Kasemeier, Henry

EBEL, KRUMWEIDE

Posted By: BCGS
Date: 1/1/2010 at 21:32:16

Henry Kasemeier, a highly esteemed and enterprising citizen of Waverly, has ably served as cashier of the First National Bank for the past twelve years. His birth occurred in Fremont township, Bremer county, on the 15th of July, 1855, his parents being John and Maria Dorothea Elizabeth (Ebel) Kasemeier, natives of the province of Brandenburg, Germany. The father, who was born on the 10th of November, 1814, passed away on the 3d of July, 1887, while the mother, whose natal day was February 1, 1815, was called to her final rest on the 8th of December, 1886. Their marriage was celebrated in Germany, and in 1848 they crossed the Atlantic to the new world, the voyage consuming twelve weeks. They made their way to Cook county, Illinois, and located on the present site of Palatine. John Kasemeier, who had been a landowner in the fatherland, purchased a farm near Chicago, but, becoming discouraged at the prospects, disposed of the property a few years later. Soon after his removal to Iowa, in 1854, the village of Palatine was platted on his old farm. Locating in Fremont township, Bremer county, he here devoted his attention to general agricultural pursuits throughout the remainder of his life. For a number of years he acted as overseer of the poor and also served as township trustee and in various other county and township positions, ever discharging his public duties in a prompt and capable manner. The period of his residence in this county covered a third of a century and he enjoyed an enviable reputation as one of its substantial and esteemed citizens.

Henry Kasemeier, the eighth in order of birth in a family of nine children, attended the Waverly high school and also pursued a course of study in the Iowa State Teachers' College at Cedar Falls. On the 6th of September, 1873, when a youth of eighteen years, he lost his right arm in a threshing machine. During the period of his attendance at college in Cedar Falls he spent the vacation months of 1876, 1877, and 1878 as a school teacher. In the fall of 1878 he was elected county recorder and in January of the following year assumed the duties of that position, holding the office for eighteen years or until January, 1897. During that period he also engaged in notary work and in the fire insurance business. After retiring from the office of county recorder he spent one year with a practicing attorney and and then entered the First National Bank of Waverly as bookkeeper, while subsequently he was made assistant cashier of the institution. In 1901 he became cashier of the bank and has remained in that position throughout the intervening twelve years, discharging the duties devolving upon him in a highly satisfactory and efficient manner.

On the 23d of February, 1879, Mr. Kasemeier was united in marriage to Miss Emma Krumweide, who was born in Cook county, Illinois, on the 7th of May, 1858, her parents being Frederick and Elizabeth Krumweide, natives of Germany. They were early settlers of Cook county, Illinois, and came to Iowa about 1868 or 1869. Frederick Krumweide, who was a wagon maker by trade, became a landowner and also engaged in the implement business at Waverly. He spent his last days in honorable reitement, having for several years survived his wife, who passed away in 1881. Unto Mr. and Mrs. Kasemeier have been born three children, as follows: Bertha, whose birth occurred in 1881 and who died in 1885; Emma D., who is employed as bookkeeper by the Continental Sugar Company of Toledo, Ohio and Carl E., at home.

In politics Mr. Kasemeier is a stanch democrat, while his religious faith is that of the German Lutheran church, of which he is a consistent member, Fraternally he is identified with the Knights of Pythias at Waverly. He has always shown great interest in all that pertains to the general welfare and has been known as a public-spirited man who has always found time and inclination to cooperate in the movements for the public good. In the county which has remained his place of residence throughout his entire life he enjoys an enviable reputation as a man who has been honorable and straight-forward in all relations, and his example is well worthy of emulation.

History of Bremer County, Iowa Vol. II 1914