Bernhard Bernholz, 1899 Biography

BERNHOLZ, EKRE

Posted By: David Reineke (email)
Date: 3/11/2007 at 19:04:53

I translated the following biography from Der Carroll Demokrat, a German-language newspaper published in Carroll, Iowa, between about 1874 and 1920. It was originally published in a special 25th Anniversary Edition of the paper on Friday, 20 September 1899. Words in quotations are original. Any information in brackets or notes at the end are my own explanations. It reads as follows:

Bernhard Bernholz

When the conversation is about pioneers of Carroll County, Mr. Bernhard Bernholz must also be mentioned because he has lived since 1873 in Sheridan Township, where he transformed the virgin prairie soil into a blossoming cornfield. Mr. Bernholz was born on 24 December 1822 in Bonenburg, County of Warburg, Westphalia. After successfully completing school, he became a farmer and worked with his father on his parents’ farm until 1845. He then had to become a soldier, and he was honorably discharged after four years of service. In 1850 Mr. Bernholz immigrated to America, settling first in Pennsylvania, then moving to Illinois, and then to Scott County, Iowa. At the beginning of the 1860s, he married the respected Miss Dorothea Ekre, who was born in Mecklenburg, Germany. In 1873 the couple moved to Sheridan Township, Carroll County, where Mr. Bernholz purchased 200 acres of prairie. And still today, the old couple lives on this old homestead, which over time has been equipped with good buildings, and they are respected and esteemed by everyone.