Brown County MN Archives Biographies.....Baer, Edward W. 1861 - 
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Joy Fisher http://www.genrecords.net/emailregistry/vols/00001.html#0000031 November 24, 2014, 11:11 pm

Source: See Below
Author: L. A. Fritsche

EDWARD W. BAER.

    Edward W. Baer, well-known dealer in hardware at New Ulm, who also for years
has conducted a general tinsmithing establishment in connection with his store,
is a native son of New Ulm, having been born there on July 28, 1861, son of
Joseph and Barbara (Hitz) Baer, early settlers there, the former a native of
Germany and the latter of Switzerland, for years well-known residents of that
city, the former of whom died in 1905, he then being seventy-eight years of age,
and the latter of whom is still living.

    Joseph Baer was born in Baden, where he grew to manhood, served his time in
the army and married. He was a stone-mason by trade and an excellent craftsman
in that line. In 1856 he and his wife and his parents came to the United States
and located at Williamsport, New York, where the elder Baers spent the remainder
of their lives. In 1858, attracted by the good word received in the East from
the German colonists who had settled in this section of Minnesota, Joseph Baer
and his wife came to this state and settled at New Ulm, where he at once found
ample opportunities for profitable employment at his trade and he and his wife
became active and useful members of the pioneer settlement. Mrs. Baer's parents
also left Germany and came to the United States, locating at Chicago, where they
lived until the late seventies, when they moved to New Ulm, where they spent the
remainder of their lives. Grandfather Hitz was a blacksmith and was past ninety
years of age when he died. His wife was killed by a cow when she was about
seventy-five years old. They were the parents of six children, of whom Mrs. Baer
is the eldest, the others being Paulina, Josephine, Frances, Joseph and Charles.
Joseph Baer and wife were devout Catholics and were active in the work of the
early parish at New Ulm. They went through the troublous times of the Indian
uprising in 1862 safely and did well their part in the work of developing the
settlement. Joseph Baer was a vigorous man and remained active at his useful
trade for many years. His death occurred in 1905 and his widow is still living
at New Ulm. They were the parents of eight children, as follow: Adolph, of
Minneapolis; Sophia, wife of John Gabriel, of St. Paul; Edward W., the immediate
subject of this biographical sketch; Ida, wife of Athanasius Henle, of New Ulm;
Emily, wife of George Graff, of Ivanhoe, this state; Lena, wife of Charles
Leonhardt, of New Ulm; Frances, who died at the age of eighteen years, and Paul,
deceased.

     Edward W. Baer was reared in New Ulm, the city of his birth, and has lived
there all his life. He attended both the parochial and the public schools and
when thirteen years of age began learning the tinner's trade, presently becoming
a most competent and skillful craftsman in that line. In 1888 Mr. Baer married
and went into business for himself as a tinsmith and dealer in hardware. Three
years later he admitted Otto Seiter into partnership with him in the business
and this arrangement continued for a year, at the end of which time Air. Baer
sold his interest in the business and resumed work at his trade as a tinsmith.
Four years later he formed a partnership with his brother-in-law, Louis Ochs,
under the firm name of Ochs & Baer, and for eighteen years this firm was engaged
in the general hardware and tinsmithing business. In 1914 the partnership was
dissolved, Mr. Baer retaining the business, which he still is quite successfully
conducting, long having been regarded as one of the leading business men of the
city.

     On April 25,1888, Edward W. Baer was united in marriage to Matilda Ochs,
who was born in New Ulm, daughter of Anton and Volberga (Drexler) Ochs,
prominent pioneers of this community, a further history of whose interesting
family is set out in a biographical sketch relating to Mrs. Baer's brother, J.
Anton Ochs, proprietor of the "Bee Hive" dry goods store at New Ulm, presented
elsewhere in this volume, and to this union four children have been born,
namely: Oscar, who is a druggist at Rochester, this state; Edward, who clerks in
the department store of his uncle, Mr. Ochs; Werner, who clerks in his father's
store, and Florence, who is at home. Mr. and Mrs. Baer are members of the
Catholic church and their children have been reared in that faith. The family
has long been active in the general social life of the community and is held in
high regard by all. Mr. Baer is a member of the Knights of Columbus, of the
Catholic Order of Foresters and of the St. Joseph Society. He is a Democrat and
has ever given a good citizen's attention to local political affairs, but has
never been an aspirant for public office.


Additional Comments:
Extracted from:
HISTORY OF BROWN COUNTY MINNESOTA
ITS PEOPLE, INDUSTRIES AND INSTITUTIONS

L. A. FRITSCHE. M. D.
Editor

With Biographical Sketches of Representative Citizens and Genealogical Records
of Many of the Old Families

VOLUME II
B. F. BOWEN & COMPANY, Inc. Indianapolis, Indiana



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