Henry Garloff Family

GARLOFF, ISERHOUT, SIEMERS, POOLEY, DETTMAN

Posted By: Volunteer Transcriber
Date: 3/6/2007 at 21:24:47

Henry Garloff Family

Henry Garloff and Emma (Iserhout) Garloff were married in 1900. Henry was a farmer and operated a threshing machine.

There were ten children in the family, Wilma and Paul died in infancy; John, Round Lake, Minnesota; Herman, Lake Park; Ervin, Lake Park; Arnold, Abbotsford, Wisconsin; Harry, Spirit Lake; and Norma, Lake Park, are deceased. Leona (Mrs. Hans Siemers) lives at Harris, and Evelyn (Mrs. William Pooley) lives at Boise, Idaho.

Henry Garloff came to America from Germany, when he was about 12 years old. His father died on the way and was buried at sea. His mother later married John Dettman and they lived in the area of Clarence, Iowa. Emma also came from Germany with her parents from Rehna Mechlenburg Schwerin. Emma’s mother died at the age of 36 years so she and one sister and three brothers were raised in different homes.

Henry and Emma were married and lived in Clarence. During this time several children were born and attended school there until they moved to farms near Big Rock and Lowden. After that they all attended country schools and when the boys finished the eighth grade they had to help at home. The older ones worked out. In 1928, the family moved to the Harris community bringing their possessions in cars and an international truck. Two of the boys came on the train with the livestock to get them fed and watered during the trip. The family dog got loose somehow and was lost along the way.

When they got to Harris the three girls, who were the youngest, were taken to Rudolph Zierke's where Bob Crist Jr. now lives. Henry had gotten acquainted with Paul Zierke and others when he was up earlier to do fall plowing. When the livestock arrived the family drove them to the farm south of Harris, where Grant Gilmore now lives. Henry also farmed where Hans and Leona Siemers now live, as well as Hope and Verl Graham’s farm. The girls went to the Harris school which seemed pretty big to them at the time compared to the country schools, and to be picked up by a bus. Sometimes it was a sled pulled by a team of horses and needless to say there were times it upset when going over the snowdrifts, dumping everyone out from under their blankets.