Search billions of records on Ancestry.com
   
The Gerken-Larson Heritage:
The 19th and 20th Centuries
A Family History

Herman Gerken (1819-1875)
Henry Gerken (1855-1914)
Ewald Gerken (1895-1956)
Joan (Gerken) Larson (1926-1994)
Thomas Larson (1962-)

Researched and written by
Tom Larson

John Peter and Anna Mary (Ickenroth) Winter were the parents of my great-grandmother, Mrs. Henry Gerken, née Anna Winter. They were born in Germany and immigrated to the United States in 1854, making their way to Dubuque, Iowa, before finally settling at New Vienna, Iowa. In addition to their daughters Anna and Mary, they raised their niece Anna Mary Winter, whose parents died en route to America.   T.L.

John Peter and Anna Mary (Ickenroth) Winter

(Johannes Petrus) John Peter Winter was born on January 7, 1816*, at Niedersayn, Wallmerod, Nassau (Niedersayn is located in the present-day German state of Rhineland-Palatinat [Rheinland-Pfalz]). His wife, née Anna Maria Ickenroth, was born March 16, 1825**, at the same place. John P. Winter was a stone mason by trade.
* = The date of January 7, 1816, is from the headstone of his grave and as recorded in a church book; January 6 appears as his date of birth in an obituary. ** = March 16, 1825, is from the headstone of her grave; her birth date is recorded as March 23, 1825, in a church book.

To America.
They emigrated from Germany to America in 1854, landing on May 30, presumably at New Orleans, according to John Peter Winter's declaration of intent to become a citizen of the United States, which was filed on August 23 of that year in Dubuque County. The Winters made the journey with Adam and Anna (Ickenroth) Winter and Adam and Anna's three children, a girl and two boys. Adam and John Peter Winter may have been brothers whose wives were sisters; in any case, John and Anna Winter were uncle and aunt to Adam and Anna Winter's children. Both Adam and Anna died en route to the United States and were buried at sea as the ship neared the Gulf of Mexico. The three children continued on their journey, but upon arrival at St. Louis, the two boys were also stricken with the fever and died, leaving the girl, Anna Maria Winter, who was adopted by her uncle and aunt, Mr. and Mrs. John P. Winter.

The Winters settle at Dubuque, Iowa.
The Winters continued traveling northward, arriving in Dubuque, Iowa, where a daughter, Mary Anna, was born to them the next year, in 1855. It was at Dubuque that John P. Winter was naturalized a citizen of the United States on June 3, 1859.

1860 census.
image from the 1860 U.S. Census.
The Winters were living in the City of Dubuque, Dubuque County, Iowa, in 1860. The U.S. Census that year lists John P. Winter, age 44, occupation of stone mason, with real estate valued at $500, born in Nassau; his wife, Anna M. (incorrectly listed as age 42; she was 35 at the time of the census), born in Nassau; and children Mary, age 5, born in Iowa, and Anna M., age 8, born in Nassau.

The head stone marking the grave of J.P. Winter and his wife, A.M. Winter, née Ickenroth, in St. Boniface Cemetery, New Vienna, Iowa.
On to New Vienna, Iowa.
Another daughter, Anna, was born to the Winters in Dubuque, in 1861, and three years later, in 1864, the family moved from Dubuque to New Vienna, Iowa. In 1870, the Winters' real estate in New Vienna was valued at $1000 and their personal estate at $300, according to that year's U.S. census. In 1880, the U.S. Census has the Winter household consisting of John Peter, age 64, stone mason; Anny Mary Winter, age 55, keeping house; Henry Gerken, age 26, carpenter; and Anny Gerken, age 19, assistant in housework. Anny Gerken was John Peter and Anna Mary Winter's daughter, and she and her husband Henry had taken up residence in the Winter home, which they themselves later owned. John P. Winter cast ballots in the election incorporating the town of New Vienna in 1895 and in its first election of town officers that year.

Deaths of John P. and Anna Mary (Ickenroth) Winter.
Anna Mary (Ickenroth) Winter died on March 22, 1888, in New Vienna, Iowa. A death notice stated "Mrs. Winter, who suffered for several weeks, died last week, Thursday. She will be sadly missed by her family and friends. The funeral occurred on Saturday [March 24] and was largely attended. The funeral service was conducted by Rev. Father [F.W.] Pape." The funeral was held at St. Boniface Church in New Vienna, and burial was in the church cemetery.

John Peter Winter died at home in New Vienna, Iowa, on Wednesday morning, February 5, 1896; the funeral was held Friday morning, February 7, at St. Boniface Church in New Vienna, under the auspices of the Pius Benevolent Society of Dubuque, Iowa. The pallbearers were Peter Oeth, Peter Ferring, Sr., John Billmeyer, Louis Sandmann, Bruno Koch, and Fredrich Freiburg. Burial was in the church cemetery.

Children of John P. and Anna M. (Ickenroth) Winter:

Other Winter relatives.
Maria Catherine Winter, wife of Peter Schmidt, who lived at New Vienna, Iowa, was a relation to these Winters named above, exactly how is a matter of conjecture; she may have been a younger sister of John Peter Winter.

Maria Catherine Winter was born on March 6, 1836 (according to a published gravestone reading), in Nassau, Germany. Mary Catherine Winter married Peter Schmidt in 1865. He was born in 1841 at Nassau and came to America, settling at New Vienna, with his parents and family. He was a stone mason by trade. Born to Peter and Mary Catherine (Winter) Schmidt were Mary Schmidt (Mrs. Henry Hentges) of Dubuque, Ia., Anna Schmidt (Mrs. Frank Wilhelm) of New Vienna, Ia., Peter Schmidt [Anna (Winter) Gerken's obituary has Peter's surname listed as Smith] of New Vienna, Ia., and Joseph Schmidt of Gilliam [?], Minn.

The 1870 U.S. Census has the household consisting of Peter Schmid, age 29, wife Catharine, age 31, Anna M., age 4, Peter, age 2, and Jacob, age 6 months, and Luzika Winter, age 75, born in Hesse Nassau. Luzika Winter, it seems likely, would have been Maria Catherine (Winter) Schmidt's mother. Luzika's name appears as Luzia in a published gravestone reading, and Luzia, wife of Martin Winter, died April 20, 1871, at age 76, and she was buried in St. Boniface Cemetery at New Vienna, Iowa. The 1880 U.S. Census has the household consisting of Peter Schmitt, age 38, wife Mary, age 43, Peter, age 12, Jackob, age 10, and Anny, age 7.

Maria Catherine (Winter) Schmidt died on January 4 [1?], 1904, and Peter Schmidt died on December 30, 1908. They are buried in New Vienna, Iowa.

The published gravestone readings for Luzia and Mary Catherine indicate that Luzia would have been about 41 years old at the time of Mary Catherine's birth. The age of Luzia makes it possible for her to have been John Peter Winter's mother as well; she would have been about 21 when he was born.

Sources for information about John P. and Anna M. (Ickenroth) Winter include obituary articles from the Dyersville, Iowa, Commercial; U.S. Census records, viewed on microfilm at the Dubuque Carnegie-Stout Public library (and the 1880 U.S. Census online at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints website, at http://www.familysearch.org/Eng/Search/frameset_search.asp); a copy from microfilm from a volume of family record pages from St. Boniface Church in New Vienna, which were forwarded to me by Carolyn Fessler; and gravestone readings at St. Boniface Cemetery in New Vienna, Iowa.

The Gerken · Larson Heritage - contents page

© 2001-2004
Tom Larson
P.O. Box 141
Peosta, IA 52068-0141

http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~tdlarson/winter/
Last revised October 31, 2004.