The 1870 United States census showed George Kranstable (age 13, born in Ohio) living with his parents Geo. (age 43, born in Prussia, farmer) and Mary (age 34, born in Prussia) in Young America, Minnesota. His other siblings were Mary (age 10, born in Ohio), Caroline (age 9, born in Ohio), Max (age 8, born in Ohio), Rosa (age 6, born in Minnesota), and Lovisa (age 3, born in Minnesota).
The 1880 United States census showed George Kronschnable (age 23, born in Ohio, tinner) living in Fisher, Minnesota.
The 1885 Minnesota census showed George Kronschnable (age 28, born in Ohio) married to Sophia (age 24, born in Iowa) and living in Crookston, Minnesota.
The Fertile State bank, of Fertile, Polk county, with a $25,000 capital stock, has been granted a charter. The stockholders are William H. Matthews, of Ada; Norman Hanson, Haver Sohler, Otto Kankel, Andrew Opheim, Knute J. Sandoig, John Holton, Carl H. Carlson, George Kronschnabel, Stene J. Sandoig, John S. La Due, Ole Tharaldson, Martin I. Haugan, Frank H. Knickerbacker, all of Fertile. It will commence business on May 2. (The Saint Paul Daily Globe, Sunday Morning, May 1, 1892, Volume XIV, Number 132, Page 3)
The 1900 United States census showed George Kronschnabel (age 39, born in July 1860 in Ohio, brick maker) married to Sophie (age 39, born in February 1861 in Iowa) and living in Fertile, Minnesota. Children Alma (age 10, born in July 1889 in Minnesota) and George C. (age 8, born in September 1891 in Minnesota) also lived with the couple.
Fertile – President of the council, George Kronschnabel; councilmen, Andrew Opheim, Brown Duckstad, E. B. Gustafson… (The Minneapolis Journal, Wednesday Evening, March 13, 1901, Page 8)
Textile [Fertile] Brick and Tile company, Textile [Fertile]; capital stock, 50,000; incorporators, George Kronschnabel, Andrew Opheim, Brown Duckstad and Norman Hanson, all of Textile [Fertile]. (The Saint Paul Globe, Wednesday, January 13, 1904, Volume XXVII, Number 13, Page 2)
The 1910 United States census showed George Kronschnabel (age 51, born in Ohio, brickyard manager) married to Soffie (age 48, born in Iowa) and living in Fertile, Minnesota. A daughter, Alma (age 20, born in Minnesota), also lived with the couple.
Page 307. George Kronschnabel. Having been a resident of Polk county for thirty-five years, with the exception of about eighteen months, during which he lived in Winona, Minnesota, and having been in business in Fertile since 1886, and all the time zealous and enterprising in the service of the community in various ways, George Kronschnabel, president of the Fertile Brick and Tile company, has proven himself to be a valuable citizen and a stimulating force for progress among the people of this section, and he is esteemed by them in accordance with the services he has rendered and is still rendering them and his sterling integrity as a man and fidelity and ability as a public official. Mr. Kronschnabel was born in Cleveland, Ohio, June 14, 1857, the son of George and Mary (Klinghorn) Kronschnabel, who moved to Minnesota in 1862 and located in Carver county.
The father died in San Antonio, Texas, in 1903, at the age of seventy-six years. He operated a sawmill for a number of years in Carver county, and his George assisted him in the work. He was educated and grew to manhood in Carver county and there learned the trade of tinsmith. The trade was his regular occupation for about sixteen years, but other and better opportunities opened before him and he was prompt in embracing them and making them serviceable to his advancement. In January, 1880, Mr. Kronschnabel became a resident of Polk county, and in 1886 he opened a hardware store at Fertile. He continued in this line of trade until 1898, since which time he has given his attention wholly to the manufacture of brick and tile and the management of his farm of 160 acres in the vicinity of Fertile, except what has been required by his position as director of the First State Bank of Fertile and as president of the village council,
Page 308. which he also served for a time as treasurer. He was the first president of the council and has occupied that office altogether seven years, filling it with ability and studious attention to the welfare of the community and to its entire satisfaction. In 1897 Mr. Kronschnabel started what is now the tile factory as a sand mold brick plant. In 1900 the business was incorporated with him as president of the company, which he has been ever since, and in 1903 the manufacture of tile and hollow blocks was added to the operations of the factory. It has a capacity of 40,000 brick a day, or 4,000,000 a year. Mr. Kronschnabel is the manager of the business as well as the president of the company. Brown Duckstad is vice president of the company and E. B. Hanson is secretary and treasurer. The industry is a leader in this part of the state and has an extensive and steadily expanding trade. It is admirably managed and enjoys hearty and widespread popularity, which is based wholly on the excellence of its products and the strict integrity which governs the business.
Mr. Kronschnabel is a member of the Order of Odd Fellows and the Workmen of the World. He has been a director of the First State Bank of Fertile from its organization, and has taken an earnest and serviceable interest in every worthy undertaking for the good of his home community. On June 27, 1882, he was united in marriage with Miss Sophia Oehler, a native of Rice county, Minnesota. Four children have been born to them, two of whom died in infancy. The two living are Alma O. and George C. (Compendium of History and Biography of Polk County, Minnesota, Maj. R. I. Holcombe, Historical Editor, William H. Bingham, General Editor, W. H. Bingham & Company, Minneapolis, 1916)
The 1920 United States census showed George Kronschnabel (age 55, born in Ohio) married to Soffie (age 50, born in Iowa) and living in Oakland, California. The couple lived with their son George C. (age 28, born in Minnesota), his wife Claire (age 28, born in California), and their daughter Caro (age 3, born in California).
George Kronschnabel died September 25, 1927, in Polk County, Minnesota.