Andorfer, Anton
Death Certificate Index
Certificate Number: 1908-MN-012896
Death: November 20, 1908
County of Death: Stearns County, Minnesota, United States
1) TIMELINE. Anton's family came to Minnesota when he was very young. They did not stay much beyond his death, so none are in the graveyard with him, other than an uncle on his mother's side. He and they would have come from Iowa, from Kossuth County, just below the Iowa-Minnesota state line. They did so after the birth of his younger sister Helen in 1902, when Anton was still toddling. They did so before the birth of his brother Julian, in Sterns County, in Jan. of 1905, when Anton was no moe than age 4. Anton died in 1908. By 1909, the rest would return to Kossuth County, Iowa. That year marked the Iowa birth of his sister Marie. Their 1910 US Census showed them living at a romantic place, farming again, near where his parents met and married (in Prairie Township, St Benedict church). That Census noted that all of Anton's siblings but Julian were Iowa-born.
2) SURNAME EXPLAINED. He is an Arndorfer on his stone, but "Andofer" in several typed records, including the transcription made of his death record and put online by the Minnesota Historical Society (mnhs.org).
Some German surnames had sounds and letters not used in English. Two dots (called an unlaut) indicate a sound much like like a long "Ar", when put over an A. These are easy to add, for handwritten records. When transcribing those handwritten death records later, typists lacked umlauts on their typewriters. They chose to drop the dots, making Andofer. His family did not like the way people pronounced that, so substituted the spelling of Arndorfer, which was a sound-it-out, much closer to the original in sound.
3) HIS COUNTY OF BIRTH IS RECONSTRUCTED. There is no birth record for Anton that survives. His presumably was lost in an old courthouse fire in Kossuth County. FamilySearch.org has put online reconstructions turned in at the new courthouse, with witnesses signing affadavits as to the date and place of varied long ago births. This re-construction was not done for everyone, just those who needed to prove something, such as being of age for an upcoming marriage.
Anton died well before adulthood, so no later proof of his birth ws ever needed. The birth date of 1901 on his stone puts him between the 1889 and 1902 births of two siblings who did reconstruct their records, Frances and Helen Arndorfer (originally Franceska and Helena? names no tliked by the siblings so modernized for the reconstructions). Both sisters at some point stated their birthplace as Kossuth County, Iowa.
4) WHY COME AND GO? Usually there are multiple reasons for leaving, but finances prevent returning, so that is rarer. Family and work are high on the list. His mother's older brother is buried in the same cemetery in St. Cloud as Anton. German-born like Anton's mother, Jacob was among several siblings immigrating with their parents when already mature. (Once in Minnesota, Anton's uncle Jacob would use the cathedral in St. Cloud, as did many of the German-speakers. When still in Iowa, they all attended church at St. Benedict, which did a serman in German so the new arrivals could understand what was said. Jacob's wife was wife Marianna/Mary Ann. When in Iowa, the uncle's name was written as Jacob Garmann at his wedding, to match the name's pronunciation back in Germany, also used when giving the censustaker his children's names, true through their 1900 US Census while still in Kossuth County However, his children changed to Germann in Minnesota, that spelling seen on their stones and Jacob's.)
It seems likely the two families, Germann and Arndorfer, moved together to Minnesota, The timing would be between 1900 and 1905. (1900 was Jacob's large family's last census as Garmann in Iowa. 1905 was the first year the Arndorfers would have their first easy-to-find record in MN, namely, Julian's birth )
Was work enough reason to both move and then return? Checking that era in county history books, nearby Brainerd, MN. was said to still be busy with rail-building until 1900, but not much longer. However, railroads had been given large chunks of land alongside their routes by Congress, as an incentive to build their lines. The rail companies would then sell that land to settlers directly or via the land developers of their era. Coming from places near bigger cities, the settlers started to want improvements soon after they arrived There were no autos yet, but buggies needed better roads than did the old wagons
Thus, building railroads did not matter much in 1905. Instead, St. Cloud would be busy gravelling old dirt roads, so mud holes were less of a problem, and busier building ditches that did not just control flooding in the spring, but gave snow a place to blow in the winter, that gave mosquitoes less habitat, but livestock and orchards more.
Stearns County was maybe a generation later than Kossuth in having rail bring in lots of new people and creating towns, so was accordingly delayed in doing its infrastructure. Ditches 5 and Ditch 18 were just a few of those said to be "organized" in Stearns County in 1905. (Organized meant the locale was able to elect officers, who could authorize and collect taxes, so that money could be raised for the drainage work to be done.)
