Brown County MN Archives Biographies.....Berndt, Julius 1832 - 
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Joy Fisher http://www.genrecords.net/emailregistry/vols/00001.html#0000031 November 23, 2014, 9:42 pm

Source: See Below
Author: L. A. Fritsche

JULIUS BERNDT.

    Julius Berndt, well-known architect and surveyor and superintendent of the
noble monument to Hermann at New Ulm, who also is one of the few remaining
survivors of that hardy band of pioneers who braved the hardships of the
wilderness and laid the foundation for the present social and material
well-being of this favored section of Minnesota hack in the middle part of the
last century, is a native of Germany, having been born in Kloster, Heinrick Aan,
Breslau, in Prussia, March 13, 1832, son of John and Josepha (Kottvitz) Berndt,
who were the parents of fourteen children, of whom the venerable architect at
New Ulm is now the sole survivor.

    Johann Berndt was a small merchant in his home village in Breslau.
Determining to better his condition he came to the United States about the year
1850, with a view to seeking out a location in which to go into business,
leaving his family in Germany. He located in Chicago, where he began working as
a carpenter, and in 1852 was joined there by his sons, Julius and Herman. The
next year, in 1853, Johann Berndt became a victim of the cholera scourge and
died in Chicago, his dreams of creating a new and better home for his family in
this country unrealized. His widow, who continued to make her home in her native
land, died there when past ninety years of age.

    Julius Berndt was twenty years of age when he came to America. He readily
found employment in Chicago, having received an excellent education in the
schools of Breslau, his course having been directed with particular reference to
civil engineering and architecture, and he was a skilled draftsman and
architect. In 1857 he joined the Chicago Landverein and put in his lot with that
of the hardy colonists of his own nationality in Brown county. Immediately upon
his arrival here his special talents were recognized and utilized by the pioneer
community, he having been the first duly elected official surveyor of Brown
county, a position which he held continuously for a period of thirty years and
in the performance of the duties of which office he rendered a most signal
service in behalf of the commonwealth. In addition to performing his official
duties he also was constantly called upon to lend his services as an architect
to the new community and he became a general building contractor, continuing
thus actively engaged until his retirement from business in 1899, during which
time he had superintended the erection of many of the most important buildings
in the county. In the fall of 1861, four years after his arrival in this county,
Mr. Berndt married one of the pioneer girls of this community and he and his
wife witnessed the full horrors of the massacre of 1862. Mr. Berndt was one of
the most distinguished of the valorous home defenders during that awful period
and was one of the provost marshals of the town during the time it was under
siege. He received the appointment of first lieutenant of the Brown county camp
of Light Artillery, Twenty-second Regiment, Minnesota National Guard, and upon
the conclusion of his military service received from Governor Ramsey a
certificate of commendation for his valor, patriotism and fidelity to duty.

      For many years Mr. Berndt has been an active and enthusiastic member of
that powerful and benevolent association, the Society of the Sons of Hermann,
one of the strongest and most popular German societies in the United. States,
which since its organization in 1840 has disbursed nearly fifteen million
dollars among its members, and was the prime factor in the movement which led to
the selection of New Ulm as the site for the erection of the noble monument to
Hermann, built in honor of the society and dedicated on September 25, 1897, in
the presence of a great concourse of people, numbering about twenty-four
thousand. Upon the completion of the monument Mr. Berndt was made superintendent
of the same and since then has been devoted to its care and preservation.

     On September 14, 1861, Julius Berndt was united in marriage to Mina
Kiesling, who was born in the kingdom of Saxony, November 9, 1844, daughter of
August Kiesling and wife, who were among the earliest and most influential
pioneers of Brown county, and to this union twelve children have been born, as
follow: Herman, who died when one year old; Ida, who married Anton Gag and died
at the age of twenty-three; Sophia, who married William Pfaender, Jr., a
biographical sketch of whom is presented elsewhere in this volume; Julia, who
since the death of the wife of her brother, Julius, is at home with her parents,
taking care of her brother's bereaved children, Ruth Alice and Albert Julius;
August, a tinner, of New Ulm, who married Ida Liesch and has two children,
Victor and George; Bertha, who married Charles Davin, a well-known Brown county
farmer, and has eight children, Armin, Roland, Elsie, Rosa, August, Chester,
Ernest and Bernen; Julius, a well-known citizen of New Ulm, who married Alice
Baumann, who died, leaving two children, named above; Rudolph, of Minneapolis,
who married and has two children. Norman and Florence; Rosa, who married Barney
Greig, of New Ulm; Hugo, now deceased, who married Beulah Knighten and had four
children, Robert, Russell, Herbert and Tom Knighten; Robert, who married Julia
Hammond and lives in Huron, South Dakota, and Emil, who is unmarried.

    Mr. and Mrs. Berndt celebrated the fiftieth anniversary of their marriage on
September 14, 1911, the occasion being made one of rejoicing among their many
friends. Despite the growing weight of their years, both are still hale and well
preserved, active and vigorous, and continue to take a warm interest in local
affairs. They have witnessed the development of this favored section of the
state from the days of the very beginning of a social order hereabout and have
done well their parts in promoting that wonderful development. They have a very
wide acquaintance throughout the city and county and are held in the very
highest esteem throughout the whole community.


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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