GILDNER, Warner

GILDNER, MOCH, BRUNNER, WALKER

Posted By: Sharon R Becker (email)
Date: 12/5/2013 at 05:26:08

BIOGRAPHY - WARNER GILDNER

Warner Gildner, who for twenty-five years has carried on his present farm on section 14, Falls township, Cerro Gordo county, Iowa, was born in upper Canada January 8, 1861. He is a son of Henry and Annie (Moch) Gildner, both born in Hesse-Darmstadt, Germany, in September, 1819. The father died July 7, 1896, and the mother in April, 1895. They were married in Germany and in 1846 emigrated to Canada. They were parents of five children, three of whom are living, namely: Henry, of Nora Springs, Iowa; Elizabeth, wife of John Festel, of Nora Springs; and Warner.

In Germany Henry Gildner was a brewer and distiller, but on locating in Canada took up farming, which he continued there until 1866, then moved to Falls township and purchased eighty acres in section 14, then wild land. He improved the land, erected buildings and lived on it until he retired from active life. At the time of his arrival in Canada, after having spent eleven weeks on the trip, he had almost nothing, but died a successful and well-to-do man.

Warner Gildner was a small child when his parents located in Cerro Gordo county, where he grew up and attended district schools. After his marriage he began farming for himself in section 24, on rented land, but in the spring of 1885 he purchased his present farm, which was at that time unimproved. He carried on this place in connection with the farm he rented until December 1896, then erected a house and settled in it. He has brought about all the improvements and now has a fine farm, with modern equipment and appliances, and the trees it contains were planted by him. He now owns four hundred and twenty acres of land in Falls township, three hundred acres of which he cultivates.

He is prominent in local affairs and for fourteen years has held the office of township trustee. He is a member of the Baptist church at Nora Springs and in politics is a Republican. He stands high in the estimation of his fellows and has a large circle of warm personal friends.

On September 27, 1885, Mr. Gildner married Catherine Brunner, a native of Ontario, Canada, born January 30, 1860, daughter of Jacob and Dorothea (Walker) Brunner. [T]he father born in Germany, March 9, 1831, died October 25, 1905, and the mother, also born in Germany, July 7, 1838, is now residing in Los Angeles, California. They were parents of fifteen children, of whom fourteen are now living.

Mrs. Brunner was brought to Canada in 1834, when three years of age. His wife was eight years old when she was brought to the United State, and after spending one year in New York the moved to Canada, where she grew up and married. Mr. Brunner followed farming in Canada and in 1872 located in Floyd county, Iowa. In 1889 he retired from active life and located in Marble Rock, Iowa, where he died, and his widow removed to California in 1908.

Three children have been born to Mr. Gildner and his wife, namely: Elmer J., at home; Frank H., of Mason City; and Cleo H., at home.

SOURCE: Wheeler, J. H. History of Cerro Gordo County, Iowa. Vol. II. Lewis Pub. Co. Chicago. 1910.

Transcription by Sharon R. Becker, December of 2013