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John
Werkmeister is actively engaged in business at
Earlville as the proprietor of a furniture and
undertaking establishment and has won merited success
in this connection. His birth occurred in Dubuque,
Dubuque county, Iowa, on the 25th of April, 1864, his
parents being Finton and Juditha (Weber) Werkmeister,
both of who are natives of Baden, Germany. Following
their emigration to the United States they settled
first in New York City, where the father worked at
his trade of wood carving and designing for eight
years. On the expiration of that period he removed to
Dubuque, Iowa, and about 1859 took up his abode in
St. Louis, Missouri, where the family home was
maintained for a short time. Subsequently he returned
to Dubuque and in 1872 came to Delaware county,
spending the remainder of his life at Earlville,
where his demise occurred in 1908. The period of his
residence in this community covered more than a third
of a century and he had gained many friends here who
sincerely mourned his loss. His wife was called to
her final rest in the year 1903. To them were born
eleven children, five of whom still survive.
John Werkmeister, who was a lad of eight years when
he came to this county with his parents, acquired his
education in the common schools and prepared for his
business career by pursuing a course in embalming,
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graduated in 882. He took out his license in 1897 and has since
been continuously engaged in business as a furniture dealer and undertaker of
Earlville, conducting his establishment in a manner that insures his growing
success. He owns a tract of land in Oregon and also his store and a number of
lots in Earlville, where he lives at home with his sisters.
In
politics Mr. Werkmeister is a stanch republican and his fellow townsmen,
recognizing his worth and ability, have called him to positions of public trust.
He served as secretary of the school board for eighteen years, was a member of
the council for a period of sixteen years and for four years acted as mayor of
Earlville, giving the town a progressive, beneficial and business like
administration. Fraternally he is identified with the Knights of Pythias. He has
lived in Delaware county for more than four decades and has won and maintained
an enviable reputation as one of its representative business men and valued
citizen.
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