Tietje, W.G.

ZELL, GEHRKE

Posted By: BCGS
Date: 1/12/2010 at 17:27:24

W.G. Tietje, operating one hundred and twenty acres of land on section 27, Sumner township, was born in Lake county, Illinois, January 30, 1878, a son of William and Louisa (Zell) Tietje, natives of Germany. The father was born in Hanover, Germany, May 5, 1851, and came to America when he was twenty years of age. He settled in Lake county, Illinois, and worked for a number of years at farm labor, his highest salary being two hundred dollars per year. He afterward bought forty acres of wild land, improving this until 1884, when he settled in Bremer county, purchasing two hundred and forty acres in Sumner township. He afterward added to his holdings from time to time and became eventually an extensive landowner, his farm being improved with three sets of good buildings. This he operated until 1912 and then moved to Sumner, where he has since lived retired.

W.G. Tietje acquired his education in the parochial and district schools of Bremer county and he remained at home until his marriage in 1900. In that year he settled on one hundred and twenty acres of land belonging to his father and this property he has since operated, his well directed labors being rewarded by a gratifying degree of success. There is an excellent set of buildings upon the place and the farm is well managed in every particular, Mr. Tietje keeping abreast of the most modern ideas in farm operation.

On the 15th of November, 1900, Mr. Tietje married Miss Ida Gehrke, a daughter of Ernest Gehrke, a retired farmer of Sumner. They have become the parents of a daughter, Elsie. Mr. Tietje is a member of St. John's Evangelical Lutheran church of Sumner and is known throughout the township as a man of exemplary character, enjoying the confidence and good-will of all who know him.

History of Bremer County, Iowa Vol. II 1914