In his book, a "History of Stearns County, Minnesota", William Bell Mitchell noted that, by the time of his writing Vol. 1 in 1915, "the 'gospel of good roads' which had been vigorously preached made many converts" (p. 719). He said the county had already accumulated 162 miles of ditching alongside roads (p. 172). New buildings were added beginning in 1905 to what was the Normal School then (a teachers' training program), but is now St. Cloud State (p. 732).
Those kinds of activity, though attracting well-paid crew workers and people to serve them, are temporary.
Unce Jacob would ultimately change occuptions. He thus gave up farm life in Iowa, for city life in St. Cloud. If the Arndorfers did not plan to farm in Minnesota and did not want to follow Jacob to St. Cloud , once the ditches were dug, was it time to go home? Regardless of their reason for leaving, and the money made while staying, everyone would be sadder, upon leaving Anton behind.
Last revised Sept. 8, 2019. Biography research by JBrown, descended of Anton's uncle Michael Arndorfer. Michael also "died too young", but did so a year before Anton. Michael died in 1907 in Iowa, at his farm southeast of St. Benedict, where all parties named took their children to church.
Death Certificate Index
Certificate Number: 1908-MN-012896
Death: November 20, 1908
County of Death: Stearns County, Minnesota, United States
1) TIMELINE. Anton's family came to Minnesota when he was very young. They did not stay much beyond his death, so none are in the graveyard with him, other than an uncle on his mother's side. He and they would have come from Iowa, from Kossuth County, just below the Iowa-Minnesota state line. They did so after the birth of his younger sister Helen in 1902, when Anton was still toddling. They did so before the birth of his brother Julian, in Sterns County, in Jan. of 1905, when Anton was no moe than age 4. Anton died in 1908. By 1909, the rest would return to Kossuth County, Iowa. That year marked the Iowa birth of his sister Marie. Their 1910 US Census showed them living at a romantic place, farming again, near where his parents met and married (in Prairie Township, St Benedict church). That Census noted that all of Anton's siblings but Julian were Iowa-born.
2) SURNAME EXPLAINED. He is an Arndorfer on his stone, but "Andofer" in several typed records, including the transcription made of his death record and put online by the Minnesota Historical Society (mnhs.org).
Some German surnames had sounds and letters not used in English. Two dots (called an unlaut) indicate a sound much like like a long "Ar", when put over an A. These are easy to add, for handwritten records. When transcribing those handwritten death records later, typists lacked umlauts on their typewriters. They chose to drop the dots, making Andofer. His family did not like the way people pronounced that, so substituted the spelling of Arndorfer, which was a sound-it-out, much closer to the original in sound.
3) HIS COUNTY OF BIRTH IS RECONSTRUCTED. There is no birth record for Anton that survives. His presumably was lost in an old courthouse fire in Kossuth County. FamilySearch.org has put online reconstructions turned in at the new courthouse, with witnesses signing affadavits as to the date and place of varied long ago births. This re-construction was not done for everyone, just those who needed to prove something, such as being of age for an upcoming marriage.
Anton died well before adulthood, so no later proof of his birth ws ever needed. The birth date of 1901 on his stone puts him between the 1889 and 1902 births of two siblings who did reconstruct their records, Frances and Helen Arndorfer (originally Franceska and Helena? names no tliked by the siblings so modernized for the reconstructions). Both sisters at some point stated their birthplace as Kossuth County, Iowa.
4) WHY COME AND GO? Usually there are multiple reasons for leaving, but finances prevent returning, so that is rarer. Family and work are high on the list. His mother's older brother is buried in the same cemetery in St. Cloud as Anton. German-born like Anton's mother, Jacob was among several siblings immigrating with their parents when already mature. (Once in Minnesota, Anton's uncle Jacob would use the cathedral in St. Cloud, as did many of the German-speakers. When still in Iowa, they all attended church at St. Benedict, which did a serman in German so the new arrivals could understand what was said. Jacob's wife was wife Marianna/Mary Ann. When in Iowa, the uncle's name was written as Jacob Garmann at his wedding, to match the name's pronunciation back in Germany, also used when giving the censustaker his children's names, true through their 1900 US Census while still in Kossuth County However, his children changed to Germann in Minnesota, that spelling seen on their stones and Jacob's.)
