Fifth Generation

142. Wilhelmine "Minna" ZELLMER was born on 7 February 1849 in Posen Province, Preussen (Prussia).^{15,21,69,135,170,171} She emigrated in 1854 from Posen Province, Preussen (Prussia).^69,70,76 to Watertown, WI. (According to the 1910 Census, she emigrated in 1856.) She appeared in the census in 1860 in Ridgeville Township, Monroe County, WI.⁶⁶ Minna was confirmed on 7 June 1863 in Ridgeville Township, Monroe County, WI.²¹ at St. John's Evangelical Lutheran Church. She appeared in the census in 1870 in Ridgeville Township, Monroe County, WI.²⁵ She was living with her parents. She appeared in the census in 1880 in Ridgeville Township, Monroe County, WI.¹⁹ Minna appeared in the census in 1900 in Ridgeville Township, Monroe County, WI.⁴⁹ She appeared in the census in 1910 in Ridgeville Township, Monroe County, WI.⁷⁰ She died on 25 July 1912 at the age of 63 in La Crosse, La Crosse County, WI.^{13,15,69,76,83,170,171}

Obituary Notes: "In the midst of the hustle and bustle which accompanies the preparation for our readers of the local and general news of the week, we pause for a few moments to note the death of Mrs. August Gerke, Sr., and to make mention of her better qualities and to pay a brief tribute to her memory. Her death was the last chapter in the life of a good mother. It came after more than sixty-five years of life, sixty of which were spent in Wisconsin. And in the early part of those years, it took women with nerves of steel and hearts of iron to live in Wisconsin. There was no need for the weakling or the sickly woman or the homesick one or the one who sought alone comforts and luxuries.

From the time she was twenty-two years old and married, her life was given to her husband and to the bearing of his children. With him she shared the terrible hardships of Wisconsin winters. With him she worked at clearing the Ridgeville wilderness; for him she cooked, washed and sewed; and to him she brought nothing but words of cheer, words of encouragement and his children, of which they may well be proud and of whom they were proud and to whom their lives were devoted.

Death, the greatest tragedy of life, came to her at a most auspicious time. Had it come sooner, there might have been things she would have wished to do; had it come later, it might be that she would have grown too old to enjoy life. As it was, she died when her work was done and before life itself had become a burden. The duty that God had put her upon earth to perform was completed. Her children were grown and married and she was ready to pass to her Maker and receive the reward which she so richly merited and in which she so firmly believed. Her life is typical one of a good woman.

The maiden name of the deceased was Wilhelmina Zellmer and she was born February 7, 1849 in Posen, Germany. At the age of five years, she came to Watertown, Wis., with her parents and two years later they moved to the Ridgeville country and settled on a farm. At the age of about twenty-two, on February 22, 1871, she married August Gerke and went to live upon the farm adjoining her parents and they lived there until she died. She bore her husband eight children, of whom two died in infancy. She died from the effects of an operation for cancer, which she underwent on June 18th last at the Lutheran Hospital in La Crosse. Her death occurred on Thursday morning, July 25, after a long, stubborn fight with the dread malady.

She is survived by her husband, August Gerke, and her children, Carl Gerke, August Gerke, Mrs. Albert Kortbein, Gustave Gerke and Leopold Gerke, all of Monroe County, and Adolph Gerke of Warner, Canada. A sister, Miss Louisa Zellmer and a brother Fred Zellmer, also of the town of Ridgeville and a brother Chris Zellmer, of Fassended, N.D., are also still here to grieve for her.

The funeral occurred from St. John's Lutheran Church in the town of Ridgeville at one o'clock in the afternoon of July 29, and services were in charge of Reverend A. Stock. The attendance was one of the greatest within memory of the oldest inhabitants. The interment was in the Lutheran cemetery on the Ridge. May her life be an example as well as an inspiration for her daughters and her daughters-in-law and for all women." Minna was buried on 29 July 1912 in Ridgeville Township, Monroe County, WI.^{24,69,103,170,171} in the St. John's Evangelical Lutheran Church Cemetery

Wilhelmine "Minna" ZELLMER and August Wilhelm GERKE Sr. were married on 21 January 1871 in Ridgeville Township, Monroe County, WI.^{21,64,69,70,172} at St. John's Evangelical Lutheran Church. (Her obituary indicated that she was married 22 Feb 1871.) According to the 1910 Census, they had 8 children, of whom 6 were still living. August Wilhelm GERKE Sr., son of Heinrich O. GERKE and Christine Elisabeth KLINGE, was born on 1 October 1841 in Dransfeld, nach Gottingen, Hanover, Niedersachsen (Lower Saxony) Province, Preussen (Prussia).^{21,24,49,71,76,135,172,173} (His birth place was listed as Hanover in the church Family Register.) He emigrated in January 1867 from Hanover, Niedersachsen (Lower Saxony) Province, Preussen (Prussia).^49,70,76,172 He arrived at the port in in Baltimore with his younger brother, Heinrich. (According to the 1910 Census, he emigrated in 1867.) He was Lutheran on 4 March 1872 in Ridgeville Township, Monroe County, WI.¹⁷⁴ when he became a member of St. John's Evangelical Lutheran Church. August appeared in the census in 1880 in Ridgeville Township, Monroe County, WI.¹⁹ His household was next door to that of his brother Henry. About 1897 he was a farmer in Ridgeville Township, Monroe County, WI.¹⁷⁵ He owned a 120-acre farm in Sections 1 and 2. He appeared in the census in 1900 in Ridgeville Township, Monroe County, WI.⁴⁹ August was Lutheran in 1900 in Ridgeville Township, Monroe County, WI.⁵⁵ and was listed on the Memberbership Roster of St. John's Evangelical Lutheran Church. He appeared in the census in 1910 in Ridgeville Township, Monroe County, WI.⁷⁰ He appeared in the census in 1920 in Ridgeville Township, Monroe County, WI.⁷¹ He was living with his son August. August died on 3 April 1926 at the age of 84 in Ridgeville Township, Monroe County, WI.^{24,76,172,173} He was buried on 10 April 1926 in Ridgeville Township, Monroe County, WI.^{13,24,103,173} in the St. John's Evangelical Lutheran Church Cemetery.

Wilhelmine "Minna" ZELLMER and August Wilhelm GERKE Sr. had the following children: