Gerd Diedrich Brunken

Gerd Diedrich Brunken

Gerd Diedrich Brunken[1]

Who's Who

Gerd Deitrich Brunken

• Gerd Deidrich Brunken, brother of Johann Diedrich "John" Brunken and uncle of my grandfather, William Leopold Brunken. He preferred to be called Diedrich.

Story

Portrait of Gerd Diedrich Brunken who was born 15 Jan 1841 in Westerstede, Oldenburg, Germany.   When Gerd Diedrich Brunken was born, his father, Gerhard, was 25 and his mother, Willima, was 24[2].

Diedrich was the first of three brothers (Diedrich, Johann "John" and Friedrick) who came from Germany to Nebraska.  He arrived in Nebraska in 1868 at the age of 27.

He applied for citizenship on January 16, 1872 and became a citizen of the United States of America on April 16, 1877.

He received a homestead patent for his farm February 20, 1880

See Homestead Application File

He married Gesche Sophie Meilahn (1846 - 1901) in Platte County, Nebraska on 8 Jun 1874 at the age of 33 and they had six children together: John (1875 - 1950), Mary (Kluever) (1877 - 1950), Fred (1880 - 1965), Henry (1883 - 1950), August Bud (1886 - 1941) and Emma (Mihulka) (1889 - 1968).

Diedrich then married Therese Maxant  (1876 - ) on 20 Dec 1904. and they had two children together: Olga Nelson (1905 - 1989) and Walter (1907 - 1998).

He died on 2 Apr 1919, in Columbus, Nebraska, at the age of 78, and was buried there.

Insight into Diedrich's life in Nebraska can be noted from the following newspaper clippings[3]:

He was a successful farmer:

The Columbus Journal., April 04, 1883, page 3

The Columbus Journal., April 28, 1897, page 3

The Columbus Journal., May 25, 1904, page 8

The Columbus Journal., August 03, 1910, page 1

He was a stockholder and officer of the Independent Telephone company:

The Columbus Journal., January 27, 1904, page 2

He was into politics:

The Columbus Journal., September 28, 1887, page 2

He followed international  conditions:

The Columbus Journal., October 17, 1888,  page 2

He patronized the Columbus Journal:

The Columbus Journal., July 20, 1898 page 2

The Columbus Journal., January 23, 1907, page 1

He was generous - the Star Route mail driver enjoyed treats from the Dietrich Brunken family[2]:

The Columbus Journal., July 13, 1904, page 8

The Columbus Journal., December 07, 1904, page 8

He was helped promote education:

The Columbus Journal., June , 1884, page 3.

Date

Circa 1880.  - A guess assuming that Gerd Diedrich Brunken was about 40 years old in the portrait

Location

Nebraska - location of where the picture was taken. His residence as noted in his land patent and the 1880-1910 US Censuses was Bismarck Township, Platte, Nebraska.

Birthplace - Seggern, Westerstede, Prussia (Germany)[2]:

Physical Location Map of the Area around Seggern, Westerstede, Germany


Google Map of Seggern, Westerstede, Germany

Notes

1. Lori Garbers Weisser shared this photograph on FaceBook, December 8, 2013.  Downloaded with permission on November 22, 2014.
2. Brunken, Gerd Diedrich, Oldenburgische Gesellschaft für Familienkunde e.V downloaded from http://auswanderer-oldenburg.de/getperson.php?personID=I25141&tree=Auswanderer
3. The mail carrier wrote a weekly social column about the happenings on his route - Route 3 out of Platte Center, Nebraska.