The Schulte-Bruening Relationship in Bow Valley
Four Bruening sisters married Schulte brothers in the early 1900s. Coincidence, convenience or collective wisdom are said to have occurred in these marriages. Schulte's of future generations like to think it was the latter. The girls, daughters of Henry and Bernadina Bruening, were:
Mary Catherine, b. 21-NOV-1878 d. 17-MAR-1909 m. Willibald Schulte Jr. 08-JAN-1907
Anna Catherine, b. 08-MAY-1880 d. 22-JUL-1969 m. John Joseph Schulte 12-APR-1904
Elizabeth Mary, b. 08-OCT-1883 d. 13-APR-1911 m. Robert Schulte 07-JUN-1910
Frances Kunda, b. 28-FEB-1890 d. 09-MAR-1952 m. Robert Schulte 13-FEB-1912
Henry Bruening immigrated from Germany to the Bow Valley area with his parents, and two brothers and a sister in 1870. They arrrived in Baltimore, Maryland 16-JUN-1870 on the SS Ohio from the port of Bremen in Germany. They were from the Coesfeld-Billerbeck area in the northwestern portion of Westfalen, Germany. Some of the family spelled Brüning as Bruening by changing the "ü" to "ue" sometime after they settled here. However, two of the Brünings simply changed the "ü" to "u". Thus there are two spellings, Bruening and Bruning, of the family name in Cedar County today.
The first of the Bruening family to arrive in America was Henry's older half-brother Bernard [Jr] who landed in Baltimore in 1867 and homeseaded about 2 miles north of Bow Valley in early 1869. He was a half-brother to the other Brüning siblings because his mother Elisabeth Ueding died in Germany in 1846. His father, Bernard [Sr] then married Elisabeth Kerkering. Bernard [Jr] and his wife (Bernadine Baumann) had two daughters (Mrs Henry Wuebben and Mrs Henry Westruff). Bernard [Jr] was one of the sons whose descendants go by the Bruning spelling today.
Upon arrival in Baltimore Johannes Bernard Brüning and Elisabeth Kerkering and their four children traveled to Yankton SD. They then rode by wagon to the point where Bernard had already built a shack on his homestead land. The daughter, Anna (Mrs John Kathol) told of awful homesickness that gripped them and how, if it had been possible, they would have returned to Germany at once. However, her parents homesteaded less than two months after arrival in America. They built a dugout and later a log house. They broke the sod, built fences and battled drought, grasshoppers, blizzards, and endured all of the pioneer hardships. The parents' homestead was about two miles north and one mile east of Bow Valley. Sons Henry and Joseph also homesteaded so that, in total, the Bruenings had acquired 560 acres through the Homestead Act by 1877.
Johann Heinrich was the 1st son of Bernard and Elisabeth Kerkering Bruning. He went by "Henry or Hy" and homesteaded on what is now the Wuebben farm, one mile north and one mile east of Bow Valley. Henry married Bernadina Hoesing from Menominee in 1874. They had five sons and five daughters. Four of the five daughters married sons of Willibald and Elisabeth Schulte whose farm was just a few hundred yards south of Hy's place. These are the Bruening girls mentioned in the opening paragraph. The fifth daughter also married a Schulte, but not one related to Willibald's boys. Only a few of Hy Bruening's descendants live in Cedar County today - those being from the Marcella Hoffart family of Coleridge, the Claude Schulte family in Bow Valley, and the Francis Schulte family in Hartington.
Joseph was 2nd son of Bernard and Elisabeth Kerkering Bruning. He went by "Jos" and married Elisabeth Sartorius. For awhile they lived on their homestead north of Bow Valley then moved to the St. James area attending church there. Jos was the other son whose descendants go by the Bruning spelling today.
Bernard Herman went by "Herman" and was the youngest of the boys. He was a blacksmith and did not homestead. He lived near the St. Helena chapel then moved to the present St. Helena. Herman married Mariam Schrempp and they raised a large family in St. Helena.
When the youngest Brüning, Anna, married John Kathol in 1881 they lived with her parents on the Bernard Brüning homestead. The mother Elisabeth died in 1882 and, when Bernard died in 1890, the Brüning homestead became the home to the Kathol family. Kathol descendents are numerous in Cedar County today. The parents of the Bruening/Bruning families in Cedar County (Bernard Brüning and wife Elisabeth) are buried in the Bow Valley cemetery.
by Dennis Schulte
