Mr. & Mrs. John H. Oelke

OELKE, MEYER, MYER, HEYE

Posted By: Judy Moyna (email)
Date: 2/8/2011 at 17:03:15

JOHN H. OELKE AND MARGARETTA MEYER
(By Judy Bender Moyna)

John H. Oelke, b. in Germany, and his wife Margaretta (aka Margaret and Maggie) Meyer (Myer?) came to Clayton County in the 1850s following his brother William who had come to Clayton County in 1851 and his sister Dorothea who had also come to Clayton County, but in 1852. It is believed that another brother accompanied him (or his sister Dorothea)--Franz Heinrich Christian Oelke, a farm laborer b. 16 Dec 1814 in Sumte, Parish of Neuhauss, Lauenberg, Hanover, Germany. Franz died 9 Sept 1864 in Clayton County and is probably buried at Garnavillo.

John and Margaret Oelke were the parents of 13 children: Mary D. b. Aug 1832 in Hanover; Johann Wilhelm Frederick (Fred?) b. 5 Feb 1840, Hanover; George Frederick Christoph b. 12 Nov 1842 Neuhauss, Hanover; Christian b. 24 Feb 1845; Emma (the second child called Emma) b. ca 1849; Bertha Julie Marie Dorthea b. 7 Sept 1854, d. 9 Sept 1858 of lung fever, bd. Garnavillo, Iowa; Henry; four who died young, John, Henry, William, and Minnie, and the first Emma and Louise. The last six were all dead before 1889.

John died at Clayton Center in Oct 1860 according to probate records in the Clayton County Court House. His daughter Mary had married George H. Heye 21 Nov 1856 and the Heyes had moved to Nebraska. His widow and surviving children also moved to Nebraska following the sale of his real estate in Clayton Center.

His widow died in Nebraska and is buried in the Wyuka Cemetery, Nebraska City, Nebraska.
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~This information has been collected by Judy and Jerry Moyna, Elkader, Iowa, from various records. Contact Judy Moyna for more information