Terrell

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Biography of John George Wanner Sr

Wanner Family about 1895

Biography of John George Wanner taken from a hand written history which was in a box of Genealogy material of Clara Bodrero, now in possession of Elaine Ricks (unknown dates), author unknown.. I have written a history of John George Wanner Sr previously. I updated location and names to their proper spelling.

“John George Wanner, son of John Frederick and Anna Maria Marquardt, was born Oct. 18, 1845, at Holzgerlingen, Germany. He had two brothers, namely Michal and Conrad. Grandfather was the youngest child. [He wasn’t a very large man about 5 feet 6 inches tall. He always looked well dressed, clean and very nice.]

“He was member of the Protestant Church. At this church the members graduated from Sunday School at the age of 18.

“In those days children didn’t get very much schooling and grandfather was no exception.

“Grandpa while in Germany worked on the roads and was the road overseer. he also worked in the Black Forest and fought in the Civil War in Germany in 1865 and the War of 1870-71.

“He was married to Anna Maria Schmidt on June 6, 1870. [She was about 5 feet 4 inches and had a good shape. She always fixed her hair so beautiful, she looked nice and well dressed. I can remember this beautiful black knit winter dress she had and she always wore gloves] From this union was born to them five sons and five daughters. Before his marriage he served in the Civil War in Germany and again after his marriage in 1870 & 71 for quite a while.

“After his marriage he worked in the woods. In 1873 they moved from Holzgerlingen to Gruenkraut, Wuerttemberg, where they bought a little home and farm. He also worked in the gravel and woods on this side. In 1880 he got a job on a big highway and worked on it until he came to America in 1893.

“In the month of May 1891 while working on the Highway two men came along and talked to him, giving him a Tract. They were members and missionaries of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. They visited his home telling him and his family of the gospel and the Lord’s work. They made their visits often, and in July 1891, John George, the oldest son was baptized and came to America with a missionary by the name of Terrell from Providence, Utah.

“In October 1891, grandfather, his wife and some of their children were baptized by the Elders. (Grandfather was the only member of his father’s family that joined the Latter Day Saint church.

“In May 1893, they prepared to come to America. [They rode the train for a day and then got on a ship and went up the Rhine River. This took them three or four days. They then rode the train another day and got on a ship on the North Sea that took them to England; the sea was very turbulent and they had a rough voyage.

“They went to Liverpool, England from Germany on a small ship. From Liverpool to New York they came on a big ship and were on the ocean 13 days. They arrived at New York City and stayed in a Hotel 20 stories up for 1 or 2 nights. They took the train to Chicago where they stayed 1 or 2 nights. Then they took a train and came to Franklin, Idaho arriving on Sunday June 18, 1893. They were met by their son George and Brother Fred Nuffer, the man George was working for. They met them with a one seated buggy and a wagon. Grandfather Wanner asked for a drink of water after getting off the train. “You’ll have to be on your stomach by that stream”, George spoke up. This made Grandfather Wanner so discussed that he walked back to Logan over 20 miles, with a determination to go back to Germany if he had to drink from ditches. The next day he reconsidered and again returned to Franklin, Idaho. They went to Cub River to Fred Nuffer’s place where they stayed for almost one week Then they purchased the farm of John Nuffer in Glendale, Idaho. [It was during this week that Grandpa took his daughter Mary and they walked to Bear Lake County seeking a farm and a home and to see what was available there. They slept on the ground at nights and saved some of their read to feed the bears so they wouldn’t bother them. They had to take off their shoes as they forged streams. It as a rough trip.

“[The first Sunday they were in Glendale, Grandpa and Grandma went to church with these five beautiful daughters and two sons. One day, William Addison Wagstaff was the ward clerk and mother, Mary, had on a red dress; dad looked down at her and winked. You see, dad was well past 30 and not married. I bet he though here is my chance. Of course there were other nice gals available, but he hadn’t married and we were happy he chose mother.]

“[Grandma soon joined the Relief Society and in the minutes of the meetings that I have, tell of her bearing her testimony often and donating eggs, wheat, calico or whatever, when asked to do so. They had a strong testimony and remained true to the Church and were ardent Temple Workers till their last days on earth. ]

“John Wanner took up more land after a few years and built a log cabin to claim the land. Cleared quaken aspens from his farm to have more land. One day his All slipped from a stump and cut a deep space i his hand. It was necessary for the doctor to put in several ditches as the farm work advanced he built a barn and bought addition cows.

“Mother Wanner made and sold many pounds of butter a week to George Benson Store in Whitney, Idaho.

