JOHN HENRY HINRICHS, b 30 Jul 1840

HINRICHS, EHRENSBERGER, KAYSER

Posted By: Donna Moldt Walker (email)
Date: 5/26/2004 at 08:04:14

John Henry Hinrichs, Postmaster of Van Buren, has been a resident of Van Buren Township since 1870, and may be properly termed a self-made man, who has worked his way up to a good position, socially and financially. He is looked upon as a useful member of his community, and is one of the pillars of the German Lutheran Church at Spragueville, in which he has officiated as Elder for some time. In his younger years he learned the tailor's trade in his native province in Germany, but latterly has been quite extensively interested in bee-keeping, and has prosecuted this industry very successfully.

Our subject was born in the little town of Reastadt in what was then the Kingdom of Hanover, July 30, 1840, and was placed in school when a little lad six years of age. He mastered the common branches in his native tongue, and about the time of leaving school, when fourteen years old, was confirmed in the Lutheran Church, in the doctrines of which he had been carefully reared by his parents. He then began working on a farm, and was thus occupied five summers, after which he worked at the tailor's trade, serving an apprenticeship of three years. He followed his trade in various cities of Germany, and in all prosecuted it a period of twenty years.

Shortly before reaching the thirtieth year of his age Mr. Hinrichs set out, in the year 1870, for the United States, joining his brother, who had located in Jackson County three years previously. He soon opened a shop in Van Buren, and before long was in the enjoyment of a fine patronage. Finally, the growth of the town came to a standstill, and the tailor business, like that of others, suffered in a corresponding degree, and he became interested in bee-keeping. To this he seems peculiarly adapted, and delights in studying the habits and needs of the busy little workers. He has about seventy-five stands, and finds no trouble in disposing of his honey.

Mr. Hinrichs was married after coming to this county, Oct. 23, 1877, to Miss Bertha Ehrensberger. This lady was born in the city of Ustea, canton of Zurich, Switzerland, Oct. 28, 1855, and came to American in 1877, when a young lady of twenty-two years. Mr. and Mrs. Hinrichs continued their residence in Van Buren Township after their marriage, and are now the parents of six children, namely: Anna S., Minnie S., Adelheit B., John Henry, Jr., Otto William and Dorothy A.

Upon becoming a naturalized citizen Mr. Hinrichs identified himself with the Democratic party, and received his appointment from President Cleveland in July, 1887, under the endorsement of Democrats and Republican alike. He has a genuine love for the institutions of his adopted country, with whose interests he has become thoroughly identified, and no citizen, either native or foreign-born, stands higher in the community.

The father of our subject, Jurgen Hinrichs, was a native of the same place as his son, and married Miss Anna Catherine Kayser, who was born and reared near the home of her husband. The father spent his entire life in Hanover, and died in 1869, at the age of sixty-three years. The mother is still living there, and is now seventy-eight years old. They were the parents of three children only, John Henry, our subject, being the eldest. The other two were twins, a boy and girl, named respectively Frederick Wilhelm and Eliza, the latter of whom died at the age of twenty years. Frederick came to American in 1867, and died two years later in Van Buren Township.

("Portrait and Biographical Album of Jackson County, Iowa", originally published in 1889, by the Chapman Brothers, of Chicago, Illinois.)