John and Johanna Brunken Home

Included in the picture are Plath and Gottberg family members. The connection between the families was that Leopold Plath (brother of Johanna (Plath) Brunken and son of Ludwig Plath) married the sister of Max Gottberg, Mathilda Gottberg, in New Jersey prior to the families moving to Nebraska.

John and Johanna Brunken Home
Laurel Brunken added numbers to designate the individuals
  • WHO:
    1. Carl H. “Charlie” Brunken (Oct. 9, 1884 – Jan. 21, 1970)
    2. Henry Frederick Brunken (Oct. 5, 1882 – Apr. 26, 1951)
    3. Gustav “Gus” Brunken (Sep. 12, 1880 – Sep. 13, 1966)
    4. Johan Dietrich“John” Brunken (Dec. 5, 1843 – July 27, 1925)
    5. Johanna (Plath) Brunken (Feb. 22, 1853 – Apr. 4, 1949)
    6. Louise Wilhemina (Brunken) Karlin (Oct. 16, 1896 – Aug. 4, 1991)
    7. Fredricka Mary (Brunken) Witt (Jul, 16, 1875 –  Dec .14, 1968)
    8. Ida (Schaad) Gottberg (Oct. 13, 1860 – Sep. 9, 1933)
    9. Otto Brunken (Aug. 19, 1880 – Dec. 31, 1946)
    10. UnIdentified
    11. Mathilda Amilie Plath (Mar. 10, 1866 – Apr. 20, 1917)
    12. John “Louis” Brunken (Sep. 30, 1873 – Oct.16, 1957)
    13. Max Gottberg Sr. (Dec. 22, 1861 – Nov. 16, 1944)
    14. UnIdentified
    15. Ludwig J. Plath (Mar. 15, 1826 – Nov. 20, 1902)
    16. UnIdentified
    17. UnIdentified
    18. UnIdentified
    19. UnIdentified
  • WHEN: 1897 – As per Betty Meyn, assuming that the baby (Number 6 in the picture) being held by Johanna (Plath) Brunken (Number 5 in the picture) is Johanna’s youngest child, Louise, then this picture would have had to been taken in about summer of 1897.
  • WHERE: John and Johanna (Plath) Brunken farm near Platte Center in Shell Creek Township, Platte, Nebraska
  • SOURCE: Laurel Brunken
  • NOTES:
    • Diane Lliteras verified that this is a photograph of the John and Johanna Brunken home in Shell Creek Township of Platte County, Nebraska.
    • Laurel Brunken found this photograph on Find A Grave.  It had been added by William Peel who’s great-great-grandfather, William Gottberg, was the brother of Max Gotteberg in the picture. William Peel had obtained the photograph from Diane Lliteras whose great-grandparents were John and Johanna Brunken.
    • Betty Meyn noted:  “Yes, the picture is John and Johanna Brunken’s house on the farm near Shell Creek.  The names you have listed on the picture are what I have but also have penciled in that Ma is holding Louise and the little boy in the front is Otto.  If it is Louise, then this picture would have had to been taken in about summer of 1897. ”  Louise is Betty Meyn’s grandmother. Email received Sunday November 23, 2014.

Several children from both families were not noted in the original labels and may be the unidentified individuals in the picture.

Brunken children not named:

  • William Leopold Brunken (Jul. 2, 1878 – Oct. 12, 1941)
  • Anna (Brunken) Roesch (Dec. 1, 1886 – Dec. 16, 1983)
  • Emil Herman Brunken  (Dec. 28, 1891 – Dec. 13, 1974)
  • Edward W. Brunken (Nov. 23, 1893 – Mar. 27, 1974)

Gottberg children not named:

  • Max Frederick Gottberg Jr. (Oct. 16, 1884 – Sep. 28, 1964)
  • Jacob Werner Gottberg (Apr. 20, 1886 – Mar. 1, 1970)
  • Oscar A. Gottberg (Apr. 27, 1888 – Nov. 4, 1963)
  • Alexander Gottberg (Jan. 15, 1890 – May 29, 1967) Milton Henry Gottberg (Jun. 27, 1892 – Feb. 19, 1959)
  • John F. Gottberg (Dec. 22, 1994 – Dec. 7, 1939)

Any help in further identifying who is who would be appreciated.