“The Wanners also picked and sold number quarts of currants, gooseberries and raspberries. Gooseberries were about 20 quarts for a dollar, the raspberries sold for about 10 or 12 quarts for a dollar. These were delivered price.

“About that time 2 additional rooms were added to a rock house that was on the place.

“They bought the John Nuffer’s farm at Glendale, Idaho, now Franklin County. Later he bought the Jed M. Blair farms in Whitney and started to raise sugar beets.

“[They later moved in 1910 to Logan, Utah and ] while living at Logan, Utah [to be near the Logan Temple where they could go often. In Logan, they lived at two or three different places, but I wasn’t able to find out for sure. The places I distinctly remember was their home on 3rd North and two or so blocks East and their last home in Logan was a lovely home they built located on 4th North and two blocks East. they did a great deal of Temple work for the dead having got many names from Germany. They also did a lot of work for other people. While in Logan, Grandpa always had a lively horse, a good looking single black buggy and a real snazzy buggy whip. This one place they lived on in Logan had an extra lot where he grew hay for his horse and he’d cut it with the scythe. They also always had a nice garden and beautiful flowers. As I remember this home was on 3rd North and a few blocks East.]

“[They were hard working, thrifty people and handled their affairs very well. They really made hay while the sun shone and were able to retire at a reasonable age and had enough to live on plus an estate they left. ]

“February 16, 1922 after a short illness of pneumonia he died and was buried in the cemetery at Logan, Utah.

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Jacob Friedrich Wanner

I received this history a few years ago.  I will provide it as it is written (only minor edits).  I have written before regarding Fred’s parents Johann George (John George) Wanner and Anna Maria Schmid.

Back(l-r): Eva, Carma, Bert Wanner; Front: Lyman, Fred, Eva, Stanley Wanner

“(This History is written by Jacob’s daughter – Eva June Wanner Lewis – with the information sent in by Brother Fred, and Sister Mary Ann, and  her own sweet memories as well as information from Histories of Brothers and Sisters.)

“Jacob Friedrich Wanner was born January 14, 1881, in Gruenkraut, Germany, the 7th child of Johann Georg Wanner and Anna Maria Schmid.  They had a large family consisting of five boys and five girls.  They were quite poor so Grandfather went to work as a road overseer.  This left the farm work to Grandmother and the children.  They used the milk cows to do the farm work and then would milk them morning and night.  They also got wood from the forest for fuel.

Back(l-r): Mary, Christina, George, Pauline; Front: Anna, Fred, Louisa, Wilhelmina, Gottlop, John Wanner

“It rained a lot in Germany so the out buildings were connected to the house.  One time Grandma went downstairs to get some fruit.  She reached over and touched something hairy – she thought it was the devil!  It was a cow that had wandered down from the barn.

“Dad didn’t talk much about his life as a child but he did say he got a drum for Christmas and then it would disappear about New Year’s Day and he would get it for Christmas again the next year.  He may have been joking.

“The family belonged to the Lutheran Church and was very religious.

“In the summer of 1890 the Lord sent a man along the street in Gruenkraut where Grandpa worked.  He was a missionary from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.  He talked to Grandpa a long time and showed him the Book of Mormon.  He spoke in German.  When it came dinner time Grandpa took the missionary home and said,  “We’ll see Mother.”  From that day the missionaries stayed in their home and the family was soon converted.  They joined the church in 1891.

“Uncle George was baptized in July 1891 and went to America with one of the missionaries, Brother Terrell from Providence, Utah.  Brother Terrell helped him find a job to provide for himself.  He got a job with Fred Nuffer in Glendale.  Grandfather and Grandmother and the three oldest girls were baptized in October 1891.  Louise and Pauline were baptized in June 1894, Gottlob in June 1895 and Wilhelmina in August 1896.  Dad was baptized in Preston or Franklin, Idaho, on June 7, 1894, by Lars C. Larsen and confirmed a member of the church by Austin I. Merrill on June 7, 1894.  He was ordained an Elder by George C. Parkinson on September 27, 1903, and was married by Thos Morgan on September 30, 1903, at the Logan Temple.

“The family left Germany to come to America so they could worship the way the pleased.  It was a long, uncomfortable trip.  They took the train to the Rhine River and then boarded a boat and traveled up the Rhine, a journey of about 3 or 4 days.  Then another train took them to the North Sea where a ship sailed them to Amsterdam, Holland, and then on to England.  At Liverpool they boarded a ship and were on the ocean for 13 days.  Dad was 12 years old when they crossed the ocean and told us of the rough sea.  He had to hang on to his bunk with both hands to keep from being thrown to the floor.  He said he sure got sick of eggs.

