Vol. 1 of the 1914
Delaware County History pgs. 319 - 320
CHAPTER XXVIII
BREMEN TOWNSHIP
Township 89, range 3, was
created and named Bremen, September 29, 1857. George W. Harper,
constable, posted the notices for an election, which was held at the house of Franz Shulz,
May 3, 1858.
The first officers were: Trustees, Joseph Lechtenburg,
Anthony Lippert, August Wander; clerk, Clemens Bockenstedt; justice of the peace,
Francis Rubly.
Bremen lies in the second tier
of townships from the north and is bounded on the east by Dubuque County, on the south by North Fork, west by Oneida and north by Colony townships.
In parts of this township the soil is quite thin, rock ledges projecting near the surface.
Sands presenting a type of soil not very desirable are found in the gentle
slopes of the low hills, but the low lands are free from sand and are covered with a heavy black loam.
Bear Creek flows southward through sections 2
and 10. Plum Creek, the largest affluent of
the Maquoketa, drains the northwestern portion of the township. This community
is well settled, principally by Germans, and it is needless to say, the
land is under a high state of cultivation and produces crops in such abundance that the people are prosperous and
contented.
John Flinn is
credited with being the first person to enter the township and take up a permanent
residence. This occurred, as near as can be reckoned, in the fall of 1837, or spring of 1838. He located near the center of
the township, on Bear Creek. He was the only inhabitant of the community for
quite a while and then came the Bockenstedts, Clemens, who was the township's first-clerk,
and his six brothers.
Herman Duthman
located here in 1845, but died in a few months thereafter. His
estate was one of the first to come under control of the Probate Court. The widow,
Caroline Duthman, and Henry Hohenkamp,
were appointed administrators of the estate, and A. J. Scroggy,
F. Rohenkokle and Barnard Satmire,
appraisers.
Among the earliest settlers
in Bremen Township was Adam Hildebrand and family, who immigrated
from Germany
in the spring of 1845 and coming West, located on section 14.
Among the children was George Hildebrand, now a resident
of Petersburg.
When the Hildebrands arrived here they found George Kropfer and family already settled on section 14. Near by was Joseph Stengel and family and
on section 13, Michael Stickel and
family were beginning to secure a foothold.
James Le Gassick died suddenly at his home in Bremen Township in
1903. He was born in London
and came with his parents to the United
States in 1841. In
1852 the family removed from Cook
County, Illinois,
to Bremen Township. Mr.
Le Gassick was one of the prominent and popular men
of Bremen,
having served
in various official positions with marked integrity. During the progress of the
contention for the removal of the county seat, he was a member of the board of
supervisors, a position he had held at that time for nine years, and the year
before his death he was again chosen to membership in that body.
James Hunt, a native of England, found his way to Delaware County in 1857 and located in
this township in section 32. As the years rolled by Mr. Hunt accumulated large
tracts of land, until at one time he was the owner of 1,600 acres in Bremen, Oneida and Delhi townships. He was also
a large dealer in live stock. Among his children were Robert, George, Allen,
William and James Hunt, not counting the girls.
Frederick Rubly left
his native State of Pennsylvania in 1847 and settled in Iowa. In 1858 he located in
this township and in 1872 in Petersburg, where he became a
general merchant, entering into partnership with his brother, John.
PETERSBURG
Petersburg is a hamlet lying on
section 4, in Bremen Township, where a postoffice was established March
7, 1874. Barney Sassen was appointed postmaster
and he kept the office in a little store, which he opened in 1873.
At the present time there are two general
stores in Petersburg, a Catholic church,
parochial school and a hall. The community is essentially German, as is also
the general population of the township. The postoffice
long ago was discontinued.
The settlers of this locality, most of
whom are members of the Catholic Church, attended religious services at Louvain and then at Dyersville.
Then Sts. Peter and Paul parish was organized and in 1874 the first church
building was erected, under the pastorate of Father John B. Weikman.
The building committee was composed of Adolf Amenn, H. Bohnenkamp, Clemens
Fraley and Theodore Alldoff. The church was completed
and dedicated in 1874. In 1905, one of the finest structures in the State of Iowa was erected by this
parish—the Church of Sts. Peter and Paul. It is
constructed of stone, has two high steeples, has magnificent interior
embellishments and appointments and cost about eighty-five thousand dollars. In
connection with the church is a large graded parochial school, which is
attended by pupils living in the neighborhood and several miles distant.
Becky
Teubner, Contributor
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