G. Kerndt & Brothers
Moritz Kerndt
One of the most familiar names in Allamakee county is that of
Kerndt, honored and respected, as generation has followed
generation, to the present day, for what members of the family
have done in advancing the interest of the section in various
ways. We first present a chronological record of these
distinguished pioneers and their descendants, who played so great
a part in the history of this county for sixty years and builded
a reputation which is more lasting than tomes in stone and
marble. Their history reveals an interesting bit of the early
life and early settlers in the middle west. It gives a vivid
picture of the trials and hardships of the early pioneer and to
what tasks and occupations one had to turn in order to gain a
living and a foothold in a new country yet unsettled. The story
increases the respect one has for the early settlers who
developed civilization out of a wilderness and made possible the
prosperous conditions the present generation enjoys. Our
particular story tells how a family courageously set out from
hearth and home in order to find new opportunities and improve
them, and furnishes a worthy example of inspiration to the your
men of today, being a spring of hope to everyone who labors under
difficult conditions and an incitement to again take up the
burden of the daily tasks, no matter how discouraging.
The first ancestor to be here recorded is Johann August Kerndt.
He was born in 1801, in the province of Silesia, Germany, married
in 1822, and of this marriage were born five sons and three
daughters. Herman was born in 1823, married in Germany in 1846,
his wife passing away in 1901, leaving five children. Herman
Kerndt died on his farm in 1911. Gustav, the second in order of
birth, was born in 1825. He emigrated to America in 1849 and died
on January 5, 1873. He held the office of supervisor for ten
years, was elected, in 1865, president of the First National Bank
of Lansing and held the office until his death. William Kerndt
was born in 1826 and married in Germany in 1852. His wife arrived
in Lansing in 1866 with three children. They are two daughters,
who are married, and one son, G. W. Kerndt, the present vice
president of the State Bank of Lansing. William Kerndt died in
1898 and his wife followed him to the better land in 1905. Moritz
Kerndt was born in 1830, married in 1863 Mary Nimsgern, who was
born in Alsace-Lorraine, at the time of her birth a province of
France but now a part of Germany. They were the parents of eleven
children, of whom three died, four sons and four daughters
growing to maturity. Moritz Kerndt was a member of the city
council of Lansing for eleven years and in 1873 was elected
president of the State Bank, holding the office until 1893, when
he retired, remaining a director. Of his sons, Charles married,
in 1891 Frieda Grulich, of Milwaukee. The oldest daughter of Mr.
And Mrs. Moritz Kerndt was married on 1901 to M. F. Healy, of
Fort dodge, this state, and second was married in 1895 to H. F.
Grau, of Milwaukee. Moritz Kerndt, Jr. Was in 1908 married to
Miss Mary Martin, of Oskaloosa, Iowa. The next son of Johann
August Kerndt was Julius, born in 1834, who married Margaret
(Gretchen) Gruber in 1857. He died in 1871 and his wife in 1872.
They had five sons, four of whom, after they had grown to
manhood, engaged in business in Kansas, Theodore, the youngest,
is at present a partner in the firm of Nielander & Company.
Clara Kerndt was born in 1838 and in 1858 married Jacob Haas. She
died in 1877, leaving one son and one daughter, the latter
marrying Jacob Keffler, both settling in Sturgis, South Dakota.
Jacob Haas died in 1882. He was engaged in the brewing business
with Julius Kerndt as his partner. The oldest daughter of Johann
August Kerndt was married to John Rieth, in Dubuque, in 1855, and
the second in 1856 to Eduard Boeckh. Mrs. Rieth died in 1873,
leaving six children, and Mrs. Koekh in 1910, leaving the same
number of descendants. Eduard Boeckh died in 1910. Mr. Rieth and
Mr. Boeckh were partners in the foundry business and both built a
large brick factory in 1868 in Lansing, Iowa.
Jacob Haas, engaged in the brewing business, removed to the
“old building” in 1869 and subsequently erected a large
new brick brewery building at a cost of fourteen thousand
dollars, the whole cost of the plant, including malt house, ice
house, power house, underground vaults and residence, being about
forty thousand dollars. In 1886, when prohibition law was
enforced, the brewery was closed and it stood idle until 1903,
when the whole property was sold for one thousand dollars, so
that his two children received but one thousand dollars from the
father’s estate-an example of how a law generally beneficial
worked a great hardship upon one who legitimately followed an
honest calling.