“They arrived in New York and stayed there for 2 days.  Then they went to Chicago for a day and a night.  They then rode a train straight through to Franklin, Idaho, which took six days.  They arrived the 18th day of June, 1893.

“Uncle George and Fred Nuffer (the man he worked for) met them with a buggy and wagon and took them to Fred Nuffer’s place in Cub River.  They stayed for a while with the Nuffers and purchased a farm from John Nuffer in Glendale.

Gpa Wanner

“When Grandpa and Grandma moved to Whitney they sold the farm to Dad.  I don’t know if Dad or Grandpa build the sandstone house.  It had a kitchen, two bedrooms and a pantry.  It had a hand pump that pumped water from a spring.  Mary Ann and some of the children were born there.

“Dad met and married a lovely young girl, Mary Elizabeth Carter on September 30, 1903, in the Logan Temple.  They lived in Whitney, Idaho, until they bought the farm.  They worked hard to improve their farm and many times she helped him in the fields.  They built a three bedroom brick house that stood for many years until fire destroyed it years later.  Dad had a Delco generator in the garage so we had our own electricity.

Fred and Mary Elizabeth Wanner

“They had a lovely family, five girls and three boys:  Laverna C., Fredrick D., Lorin C., Florence E., Joseph J., Erma C., Mary Ann and Grace C.

“IN 1923 – Elizabeth died leaving seven children.  The youngest was almost 2 years old.  Laverna got married so that left Erma and MaryAnn to take care of the baby.  Erma would go to school one day and MaryAnn the next.  It was hard.  They tried to leave her with Aunt Ethel Barrington in Riverdale, but she got so lonely and cried all day so they went and got her.  Then Dad hired Eva Christensen to come and work as a housekeeper.  As time went on Dad and Eva (my mother) fell in love and was married June 26, 1925, in the Logan Temple. They had five children:  Carma C., L. Bertus, Eva June, Lyman G., and Stanley C.  We had a happy family life and dad always saw to it that we went to church and did what we were suppose to do.  He went when he could.  He always paid his tithing and other offerings.  He was honest in all his dealings.

Fred and Mary with (l-r) Laverna, Fred, Lorin.

“Dad was the first one in Glendale to buy a car.  We children were used to horses so we would say,  “Gid up, Gid up” when we got in the car.  About this time Dad was struck by lightening but was not harmed.

“Dad owned or had a share in the thrashing machine.  They would go around to all the farmers in Glendale and thrash the grain.  Then we would fix a big meal for all the men.   It was a real fun time for the children but a lot of work for the adults.  Dad worked as an oiler or on the thresher and had part of his finger taken off.  When we were little he told us a fox bit it off!

“Dad was a good farmer.  He took pride in all his work.  He raised hay, barley and wheat.  He always had 10 or 12 dairy cows.  He also had horses, pigs and chickens.  For many years we separated the cream from the milk in the old separator.  Then Dad took the cream to Preston to sell it along with the eggs.  In later years we had the milk truck come and pick up the milk so we didn’t use the separator anymore.  He also bought a grain chopper and prepared his own feed for the animals.  We had a big raspberry patch and used to sell raspberries for 8 quarts for a dollar.  Dad always had a big garden and a big potato patch.  He had a root cellar to keep potatoes, carrots, squash and apples over the winter.

“In the early 1930’s Dad bought silver foxes.  He built a high fence so they couldn’t get out.  He took great pride in his fox furs.  They were always excellent quality!  I remember watching him cure the furs and he took great care to make sure they were done right.  Dad always kept his barnyard as well as the rest of the farm in good repair and very neat.  His fences were always mended.

“Dad always took time out of his farm work to go to Franklin to celebrate Idaho Day on the 15th of June.  We would take a big picnic lunch and spend the day.  We rode the carnival rides and had a good time.  He always took us kids to Downata to go swimming when we finished first crop of hay.

“Dad liked a good joke… I remember how he would laugh.  He loved the radio and his favorite programs were Gang Busters, The Old Ranger and of course the news!  We all had to be quiet when the news came on.

“Dad was very active and was always working except on Sunday – there was never any work done on Sunday except chores.  He loved the Sunday paper.  He always bought the Denver Post.  It was a real shock to us when he had his heart attack because he was so active.  It happened one day when he was working in the barn.  We were all frightened and I called the neighbors to help us get him to the house.

