https://iowagravestones.org/gs_view.php?id=951656

THEDINGA, JOHN H. - Dubuque County, Iowa

JOHN H. THEDINGA

Linwood Cemetery
Dubuque County, Iowa
Uploaded 8/5/2013 by
mstillie1952 [Email]

J. H. THEDINGA
BORN
ON KLOSTER THEDINGA
OSTFRIESLAND,
HANNOVER EUROPE
MAY 25, 1814
DIED
DUBUQUE, IOWA
DEC. 18, 1876

Visitor Contributed Post-ems Notes...


Posted on Jan-14-2014 by CHERYL MOONEN
JOHN H THEDINGA, (deceased) was the son of Claus Herman and Follmina Margaretha Thedinga, and was born May 25, 1814, on the family estate. "Kloster Thedinga," near Leer, in the province of Ostfriesland, Kingdom of Hanover, Europe; being of a studious nature and very delicate in his early youth, he was destined to study law and for this purpose received a classical education; but, at the Con't.

Posted on Jan-14-2014 by CHERYL MOONEN
age of 18 years, when prepared to enter the university, he, being in poor health, with the assent of his father (influenced by his brothers-in-law, who were all merchants), resolved to abandon his studies and become a merchant. In 1832. he went to Amsterdam and took a position in the counting house of a brother-in-law, where he remained till 1835, when he came to the United States to visit Con't.

Posted on Jan-14-2014 by CHERYL MOONEN
a sister, who had removed to St. Louis, Mo., with her husband the year before; but instead of returning to Europe, as intended, he concluded to remain here. He at first entered into business in St. Louis with his brother-in-law, I.N.A. Bentzen, under the firm name of I.N.A. Bentzen & Co., but soon dissolved this partnership, and came to Dubuque with a young Russian gentleman, Mr. Konopka, Con't.

Posted on Jan-14-2014 by CHERYL MOONEN
with whom he opened store at Peru, then a flourishing village a few miles north of Dubuque. They closed this business in the spring of 1837. In 1838, Mr. Thedinga went to St. Louis, but, in 1839, he returned to Dubuque and opened a store in connection with his brother-in-law, Bentzen. From that time, he remained in Dubuque, and was engaged in various kinds of commerce till 1852, then, Con't.

Posted on Jan-14-2014 by CHERYL MOONEN
in consequence of injuries received in 1851, by which his sight was nearly destroyed, he quit the commercial business. It was on the evening of Jan. 11, 1851, that this terrible calamity befell him. He was then in the grocery and drug business, and, on Saturday evening, when he and two clerks were alone in the store, one of the clerks, whom he had befriended and given an interest in the Con't.

Posted on Jan-14-2014 by CHERYL MOONEN
drug department, in apparently his usual mood, placed a lot of sulphuric acid upon the stove and heated it to a boiling point' this he then suddenly dashed into the face of Mr. Thedinga . The agony was excruciating, as it burned its way into the flesh and consumed one of the eyeballs. Frantic with pain, he ran to the door screaming "Murder!" and fell prostrate upon the sidewalk. As soon Con't.

Posted on Jan-14-2014 by CHERYL MOONEN
as it was discovered what had been done, the most intense excitement prevailed; the bells were rung, and all the town was called out to search for the dastard who had perpetrated this diabolical act. He could not be found that night, but next morning he was discovered dead in a stable in the vicinity- a suicide by strychnine. Mr. Thedinga never harbored any ill feeling toward the man who Con't.

Posted on Jan-14-2014 by CHERYL MOONEN
who had done him such an irreparable injury, believing him to have been insane, though no trace of it had been discovered before. The last entry in the diary of the man who did this fiendish act was "Strange that I could do my best friend such a terrible injury.". In the year 1846, he was married to Maria Louise, daughter of Dr. C. Koepfli, by whom he had thirteen children-four sons and Con't.

Posted on Jan-14-2014 by CHERYL MOONEN
nine daughters; his wife, two sons, and seven daughters survived him. He held several offices of honor and trust; in 1844, he was elected Alderman, and re-elected in 1845 and 1846; in 1850, he was elected County Commissioner; in 1852-54, Justice of the Peace; in 1858, member of the Board of Education, to which position he was continually re-elected without opposition, and which he held at Con't.

Posted on Jan-14-2014 by CHERYL MOONEN
the time of his death; in 1861, he was chairman of the Board of Supervisors, and, in 1862 and 1863, Mayor of the city of Dubuque; he was the first German Mayor of the city; in 1847, he was one of the committee of twenty-five citizens to settle all land claims in the mining district of Dubuque before the land sales. When the German Savings Bank (afterward German Bank) was established in the Con't.

Posted on Jan-14-2014 by CHERYL MOONEN
fall of 1864, he was elected President and remained at the head of this institution until his death. As member of the Board of Education, he was for many years Chairman of the Finance Committee, and it was to his good judgment and management, mainly, the the school finances of Dubuque City were gotten in such good condition. He died Dec. 13, 1876, aged 62 years and 6 months. We add the Con't.

Posted on Jan-14-2014 by CHERYL MOONEN
We add the following from the Dubuque Times of Dec. 14, 1876: " In whatever position he was placed, he was no passive figure-head, of the party that nominated him; he was always a positive power, actively influential, and that always on the side of morality, justice and right. When storms of opposition came that others found it impossible to breast, he remained firm and calm and steadfast. Con't

Posted on Jan-14-2014 by CHERYL MOONEN
When others deemed that a little compromising, a little temporizing might be the better policy, he asked only where the right was,and then he took and kept his position. When others were carried off their feet by some tidal wave of enthusiasm or rush of indignation, his judgment was as clear and unperturbed as ever. Yet while so strong in all the element of intellectual and moral manhood, Con't.

Posted on Jan-14-2014 by CHERYL MOONEN
he assumed no air of bearing of superiority, his sympathies went forth not only toward all good and noble things, but toward all mankind, making him ever genial and approachable. His clear judgement and strong self-control was combined with the sincerity and simplicity of a child. When things were going wrong in city and county, in public or private affairs, in financial matters or school Con't.

Posted on Jan-14-2014 by CHERYL MOONEN
matters or social matters, as the case might be, no one ever appealed to him without receiving not only a kindly, but a cordial hearing; certainly wise and practical suggestions, and, if possible, active assistance. To say that his neighbors and acquaintances esteemed him is too weak and expression; they loved him, rather. To his wife and children he was less a husband and father than Con't.

Posted on Jan-14-2014 by CHERYL MOONEN
than their genial associate and dearest friend." “The History of Dubuque County" http://members.tripod.com/~Doreen_3/DBBIOAB.htm

Posted on Jan-14-2014 by CHERYL MOONEN
In 1976 the THEDINGA HOUSE, south of the REDSTONE on the southeast corner of Fifth and Bluff, was placed on the NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES. http://www.encyclopediadubuque.org/index.php?title=THEDINGA,_John_H.