In 1820, when nineteen years of age the father, Johann August
Kerndt, inherited a small tannery in Germany which he operated
for a few years, at the end of which time he branched out into
contracting and building. This venture, however, by a peculiar
accident, proved most lamentable for the family. A small village
in the fatherland, including church and schoolhouse, had burned
to the ground when he made a contract to rebuild, and all went
well until the work was nearly finished, when, on a dark night,
coming home on horseback, his pony stumbled and he fell. They
brought him to his home and for five days he lay unconscious,
passing away without recognizing a member of the family after the
accident happened. As the work was then not finished and had to
be completed by others, his death also resulted in the loss of
his fortune to the family, it taking seven years for two
guardians, who were appointed, to settle the estate, and after
the intricate law problems were worked out there was left not
much beside the little tannery which was given him by hid father.
Johann August Kerndt was a broad-minded man, a man far above
ordinary intelligence in his time and a man with a wonderful
memory-not one who had gained his knowledge in books but a man of
the world who had learned in the university of life and was
gifted with mother wit and natural abilities. To gain a living
for the large family the mother carried on the tannery in order
to educated her children, who attended school to the age of
fourteen, when they were turned out to make their way in the
world. Herman embarked in the same business as his father-that of
building. Gustav apprenticed himself to learn the grocery
business and had to stay for six years under contract. William
learned the tanner’s trade and so did Moritz. Julius, who
had an advantage in regard to educational opportunities, became
an architect. The two oldest daughters also had to work out in
order to be self-supporting and contribute to the family
exchequer.
In 1849, when twenty-four years of age, Gustav Kerndt decided to
emigrate to America to test out the stories which he had heard of
the advantageous conditions prevailing in this country and to
gain, if such were within the reach of possibility, a position of
substance. He had not enough money to engage in business in the
fatherland and saw no road ahead of him which would lead to
independence. Therefore taking a step in an unknown and uncertain
future, he came to Schenectady, New York, where he soon found
work in a broom factory, being so engaged for tow years. He then
learned to make cigars and afterward kept a little cigar stand.
Industriously applying himself to the task in hand and thriftily
laying dollar upon dollar, he became encouraged with the outlook
and in 1852 wrote to the family in Germany that it would be well
for them to emigrate. In the spring of 1853 he became more
insistent and advised them to sell out as quickly as possible and
that Moritz should come at once to find a place where the family
could settle. Encouraged by these reports, Moritz started out
immediately and landed in New York in October, 1853, staying
there until early in spring, when he left for the west, going by
railroad to Cincinnati and thence by the steamer Franklin on the
Ohio river to Cairo and St. Louis, where he made a sojourn of a
couple of days. He then went to Fort Madison and, in order to
become acquainted with land conditions, there hired out to an
American farmer for six dollars a month or about twenty cents a
day, this munificent remuneration giving an idea how hard it was
in those times to lay a foundation for independence. The farmers
at that early time could really afford to pay no more for help,
as eggs in those days were sold at the rate of three cents a
dozen and dressed pork at the price of one and one-half cents a
pound. For two and a half months he so worked, benefiting by
learning the English language, which he was forced to speak, as
there was no one near him who could speak his mother tongue. This
experience he always considered one of the best parts of his
American education, as it helped him not only to learn the native
tongue but also to become acquainted with American methods of
agriculture. While near Fort Madison he heard of Dubuque and that
railroad construction was going on there, a road being build from
Chicago. When he camped there the railroad had been built about
twenty-five miles east of the river and Dubuque was but a small
place. The outlook seemed discouraging, as work was not easily to
be had and money was scarce even for those days. Moritz Kerndt,
however, made up his mind to succeed at whatever cost and after a
week of assiduous hunting for work he found a place of employment
at Harmony Hall, the remuneration being thirteen dollars per
month. He then wrote to Gustav, who was still in New York, that
they all should come from Germany. They had sold out their little
interest in the meantime and in July, 1854, the family arrived by
sailing vessel, after a long, tedious, even perilous journey of
six weeks, in New York. Gustav had also sold out his cigar stand
and the family arrived in Dubuque in August by the old Walker
stage coaches, the emigrant company consisting of about thirty
people. The family included the mother, Herman with his father
and mother-in-law and five children, Gustav, William, Julius and
the three daughters. The party also included the Ruprecht family
and the Ritter family. Herman Kerndt and Mr. Ruprecht began at
once to look for a suitable farm property on which to settle and
in search of the new home they came to Allamakee county, where
Herman bought land at Lycurgus. Mr. Ruprecht also stayed at a
farm near there but subsequently moved to Lansing, where he
entered in the hotel business. Herman came to Dubuque after his
family had settled there in September, 1854, and Gustav then
rented a store building, where he and his brother William made
cigars. Moritz stayed on his place until 1856, and Julius, in the
spring of that year, also went to Lansing to build a store and
broom shop. This was finished by October and the whole family
then settled in Lansing in 1856, Messrs. Rieth and Boeckh, and
two sons-in-law, coming from Dubuque in 1857. Gustav and William
manufactured cigars and made brooms the material for which came
from Herman’s farm, and Moritz attended to the selling end
of the business by conducting the store. To begin with Moritz had
a very small stock which some friends in Dubuque had let him have
and though all worked hard, the returns were small. The winter
from 1856 to 1857 was severe in the extreme, with much snow, many
deer being destroyed by the extreme, with much snow, many deer
being destroyed by the extreme weather and many starving to
death. In 1857 the farmers, on account of the severe weather, had
little to sell and even for what there was no price could be
obtained, oats and corn selling for ten and twelve cents a bushel
and wheat at the price of thirty-five cents. In 1858 the
neighborhood became settled more quickly and there was plenty of
grain, prices rose and the goods in the store could be moved.
