Jakob der Letzte

Jakob der Letzte, a novel by P. Rosegger, published in 1888. Jakob Steinreuter lives on the ancestral farm in the parish of Altenmoos, which is gradually bought up by a wealthy man who turns it into a sporting estate. The farmers sell out one after another, but Steinreuter stands firm. His wife dies, his elder son disappears, the younger is killed in war, his daughter and her husband are ruined, but he stands his ground and refuses to give way to persistent minor persecution. In the end he hears from his elder son, who now has a prosperous farm in Oregon. But Steinreuter stays in Altenmoos; having shot the gamekeeper, he drowns himself.