Did you know when your ancestors came over from Germany, one brother settled in Iowa?

Farmer Gary got a dreamy look on his face. “There’s really good farm land in Iowa.”

For a minute I worried he was planning to load up the wagons and head westward. But Gary’s roots here in southern Indiana are deep.

While Gary’s great-great grandfather Adam Werne Sr. immigrated to southern Indiana, his brother Peter headed to Dubuque with his young family.

Peter and Margarett Bauer Werne had a toddler, Peter, who was born on February 20 of 1852 in Darmstadt, Hesse, Germany. Their emigration took place a year later. Daughter Elizabeth completed their family on April 18, 1858.

The 1860 Census brings us additional facts:

Peter was a farmer. The family had a live-in servant named Emaline. Also, on the line by Peter’s name there’s a check mark indicating he can neither read nor write. I wonder if this is specifically regarding English, as they no doubt still spoke German at home.

By the time the 1880 Census was taken, Peter-the-younger took over the “head of household” listing. Elizabeth kept house and their parents, 58 and 57, lived with them.

The 1880 Agriculture Census tells us more:

On their 40-acre farm, there were 14 acres of meadows and pastures, 10 acres of “old fields,” eight acres of woodland, and the rest was tilled acreage. They had three horses, five milk cows, four head of beef cattle, five calves, 30 hens, and four piggies. Peter produced 14 tons of hay and churned 200 pounds of butter.

By the turn of the century, only the two Peters remained on the farm.

Sadly, Margaret passed away on March 22, 1896. She was 72.

Daughter Elizabeth had married farmer John Hohmann on May 19, 1894. He was a widower, with four young children (two more had already died as toddlers). Together, they had two additional children.

John Hohmann was an apiarist. I had to look that one up (but Gary knew): he was a beekeeper. A “honey farmer’ was how it was listed on John’s death certificate. In tragic irony, his cause of death was diabetic coma.

And so the two Peters, father and son, lived together on their farm. The father was made of stern stuff; he lived to be 88 years old and passed away in 1910.

The end of this tale gets pretty dark, so please turn back if you’re susceptible to cold, hard proof of how crummy life can be.

Here’s the text from a November 13, 1922 newspaper clipping. It’s from the Dubuque Telegraph Herald and each time I read it, it breaks my heart a little more:

Aged Man Turned Over to Welfare Workers

Peter Werne, an aged German, arrested by a railroad special officer Monday night in the yards, was held in the city jail overnight and this morning turned over to the welfare authorities. Werne, quite deaf, hung around the yards, according to the officer’s testimony, and several times came near being struck by passing trains. He occupied the time by picking up bits of coal for fuel.

In answer to questions, Werne told Magistrate Cunningham he has little money in a bank, and that he has no relatives here. The court ordered him taken before proper authorities with a view to inquiring into his status with relation to the necessity of a guardian.

Try as I might, I can’t find a follow-up article about Peter. I found his death certificate though. It states Peter died by suicide five years later, by hanging. No other details were provided. Maybe none are needed.

Peter was laid to rest in Mount Calvary Cemetery in Dubuque, Iowa.

Ruhe in Frieden, Peter.

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