Encyclopedia Dubuque
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JOHN P. MERKES, JR.
J. P. MERKES. John P. Merkes and Alexander Hasler opened a grocery business in this store near 14th and Jackson in the 1890s. The 1909 and 1913 Dubuque City Directory gave the address of this company as 1385 Jackson.
Merkes' wife, Mary, died as a result of severe burns when a pot of melted paraffin spilled on her as she canned fruit in the adjoining residence. Merkes later remarried and in the years to come took over sole ownership of the store. He died in 1956.
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Source:
Day, Mike, "Ghosts of Businesses Past," Telegraph Herald, Nov. 25, 2010