The Children of John Baier(l) and Mary Delmore

John and Mary had 13 children according to their own testimony.  Four of those have not been found in records at this point.  An educated clan, many taught school before their marriages.

Anna Marie (Nan) was born in 1867 in Wisconsin.  She married Edmund English.

The remaining known children were all born in Haverhill Township, Minnesota.  Frances Margaret (Fan) was born in  1872. She married Phillip Cassidy and they had ten children all in Olmsted County.

Catherine Agnes (Kate) was born in 1875.
"Called Home - Miss Katherine Byers Joined the Great Majority  This Morning.
Wednesday's Daily - The dark Angel Death cast his grim shadow over the home of John Byers this morning.  She who answered the dread summons was Mill Katherine Byers.  Miss Byers has been ill for a long time and a number of times her life has been dispaired [sic] of.  She had rallied so bravely several times that the anguished family began to take hope of her ultimate recovery.  Her disease was rheumatism and in spite of all that medical skill could do, it finally reached her heart.  The end came at an early hour this morning.  While death is always sad, this one is peculiarly so.  Miss Byers was twenty-two years of age, a bright, beautiful young woman, admired and beloved by all who knew her.  She had lived all her life in this county and her sweet disposition and charming womanly graces made everyone who came in contact with her, her friend.  Her untimely loss will be sincerely mourned by a host of friends.  The funeral will be held from St. John's church Friday morning, the Rev. Father Riordan officiating."  (Olmstead County Democrat, Friday Feb 23, 1900 p1 col 3.)

Elizabeth Cecelia (Liz), born 1878, married Maximillian Conrad om 1897.  They had seven known children.  One, Max Arthur Conrad was better known as the "Flying Grandpa".

John Matthew was born in 1880. He married Agnes Czapleske. John took over the Baier family farm. John and Agnes had four children, one of whom died in infancy.

Their only surviving son died in a hunting accident.  "Man Killed in Hunting Accident - John Baier Dies in Accidental Discharge of Gun - Shot through the chest when a shotgun on which he was manipulating the ejector accidentally discharged, Joseph John Baier, 23 years old, assistant to the farm superintendent at the State Hospital, was killed instantly this afternoon.  It was the area's first hunting fatality of the season." Rochester Post 28 Oct 1940

Eva Baier Lawler and John Matthew Baier
Lawler Farm Collection

John Matthew died in 1973 in Iowa.

Josephine Gertrude (Govie) was born in1881. She married George Timothy Joyce, MD in 1906. They had three children.














Sarah Veronica (Sadie) was born in 1883.  She married Michael P Macken in 1914 and died in 1922 of Bright's Disease and diabetes.  She is buried in the family plot in Calvary Cemetery

Evelyn Teresa (Eva) was born in 1886.  She married William Patrick Lawler in 1913. William is a grandson of Jeremiah Lawler and Margaret English.

Mark Anthony was born in 1893 and married Helen St. John. Close in age to John Edward English his nephew, they played together on the farm when John would visit during the summer.  They were the best of friends.  John was devestated when Mark died as the result of a gunshot wound in November of 1940.  He had been despondent  since the death of another nephew John Joseph Baier in a hunting accident.  The coroner's inquest ruled the death accidental.

John Baier - Part II

Baier House circa 1911 (Lawler Farm Collection)

" .... After the war Grandpa logged a bit, but wanted to farm.  He walked up thru Minn. near Rochester to Blue Earth County.  The land was great but after the following two tales he came back and settled in Olmstead county -- There was a bad storm and he had to stay with a settler who was just putting up his sad shanty & as yet no roof.  The lady of the house sat up all nite with an umbrella over her baby while grandpa  and the husband stayed close to a wall but still got soaking wet.  well that was OK because the house was not yet completed.  The next day, while still travelling, he met a man with a broken sickle who had to walk 40 miles to get it fixed.  Well that was too much for Grandpa, He returned - walking of course, to Rochester & settled east of town - first an 80 acre farm a few miles east of the 240 acre farm near to state hospital which he purchased from a Mr. Willson.  But all was not roses the first few years - there were chinch [sic] bugs which took all - & then I think grasshoppers.  Grandpa went to Mr. Willson & told him he would have to take the farm back because he could not pay -- Mr. Wilson refused because he said Grandpa was a good farmer -- first class -- so that is another good reason for staying in Olmstead ...." (Mary Baier Letter)

Circa 1893 John, Liz, Fan, Nan, Kate
..., John, Eva, Mary, Sadie
Lawler Farm Collection

John, in his pension papers, remembers that they moved to Olmstead Co, MN the year of the Chicago Fire, which is corroborated by his wife, Mary Delmore Baier's recollections.  "We lived there until I think 1871. I had one child when we came to Rochester Minnesota, since then born to us have had 12 children of which seven of my children are living, all of whom are married and out in the world for themselves."


