Fred Kerkman, son of Theodore and Mary Kerkman, was born September 28, 1867 at Essen, Germany. When his father died, his mother married William Lewijohn. Two children were born, William and Anna. The family emigrated to the U S in 1880 from Rotterdam, Holland on the vessel “Amsterdam” when Fred was 13 years of age. They moved to Omaha, Nebraska on October 1, 1881 and William continued to work as a carpenter. Fred’s sister, Mary, was killed in a train accident. On October 19, 1887, another child, Mary, was born to the Lewijohn’s. The family moved to Lindsay, Nebraska in 1887 and worked as carpenters and farmers.
Fred married Cecilia Kuhl on January 15, 1901 at St Bernard,
Nebraska. 10 children were born: Seven at Lindsay and three at Elgin. They were: William, Catherine, Theodore, Sister Gertrude, Anthony,
Theresa, Joseph, Elizabeth, Fred and August. They lived on a farm at Lindsay until moving to Elgin in 1910 where
they lived on a farm east of town. In
1917 they moved to a farm southeast of Elgin. Fred died on April 14, 1942 and Cecilia on July 15, 1942.
Source Unknown: Originally submitted for this website in July 2007