My Genealogy Hound

Fred Hacke, blacksmith, wagon and carriage maker, of De Soto, is a native of Prussia, and was born in 1832. His parents were Fred and Dorethea (Tavel) Hacke, the former of whom, a blacksmith by trade, was born in 1776, and died in 1836; the latter was born in 1795, and died in 1880. Of their five children, Fred, the subject of this sketch, was the youngest. He was educated in his native country, attending school from six until fourteen years of age; he subsequently spent two years in a school of artillery, and after four years’ service before his discharge was commissioned colonel. In early life he worked as a blacksmith, and after his relief from military service he became a railroad engineer. In 1858 he established a wholesale and retail hardware store in Salsbrunn; disposing of his stock in 1868 he immigrated to America, and came directly to De Soto, where he established his present business, in which he has met with good success. In 1857, in his native country, he married Miss Pauline Helbig, who was born in Prussia in 1842, and died in De Soto, Mo., in 1871, leaving three children, viz.: Selma (wife of William Bieser), Theodore (a blacksmith with his father) and Clara. In 1872 Mr. Hacke married Earnestena Flann, also a native of Prussia, born in 1843. Four children have been born to this union: Max, Emma, Minnie and Hulda. Politically, Mr. Hacke is a Democrat; he is one of the directors of the People’s Bank of De Soto, and is a member of the K. of P. He manufactures all kinds of carriages and wagons, and is a good business man. He and wife are members of the Evangelical Church.