John Peter Menke was born on August 28, 1886 in Lee County, Iowa. He is related on the Wellman side of the family.

John Menke is the son of Bernard and Catherine Holtkamp Menke. He was the second son born to the couple. I found a record of his birth that states he is the fourth child born to his mother, and the 1900 census lists two stepdaughters living with the family. Bernard went by Gerhard, his middle name. We find him listed as Garett on the 1900 census.

The 1910 census lists Maggie still living with the family, but has her last name as Fucke, which we can see crossed out in this image from the 19oo census. I have not found a record of Catherine being previously married. So I now have another thing to research.

Marriage

John Peter Menke married Elizabeth Merschbrock on September 19, 1916 in St Paul, Iowa. Their first child was born in January of 1917. They went on to have 6 more children. John’s brother George was living with them according to the 1920 census. They were listed as co-partners on the farm.

The 1930 census has George living on the farm next door with his own young family. John and Lizzie have just had their 5th child and Lizzie’s sister Katie is now living with them.

John registered for the draft for both WWI and WWII. I found the draft card for WWII. At the time, he was working as a carpenter, building houses.

John and Lizzie continued to live in Lee County, Iowa. for the rest of their lives. John Peter Menke died April 20, 1976 and is buried in Sacred Heart Cemetery in Fort Madison.

I found some interesting things as I was researching John. I didn’t initially have his parents attached to him, but had them in the tree with a few of their other children.

Two of their sons married sisters. Arnold married Anna Marie Korte and James married Mary Ann Korte. Their son Donald married Lilian Steffensmeier who I had in the tree.

They are related to the family through Verona Moeller Wellman. Her brother Casper married Cecilia Menke, John and Lizzie’s oldest child. I wrote about Verona here.