Theodore Berns became the
owner of the fine old homestead on which he was born,
in Jefferson township, and long held precedence as
one of the representative agriculturists and
stock-growers of his native county. He still retains
possession of his fine landed estate, but since 1910
he has lived virtually retired in the little city of
Guttenberg, where he erected a fine brick residence
which has since been his place of abode and which is
one of the most modern and attractive homes in this
part of the county.
Mr. Berns was born in
Jefferson township on the 6th of November, 1860, and
is a son of Theodore and Mary Berns, who were born in
Prussia and who became sterling pioneers of Clayton
county, Iowa, where they continued to reside on their
old homestead farm until their death, both having
been zealous communicants of the Catholic church and
the father having been a staunch supporter of the
cause of the Democratic party. Theodore Berns was
reared and educated in his native land and came to
the United States and to Clayton county, Iowa, about
the year 1845. He purchased a small tract of land in
Jefferson township and by his indefatigable energy
and excellent business ability he achieved
substantial success, as indicated in his accumulation
of one of the large and valuable landed estates of
Jefferson township. Of the children the eldest two,
Herman and Peter, now reside at Garnavillo, this
county; Mary is deceased; Theodore, Jr., of this
review, was the fourth child; Joseph resides at
National, this county; Henry is a substantial farmer
of Jefferson township; and Yetta is deceased.
Theodore Berns, Jr., was
favored in having the advantages not only of the
district schools of Jefferson township but also those
of the excellent Catholic parochial schools at
Guttenberg. His entire active career was marked by
close association with the work and management of the
old homestead farm upon which he was born and into
the ownership of which he came when he was about 14
years of age, by purchasing the interests of the
other heirs. This fine rural domain comprises seven
hundred and ten acres and is one of the more
extensive and valuable farm properties of Clayton
county, with permanent improvements of an order that
mark it as a veritable model. While on the farm Mr.
Berns gave special attention to the raising of
high-grade live stock, including Shorthorn cattle and
Poland-China swine. He was known for his distinctive
energy, progressiveness and good judgment and made
himself known as one of the representative
agriculturists and stock-growers of this section of
the Hawkeye state, the while his well ordered
enterprise gained to him large and substantial
prosperity. He has always taken loyal interest in
community affairs of a public order, is a staunch
supporter of the cause of the Democratic party but he
has never been deflected from his course by aught of
ambition for political office.
Both he and his wife are
communicants of the Catholic church, as was also his
first wife, and he is affiliated with the Knights of
Columbus, as a member of a splendid lodge in the city
of Dubuque. April 16, 1887, recorded the marriage of
Mr. Bern to Miss Mary Lueck, daughter of Henry and
Mary Lueck, of Guttenberg, and she survived her
marriage by only four years, as she passed to the
life eternal on the 8th of October, 1891. Mary, the
one child of this marriage, is now the wife of John
Hoeger, of Jefferson township. On the 16th of
February, 1894, was solemnized the marriage of Mr.
Berns to Miss Clara Lueck, daughter of Benjamin
Lueck, of New Union, Iowa, and of the six children of
this union all remain at the parental home except the
youngest, Elizabeth, who died in childhood. The names
of the children of
the attractive home circle are here designated in
respective order of birth; Edward, Hilda, Raymond,
Melania and Eugenia
source: History of
Clayton County, Iowa; From The Earliest Historical
Times Down to the Present; by Realto E. Price,
Vol. II; pg. 45-47
-OCR scanned by S. Ferrall
