GEORGE GERKEN - The subject of this sketch is descended from German parentage and possesses the sturdy qualities so characteristic of that race. His parents, Harmon and Mary (Mahnke) Gerken, were born in Hanover, Germany, and in 1857 came to Henry county, Ohio, where they married and settled in Freedom township. Subsequently they bought one hundred and twenty acres of land and became one of the substantial and highly respected families of the county. The father died in 1894 and the mother in 1905. George Gerken was born on the paternal farmstead in Freedom township on January 19, 1868, and was there reared, securing the meanwhile a good education in the public and parochial schools. At the age of twenty-two years he learned the carpenter's trade, working at it for years. He then worked a year or two for his brother Fred, and in 1895 he purchased his present farm of eighty acres, and has since then made a number of substantial and permanent improvements on the place, which is now accounted one of the good farms of the township. He is progressive and practical in his methods and has achieved a pronounced success in his vocation, giving attention to all the crops common to this locality.
On March 12, 1895, Mr. Gerken was married to Miss Emma Meyer, who was born at Gerald, this county, on September 1, 1874, the daughter of Henry Meyer. They have three children, Helen, Rufena and Mary. In politics Mr. Gerken is a Democrat, while in religion the family are members of the St. John's Lutheran church of Freedom township. Because of his genuine worth Mr. Gerken enjoys to a large degree the confidence and regard of all who know him and is considered one of the substantial citizens of his community.