Gerhard Berks, 1899 Biography

BERKS

Posted By: David Reineke (email)
Date: 2/23/2007 at 14:46:57

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:

Gerhard Berks

The bearer of this name is a well-known and trustworthy businessman in Halbur. Mr. Berks is the manager of the large lumberyard in that town, which was established in 1881. The storage building, under which the lumber is stored and protected from rain and sun, is almost the largest in the county and is 250 feet long, completely filled with the best and driest building material.

In connection with the lumber business, Mr. Berks also operates a hardware business in a building that is 34 feet wide and 40 feet long. He keeps a complete selection of hardware on hand, as well as the best and most reliable cooking and heating ovens, garden implements, plumbing pipes, stone and bricks. His son, Mr. G. B. Berks, is a hard-working young man who greatly assists his father in the business.

Mr. Gerhard Berks was born on 25 February 1854 in Nettesheim, near Cologne on the Rhine River, and in 1868 he immigrated to the free states of America, where he took up farming in Clayton County, Iowa. In 1876 he came to Carroll County, where he worked at carpentry, and in 1881 he took over management of the lumberyard in Halbur. Mr. Berks has an excellent reputation and enjoys the respect of all his acquaintances.