My Genealogy Hound

CHRISTIAN G. HAEFNER. This part of Michigan has proved a mine of wealth to thousands of industrious and earnest farmers who have come hither from the East and foreign countries, and by dint of hard work and enterprise have developed the resources which nature has so liberally provided. No better citizens have made their home in Cass County than those of German origin, for they have as their inheritance those traits of character and life which have ever distinguished that race, and which have made them prosperous and intelligent.

The original of this sketch was born in Wurtemberg, Germany, December 14, 1831, and his parents. Christian G. and Christina Haefner, were natives of the same place. The promises held out by the rich farming lands of America tempted the elder Mr. Haefner to cross the ocean to the United States, and in 1852 he took passage on a vessel for our shores. He brought his family with him, but his wife died during the voyage. After landing at New York he went direct to Cincinnati, Ohio, where he worked at the carpenter’s trade until his death in 1855. Of the four children born to them, one died on the ocean and two are now living. Both parents were members of the Reformed Church.

The youthful days of our subject were passed in his native country, and he received a good education in the German language. He learned the carpenter’s trade from his father, and in 1852 started to the “land of the free” with his parents. He went with his father to Cincinnati, and worked at his trade there until 1854, when he took a trip to the Lone Star State. After working at his trade in Austin for two years, he decided that the North was the place for him, and returned to Cincinnati. In 1857 he came to Michigan, and soon after settled on his farm in Volinia Township. There were no roads, the country was covered with timber, and he had to haul the lumber to build a house through an almost unbroken wilderness. The tract consisted of forty acres, but he has added to this from time to time, until he now owns one hundred and thirty acres, with ninety acres under cultivation. In 1887 he built a handsome residence at a cost of $3,000, but built it all himself and has it nicely finished in hard wood. The doors are black walnut and ash, and this house is one of the best finished in the township. His barns, cribs and outbuildings are all in first-class condition and are an ornament to the place.

In February, 1864, he was filled with a patriotic desire to assist his adopted country, and he enlisted in Company C, Thirteenth Michigan Infantry, and went with his company to Chattanooga. He participated in the battle of Nashville and was then with General Sherman from Goldsboro, N. C., to Washington, D. C. He took part in the Grand Review at the last-named place and was discharged at Louisville, Ky., in July, 1865. He was always on duty and was a faithful and gallant soldier. Previous to the war, in 1857, he was married to Miss Harriet Huff, a native of Wayne Township, this county, born in 1839, and ten children blessed this union, eight of whom are living. Mr. and Mrs. Haefner are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and he has been Treasurer and Trustee in the same. He has been active in educational matters, has been a member of the School Board ten years, and has given all his children good educations. Socially, Mr. Haefner is a member of the Masonic order and is Junior Deacon of the same. He is also a member of Burnside Post, G. A. R., Decatur, and in politics is a Republican. He has been Township Treasurer for two years, and is prominent in all matters of moment. He is a self-made man, and his children are nearly all doing for themselves.