 John Kaufmann came to Clear Lake in 1874,
and with his bride, Mary Imholte, "selected his farm, from a wild state" (HUMV) "History of the
Upper Mississippi Valley". John and Mary, Anton's daughter, were
married in St. Augusta, and were the first permanent Catholic family to
move into the predominantly Yankee community across the river, the only
member of the St. Marcus community mentioned in the History of the Upper
Mississippi Valley, published in 1880:
"Mr. Kaufmann was a member of the Board of Supervisors in 1878, and
is rapidly placing himself among the foremost families of the township."
John, as a young boy, moved with his family
from Sullivan county, Pennslyvania in 1854 to Carver county, Minnesota, possibly in a caravan
of families that included the Anton Stimmlers.
With his uncle, Anton Stimmler, John became a skillful stone mason.
When Benedictine Father Valentine Stimmler, pastor of St. Augusta,
was ready to build a parish church, he enlisted his brother Anton, and nephew,
John, to join the work force to construct the stone church in 1873. John's mother was
Magdalena Stimmler.
In 1878, Mary Kaufmann's brother,
Anton Imholte Jr., was united with Mary Goenner, in their family parish of St. Augusta.
That same year the young couple also made their home and began to farm some four miles west
of Clear Lake. Within five years Henry and Joseph Goenner, Mary Goenner's brothers,
also married and settled in the community, with their young wives, Theresa and Mary Krebs.
The young Goenners were all children of the Frederick Goenners of St. Augusta. The Krebs
were daughters of Henry Krebs, first supervisor of Stearns County.
Untitled land, at two to five dollars an acre drew many young men to
settle. Anthony Stimmler, Jr. too, began farming in Clear Lake in
1878. John Imholte married Theresa Goenner and moved across the river
in 1884, and along with Herman and Anna Goenner Eilers, began to raise
their families and to plow the new land. Joseph Gohman and John Haaf,
with their brides, Rosa Koenig and Katherine Kaufmann (John's sister)
and Joseph and Margaret Juenemann, and Jesse Varley, started their homes
during the same period. Bernard Powers came from St. Paul to manage the
Clear Lake Station for the St. Paul and Pacific Railroad in 1887. He
married Catherine Donovan, twin sister of Hannah (Mrs. Jesse) Varley.
John Kaufmann is vividly remembered by his daughters,
Rose Hollern (Mrs. William) and Alma Braun (Mrs. Henry) of St. Cloud, as a stern father
and a great patriot. He was a man who should have been in politics.
John always took an active and responsible place in the community and
went to town daily to meet with the town leaders to keep up with affairs
in the growing village. Rose, at 96, laughed when she spoke of his
political leanings and told about the time that he and Wallace Davee had
a bet on who would win the election. John lost, and paid off by
wheeling Davee down Center Street in a wheelbarrow to the amusement of
the townspeople who lined the street for the spectacle.
"Mother was a saint," was the loving memory of
Mary Imholte Kaufmann's daughters. Midwife to many births of Goenners, Imholtes, Stimmlers,
and Haafs, she was known by all as a woman who was never too busy to serve her neighbors.
She died at age 40, the mother of ten children.
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