HERMAN C. WEDEMEYER.
Notwithstanding the fact that Herman C. Wedemeyer is still in the prime of life, he has succeeded in accumulating valuable farm real estate in Audubon county, where he now owns two hundred and thirty-five acres of land, all of which is located in section 14, Audubon township. Having begun with a tract of eighty acres, a farm which was poorly improved, at the time of his marriage, Mr. Wedemeyer has added to his holding from time to time, and now owns one of the best-improved farms in the township.
Herman C. Wedemeyer, who was born on January 8, 1871, in Guthrie county, Iowa, is the son of Jacob and Catherine (Earnest) Wedemeyer, natives of Hanover, Germany, who were married in their native land, and who owned a farm in that country. Herman C. is the only one of the ten children who was born in this country. Of the ten children born to Jacob and Catherine (Earnest) Wedemeyer, only five, Henry, Chris, Anna, Mary and Herman C., are still living. Mary is the only one of the children, except Herman C., who is living in Audubon county. Coming to the United States about 1868 or 1869, the Wedemeyer family settled in Guthrie county, Iowa, where the father purchased a relinquishment. The country was wild and the land was wild, and there were few except Indians for neighbors; the Indians, however, were friendly and they caused no trouble other than their begging. After living in Guthrie county until 1876, the Wedemeyer family came to Audubon county, where they purchased a hundred and sixty acres of land in Audubon township. Jacob Wedemeyer added to this original tract of land at various times until he owned five hundred and twenty acres in Audubon township, and a hundred and seventy-seven acres in Guthrie county. The parents lived in Audubon township until their death.
After having been educated in the common schools of his neighborhood and after living at home until he was grown, Herman C. Wedemeyer purchased eighty acres of land in 1893 at the time of his marriage, and it is upon this tract that he now lives. In the meantime he has added to the farm until he now owns two hundred and thirty-nine acres, all in section 14. Originally the land was in poor condition, and the eighty-acre tract had only a fourteen-by-eighteen-foot house with a shed roof. Mr. Wedemeyer lived in this house for four years, and then built his present large, nine-room home; barns, cribs, granaries and a garage have also been added.
On February 1, 1893, Herman C. Wedemeyer was married in Audubon county to Emma Bireline, who was born on September 19, 1872, in Johnson county, Iowa, and who is the daughter of Fred and JuHa (Michels) Bireline, natives of Germany, who came to the United States at different times, and who were married in this country, either in Johnson county, Iowa, or in Chicago, Illinois. They had seven children, six of whom, Minnie, Mrs. Wedemeyer, Kittie, Fred, George and Anna, are living; Mary is deceased.
Mr. and Mrs. Herman C. Wedemeyer have had two children, Clara, born on November 23, 1893, and Oscar, May 11, 1898; both of these children live at home with their parents.
Mr. and Mrs. Wedemeyer and family are members of the St. John's German Lutheran church, and Mr. Wedemeyer's father was one of the charter members of the congregation and took a very active interest in church affairs. Herman C. Wedemeyer is especially interested in education. A Republican in politics, he has served as school director for several terms, and during his life in Audubon township has done everything possible to raise the educational standard of the public schools. He has done much in behalf of the public weal, and is popular in the neighborhood where he lives.
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Transcribed from History of Audubon County, Iowa Its People, Industries and Institutions With Biographical Sketches of Representative Citizens and Genealogical Records of Many of the Old Families, by H. F. Andrews, editor, Indianapolis: B. F. Bowen & Company, 1915, pp. 755-756.
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