George Worner was born in Germany on October 13, 1855. His father George (1828 – 1905) emigrated to the United States with the family, settling in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin. His mother died after they had arrived in Wisconsin. His father remarried and had three more sons. In 1874, the family moved to present day Richland County in Dakota Territory, homesteading near what is now the city of Great Bend. In 1879 married Augusta Brendel, a fellow German immigrant whose family had moved to the Dakota Territory from Iron Ridge, Wisconsin. George and Augusta had 8 children.[1]
Time in North Dakota
The Worner family settled in Brandenburg Township in Richland County. They established a post office on their homestead in 1875, and named it Berlin in honor of their homeland.[2][3] The post office was moved in 1882 to a site closer to Great Bend, North Dakota, and was closed permanently on July 12, 1883.[4][3]
George Worner was instrumental in the eventual establishment of Great Bend in 1888.[5] Part of the city was platted on his homestead. Worner served as one of the first station agents in town for the Northern Pacific Railroad, operated the first general store, and served as one of the town's first postmasters.[1] Worner reportedly hired future U.S. SenatorPorter J. McCumber to work on his farm.[1]
