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Le Mars Semi-Weekly Post, IA, Tuesday, July 23, 1901, pg. 1, col. 1
DEATH OF PROF. WERNLI
Well Known Educator Passes Away
LeMars was thrown into deep sorrow last evening when it was whispered from lip to lip that Prof. J. Wernli, one of Plymouth county's most prominent and most highly respected citizens, had passed away. Prof. Wernli had been in ill health for a number of years, and for the past year had been unable to leave his home.
Jacob Wernli was born in Thalheim, Canton Aargun, Switzerland, July 13, 1828. He, with his wife, immigrated to America and landed in...
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Le Mars Semi-Weekly Post, IA, Tuesday, July 23, 1901, pg. 1, col. 1
DEATH OF PROF. WERNLI
Well Known Educator Passes Away
LeMars was thrown into deep sorrow last evening when it was whispered from lip to lip that Prof. J. Wernli, one of Plymouth county's most prominent and most highly respected citizens, had passed away. Prof. Wernli had been in ill health for a number of years, and for the past year had been unable to leave his home.
Jacob Wernli was born in Thalheim, Canton Aargun, Switzerland, July 13, 1828. He, with his wife, immigrated to America and landed in Oshkosk, Wis., on the first day of May, 1855, and soon thereafter went to farming.
After farming for some time, until he had mastered the English language, Prof. Wernli took up his profession, that of teaching, for which he had been eminently fitted in Switzerland. In 1864 he was called to the position of principal of the Second ward school of Milwaukee; in 1866 to the position of assistant principal of the First State Normal at Platteville, and in 1868 as principal of the Northwestern German and English Normal school at Galena, Ill. His flattering advancement was the result of his great success as a teacher. But his continual hard work without vacation broke down his heatlh, and after five years toil in Galena he was forced to resign. He then went into the book and stationery business in Chicago, and though the business proved highly successful, the hustle and bustle of a large city did not suit him and he disposed of his business in 1875 and came to LeMars, where for two years he worked as principal of the public schools and established a book store, which was conducted by his sons. He resigned his position as teacher in 1877 and spent most of his time conducting institutes, receiving applications from all over Iowa and the Dakotas. In the fall of 1881 he was elected county superintendent, which office he held for four years, when he refused re-election in order to visit once more his aged mother in Switzerland.
In 1887 he established the Northwestern Normal school and Business college at LeMars, with the hope and purpose that it would be converted by the legislature into a state normal, and thus train teachers for the northwest. Here he spent his remaining strength and a great part of his means in purchasing a beautiful building and maintaining a school according to his own heart. The institution grew and prospered and after four years of hard work he retired, leaving as a monument what is now the Western Union college, of which LeMars and the whole northwest is proud.
Mr. Wernli was married twice, his first wife having died in early womanhood. He was the father of a large family, each of whom enjoys the blessings of a good education and a training to industry. His eldest son, William J., is in the real estate and mining business in Grand Encampment, Wyo., the second, Gottlieb L., is the cashier of the First National Bank of this city; Charles A. is manager of the Plymouth Roller Mills; Geo D. is in the grain business in LeMars; Herman is in the commission business in St. Paul and Frank is one of the clerks in the LeMars postoffice. The daughters are Mrs. C. E. Haas and Miss Anna Wernli.
The funeral will take place tomorrow afternoon at 2 o'clock at the German M. E. church, of which the deceased was a devout member.
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Le Mars Semi-Weekly Sentinel, IA, Thursday, July 25, 1901, pg. 4, cols. 3-5
LIFE WORK DONE
Professor Jacob Wernli Passes to the Unknown World.
STUDENT AND EDUCATOR.
He was Prominent in School Work for more than Forty Years and Devoted his Career to the Advancement of Learning and the Study of Didactics. His Home Life was Beautiful and Pastoral and His Social Relations Pleasant With All Men.
Prof. Jacob Wernli died at his home on Main street in this city at half past five o'clock on Monday night. His demise had been momentarily expected for some days as his rapidly failing powers had evidenced to his family that the end was near. He was devotedly nursed by his faithful wife, who was constantly at his bedside during the closing weeks of his life and tenderly ministered to his wants. His death was painless and his passing away partook of the nature of a refreshing and natural sleep after the labors of a well spent day. A year or two ago he suffered a stroke of paralysis which broke down his strength and which was the beginning of the end.
His death, though not unexpected came as a shock to the community among whom he has been a shining mark for more than a quarter of a century. Few men were better known and better liked in Plymouth county and his fame and popularity were more than state wide, until a few years ago when he practically retired from public life and took up his abode at his pleasant home just beyond the confines of the city to enjoy the rest which he had so fittingly and honorably earned.
