From the Ames Daily Tribune, Ames, Iowa 30 Dec 1940
Iowa Brothers Separated 49 Years;
Live 120 Miles Apart
"Des Moines, IA (U.P.) -- Two Iowa brothers, separated for 49 years, have pledged to see each other often after persistence overcame years of unsuccessful searching and brought them together.
They are Henry Lawrence, 52, a Des Moines coal miner, and Ernest E. Jacobs, 51, Iowa City. The two men spent most of their lives within 120 miles of each other and Jacobs once slept in Lawrence's bed without knowing it.
In 1891, their mother, a German, who could neither speak nor write English, was widowed at Cedar Rapids and unable to support the two brothers and two sons and a daughter by a previous husband.
She agreed to the adoption of Ernest by an Iowa City couple named Jacobs, agreeing never to see the child again. Several year's later she took the rest of her family to Des Moines, where she married again.
Henry's father was named Lorenz, but his mother's third husband understood it as Lawrence and wrote it that way, and the mother was unable to tell that it was incorrect since she could not read. And she told Henry that his brother had been adopted by a family named Jacobsen.
The Jacobs family told the adopted brother of Henry's existence and both men began their search. After years of heartbreaking experiences in looking up Jacobsens and Lorenzes, Lawrence was in Iowa City for a visit and decided to look up an Ernest E. Jacobs.
The two men paled when a rapid checkup by Lawrence disclosed their search was ended. Jacobs said his hands were shaking three hours later so that he could not shave.
Once Jacobs had rented a room near the Iowa State Fair grounds at Des Moines. Lawrence was working in the Minnesota harvest fields at the time. When he returned, his landlady told him:
'Henry, a boy from Iowa City stayed in your room during the fair and he looked enough like you to be your brother. If he isn't, he ought to be.'"
Ernest Jacobs birth mother was Catherine Elizabeth Bruhn Wiese Lawrence Leader FAG memorial 36074587.
Iowa Brothers Separated 49 Years;
Live 120 Miles Apart
"Des Moines, IA (U.P.) -- Two Iowa brothers, separated for 49 years, have pledged to see each other often after persistence overcame years of unsuccessful searching and brought them together.
They are Henry Lawrence, 52, a Des Moines coal miner, and Ernest E. Jacobs, 51, Iowa City. The two men spent most of their lives within 120 miles of each other and Jacobs once slept in Lawrence's bed without knowing it.
In 1891, their mother, a German, who could neither speak nor write English, was widowed at Cedar Rapids and unable to support the two brothers and two sons and a daughter by a previous husband.
She agreed to the adoption of Ernest by an Iowa City couple named Jacobs, agreeing never to see the child again. Several year's later she took the rest of her family to Des Moines, where she married again.
Henry's father was named Lorenz, but his mother's third husband understood it as Lawrence and wrote it that way, and the mother was unable to tell that it was incorrect since she could not read. And she told Henry that his brother had been adopted by a family named Jacobsen.
The Jacobs family told the adopted brother of Henry's existence and both men began their search. After years of heartbreaking experiences in looking up Jacobsens and Lorenzes, Lawrence was in Iowa City for a visit and decided to look up an Ernest E. Jacobs.
The two men paled when a rapid checkup by Lawrence disclosed their search was ended. Jacobs said his hands were shaking three hours later so that he could not shave.
Once Jacobs had rented a room near the Iowa State Fair grounds at Des Moines. Lawrence was working in the Minnesota harvest fields at the time. When he returned, his landlady told him:
'Henry, a boy from Iowa City stayed in your room during the fair and he looked enough like you to be your brother. If he isn't, he ought to be.'"
Ernest Jacobs birth mother was Catherine Elizabeth Bruhn Wiese Lawrence Leader FAG memorial 36074587.
From the Ames Daily Tribune, Ames, Iowa 30 Dec 1940
Iowa Brothers Separated 49 Years;
Live 120 Miles Apart
"Des Moines, IA (U.P.) -- Two Iowa brothers, separated for 49 years, have pledged to see each other often after persistence overcame years of unsuccessful searching and brought them together.
They are Henry Lawrence, 52, a Des Moines coal miner, and Ernest E. Jacobs, 51, Iowa City. The two men spent most of their lives within 120 miles of each other and Jacobs once slept in Lawrence's bed without knowing it.
In 1891, their mother, a German, who could neither speak nor write English, was widowed at Cedar Rapids and unable to support the two brothers and two sons and a daughter by a previous husband.
She agreed to the adoption of Ernest by an Iowa City couple named Jacobs, agreeing never to see the child again. Several year's later she took the rest of her family to Des Moines, where she married again.
Henry's father was named Lorenz, but his mother's third husband understood it as Lawrence and wrote it that way, and the mother was unable to tell that it was incorrect since she could not read. And she told Henry that his brother had been adopted by a family named Jacobsen.
The Jacobs family told the adopted brother of Henry's existence and both men began their search. After years of heartbreaking experiences in looking up Jacobsens and Lorenzes, Lawrence was in Iowa City for a visit and decided to look up an Ernest E. Jacobs.
The two men paled when a rapid checkup by Lawrence disclosed their search was ended. Jacobs said his hands were shaking three hours later so that he could not shave.
Once Jacobs had rented a room near the Iowa State Fair grounds at Des Moines. Lawrence was working in the Minnesota harvest fields at the time. When he returned, his landlady told him:
'Henry, a boy from Iowa City stayed in your room during the fair and he looked enough like you to be your brother. If he isn't, he ought to be.'"
Ernest Jacobs birth mother was Catherine Elizabeth Bruhn Wiese Lawrence Leader FAG memorial 36074587.
Iowa Brothers Separated 49 Years;
Live 120 Miles Apart
"Des Moines, IA (U.P.) -- Two Iowa brothers, separated for 49 years, have pledged to see each other often after persistence overcame years of unsuccessful searching and brought them together.
They are Henry Lawrence, 52, a Des Moines coal miner, and Ernest E. Jacobs, 51, Iowa City. The two men spent most of their lives within 120 miles of each other and Jacobs once slept in Lawrence's bed without knowing it.
In 1891, their mother, a German, who could neither speak nor write English, was widowed at Cedar Rapids and unable to support the two brothers and two sons and a daughter by a previous husband.
She agreed to the adoption of Ernest by an Iowa City couple named Jacobs, agreeing never to see the child again. Several year's later she took the rest of her family to Des Moines, where she married again.
Henry's father was named Lorenz, but his mother's third husband understood it as Lawrence and wrote it that way, and the mother was unable to tell that it was incorrect since she could not read. And she told Henry that his brother had been adopted by a family named Jacobsen.
The Jacobs family told the adopted brother of Henry's existence and both men began their search. After years of heartbreaking experiences in looking up Jacobsens and Lorenzes, Lawrence was in Iowa City for a visit and decided to look up an Ernest E. Jacobs.
The two men paled when a rapid checkup by Lawrence disclosed their search was ended. Jacobs said his hands were shaking three hours later so that he could not shave.
Once Jacobs had rented a room near the Iowa State Fair grounds at Des Moines. Lawrence was working in the Minnesota harvest fields at the time. When he returned, his landlady told him:
'Henry, a boy from Iowa City stayed in your room during the fair and he looked enough like you to be your brother. If he isn't, he ought to be.'"
Ernest Jacobs birth mother was Catherine Elizabeth Bruhn Wiese Lawrence Leader FAG memorial 36074587.
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