Gustav A. Wellner
Gustav A. Wellner was born on December 6, 1873, outside the historic city of New Ulm, Minnesota, in the farming community of Lafayette, to German immigrants. (Van Brunt, 1921) He first worked on his father’s farm before his father rented the farm out and moved to New Ulm in 1892 (New Ulm Review, 10/12/1892). From there, he worked odd jobs, including being a shoe clerk at Poeppel's Shoe Store (New Ulm Review, 12/5/1894), and working in the railroad service. He then moved to St. Peter, Minnesota, to work as a clerk for the Schumacher Bros Grocery Store; he resigned from that position in August of 1897 to accept a job in Hibbing as a bookkeeper for B. J. Carlson's Mercantile at 127 Pine Street (New Ulm Review, 8/18/1897). He stayed at the Hibbing Hotel (1899 Polk Directory) before buying his coworker's house (1899 Directory) Swan W. Levine's house at 132 North Street (The Hibbing Sentinel, 6/24/1899). Later, the young bachelor married Miss Adelanna Luetjen at the German Lutheran Church in New Ulm on August 17, 1899, at 5 p.m. under Rev Albrecht (The Hibbing News, 8/26/1899). From there, they had three daughters, Alice S., Nevada C., & Norma A. It was briefly in 1901 when he left Carlson's Mercantile to become a bookkeeper for the Penobscot Mine, only to come back to B. J. Carlson's to become a cashier (The Hibbing News, 3/23/1901). Eventually he resigned from B. J. Carlson's Mercantile Store after many years of service (The Mesaba Ore, 3/14/1903), to start the Gust Carlson Exploration Company and later Carlson Exploration Company (Mesaba Ore, 3/19/1904) with the drilling contractor Gust Carlson and H. F. Kendall. The business was officially filed for record on March 19, 1903 (DEH, 3/20/1903). He served as the secretary until Gust Carlson moved to Duluth in 1911; from then on, he was both secretary and the active head of the company (Van Brunt, 1921). In the mid-1930s, he worked as a clerk for Hibbing Public Utilities before declaring bankruptcy in 1940 (3/22/1940, TDH). He would work there until he retired in the early 1960s. During his time in Hibbing, he was involved politically and socially, serving as president of the Rotary Club multiple times.
Architecture Review
This house was built in the summer of 1905 for Gustave A. Wellner (8/29/1905, Mesaba Ore) after he lived at 132 North Street, in the vernacular late Queen Anne style, characterized by its steep intersecting gables, shingled gable ends, asymmetrical massing, and projecting enclosed porch. Wellner lived in the house until he moved to 2105 11th Avenue E. in 1941. This picture was taken on June 12, 1940, shortly before its demolition.
Wellner Family Tree
Family Lore
John Wellner was the eldest sibling of the family. Born on April 27, 1859, in Lafayette, Minnesota, he, as a child, had to flee to St Peter, Minnesota, with the family during the Dakota War of 1862. Eventually they returned, and he worked on his father's farm until 1885, when he purchased farm land in Ciaro Township in Rensville County. On July 30, 1889, he married Amelia S. Bieraugel in St Peters, togeheter they had three children. In 1891, he sold his farm to his younger brother Louis to purchase William Sandmann's 250-acre farmland property closer to Lafayette (New Ulm Weekly Review, 11/11/1891), after that, he was a very successful farmer. However, on New Year's Eve of 1898, John was horrifically shot and murdered. Once in the left hip and the second in the head. As the story went, two strangers came to the farm home asking for shelter from the elements. John let them in, fed them, and gave them a place to stay for the night. After the family went to bed at 10, John heard a commotion in the barn. He went out there to find that they were trying to steal a wagon and horse. He demanded to know what was happening, and it was then that one drew a revolver and shot him. This woke up his wife, who came outside in horror but was tied up in the house and didn't get out until 4 A.M. (The St Paul Globe, 1/2/1899). An investigation later ensued trying to find the killers; however, there were no leads. His widow later remarried one of their farm hands named Frank Tanke on June 26, 1900, and acquired her widow's land. Less than four months later, the new couple were arrested as suspects and were questioned; however, they gave similar stories but with different details. They were later found guilty of second-degree murder after Amelia broke down, killing Wellner not only to marry Tanke, but to acquire the land. The two were sent to Stillwater, where Frank later died of the Spanish Flu in 1918, and Amelia serving until granted parole in 1920 and later being released, moving to Chicago with her daughter.
John & Amelia during their wedding