It seems likely the two families, Germann and Arndorfer, moved together to Minnesota, The timing would be between 1900 and 1905. (1900 was Jacob's large family's last census as Garmann in Iowa. 1905 was the first year the Arndorfers would have their first easy-to-find record in MN, namely, Julian's birth )
Was work enough reason to both move and then return? Checking that era in county history books, nearby Brainerd, MN. was said to still be busy with rail-building until 1900, but not much longer. However, railroads had been given large chunks of land alongside their routes by Congress, as an incentive to build their lines. The rail companies would then sell that land to settlers directly or via the land developers of their era. Coming from places near bigger cities, the settlers started to want improvements soon after they arrived There were no autos yet, but buggies needed better roads than did the old wagons
Thus, building railroads did not matter much in 1905. Instead, St. Cloud would be busy gravelling old dirt roads, so mud holes were less of a problem, and busier building ditches that did not just control flooding in the spring, but gave snow a place to blow in the winter, that gave mosquitoes less habitat, but livestock and orchards more.
Stearns County was maybe a generation later than Kossuth in having rail bring in lots of new people and creating towns, so was accordingly delayed in doing its infrastructure. Ditches 5 and Ditch 18 were just a few of those said to be "organized" in Stearns County in 1905. (Organized meant the locale was able to elect officers, who could authorize and collect taxes, so that money could be raised for the drainage work to be done.)
In his book, a "History of Stearns County, Minnesota", William Bell Mitchell noted that, by the time of his writing Vol. 1 in 1915, "the 'gospel of good roads' which had been vigorously preached made many converts" (p. 719). He said the county had already accumulated 162 miles of ditching alongside roads (p. 172). New buildings were added beginning in 1905 to what was the Normal School then (a teachers' training program), but is now St. Cloud State (p. 732).
Those kinds of activity, though attracting well-paid crew workers and people to serve them, are temporary.
Unce Jacob would ultimately change occuptions. He thus gave up farm life in Iowa, for city life in St. Cloud. If the Arndorfers did not plan to farm in Minnesota and did not want to follow Jacob to St. Cloud , once the ditches were dug, was it time to go home? Regardless of their reason for leaving, and the money made while staying, everyone would be sadder, upon leaving Anton behind.
Last revised Sept. 8, 2019. Biography research by JBrown, descended of Anton's uncle Michael Arndorfer. Michael also "died too young", but did so a year before Anton. Michael died in 1907 in Iowa, at his farm southeast of St. Benedict, where all parties named took their children to church.
Andorfer, Anton
Death Certificate Index
Certificate Number: 1908-MN-012896
Death: November 20, 1908
County of Death: Stearns County, Minnesota, United States
1) TIMELINE. Anton's family came to Minnesota when he was very young. They did not stay much beyond his death, so none are in the graveyard with him, other than an uncle on his mother's side. He and they would have come from Iowa, from Kossuth County, just below the Iowa-Minnesota state line. They did so after the birth of his younger sister Helen in 1902, when Anton was still toddling. They did so before the birth of his brother Julian, in Sterns County, in Jan. of 1905, when Anton was no moe than age 4. Anton died in 1908. By 1909, the rest would return to Kossuth County, Iowa. That year marked the Iowa birth of his sister Marie. Their 1910 US Census showed them living at a romantic place, farming again, near where his parents met and married (in Prairie Township, St Benedict church). That Census noted that all of Anton's siblings but Julian were Iowa-born.
2) SURNAME EXPLAINED. He is an Arndorfer on his stone, but "Andofer" in several typed records, including the transcription made of his death record and put online by the Minnesota Historical Society (mnhs.org).
Some German surnames had sounds and letters not used in English. Two dots (called an unlaut) indicate a sound much like like a long "Ar", when put over an A. These are easy to add, for handwritten records. When transcribing those handwritten death records later, typists lacked umlauts on their typewriters. They chose to drop the dots, making Andofer. His family did not like the way people pronounced that, so substituted the spelling of Arndorfer, which was a sound-it-out, much closer to the original in sound.
3) HIS COUNTY OF BIRTH IS RECONSTRUCTED. There is no birth record for Anton that survives. His presumably was lost in an old courthouse fire in Kossuth County. FamilySearch.org has put online reconstructions turned in at the new courthouse, with witnesses signing affadavits as to the date and place of varied long ago births. This re-construction was not done for everyone, just those who needed to prove something, such as being of age for an upcoming marriage.
Anton died well before adulthood, so no later proof of his birth ws ever needed. The birth date of 1901 on his stone puts him between the 1889 and 1902 births of two siblings who did reconstruct their records, Frances and Helen Arndorfer (originally Franceska and Helena? names no tliked by the siblings so modernized for the reconstructions). Both sisters at some point stated their birthplace as Kossuth County, Iowa.