However, the broom business was not a financial success and money
was yet scarce, so that often the Kerntz turned back in thought
to their little comfortable home in the fatherland and
discouragement well nigh overtook them. Another incident which
added to the sorrows of the family was the death of the beloved
mother, who died in November, 1856, when they came to Lansing. In
the fall of 1858 a gentleman from Galena, William Ryan, came into
the store and inquired after business conditions. Moritz told him
that goods could be sold then if he had them, but that they as
yet had not the means to acquire a large stock. Mr. Ryan, being
convinced of the honesty of purpose of these sturdy sons from the
German soil, said; “ I will give you the goods,” and
sold a big bill various merchandise on long credit. This was the
beginning of the firm of G. Kerndt and Brothers, the personnel of
the concern consisting of Gustav, William and Moritz. In 1859
they bought a lot on the levee and built a warehouse, branching
out into the grain business, and in 1861 they built a substantial
brick store, twenty-five by eighty, three stories in height,
quite an improvement over the little broom stand where Moritz had
at first attended to an occasional customer. In 1866 an addition
was build covering the same amount of space as the original store
and making in all a building fifty by eighty feet. In 1868 they
removed the frame warehouse where grain was stored and
constructed a brick elevator. Already in 1862 they had added to
their line of groceries dry goods and crockery, and after 1865
the Kerndt brothers conducted a regular department store, as good
as could be found in the county. During war times business was
good and farmers came to Lansing with twenty or even thirty miles
away. Although there were fourteen warehouses, farmers had often
to wait in line to unload. As the years went by the business grew
in volume, in financial stability and in the variety of goods
carried, having become one of the foremost enterprises of its
kind in this part of the county. In 1885 William Kerndt was
enabled to retire from the firm and gave his interest to his son,
G. W. The firm was incorporated with a capital stock of
twenty-five thousand dollars, the stock being divided between
Moritz, his sons and F. W. In 1900 G. W. Kerndt sold out and the
business was then carried on under the name of G. Kerndt &
Brothers by Gustav, William and Moritz, Jr., sons of Moritz, the
same names under which it was started in 1856. In 1908 the Kerndt
Brothers Savings Bank was founded by M. Kerndt and his four sons
with a capital of thirty thousand dollars, its officers being:
Gustav Kerndt, president; Charles Kerndt, cashier; Moritz, Jr.
Vice president; and Moritz Kerndt, Sr., and William M. Kerndt,
directors. The bank has wonderfully prospered ever since its
foundation and as the name of Kerndt has had for sixty years the
highest reputation in the county, is well entitled to the
confidence it s given by its patrons. All members of the family
connected with the bank are capable, Ernst and conscientious,
ever observant of the smallest detail that might contribute to
the prestige of the institution, careful in the investments of
the resources of the bank and ever ready to extend credit to a
worthy applicant.
As indicated in the first part of this sketch, many members of
the Kerndt family have taken active part in the public life of
the county and this section and have ever been conspicuous for
their public spirit and their liberality in contributing to a
public cause. That tenacious, fighting spirit peculiar to the
German race has stood them in good stead and brought them to the
fore among the most influential citizens of the county. What they
have achieved personally is worthy of the highest commendation
and worthy of their efforts, yet their real importance lies in
the pioneer work they have done and the role they have played in
advancing the interest of allamakee county, having been not only
witnesses of the wonderful transformation that has occurred here
but helpful and cooperant factors in the general advancement
along material, moral and intellectual line.
-source: Past & Present of Allamakee County; by
Ellery M. Hancock; S. J. Clarke Pub. Co.; 1913
-transcribed by Diana Diedrich
Return to 1913 biographies index