Bio. of Frederick W. Werner ~ son of William and Elsa Werner
NORTHWESTERN
IOWA
ITS HISTORY AND TRADITION
VOLUMEIII
1804-1926
F. W. WERNER
Although of foreign birth, Frederick W. Werner has spent the greater part of his life in the United States, proving his loyalty to his adopted country by gallant service in its behalf during the dark days of civil strife. He brought to the new world youthful energy, a determined spirit and a self-reliant nature and with these assets has overcome many obstacles, pressing steadily onward to the goal of success. He has lived in Iowa for over sixty years and is one of the venerable citizens of Holstein.
A native of Germany, Mr. Werner was born January 27, 1842, and hisparents,
William and Elsa Werner, were lifelong residents of the fatherland.He has
reached the advanced age of eighty-five years and is the onlysurviving member
of a family of five children.He was educated in theschools of Germany and
in 1865, when a young man of twenty-three, severed hometies, seeking the
broader opportunities for advancement offered by the newworld.The Civil war
was then in progress and he at once offered his aidto the Union.He was
accepted for military duty, becoming a member ofCompany D, Seventy-fifth New
York Volunteer Infantry, and served until the closeof hostilities between the
north and south.He was mustered out atSavannah, Georgia, and returned to
New York, spending a short time in thatstate. In the fall of 1865 he journeyed to the middle west and secured work on a farm in Scott county, Iowa. He lived in that district for sixteen years and in 1881 started for Ida county, and he was four weeks in making the trip.He purchased a farm in section 24, Griggs township, andhis work was carefully planned and systematically conducted. He utilized advanced methods of agriculture, reading everything available on the subject, and eventually transformed his place into one of the model farms of that locality. He resided on the property for twenty-six years and since his retirement has made his home in Holstein, leading a calm, restful and enjoyable life.
In 1868 Mr. Werner married Miss Christina Moeller, also a native ofGermany.
She was born in 1848 and reached the ripe age of sixty-six years,passing
away in 1914.She was the mother of thirteen children, eight ofwhom survive:
Mary, the wife of G. N. Wienert, who is living retired inHolstein; Sophie,
who married Henry Pewe, of McHenry, North Dakota; Chris, whooperates the
home farm; Hans, a resident of North Dakota; Peter, who is engagedin farming
in Ida county; Edward, who now makes his home in Minnesota; Anton,who lives
in North Dakota; and Alma, who is the wife of Albert Schmidt, a wellknown
farmer of Ida county.
Mr. Werner exercises his right of franchise in support of thecandidates of
the republican party, and the only public office which he has everconsented
to fill was that of school director.Modest and retiring bynature, he has
ever avoided the public gaze, but possesses many admirable traits of character, as his fellow citizens attest, and the years have brought him an ever widening circle of loyal, steadfast friends.
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