Joseph Schröer, 1899 Biography

SCHRÖER, NIEMANN, RETTIG, HAGEN

Posted By: David Reineke (email)
Date: 1/7/2006 at 16:30:29

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:

Joseph Schröer

Mr. Schröer was born in Alte-Geseke, Westphalia, on the 16th of July 1840. He was a child of three years when his parents emigrated to America. They settled first in New Orleans, after a year they moved to St. Louis, Missouri, then to Galena, Illinois, from there to Nauvoo, Illinois, and then to Quincy, where as a boy Mr. Schröer attended school. From Quincy, his parents moved to Bellevue, and from there to Lyons, Iowa, where the father opened a wholesale business in beer and liquor and ran a tavern. Then they moved to Savannah, Illinois, where the parents bought a farm and engaged in farming with their son Joseph. On the 11th of June 1861, Joseph married Miss Anna Elisabeth Niemann. After his worthy parents had closed their weary eyes, Mr. Joseph Schröer moved to Arcadia Township, Carroll County, Iowa, where he initially purchased 80 acres of land. He later purchased an additional 80 acres, then another 160 acres, so that he now calls 320 acres of the finest land his own, and it is equipped with good buildings and a fine residence. Mr. Schröer is a very respected German who is esteemed by all his acquaintances. Unfortunately, on the 20th of January 1899, Mr. Schröer’s dear wife died of consumption, a very hard blow for the husband as well as the children. This happy marriage produced eight children, three of whom preceded their mother into the better hereafter. The names of the children still living are: Rudolph; Joseph; Maria, Mrs. Anton Rettig; Elisabeth, Mrs. Engelbert Hagen; and Margaretha, who, along with her brother Joseph, still lives with her father.