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HENRY SCHIRM, one of the prosperous farmers of Fremont township, Benton county, Iowa, was born in Baden, Germany, June 27, 1863, son of Martin and Mary (Gerber) Schirm, and when six years of age he came with his parents to this country.
On the arrival of the Schirm family in the United States in 1869 they came direct to Iowa, and in Linn county the father purchased forty acres of unimproved land. There they made their home until 1876, when they moved to Benton county and settled in Fremont township. Here Martin Schirm bought one hundred acres of land in section 20, to the improvement and cultivation of which he devoted his energies, and here he passed the rest of his life and died. HB was born in Germany in 1821, and died in March, 1893. His wife, born in Germany in 1830, died in February, 1907. They were the parents of ten children, all living, as follows: Martin; Anna, wife of Adam Schueler; George; Katie, wife of Jacob Krumm; Fred; William; Mathew; Henry; Jacob; and Christena, wife of Lewis Ahrens. Four are residents of Adair, Iowa; Mrs. Schueler, Fred and Jacob, of Atkins, Iowa; William, of Linn county; and Mrs. Ahrens, of Boone, Iowa.
Henry Schirm grew up on his father's farm, receiving a district school education and a training in the thrifty habits characteristic of his forefathers. As soon as he was old enough he went to work as a farm hand and worked by the month for three years. Then he rented a farm. Prosperity attended his efforts, he saved his earnings, and it was not long before he had a farm of his own. His first purchase was a hundred acres in section 17 of Fremont township, which he subsequently sold and afterward bought one hundred and twenty acres adjoining his father's land. He cultivated both his own land and his father's, renting the latter until 1900, when he bought it; now he owns three hundred acres in one tract, well improved and under a high state of cultivation.
In March, 1890, Mr. Schirm married Miss Katie Rinderknecht who was born in Fremont township, in 1870, daughter of William Rinderknecht, a resident of Atkins, Iowa. Mr. and Mrs. Schirm have eight children, namely: William, Lewis, Otto, Bertha, Lawrence, Fredrick, Hilda and Herman. Politically Mr. Schirm is a Democrat.
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