Encyclopedia Dubuque
"Encyclopedia Dubuque is the online authority for all things Dubuque, written by the people who know the city best.”
Marshall Cohen—researcher and producer, CNN
Affiliated with the Local History Network of the State Historical Society of Iowa, and the Iowa Museum Association.
KAUFMANN, Nicholas
KAUFMANN, Nicholas. (Grand Duchy of Luxemburg, Aug. 13, 1836--Dubuque, IA, May 5, 1908). Kaufmann attended German school until the age of fourteen and then traveled to France. He learned the carpenter's trade and served a seven year apprenticeship. Looking for new opportunity, he sailed to the United States in 1860.
He settled in Dubuque and worked for the ILLINOIS CENTRAL RAILROAD for twenty-one years building depots and bridges. He then took a contract for the construction of the Wurtemburg Seminary. This established him as one of the premier contractors of the day.
Kaufmann was an organizer and founder of the Luxemburger Gazette, a pioneering German Catholic newspaper of Dubuque. He was active in ST. MARY'S CATHOLIC CHURCH and several German benevolent societies.
---
Source:
Portrait and Biographical Record of Dubuque, Jones and Clayton Counties, Iowa. Chicago: Chapman Publishing Company, 1894, p. 262