“After that he had to be very careful so he sold the farm and moved to Preston.  They lived just down the street from MaryAnn.  He seemed to miss the farm and would putter around the yard.

“He died at the age of 74 on August 25, 1955.  He was buried in the Preston Cemetery.

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Wanner, John George, Jr. and Eliza Sterling/Regina Nuffer

I found this biography written by Mary Louise Wanner Andra of her parents.  I will write a separate history for them in the future, but I thought I would make this one available unadulterated by me (typed completely as written in the book, although I added the photo).

This biography was published in Whitney Centennial 1889-1989: Whitney’s First 100 Years.  It was published in 1991 by the Whitney Ward, written and edited by the Whitney Ward Centennial Book Committee.

John George Wanner Jr Family abt 1912. (l-r): Eva, William, Golden, Serge (sitting), John, Regina, Rulon, Willard, Mary.

Our father, John George Wanner, Jr., was born in Holzgerlingen, Neckarkreis, Wuerttemberg 29 October, 1870.  His parents were John George Wanner and Anna Maria Schmid.  He was the oldest in the family of five boys and five girls.

His father had a small farm and some cattle.  He was also a road overseer.  So dad, his mother and brother and sisters did most of the farm work.  They also got wood from the forest for winter fuel.

Dad’s parents were very religious people and belonged to the Lutheran church.  They were very hard workers and tried to teach their children correct principles.  Dad tried hard to follow in their footsteps.

His parents joined the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in 1891.  They made sure all their children were baptized as they became of age.  His parents could see that it was the only true church on the earth, and they wanted to go to America, where they could worship as they wished.  They also felt it would give their children a better opportunity in life.

His parents were the only ones in their respective families who joined the LDS church.  Our dad was baptized in July in 1891, and came to America with one of the missionaries – a brother Terrell who was from Providence, Utah.  Brother Terrell took good care of him and helped find work for him to do and provide for himself.

Dad got a job working for brother Fred Nuffer in Glendale, Oneida County (now Franklin County), Idaho.  In 1893 his father, mother, and his brothers and sisters came to Cache Valley from Germany.  Dad and brother Nuffer met them with a wagon and buggy in Franklin, Oneida County, Idaho, June 18, 1893.  I am sure he was happy to see his family again, as it had been almost two years since he had seen any of them.

Dad met a lovely girl from Providence, Utah, by the name of Eliza Sterling, and this relationship blossomed into marriage in 1894.  They were blessed with two sons, George and Earl Wayne.  This marriage was not a very happy one and they were divorced.

On the 31st of August 1898, dad married Regina Nuffer who was a sister of our uncle Charles August Nuffer.  [Daughter of the marriage of Eva Katherine Greiner and Johann Christopher Nuffer]  On 9 November 1899, they were blessed with twin boys, William and Willard.  As time went on they were blessed with more children, a total of five boys and two girls.

John & Regina Wanner

John & Regina Wanner

Dad went on a mission to Germany in the fall of 1907, leaving a wife and six children.  On March 8, 1908, their son Serge was born.  Mother and the family were living in a home John Nuffer built for dad.  It is a rock house on East Oneida Street in Preston, Idaho.  This house is still standing and is in good condition at this writing – June 1979.

When Serge was a few months old, mother took all the children and had a picture taken and sent it to dad so he could see the new baby.

Regina with William and Willard in the back and then Golden, Mary in the middle, holding Serge, then Rulon, then Eva.

While Dad was in Germany, he met William Andra’s mother and family and baptized the eldest daughter Freda.

In 1910, Dad’s mother and father sold their home and farm in Whitney to Dad.  This is the farm Lawrence Bodily now has.  Dad built a red barn that is still in use on the farm.  After grandpa and grandma sold their farm to dad, they moved to Logan, Utah.

In 1913 dad’s parents, brothers and sisters had a family reunion at their home in Whitney.  There was a large crowd and we all had a good time.

We all had to work hard and dad relied on his daughter Mary for many hard farm jobs.  However, on Saturday nights he would take us to the picture show and give us each 25¢ to spend on the show and treats.

In 1917, I begged to take the sewing class at the USAC in Logan, as I wanted to learn to sew.  However, I was only there a short time when dad brought me home to work on the dry farm.  I have always felt bad about this as I wanted to learn to sew.

My brother, William, enlisted in the Army on August 5, 1917.  He was with the 145th Light Field Artillery, Battery C.  He left Salt Lake City for Camp Kearney on October 11, 1917.  He left for France August 2, 1918.  William contracted the influenza and died December 1, 1918.  His body was brought home November 11, 1920, and interred in the Whitney Idaho Cemetery.

