John Bayer, 1899 Biography

BAYER, WEBER, BAEUMLER

Posted By: David Reineke (email)
Date: 3/3/2007 at 18:54:12

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

John Bayer

The bearer of this name was born on 23 March 1842 in Trauschendorf, Royal District of Weiden, Bavaria. He spent the years of his youth in his home village and in Rogenstein, where he attended school. After that he took up the plow and worked on his parents’ farm and other farms until his 28th year. He then immigrated to America and settled near Lake Superior, Michigan, where he worked at various jobs. In June 1871 he made his way to Chicago, where he experienced the Great Fire that almost destroyed all of the city. After the Great Fire, he remained another year in Chicago and then went again to Lake Superior, Michigan, and in April 1874 he made his way to St. Lucas, Iowa, where he purchased 104 acres of land. On 19 May 1874 he married the virtuous Miss Anna Katharina Weber, who was born on 6 February 1851 in Röhl, District of Trier. Mr. Bayer worked his farm very successfully, and in January 1882 he made a trip to Germany to visit his mother-in-law and to see his beautiful homeland once again. He visited his sister and brother in Munich, visited Regensburg, Würzburg, Aschaffenburg, Nuremberg, and the beautiful Father Rhine. In his travels, he stopped in Hesse, Hesse-Darmstadt, and other regions of the old fatherland. On his return trip, he brought along his mother-in-law, brother-in-law, sister-in-law, and his sister’s son, the later Rev. John B. Bäumler, who was then just 14 years old. The young man, who felt within him the calling of the priesthood, worked for about six years with his uncle, Mr. John Bayer as well as on other farms, whereby he saved the means necessary for his later studies. On 24 June 1897, the Rev. Father Bäumler performed his first Holy Mass at St. Mary’s Church in Willey in the presence of his sister, his two uncles, and his aunt.

In 1886 Mr. Bayer traveled to Carroll County in order to see the land here. He then purchased 200 acres of land in Pleasant Valley Township, after which he worked the farm near St. Lucas for another year. He then sold that farm and moved to the little town of Willey in Pleasant Valley Township, where he opened a beer tavern, and in the meantime he rented out his farm in that township. He operated the tavern for four years, and then he totally retired to private life with his dear spouse in order to enjoy the fruits of his hard and profitable work. In 1896 he increased his real estate by purchasing an additional 61 acres of land in Newton Township. Mr. Bayer is a man who is a credit to the German culture, and he is therefore respected by all his acquaintances. May he and his esteemed wife be granted a sunny and pleasant old age.