4) WHY COME AND GO? Usually there are multiple reasons for leaving, but finances prevent returning, so that is rarer. Family and work are high on the list. His mother's older brother is buried in the same cemetery in St. Cloud as Anton. German-born like Anton's mother, Jacob was among several siblings immigrating with their parents when already mature. (Once in Minnesota, Anton's uncle Jacob would use the cathedral in St. Cloud, as did many of the German-speakers. When still in Iowa, they all attended church at St. Benedict, which did a serman in German so the new arrivals could understand what was said. Jacob's wife was wife Marianna/Mary Ann. When in Iowa, the uncle's name was written as Jacob Garmann at his wedding, to match the name's pronunciation back in Germany, also used when giving the censustaker his children's names, true through their 1900 US Census while still in Kossuth County However, his children changed to Germann in Minnesota, that spelling seen on their stones and Jacob's.)
It seems likely the two families, Germann and Arndorfer, moved together to Minnesota, The timing would be between 1900 and 1905. (1900 was Jacob's large family's last census as Garmann in Iowa. 1905 was the first year the Arndorfers would have their first easy-to-find record in MN, namely, Julian's birth )
Was work enough reason to both move and then return? Checking that era in county history books, nearby Brainerd, MN. was said to still be busy with rail-building until 1900, but not much longer. However, railroads had been given large chunks of land alongside their routes by Congress, as an incentive to build their lines. The rail companies would then sell that land to settlers directly or via the land developers of their era. Coming from places near bigger cities, the settlers started to want improvements soon after they arrived There were no autos yet, but buggies needed better roads than did the old wagons
Thus, building railroads did not matter much in 1905. Instead, St. Cloud would be busy gravelling old dirt roads, so mud holes were less of a problem, and busier building ditches that did not just control flooding in the spring, but gave snow a place to blow in the winter, that gave mosquitoes less habitat, but livestock and orchards more.
Stearns County was maybe a generation later than Kossuth in having rail bring in lots of new people and creating towns, so was accordingly delayed in doing its infrastructure. Ditches 5 and Ditch 18 were just a few of those said to be "organized" in Stearns County in 1905. (Organized meant the locale was able to elect officers, who could authorize and collect taxes, so that money could be raised for the drainage work to be done.)
In his book, a "History of Stearns County, Minnesota", William Bell Mitchell noted that, by the time of his writing Vol. 1 in 1915, "the 'gospel of good roads' which had been vigorously preached made many converts" (p. 719). He said the county had already accumulated 162 miles of ditching alongside roads (p. 172). New buildings were added beginning in 1905 to what was the Normal School then (a teachers' training program), but is now St. Cloud State (p. 732).
Those kinds of activity, though attracting well-paid crew workers and people to serve them, are temporary.
Unce Jacob would ultimately change occuptions. He thus gave up farm life in Iowa, for city life in St. Cloud. If the Arndorfers did not plan to farm in Minnesota and did not want to follow Jacob to St. Cloud , once the ditches were dug, was it time to go home? Regardless of their reason for leaving, and the money made while staying, everyone would be sadder, upon leaving Anton behind.
Last revised Sept. 8, 2019. Biography research by JBrown, descended of Anton's uncle Michael Arndorfer. Michael also "died too young", but did so a year before Anton. Michael died in 1907 in Iowa, at his farm southeast of St. Benedict, where all parties named took their children to church.
Death Certificate Index
Certificate Number: 1908-MN-012896
Death: November 20, 1908
County of Death: Stearns County, Minnesota, United States
1) TIMELINE. Anton's family came to Minnesota when he was very young. They did not stay much beyond his death, so none are in the graveyard with him, other than an uncle on his mother's side. He and they would have come from Iowa, from Kossuth County, just below the Iowa-Minnesota state line. They did so after the birth of his younger sister Helen in 1902, when Anton was still toddling. They did so before the birth of his brother Julian, in Sterns County, in Jan. of 1905, when Anton was no moe than age 4. Anton died in 1908. By 1909, the rest would return to Kossuth County, Iowa. That year marked the Iowa birth of his sister Marie. Their 1910 US Census showed them living at a romantic place, farming again, near where his parents met and married (in Prairie Township, St Benedict church). That Census noted that all of Anton's siblings but Julian were Iowa-born.
2) SURNAME EXPLAINED. He is an Arndorfer on his stone, but "Andofer" in several typed records, including the transcription made of his death record and put online by the Minnesota Historical Society (mnhs.org).
