local affairs. For some time he served as town clerk and he also was honored by election as a supervisor of Blue Earth county representing Mankato township. While he was a pronounced Democrat and active in the party, his friends were not limited to men of the same belief. On the contrary, he was popular with all, for his sterling traits of character commanded the confidence and good-will of all. Sharing with him in the general esteem was his wife, who has been spared to the age of more than three score years and ten and retains her faculties unimpaired by time. Her pleasant manner and motherly face win the friendship of all, but especially of the little children near her home, among whom she is a general favorite.
[source: History of Blue Earth County and biographies of its leading citizens, by Thomas Hughes, pub 1909]
Gravesite Details
The marker to the right of the monument belonging to his daughter, Elizabeth M Kiffe Deglmam.
Family Members
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Henry "Harry" Kiffe
1857–1940
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Mary Catherine Kiffe
1858–1869
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Caroline Kiffe Curtin
1860–1923
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George Kiffe Jr
1862–1939
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Leo J Kiffe
1864–1932
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Mother Mary Aquina Kiffe
1866–1961
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Barbara Kiffe Hund
1868–1900
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Ferdinand Stephen "Ferd" Kiffe
1872–1926
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Frank Xavier Kiffe
1872–1928
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Elizabeth Marie Kiffe Deglman
1874–1947
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John Francis Kiffe
1877–1947
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Miss Anna "Annie" Kiffe
1879–1933
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Aloysious "Louis" Kiffe
1879–1956
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