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Looking for information on Peter's children.
Peter GEHLEN. On Saturday, March 22, 1879. Peter Gehlen, aged 60 years 2 months and 22 days.
ASHES TO ASHES
Mr. Gehlen was among the first settlers in LeMars, and contributed largely to its growth. He was known, respected, loved and
revered by a large circle of friends, and when it was whispered that he was dead, a subdued grief touched every heart for every one
felt as if he had lost a personal friend.
Peter Gehlen was born in the city of Olm in the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, January 1, 1819. At the age of 12, he went to Reims,
France, an antique city in the department of Marne, some 25 miles northwest of Chalcus on the Velse, here he spent some fourteen
years of his life, and when about 26 years old returned to his native town and married. Being imbued with great energy, and not
scope enough for his ambition in the overcrowded Fatherland, he set sail with his young wife for America, and in the month of July
1846, landed in the city of New Orleans. Not relishing the climate, he pushed, he pushed north to Saint Louis, where he left his
wife,and set out again northward. He visited Galena and its neighborhood, then went to Dubuque, and finally purchased a farm within
nine miles of that city, in Jackson county. Here he settled with his wife and prospered. Two children were born to him but they
both died as did also his wife - two or three years after his settlement. In 1849 he was married a second time to Miss Mary
Freiman, by Bishop Loras, in the Dubuque Cathedral. Twelve children blessed this union, and nine still live. He devoted himself
assiduously to business and mercantile and milling pursuits. He was among the most honored and prosperous citizens of Jackson
County, and when, upon the completion of the Dubuque and Sioux City R.R., he announced his intention of "going west" there was a
considerable feeling of incredulous surprise. With him, however, to resolved was to act. On the 25th day of March 1870, Mr. Gehlen
arrived at the unnamed station of LeMars, and boldly began the erection of a flour mill, though there were not fifty acres of wheat
within twenty miles of the vacant town site.
Through his influence, direct and indirect, hundreds of hundreds of Luxembourgers have been attracted hither, and to him is our
country indebted for a large number of the thrifty farmers now developing the resources of Plymouth County. He located some twenty
poor families in the neighborhood of Hospers, in Sioux county, and virtually supported them until they were able to support
themselves. Mr. Gehlen was so delicate in his benevolence, that even the recipients of his charity scarcely knew the hand that
protected and fed them. He was regarded as a father by his fellow countrymen in the Northwest, and was ever ready by word and deed
to aid and counsel them.
But is was not only among his own people that he was esteemed. Everybody, without distinction of nationality, respected Peter
Gehlen for the unswerving integrity of his character. His word was as good as his bond, and in business circles, clear cut honesty
characterized all his transactions. He was of a kindly and gentle nature, and wherever he went a genial smile was his greeting. In
politics he was nominally a democrat, yet in local, state and national affairs he exercised a discriminating and manly independence.
He was a devout Catholic. He loved the Church with a depth of tenderness that knew no bounds, and sought to conform his life to its
highest spiritual teachings. When he came to LeMars, his first care was to erect an alter to the Church of his love. He secured
the occasional services of a priest. His house was the temple, his piano served for an altar, and the sacred rites of the Church
were solemnized as fervently in his humble house, as in the grandest Cathedral. Through his energy a plot of several acres was
accrued from the land company in 1870, and the foundation of the present splendid church edifice was laid. He donated eight acres
of land for the cemetery and other purposes, and has contributed with great liberality to the Church he loved so well.
THE FUNERAL
The funeral, which took place last Monday, was the largest ever seen in LeMars. It was a beautiful day. From far and near, the
people poured in to show their last token of respect. It was nearly 11 o'clock when the procession formed. In the lead an acolyte
bore the cross; next came a concourse of children, followed my women. The members of the St. Cecelism Society wearing their
regalia, in number upwards of sixty, formed the immediate escort. Three priests, the Reverend Father Meis of LeMars, Lenahan of
Sioux City and Nemmers of Gilberts Ville, near Waterloo, Iowa, the latter a nephew of the deceased, preceded the hearse, alongside
of which walked the pallbearers, after which came the members of the family in a carriage, followed by citizens in carriages. The
procession was a full half mile in length, and there were fully one thousand persons in it. As the great concourse of people moved
from the Gehlen residence to the church, the choristers chanted the De Profundis and Miserere. The bell of the Catholic church
tolled from the time the funeral cortege started until it arrived at the church. so general and profound was the respect for the
deceased that the bells on the Methodist and Congregationalist churches too sent forth their deep tones of sympathy. 'Tis thus a
noble life and a common humanity stirs the universal soul, makes it forget the arbitrary boundary of creeds, and wakes it to the
recognition of the true worth wherever it is found.
The church and the alter were draped in deep mourning. A Solemn High Mass was celebrated by the priests. Fathers Nemmers and
Lenahan paid a touching tribute to the deceased, the former in German, the latter in English. After the services, the mortal
remains were carried to the cemetery, where Father Meis made some impressive remarks, and all that was mortal of Peter Gehlen
consigned to the earth.
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