John and Mary were reported to have had thirteen children in the Olmsted County History which was written while both were still alive. Some relatives recall hearing of twins who died at birth and are buried on the farm in Haverhill.  Of the other two nothing is known.

Over the years John added another 160 acres to his holdings, all of which he farmed for many years and later deeded to his son, John Matthew.  "....John was an exceptionally good farmer.  He worked hard and methodically and accomplished much.  His first farming was done with oxen ( a quick stepping ox could plow 1 1/2 acres a day.  Sunday he considered the Lord's day and would allow no work no matter what the situation or weather.  In later years he made it a daily practice to call the Grain Exchange in St. Paul for the latest information.  John always claimed he would quit farming when he had saved $50,000.  After years of successful farming the time came to retire and move to Rochester. He had put in years of hard labor and had achieved his goal.  His wife Mary had other ideas.  She was determined not to leave the farm.  She had always had a will of her own, but John and his daughters found a nice home at 611 East Center Street.  They did the arranging and the moving.  Mary finally agreed to move--under protest. She moved a lot of her farm home treasures and finally fixed the home to her liking.  They resided there from 1908 until their deaths.

"John started life as a poor boy but was industrious and frugal and so won success.  He was active in his community and served in many local positions of trust.  He and his family were members of the Roman Catholic Church.  John English, his oldest grandson remembered well the summers he spent on his Grandfathers farm.  He recalls how he worked in the fields and garden, how he was instructed to keep a detailed report of his hours and activities, and how he was paid at the end of the summer after having a heart to heart talk with the old gentleman.  His grandmother's cooking was another highlight for him. She made cookies as no other woman could and the tale of her wonderful dishes has passed down through the generations." (Granddaughter Dolores English Young Genealogical Notes)

John died on 1 Jun 1924 without having written a will. His estate therefore was divided 1/3 to Mary and 2/21 to each of his seven living children. The estate which was initially valued at $29,200 was settled at 40090.77.  After expenses there was 36595.16 left to distribute.  The farm however was not sold so the actual distribution of $10693.39 to Mary and 3569.04 to each child, was nearly halved with Mary receiving $5609.16 and each child $1064.01.  The lot on which the Baier/s lived in the Rochester was considered a homestead and was appraised for $5000.

John was buried on 3 Jun 1924 in St. John's Cemetery in a ceremony presided over by Rev. Seton G P

Murphy. When family visited in 1999 the cemetery had been renamed Calvary and the parish priest at St. John's Church die not remember it being called St. John's.  The name probably was changed when Rochester grew large enough to have more than one Catholic Church and the graveyard no longer was used exclusively by St. John's.

 John Baier - Dropbox

John Baier(l) Part I

Original at Olmsted County
Historical Society

Joseph Leonard's 1910 A History of Olmsted County states 

...."John Baier, a veteran of the Civil war, and for many years engaged in farming in Haverhilll township, is one of three living children in a family of four born to the marriage of John Baier and Kunagunta (Gretch) Baier.  The father was a small farmer in Germany, where he married.  He came with his parents to the United States about the year 1846, and after a short stop in Buffalo, New York, located in Wisconsin, and there farmed for a number of years.  The later part of his life the father resided in Milwaukee, where he died about the year 1892.  John Baier, his son and the subject of this sketch, was born in Bavaria, Germany, April 2, 1844....." (1)

In 1860 John was living on the Wisconsin farm with his widowed father Johann. His brother Joseph and two sisters no longer lived at home, however, Margaret was just a few farms away, a servant in the home of a neighbor. At the age of fifteen John was probably sharing much of the work with his father.  According to the census he had not attended school within the last year.  (2)

John married Mary Delmore on 9 Nov 1863 in Mauston, Wisconsin. Father Montague the local parish priest performed the ceremony.  To date a marriage record has not been found, however, the information is given in John's pension papers.

