Bio for STERN, Ferdinand Gottlieb Erdman (b.1854 d.1941), Mower Co., MN ========================================================================= USGENWEB NOTICE: In keeping with our policy of providing free information on the Internet, material may be freely used by non-commercial entities, as long as this message remains on all copied material, AND permission is obtained from the contributor of the file. These electronic pages may NOT be reproduced in any format for profit or presentation by other organizations. Persons or organizations desiring to use this material for non-commercial purposes, MUST obtain the written consent of the contributor, OR the legal representative of the submitter, and contact the listed USGenWeb archivist with proof of this consent. If you have found this file through a source other than the MNArchives Table Of Contents you can find other Minnesota related Archives at: http://www.usgwarchives.net/mn/mnfiles.htm Please note the county and type of file at the top of this page to find the submitter information or other files for this county. FileFormat by Terri--MNArchives Made available to The USGenWeb Archives by: Diane Rollins Submitted: February 2007 ========================================================================= Intro: August and Henrietta Dallman Stern At this point in the research very little information has been secured on August and Henrietta Dallman Stern, other than they are the parents of my grandmother Lydia's, father, Ferdinand Stern. Their names are listed on the death certificates of their three known children. Their family includes Ferdinand Gottlieb Erdman Stern (the patriarch of our branch of the Stern family) born on July 25, 1854, Johann Gottlieb Ferdinand Stern, born on October 12, 1856 and Albertina Stern Muller born on September 17, 1852. All three of their known children emigrated from Regenwald, Pommern, Prussia to Mower County Minnesota in the mid 1880's, and lived in Mower County the rest of their lives. FERDINAND GOTTLIEB STERN The patriarch of the Stern family is Ferdinand Gottlieb Erdman Stern. He was born on July 25, 1854 in Wurow, Germany. Wurow, Kreis (County) Regenwalde,District of Koslin is located in the Pommern Province close to the Baltic Sea. It is located near the port city of Stettin, in an area that is now part of Poland. His parents were August and Henrietta (Dallman) Stern. He had one brother, Johann Gottlieb Ferdinand Stern and one sister, Albertina Stern Miller, who also immigrated to the United States from Germany and lived in Mower County, Minnesota. (Little is currently known about Henrietta and August Stern, their parents). On October 19, 1877 Ferdinand (aged 23) married Albertina Sukow in Wurow. Albertina was born in Labes, Regenwald, Koslin, Pommern which is a larger city approximately 25 miles south of Wurow. Their first four children were born in Germany; Amelia b.Jul 09,1879 Herman b.Sep 11,1880 Bertha b.Jan 04,1883 Albert b.1885 In 1885, they immigrated to the United States arriving on April 10th, and reaching Austin, Minnesota on April 29th. Oral family history has them joining other family members who had already settled in Dexter Township, Mower County, in south central Minnesota. On October 30th, 1886 Ferdinand signed an oath of intention to become a citizen of the United States. He became a citizen on January 4, 1897. In 1891 they purchased land in Dexter Township where Ferdinand was a successful farmer. The farm consisted of 160 acres located in Section 34, of Dexter Township with a value in 1909 of $2,537. Their five youngest children, born in Minnesota included; Emma b.Jan 08,1887 Elsie b.Jul 08,1890 Arthur b.Dec 10,1892 Ervin b.Dec 17,1894 Lydia b.Feb 16,1897 Ferdinand was baptized and confirmed in the Lutheran Faith and was a founding member of the Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Church, a German speaking congregation, located in Dexter Township. This church was the location of family worship, baptisms, confirmations, and marriages, which are well documented in church registers recorded in German. Their children, including my grandmother, Lydia, attended a Lutheran parochial school adjacent to the church. In 1919, Ferdinand and Albertina retired from farming and moved into Austin into their house at 307 Garfield Street. They celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary in 1927. Albertina died on March 16, 1929. After her death Ferdinand continued to live in the home at 307 Garfield Street with his daughter Elsie and her husband Arthur Christgau. Oral history provides information that Ferdinand was confused in his later years suffering from dementia. He died at the age of 86 on June 22, 1941 of heart disease. Ferdinand is buried along with his wife Albertina and other Stern extended family in the Dexter Township Cemetery in Mower County. Robert Tolstead has the following memories of his Grandpa Stern. "Ferdinand Stern Lived with uncle Art and aunt Elsie Christgau from my earliest memories until his death in 1941. He already had dementia in my first memories of him. It began when he was in his seventies and was probably Alzheimer's disease. Elsie was a very kind and efficient caregiver and Grandpa Stern was always neat, clean and well dressed. Occasionally he would become frustrated with the behavior of some of the grandchildren and say, "damn, damn damn." Golden Wedding 19 Oct 1927 On Wednesday Oct 19th, Mr. and Mrs. Ferdinand Stern who resided south of town for many years celebrated this occasion at the home of their son, Arthur Stern. At 8 o'clock a beautiful service was held at the Trinity Church conducted by Rev. Schroeder. Rev.Milbrath of Austin and Rev. Drews also being present. Mr. and Mrs. Stern have made their home in Austin the past eight years. Stern Ferdinand G. death 21 June 1941 Ferdinand G. Stern, 86, of Austin, father of Mrs. Harold Tolstead of Taopi, passed Sunday June 21 at the home of his daughter, Mrs. Arthur Christgau of Austin. Funeral services will be held Thursday June 26th at the Trinity Lutheran Church nine miles east of Austin. Mr. Stern leaves 5 daughters and three sons. His wife passed away several years go. OBITUARY-AUSTIN DAILY HERALD FERDINAND STERN Ferdinand Gottlieb Erdman Stern was born July 25, 1854 in Wurow, Germany, the son of Henrietta (nee Dallman) and August Stern and passed away suddenly on June 22, 1941 at the age of 86 years, 10 months and 27 days. He had been in failing health the past three years but death came unexpectedly, due to heart disease. He was baptized and confirmed in the Lutheran faith. On October 19, 1877 he was united in marriage to Albertina Sukow at Wurow. On April 10, 1885 they came to the United States arriving in Austin on April 29, 1885. In 1891 he purchased the farm in Dexter Township which was the family home until 1919 when he purchased a home in Austin where his wife preceded him in death on March 16, 1929 about a year and one half after they celebrated their golden wedding anniversary. Since that time he made his home with his daughter, Mrs. Arthur Christgau. He is survived by five daughters (Amelia) Mrs. Jay Milbrad of Huntington Park California; (Bertha) Mrs. William Salge of Austin; (Emma) Mrs. Roy Rolfson of Brownsdale;(Elsie) Mrs. Arthur Christgau of Austin; (Lydia) Mrs. Harold Tolstead of Taopi; three sons, Herman of Renova, Arthur of Rose Creek, and Erwin of Dexter, one son dying in infancy, 28 grandchildren and 16 great grandchildren, one brother, John and one sister, Mrs. Albertina Miller of Austin. Funeral services were held June 26 at 1:30 at the Christgau home in Austin and at 2:30 at Trinity Lutheran Church in Dexter Township, he being a charter member of that church. Interment was in Trinity Lutheran Cemetery, the Rev. R.F. Schroeder officiated. ========================================================================= Copyright Diane Rollins 2007. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm =========================================================================