John Heider, 1899 Biography

HEIDER, WAHL

Posted By: David Reineke (email)
Date: 12/9/2006 at 18:25:32

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. Any information in brackets or notes at the end are my own explanations. It reads as follows:

John Heider

With pleasure, the Anniversary Edition presents the biography of this man who, although he is known as a German-American, enjoys the respect of the respect of all the citizens. Mr. John Heider was born in La Salle County, Illinois on 25 March 1851 to honest and Christian parents who give their little John a good upbringing. At first, he attended the public schools, then a parish school, and after he had received First Holy Communion, he took up farming and assisted his father in operating the family farm, where he remained until his 19th year.

Feeling the urge to see something of the world, he visited the western states such as Iowa, Nebraska, and Colorado, where he mainly worked on cattle ranches.

In 1872, he received a report that his father was ill, and he immediately made his way home. Just a month after Mr. Heider’s arrival in La Salle County, his good father passed away on 26 March 1872, after which he stayed home for a time and worked the farm for his mother.

On 12 October 1875, Mr. Heider married the respectable and well-brought-up Miss Maria Amelia Wahl, and the young couple then rented a farm in La Salle County, Illinois. After they had lived on this farm for five years, the young woman’s father died, and then Mr. Heifer worked his wife’s family farm, where they lived another two years. During this time, in 1880, they purchased a 160-acre farm in Washington Township, Carroll County, Iowa. They later purchased another 120 acres in the same Township, but they lived for nine years on the farm they had initially purchased. The couple then sold both farms in Washington Township and acquired a 215-acre parcel in Eden Township. In 1896, they expanded their real estate by purchasing 320 acres in Viola Township, Audubon County, so that their real estate now consists of 535 acres of the finest land. Mr. Heider is among the most intelligent of farmers and has risen from the bottom up through hard work, thriftiness, and good judgment.

This happy marriage has produced six children. Their names are: Johann, Heinrich, Margaretha, Maria, Francis, and Joseph. The children are all at home with their parents, except for the oldest, a young, very promising man, who lives in Duluth, where he has a position as bookkeeper with the Duluth Brewing Company.