|
BREMEN TOWNSHIP
Page 319
Township 89, range 3, was created and named Bremen, September 29, 1857. George W.
Harper, constable, posted the notices for an election, which was held at the house of Franz Shulz,
May 3, 1858. The first officers were: Trustees,
Joseph Lechtenburg, Anthony
Lippert, August Wander; clerk, Clemens Bockenstedt;
justice of the peace, Francis Rubly.
Bremen lies in the second tier of townships from
the north and is bounded on the east by Dubuque County, on the south by North
Fork, west by Oneida and north by Colony townships.
In parts of this township the soil is quite
thin, rock ledges projecting near the surface. Sands presenting a type of soil
not very desirable are found in the gentle slopes of the low hills, but the
low lands are free from sand and are covered with a heavy black loam.
Bear Creek flows southward through sections 2
and 10. Plum Creek, the largest affluent of the Maquoketa, drains the
northwestern portion of the township. This community is well settled,
principally by Germans, and it is needless to say, the land is under a high
state of cultivation and produces crops in such abundance that the people are
prosperous and contented.
John Flinn is credited with being the first person to
enter the township and take up a permanent residence. This occurred, as near
as can be reckoned, in the fall of 1837,
or spring of 1838. He located near the center of the township, on Bear Creek.
He was the only inhabitant of the community for quite a while and then came the Bockenstedts, Clemens, who was the township's
first clerk, and his six brothers.
Herman Duthman located here in 1845, but died in a
few months thereafter.
His estate was one of the first to come under control of the Probate Court.
The
widow, Caroline Duthman, and Henry Hohenkamp, were appointed administrators
of the estate, and A. J. Scroggy, F. Rohenkokle and Barnard
Satmire, appraisers.
Among the earliest settlers in Bremen Township
was Adam Hildebrand and family, who immigrated from Germany in the spring of
1845 and coming West, located on section 14. Among the children was George
Hildebrand, now a resident of Petersburg.
When the Hildebrands arrived here they found
George Kropfer and family already settled on
section 14. Near by was Joseph
Stengel and family and on
section 13, Michael Stickel and family were
beginning to secure a foothold.
James Le Gassick died suddenly at his home in
Bremen Township in 1903.
He was born in London and came with his parents to the United States in 1841.
In 1852 the family removed from Cook County, Illinois, to Bremen Township.
Mr. Le Gassick was one of the prominent and
popular men of Bremen, having served in
various official positions with marked integrity. During the progress of the
contention for the removal of the county seat, he was a member of the board of
supervisors, a position he had held at that time for nine years, and the year
before his death he was again chosen to membership in that body.
James Hunt, a
native of England, found his way to Delaware County in 1857 and located in
this township in section 32. As the years rolled by Mr. Hunt accumulated large
tracts of land, until at one time he was the owner of 1,600 acres in Bremen,
Oneida and Delhi townships. He was also a large dealer in live stock. Among
his children were Robert, George, Allen, William and James Hunt, not counting
the girls.
Frederick Rubly left his native State of Pennsylvania in
1847 and settled in Iowa. In 1858 he located in this township and in 1872 in
Petersburg, where he became a general merchant, entering into partnership with
his brother, John.
PETERSBURG
Page 320
Petersburg is
a hamlet lying on section 4, in Bremen Township, where a
postoffice was established March 7, 1874. Barney
Sassen was appointed postmaster and he kept the office in a little
store, which he opened in 1873.
At the present
time there are two general stores in Petersburg, a Catholic church, parochial
school and a hall. The community is essentially German, as is also the general
population of the township. The postoffice long
ago was discontinued.
The settlers
of this locality, most of whom are members of the Catholic Church, attended
religious services at Louvain
and then at Dyersville. Then Sts. Peter and Paul parish was organized and in
1874 the first church building was erected, under the pastorate of Father John
B. Weikman. The building committee was composed of Adolf Amenn, H. Bohnenkamp, Clemens Fraley and Theodore Alldoff. The church was completed and dedicated in
1874. In 1905, one of the finest structures in the State of Iowa was erected
by this parish — the Church of Sts. Peter and Paul. It is constructed of stone,
has two high steeples, has magnificent interior embellishments and
appointments and cost about eighty-five thousand dollars. In connection with
the church is a large graded parochial school, which is attended by pupils
living in the neighborhood and several miles distant.
|