Just a few days before they got the sad news of William’s death, their son, Golden, died November 26, 1918 in Salt Lake City from Influenza.

On January 8, 1921, dad sent his son Willard on a mission to New Zealand.

Dad and mother were to face still more sorrow when their son Rulon died February 26, 1924, in the Logan hospital.

Dad believed in missionary work with all his heart and soul and on December 15, 1925, he went to Tennessee on a six month mission.

In 1928, Serge went to New Zealand on a mission and died there October 5, 1929.  His body was brought home for burial.  The funeral was held in the old opera house in Preston, Idaho.  These were trying times for our parents.  Losing four sons, and all their bodies returned home in a box.  This left them with only one son and two daughters.

On April 7, 1930, dad sent Eva on a mission to California.  Dad was not a stranger to hard work.  He raised crops and took good care of his farm animals.  He took pride in having things looking neat and clean around the farm and yard.

When Dad operated his farm in Whitney, he was always up early in the morning and usually was the first to get to the beet dump in the morning.  The story is told about some of his neighbors who decided to beat him to the dump.  They got up extra early to get a head start.  Before they got to the beet dump, they could hear George Wanner going down the road ahead of them.  They could hear him saying to his horses, “Gid up–gid up–gid up.”

When dad sold his farm in Whitney, he purchased 40 acres nearer to Preston and built a beautiful home on it.  Part of it is where the Oakwood School is now located.  When he retired he sold his farm and home to his daughter Mary and her husband William Andra.

Dad was successful in the various undertakings he engaged in.  He was one of the first in Preston to have an automobile.  When he brought it home he did not know how to stop it.  He yelled “whoa” when he got in the garage, but before he got it stopped he had gone through the end of the garage.

Dad built the two little homes on the west side of second east and first south in Preston, Idaho.  He also built three homes on first south and the south side of the street in Preston.  Dad and mother lived in one of them until she died in 1942.  Mother was ill for quite a while before she passed away.  Dad cared for her the best he could and would take her for little rides in the car.  She was unable to walk and dad would carry her on his back from place to place as they went visiting.

As many of you will remember, there was a humble side to dad.  I have seen him cry when bearing his testimony and when he was grieved over the death of a loved one, a relative, or friend.  He wanted to leave this world a better place than he found it, and I feel sure he made some contributions and brought this desire to fulfillment.

After mother died, dad remarried and went to live in Salt Lake City, Utah.  This marriage was not successful and they were divorced.  Later on he remarried again and was living in Florida.  He became ill and wanted to get back to Preston.  My son William went to Florida to bring him home, but when they got to Chicago, he was too ill to go on.  So, William put him in the hospital where he passed away on January 5, 1947.

Regina Nuffer was born January 26, 1869 at Neuffen, Germany, a daughter of Johann Cristoph and Eva Katharina Greiner, she came to Utah with her family after they were converted to the gospel.  She married Jacob Scheibel July 15, 1889, in Pleasant Valley, Carbon County, Utah.  Her first child, Alma Katherine Scheibel Naef, was born, September 27, 1889.  When her child was six months old, she and her husband separated and she moved back to Mapleton, Idaho, where she stayed with her parents on their farm.  During this period, she would help people when they were sick, and her mother would take care of her child.

In about 1893, after the death of her mother, she moved to Weber County, Utah, and worked for the Will Taylor family in Farr West and the Bowman family in Ogden.  She again returned to her father’s farm.  On her way home, she stopped in Logan and walked out to Providence to visit a friend.  While eating lunch, she happened to think that she had left her new coat on the train.  She went back to Logan to the train station and they sent out a tracer.  In a few days she got her coat back.  After returning to Idaho, she worked for several people in Franklin and Preston.  She lived in one room of her brother John’s home in Preston.  Her brother was on a mission in Germany at the time.

On August 31, 1898, she married John George Wanner in Logan, Utah.  That winter she lived on his ranch in Worm Creek or Glendale, Idaho.  In April she moved with her husband, daughter, and step son, Wayne, to the Bancroft flat, a little west of where Grace is now.

She was known as a fine, well mannered woman.  Her niece, Athene Hampton, said that toward the end of her life her health was not very good and she had a hard time speaking.  When Athene and Louisa Nuffer would visit, they would converse by writing notes to each other.  She died on March 10, 1942, in Preston, Idaho.  Her funeral in Preston was very well attended.