Biography of Nicholas Dietzen, pages 906/907.  History of DeKalb 
County, Indiana; B. F. Bowen & Company, Inc., Indianapolis, 1914.



Nicholas Dietzen



	Among the leading farmers and stock raisers of Smithfield 
township is the gentleman whose name appears above.  He also hods 
worthy prestige as a citizen and is a creditable representative of that 
large and eminently respectable class of people who by deeds rather 
than words give stability to the body politic and by their influence 
honor the communities in which they reside.

Nicholas Dietzen, whose fine farm in Smithfield township reflects 
credit upon its owner, was born on September 18,1863, in Lorain county, 
Ohio, and is the son of Nicholas, Sr., and Mary (Behr) Dietzen, both of 
whom were foreign-born, the father a native of Prussia and the mother 
born in Dutch Bremen, Germany.  The subject’s father was about twenty-
three years of age when he emigrated to the United States, prior to 
which time he had been for three years a soldier in the German army.  
After his arrival in America he located at Cleveland, where he remained 
until his marriage to Mary Behr, who had come to this country with her 
parents some time before.  After their marriage they moved to Lorain 
county, Ohio, where their son, the subject of this sketch, was born, 
and when the latter was about six months old they moved to Henry 
county, Ohio, locating about ten miles south of Napoleon, where they 
remained until the father’s death, which occurred about 1897.  On the 
Henry county farm the subject of this sketch was reared to manhood and 
received his education in the public schools of that district. From the 
age of twenty-one years he rented his father’s place, to the 
cultivation of which he devoted his attention and after his father’s 
death be bought out the interests of the other heirs in the home farm, 
thus becoming the owner of fifty acres of land.   In February, 1903, he 
sold that place and, coming to DeKalb county, Indiana, bought one 
hundred and fifteen and three-quarters acres on the line between 
Franklin and Smithfield townships, to the cultivation of which he has 
devoted his attention continuously since with the most pronounced 
results.  He has made many permanent and substantial improvements on 
this farm, including the erection of a substantial bank barn and a neat 
and attractive residence, and in other ways has developed the farm 
according to up-to-date methods and ideas.  He is and industrious, 
energetic and progressive farmer, giving his attention to general 
agriculture rather than to any special line and, but dint of 
persevering industry and indomitable energy, he has accomplished very 
definite results, his farm being today numbered among the best in the 
northern part of the county.

	On October 7, 1894, Mr. Dietzen was married to Selina Schortgen, 
who was born in Luxemberg, Germany, on July 10, 1872, and who in 1886, 
at the age of fifteen years, came to the United States with her mother, 
Margaret Schortgen, the father, Charles Schortgen, having come to this 
country about two months before.  His death occurred in Henry county, 
Ohio, in 1895, and his widow now makes her home with Mr. and Mrs. 
Dietzen. To the latter have been born four children, Leo, Mildred, 
Irene and Helen, the latter lost her life by an explosion of kerosene 
oil in August, 1913.

	Religiously, Mr. Dietzen and the members of his family belong to 
St. Micheal’s Catholic church, one of the strongest organizations of 
this denomination in the county, and they take a commendable interest 
in the prosperity of the mother church. In every respect they are 
desirable citizens and have ever given their support to every 
enterprise looking to the advancement of the best interests of the 
community, and because of their sterling qualities of character, their 
close attention to their home affairs and their personal qualities, 
they enjoy a large acquaintance and many warm friendships in their 
community.



Submitted by:

Arlene Goodwin

Auburn, Indiana

Agoodwin@ctlnet.com