The name of Jacob Wernli is and will be forever indissolubly connected with the cause of education and the advancement of learning in the great northwest of which he was one of the pioneers. His life work was devoted to education and schools and well he succeeded in his laudable ambition. He did not amass wealth for himself, dying a comparatively poor man, but all that was great in the man, soul, body and brain was ever active in the work of education, the advancement of the young and the giving of opportunities to others to secure knowledge and raise themselves out of the common rut and by the groundwork build up in order to achieve and do things.
His Early Life.
The early life of a man of his calibre cannot fail to be of interest especially to the young. How he rose from a poor boy, left his home, became a stranger in a strange land, and by virtue of his innate ability and steadfastness of purpose gained for himself a competence and an enviable reputation as a student, thinker and educator.
Jacob Wernli was born in Thalheim, Canton Argan, Switzerland, on July 13, 1828. He was the son of an industrious and well-to-do farmer. His mother was a woman of rare natural talents and goodness of heart. His parents in their spare moments from the busy cares of life early in______ on the mind of the boy these characteristics which marked his career in after life. The boy learned to work and make himself useful as soon as he was capable and learned to be a practical farmer, a knowledge which stood him in good stead on his arrival in the land of his adoption. He attended the district school in his neighborhood and displaying such aptitude for imbibing knowledge that his teacher and the minister of the parish prevailed upon his parents to give him the necessary tuition for admission to the State normal school. This preparation was given him by his kind pastor who recompense. In 1847 he passed the examination of admission into the normal school, when out of seventy-five applicants forty were rejected. In this place of learning young Wernli was under the direct tuition of Dr. Augustin Keller, one of the foremost teachers of his day and received most careful instruction and training for a teacher. In the spring of 1850 he graduated with high honors and was chosen teacher in his native place. In the fall of 1851 he was called to the principalship of the schools in a large manufacturing town in an adjoining county. In 1853 he caught the "emigration fever" from glowing accounts he heard of the land of the brave and the home of the free. Although with bright prospects and future honors almost within his grasp and with every tie to hold him in his native land he determined to emigrate and seek adventure and perchance fortune in the western El Dorado.
His Arrival In America.
With his young wife, whom he had recently married, he set sail for the Occident and on the first of May, 1855, after a perilous voyage lasting two months, he set foot on the western hemisphere. His first home in the new land was in Wisconsin at that time the paradise of all emigrants. Mr. and Mrs. Wernli took up their abode at Oshkosh. The small stock of money they had brought with them was nearly exhausted by the expenses of the voyage and journey.
Eighty-eight dollars in gold represented their entire fortune. The two labored at anything and everything that was honest. Mr. Wernli did not divulge his profession. His early training as a farmer was utilized. He was by turns, a day laborer, farm hand and teamster while his good wife used her deft fingers in sewing and a times in the harder work of washing and ironing. They bought a small house while living here and later sold at a profit investing the money in Waupeca county where they began farming on a raw eighty acres of land. Mr. Wernli devoted all his spare moments to the mastery of the English language and being already a linguist, soon mastered the intricacies of the foreign tongue. In 1858 he was elected clerk of his school district. His duties in this position brought him in contact with schools, teachers and scholars. He found school houses without appara__, teachers without knowledge, methods, system, purpose and life. His ___________________ the natural bent of his mind, his innate love of learning and his ability to teach all urged him to return to his profession. He did this and in 1859 commenced teaching a country school at a meagre salary and taught until 1861. His reputation became known and his attainments respected and he was elected county superintendent of schools in 1816 and re-elected in 1863. From this time on his way was upward. His methods and his work of reform became known far and wide. In 1864 he was chosen principal of the schools of Milwaukee; in 1866 to the position of assistant principal of the First State normal at Platteville and in 1868 as principal of the Northwestern German and English Normal school in Galena, Illinois. Assiduous work in his profession impaired his health and after five years toil in Galena he was forced to resign. He then went into business in Chicago as a partner of H. Enderis, who had a flourishing book and stationery business. The turmoil of a large city and the incessant pursuit of the almighty dollar were not econgenial to the man and he longed to return to his chosen profession. During his residence in Galena he made several trips to northwestern Iowa and realized that this was a garden spot with unlimited resources and boundless possibilities.
He comes to LeMars.
In 1875 Mr. Wernli came to LeMars and for more than a quarter of a century his life has been an open book to the denizens of LeMars and Plymouth county. Here many of his ambitions were realized, his projects fulfilled and the impress of his work carved in the annals of the northwest. Here he found peace and comfort and passed his declining years in the knowledge of duty well done and life well spent in the midst of his large family, many of whom are grown men and women, bearing their burdens and taking their part nobly in the strife of life.
