Franz Lonemann, 1899 Biography

LONEMANN, SCHULTE, FEHRING

Posted By: David Reineke (email)
Date: 12/3/2006 at 19:12:45

I translated the following biography from Der Carroll Demokrat, a German-language newspaper published in Carroll, Iowa, between about 1874 and 1920. It was originally published in a special 25th Anniversary Edition of the paper on Friday, 20 September 1899. Information in brackets and notes at the end are my own explanations. It reads as follows:

Franz Lonemann

This man, of whom we bring the following short biography, was born on the 6th of April, 1853 in Lengerich, Province of Hanover. After his school years, he took up farming and worked for nine years on the same farm. In 1872, he immigrated to the free states of North America and moved immediately to Kniest Township, Carroll County, Iowa, where he again worked on a farm. After he had worked there faithfully and hard for four years, he rented a farm in Wheatland Township. In November 1876, he married Miss Adelaid Schulte, and this marriage produced four children: Johann, Bernhard, Maria, and Heinrich, who died, however. His dear wife passed away after 12 years of happy marriage, and on the 17th of September, 1889, he married Miss Helena Fehring, who bore him four children, namely: August, Franz, and Anna, and one child who died at a young age. After five years, Mr. Lonemann moved to a 160-acre farm in Carroll Township, but soon thereafter he was struck another hard blow from fate on the 2nd of January 1895 when again his wife passed away. He then moved to a farm in Wheatland Township, and on the 28th of January 1896, he married Miss Anna A. Fehring, a sister of his last-deceased wife. Two children were the fruits of this marriage, of which the first died at the age of three months, and the last-born was named Josephine. In January of this year, he purchased another 80 acres bordering his farm in Carroll Township, so that he now calls 240 acres there his own, and he plans to move back there next year. Mr. Lonemann and his wife and children are respected people, popular and esteemed among all their acquaintances.