Land Patent

Johann Diedrich “John” Brunken applied for and received a land patent.

John Brunken Land Patent
  • WHO: John Brunken
  • WHEN: 11 Oct 1884
  • WHERE: Nebraska
  • SOURCE: Bureau of Land Management
  • NOTES: None
John Brunken Patent Details – BLM GLO Record
  • WHO: John Brunken
  • WHEN: 11 Oct 1884
  • WHERE: Nebraska
  • SOURCE: Bureau of Land Management
  • NOTES: None
1899 Land Ownership Map – John Brunken House, Farm, and Homestead.
  • WHO: Johann Diedrich “John” Brunken
  • WHEN: October 11, 1884
  • WHERE: Shell Creek Township, Platte, Nebraska – near Platte Center, Platte, Nebraska.
  • SOURCE: 1899 Land Ownership Map

Feeding Hogs

Hog production was a major form of income for farmers in Nebraska.

Feeding Hogs
Possibly John Brunken
  • WHO: John Brunken – Possibly – He could be one of a number of relatives who farmed in Nebraska.
  • WHEN: DateUnknown -All the dates of items in the album identified have been between 1905 and 1919 with most of the dates being between 1911 and 1917.
  • WHERE: Nebraska – Likely in Nebraska because this post card was in the first section of my grandmother’s album which contained post cards received mostly from relatives in Nebraska.
  • SOURCE: Grandma Brunken’s Album

Both Brunken and Petersen relatives raised and sold hogs as may be seen from the following clippings from the The Columbus journal (Columbus, Nebraska):

John Brunken one of the largest hog raisers on Route 3, tells his plan of feeding hogs for the market. He believes in crowding the pig from weaning time till it is marketed. Bot be never gives for one feed more than the pig will eat clean. and he feeds at a certain hour each day, believing that to feed one day at five o’clock and the nest at six, is to feed at a loss. He condemns the practice of throwing loads of corn into the feed lot, which wastes the feed and hampers the growth of the hog. He has made experiments which prove the profit to be gained by following out his method. At this season. Mr. Brunken soaks his oorn, feeding it juxt before it sours.
SOURCE: The Columbus Journal (Columbus, Nebraska), May 18, 1904, page 1

Carsten Petersen, one of the thrifty farmers four miles west of Platte Center, was is town today on his return home from South Omaha where he marketed one car each of cattle and hogs.
SOURCE: The Columbus Journal (Columbus, Nebraska), April 20, 1904, page 3

John Brunken brought a load of hogs to Columbus Monday.
SOURCE: The Columbus Journal (Columbus, Nebraska), March 04, 1908, page 1

Chas. Brunken took a car[1] of hogs to South Omaha Tuesday.
SOURCE: The Columbus Journal (Columbus, Nebraska), April 21, 1909, page 1A

Several of the farmers shipped hogs Tuesday, among whom were Herman Kunneman, D. Brunken, John Brunken, and Fred Goedeken.
SOURCE: The Columbus Journal (Columbus, Nebraska), August 03, 1910, page 1

The relatives named in the above articles are as follows:

  • “John Brunken” is John Dietrich Brunken, Sr.
  • “Carsten Petersen”, is Carsten Petersen, Sr.
  • “Chas. Brunken” is Charles Henry Brunken.
  • “D. Brunken” is John Brunken’s brother, Gerd Diederich Brunken.
  1. car” refers to a train car. ↵

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Oklahoma Brunken Cousins Copyright © 2018 by Dale William Kirmse is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, except where otherwise noted.

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