John enlisted in the Union army in the fall of 1864 at the age of nineteen.  He stood "5'7" with brown hair and blue eyes" as he mustered into the Co E of the 1 Regiment Wisconsin Heavy Artillery as a private under Captain Shipman on Sept 8.   

Batteries E and F of the First Heavy Artillery were first organized at Camp Randall, Madison, WI, and left the State on the 3rd day of October, 1863, proceeding to Fort O'Rourke in Washington where they were assigned to duty in the defenses of that city.  They remained in the Washington DC area until they returned to Milwaukee, WI, and were discharged on the 1st of July, 1865.

While in the army John earned $11 a month and lived on salt pork and hardtack. Like so many regiments this one lost only 4 enlisted men and two officers to wounds, but a total of 77 succumbed to disease.  (3)

After returning to Wisconsin John  logged and rafted on the Yellow River for about six years.  The Yellow River flows into the Wisconsin River near New Lisbon and the Lemonweir River flows into the Wisconsin River at Lyndon Station, both are located near Mauston.  The loggers worked long hours for wages of $14 to $18 a month.  The men lived in the woods (ate and slept there) and the evenings were full of song and stories until early bed down.  It was a hard and rugged life. (4)

From a letter of Mary Baier, granddaughter of John to Ms. Bhinks of the Olmstead Historical Society, "........ I would like to make a few corrections in the accompanying article about Grandpa Baier and his gun.  First the gun in a musket - not a rifle.  At least as my father explained, because you had to make your bullet with shot, a wad of paper, powder and caps, that was pouch was for either powder or shot. When my father was allowed to hunt with it his rabbit prey would be gone by the time he loaded the musket because of all the rigmarole of making a bullet. Hence, the gun has been bored to handle a regular bullet.  I know this fact detracts from the gun, but people had to be practicale [sic] even in those days.  The gun can be used as a musket or regular bullet, as I was told by Dad - John Matthew Baier [March 27, 1874 - May 4, 1973]. (Note: while John's gun was given to the Museum, it appears it is no longer in the collections.)

Second, Grandpa came to Olmstead County after the Civil War.  I think it is a rather interesting story as to why he chose Olmstead County- But I must backtrack a bit.  Grandpa was in 1st Wisconsin - in those days you could hire someone to take your place if you were drafted. Grandpa was paid $600 to go in a draftee's place.  That was a lot of money  - since he was just married....  This would be a good start in life.  His wife Mary Delmore stayed with his sister in Milwaukee. Anna Baier Kleinhans, while he went off to war.  The story is Grandpa warned his sister to see that Mary did not go "out in the bush" which apparently is just outside of the then Milwaukee city limits...." 

1. Leonard, Joseph A, The History of Olmstead County: together with Sketches of Many of its Pioneers, Citizens, Families and Institutions (Chicago, Goodspeed Historical Association 1910), page 619.
2. Bureau of the Census RG 29 Micropublication M653 1438 rolls, Eighth Census of the United States 1860, Population Schedules (Washington, National Archives and Record Administration).Roll 1414 - Wisconsin, Juneau County, Mauston Post Office, Marion Township pg 117 Dwelling 741 Family 835 31 july 
3. US Civil War Pensions, Invalid Application 1364056 certificate 1137642 MN filed 5/10/1907, Widow Application 1220666 certificate 952028 MN filed 6/19/1924: Oliver, Philip (developer), The Civil War CD-ROM, The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies (Guild press of Indiana, Inc 1997). Part III Regimental Histories Wisconsin; Estabrook, Charles E. ed, Records and Sketches of Military Organizations, Madison 1914;  May 31, 1924, p 2 c 2;  Rochester G.A.R. Personnel Skrinks to 23; Once Had 311, Rochester Daily Bulletin May 31, 1924, p 2 c 2
4. Bureau of the Census RG29 Micropublication M593 1,748rolls, Ninth Census of the United States 1870, population schedules (Washington, National Archives and Records Administration).  Roll 1720 Vol 12 (1474A) WI, Juneau, Germantown 26 July 1870 Page 13(23) John Baier 24 works in sawmill PP 100 Bavaria, parents foreign; Mary 23 F W Keeping house Ireland; Annie 3 FW WI parents foreign