Some German surnames had sounds and letters not used in English. Two dots (called an unlaut) indicate a sound much like like a long "Ar", when put over an A. These are easy to add, for handwritten records. When transcribing those handwritten death records later, typists lacked umlauts on their typewriters. They chose to drop the dots, making Andofer. His family did not like the way people pronounced that, so substituted the spelling of Arndorfer, which was a sound-it-out, much closer to the original in sound.
3) HIS COUNTY OF BIRTH IS RECONSTRUCTED. There is no birth record for Anton that survives. His presumably was lost in an old courthouse fire in Kossuth County. FamilySearch.org has put online reconstructions turned in at the new courthouse, with witnesses signing affadavits as to the date and place of varied long ago births. This re-construction was not done for everyone, just those who needed to prove something, such as being of age for an upcoming marriage.
Anton died well before adulthood, so no later proof of his birth ws ever needed. The birth date of 1901 on his stone puts him between the 1889 and 1902 births of two siblings who did reconstruct their records, Frances and Helen Arndorfer (originally Franceska and Helena? names no tliked by the siblings so modernized for the reconstructions). Both sisters at some point stated their birthplace as Kossuth County, Iowa.
4) WHY COME AND GO? Usually there are multiple reasons for leaving, but finances prevent returning, so that is rarer. Family and work are high on the list. His mother's older brother is buried in the same cemetery in St. Cloud as Anton. German-born like Anton's mother, Jacob was among several siblings immigrating with their parents when already mature. (Once in Minnesota, Anton's uncle Jacob would use the cathedral in St. Cloud, as did many of the German-speakers. When still in Iowa, they all attended church at St. Benedict, which did a serman in German so the new arrivals could understand what was said. Jacob's wife was wife Marianna/Mary Ann. When in Iowa, the uncle's name was written as Jacob Garmann at his wedding, to match the name's pronunciation back in Germany, also used when giving the censustaker his children's names, true through their 1900 US Census while still in Kossuth County However, his children changed to Germann in Minnesota, that spelling seen on their stones and Jacob's.)
It seems likely the two families, Germann and Arndorfer, moved together to Minnesota, The timing would be between 1900 and 1905. (1900 was Jacob's large family's last census as Garmann in Iowa. 1905 was the first year the Arndorfers would have their first easy-to-find record in MN, namely, Julian's birth )
Was work enough reason to both move and then return? Checking that era in county history books, nearby Brainerd, MN. was said to still be busy with rail-building until 1900, but not much longer. However, railroads had been given large chunks of land alongside their routes by Congress, as an incentive to build their lines. The rail companies would then sell that land to settlers directly or via the land developers of their era. Coming from places near bigger cities, the settlers started to want improvements soon after they arrived There were no autos yet, but buggies needed better roads than did the old wagons
Thus, building railroads did not matter much in 1905. Instead, St. Cloud would be busy gravelling old dirt roads, so mud holes were less of a problem, and busier building ditches that did not just control flooding in the spring, but gave snow a place to blow in the winter, that gave mosquitoes less habitat, but livestock and orchards more.
Stearns County was maybe a generation later than Kossuth in having rail bring in lots of new people and creating towns, so was accordingly delayed in doing its infrastructure. Ditches 5 and Ditch 18 were just a few of those said to be "organized" in Stearns County in 1905. (Organized meant the locale was able to elect officers, who could authorize and collect taxes, so that money could be raised for the drainage work to be done.)
In his book, a "History of Stearns County, Minnesota", William Bell Mitchell noted that, by the time of his writing Vol. 1 in 1915, "the 'gospel of good roads' which had been vigorously preached made many converts" (p. 719). He said the county had already accumulated 162 miles of ditching alongside roads (p. 172). New buildings were added beginning in 1905 to what was the Normal School then (a teachers' training program), but is now St. Cloud State (p. 732).
Those kinds of activity, though attracting well-paid crew workers and people to serve them, are temporary.
Unce Jacob would ultimately change occuptions. He thus gave up farm life in Iowa, for city life in St. Cloud. If the Arndorfers did not plan to farm in Minnesota and did not want to follow Jacob to St. Cloud , once the ditches were dug, was it time to go home? Regardless of their reason for leaving, and the money made while staying, everyone would be sadder, upon leaving Anton behind.
Last revised Sept. 8, 2019. Biography research by JBrown, descended of Anton's uncle Michael Arndorfer. Michael also "died too young", but did so a year before Anton. Michael died in 1907 in Iowa, at his farm southeast of St. Benedict, where all parties named took their children to church.
Gravesite Details
Cemetery records identify the last name as "Andorfer" and a date of death of November 16th, 1908.
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