On his arrival in LeMars Mr. Wernli with his sons engaged in the book and stationery business which was later disposed of to A. B. Steiner. Mr. Wernli was elected principal of the LeMars schools which position he resigned in 1877. On resigning this position he devoted his time mainly to conducting teachers' institutes, receiving applications from all over Iowa and Dakota. In the fall of 1881 he was appointed superintendent of schools in Plymouth county by the board of supervisors to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of F. W. Guernsey. He was elected that fall to the office and held it for four years, refusing a third nomination as he wished to visit his aged mother in Switzerland, whom he had only seen once, in 1870, when he made her a brief visit, since coming to America. In 1887 he established the Northwestern Normal school and Business college in this city, with the purpose and hope that it would be converted by the Iowa legislature into a State Normal and thus train teachers for the northwest. Here he spent the strength of his manhood and the greater part of his private means in purchasing and furnishing a fine building and maintaining a school after the best ideas. Too much cannot be said of the loftiness of his aims and the value of the institution he inaugerated. The institution grew and prospered and acquired renown through adjoining states. The professor's whole heart and soul was in this prospect. The foundation of the college had been his dream for years and alone and unaided he found its inception and aided its growth and standing. After several years of ceaseless labor and incessant toil he began to realize that the weight of age was pressing on his frame and brow and he cast about him for a successor to carry on his work so well begun. Prof. J. F. Hirsch, now of Charles City and Prof. A. W. Rich, now of Cedar Falls were the men who succeeded him in carrying out the work which he had begun and the further history of the normal college is too recent to bear recapitulation in this sketch.
Prof. Wernli was not permitted to remain in the retirement which he had fairly earned for again in 1893, he was offered the nomination for the office of county superintendent and was elected by a large majority and re-elected in the fall of 1895.
Mr. Wernli's name was offered twice in state conventions for the important office of state superintendent of education and for a number of years he was a member of the educational council.
In politics he was a staunch republican. Early in life he joined the German Methodist church of which he was a devout and consistent member. He was a member of the Masonic order. In social life he was quiet, modest, retiring and unassuming. Gifted with versatile talents, and more than ordinary ability he was withal one of the pleasantest and kindest men to meet. He was equally at home in the mansion of the titled or wealthy as in the sod house of the horny-handed son of toil who earns his bread by the sweat of the brow. He had a sincerity of soul and steadfastness of purpose which gained him friends wherever he went. He was single hearted, generous and possessed of a mind singularly broad and expansive. Like great men he was simple in his tastes. His home life was beautiful and pastoral. He took interest in and understood the fruits and flowers of the field. He considered the lilies of the field and knew how they grew. His heart was near to nature and many of his happiest days were spent on his beautiful fruit farm south of town, surrounded by his large family of children and solaced by his wife, his faithful companion and ready helpmeet for years. His path in life was without reverces and he tasted of the bitterness of misfortune but on the other hand he enjoyed the sweets, and in living and working for others he lived for himself and in so doing found his meed of joy and recompense.
Mr. Wernli was twice married. In 1853 he espoused Annie M. Steiner who died at Milwaukee, December 16, 1866. Four children survives this union. William of Grand Grand Encampment, Wyo., Gottlieb, cashier of the First National Bank, Chas. A. manager of the Plymouth Roller Mill company and Mrs. C. E. Haas. In 1867 he was united in marriage with Miss Christina Kehres at Platteville, Wis., who with nine children survives him. They are George, Hermann, Louis, Annie, Frank, Ot, Clara, Minnie and Elsie. Herman and Louis reside in Minneapolis.
All the members of the family were present at the funeral except William, who unfortunately arrived in Omaha three hours too late to make connections to enable him to arrive at LeMars in time for the funeral. He arrived on the midnight train.
The Last Rites.
The obsequies of the late Jacob Wernli were held yesterday afternoon at the German Methodist church which was crowded to its utmost capacity, people coming from all over the county to pay honor and respect to the memory of the deceased.
The services were conducted by Rev. H. Kaste, pastor of the church and Rev. T. McDonald of the Methodist church and were simple and impressive.
The chancel was heaped high with floral offerings and the coffin covered with beautiful wreaths, the last tributes of loving hands. The choir rendered several selections, favorite hymns of the deceassed. Rev. W. T. McDonald read the scripture lesson, taking for his theme the beautiful words from the second epistle of Paul to Timothy, "I have fought a good fight, have finished my course, I have kept the faith."
Rev. H. Kaste preached the funeral sermon in the German language and gave a brief sketch of the life of the deceased and eulagized his good work and deeds. Rev. McDonald spoke in English and in his remarks dwelt largely on the religious side of the deceased's character, of his abiding faith in a higher life, and of his great intellectual and moral attainments. At the conclusion of the services at the church, the remains were conveyed to the city cemetery followed by a very large concourse of mourners and consigned to their last resting place with a few brief words of hope and prayer. Six of the stalwart young sons acted as pall bearers.
Among the out of town friends at the funeral were Edward Kerby, Rev. Schuldt. H. Velsch, of Sioux City, and Mrs. Arnold Steiner of Sibley.
The First National bank of which the deceased was formerly a director, the offices at the court house and a number of business places were closed during the afternoon out of respect to the memory of the man, who has been an honored and revered citizen of this community for nearly thirty years.
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