My Genealogy Hound

FULLENKAMP, HENRY, far., Sec. 33; P. O. West Point; was born in Hanover, Germany, in 1805, of parents in extremely indigent circumstances; born in a barn, and, when 6 years of age, was employed in herding cows, and continued as a common laborer until, becoming of a suitable age, he determined to marry, and, not having the necessary means for supporting a wife, as was at that time required by law, he went to Holland, and engaged in gathering turf, and, having secured money enough to bring himself and wife to America, in 1837, he married Mary Droppal, also born in Hanover, Germany, in 1806; the following day, they shipped for America, first landing at Hancock, Va., where he worked on the canal for two and a half years; thence to Lee Co., where he purchased eighty acres of land in West Point Tp.; they have had a family of five children; three sons and one daughter are still living — Barny, born in Virginia July 14, 1840, died May 6, 1873; George, born Feb. 8, 1843, a bachelor, owning a handsome farm of 140 acres, one mile north of West Point, with whom the old people have found a comfortable home since 1874; Henry, born Aug. 18, 1845, and, in 1871, married Elizabeth, daughter of Henry Holtkamp; she was born in Marion Tp., this county, in 1849; they have three children — Henry, Jr., born Sept. 3, 1872; Mary, Aug. 16, 1874; Katie, October, 1876. He owns 130 acres of well-improved land, adjoining that of his brothers, valued at $45 per acre, on which he has erected substantial and convenient buildings. The fourth son, Joseph, was born April 3, 1846; Oct. 24, 1871, he married Elizabeth, daughter of Barney Holtkamp; she was born in West Point Tp., Jan. 4, 1852; they have four children — Mary, Bennie, Henry and George; he owns 130 acres of land, valued at $45 per acre. The boys having first purchased 160 acres, to which they afterward added 100 acres, and keeping “bach,” improved and cultivated the same until two of them married, when they divided the land as above shown. The daughter, Mary, was born April 5, 1849, and is the wife of Casper Strothman, an extensive farmer of West Point Tp. The family are Democratic in politics, and members of the German Catholic Church.