"An Illustrated History of Skagit and Snohomish Counties."  Interstate
Publishing Company, 1906.  p. 715.
 
JESS H. KNUTZEN

     the prominent merchant, farmer and creamery man of Burlington, was born in
1850, in Schleswig, Germany, the birthplace of his parents, Hans C. and Annie
(Peterson) Knutzen. His father, a manufacturer of brick, was born in 1807, and
continued to reside in the old country until his death in 1884. His mother was
born in 1816, and after a lifetime of devotion to husband and family of seven
children, died in 1886. Leaving home at the age of fifteen to become a sailor,
Jesse H. Knutzen spent seven years on the sea, receiving frequent promotions
until he was at last captain of the vessel. He then decided to find a home in
the United States, and came first to Chicago, where he worked at whatever he
could find to do for the first year, then went to Buena Vista county, Iowa.
Employed on a farm the first year, he then purchased one hundred and sixty acres
of land which he farmed for twelve years. During that time he became the owner
of a second farm comprising one hundred and twenty acres. Disposing of all his
property, he came to Washington in 1891, first settling in Fidalgo, and later on
Olympia Marsh, there renting a farm. The first season he put in twenty-five
acres of oats, increasing the acreage to one hundred and fifty the second year.
The first two years the crop was a partial failure owing to its tardy maturity
and the frequent rains. The third Fear he rented another farm, of one hundred
and sixty acres, entirely covered with brush. Purchasing a mowing machine, which
he used to cut down the brush, he cleared the entire farm in the course of a
year. In the fall of 1895 his barn, containing five head of horses and one cow,
was destroyed by fire, also five thousand sacks of grain just thrashed. The
flood of the following year, so well remembered by the inhabitants of that part
of the state, caused him the loss of three thousand sacks of grain. Meeting this
accumulation of reverses with the uncomplaining fortitude so characteristic of
the man, Mr. Knutzen toiled on, and in 1898 bought one hundred and sixty acres.
Two years later he opened a creamery on Olympia Marsh, which was destroyed by
fire July 24, 1905. He opened his present store in 1901.
     In 1873 Mr. Knutzen and Mattie Hanson were united in marriage at the old
home, where both had been born. Her parents were Hans F. and Annie K. Peterson,
also natives of Schleswig, Germany. The father, born in 1809, died in 1854. The
date of the mother's birth was 1811, that of her death 1883. Mr. and Mrs.
Knutzen have seven children, as follows: Chris, born in 1874; Hans F., born in
1875; Alfred P., born in 1876; William G., born in 1878; George F., born in 1880
; Edward H., born in 1882, and Harry S., born in 1887, all of them claiming Iowa
as their native state. The youngest son, a graduate of Anacortes Business
college, is now in the postoffice at Burlington. Mr. Knutzen is a loyal member
of the Republican party. For five years he was dike commissioner, an office
which he filled with great credit to himself. He has also given his services to
the educational matters of the community, serving for some time on the school
board. He and his family attend the Lutheran church. The entire family being
interested in the business, Mr. Knutzen and his sons farm one thousand acres,
six hundred devoted to oats, the remainder to hay. They have an immense dairy,
consisting of two hundred head of cattle, owning also thirty draft horses, forty
sheep and one hundred Poland-China hogs. Mr. Knutzen owns the store, creamery
and three hundred and twenty acres of land, which yield him a large annual
income. A successful agriculturist, a capable and honorable business man. Mr.
Knutzen holds an enviable position in the community.

     
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Submitted to the Washington Biographies Project in October 2008 by Diana Smith.
Submitter has no additional information about the person(s) or family mentioned
above.