My Genealogy Hound

Herman J. Rohn is one of eight surviving members of a family of ten children born to the marriage of William and Theresa (Thonn) Rohn, who were born in Germany. The father was born about 1803, and was a lumber merchant and coal dealer, shipping to Saxony and Prussia. He came to the United States in 1843, and located on a farm in Washington County, Wis., where he has since made his home. He owns 280 acres of land, and has always been held in high respect by all who know him. He has held the offices of justice of the peace, chairman of the county supervisors, judge, and has represented his county in the State Legislature. He was also colonel of the old State Militia. First Regiment, and in his political views is a Democrat. He has always been an honorable and upright citizen, a man of great force of character, and will long be remembered by his descendants as the founder of his race in the United States. Herman J. Rohn was born in Germany in 1829, and in 1840 came to the United States when only eleven years of age. He received a fair German education, and attended school at Milwaukee, graduating from the high school of that city. He can speak German, Bohemian and English languages, and has some knowledge of the Latin language. In 1863 he enlisted in Company G, Forty-fifth Regiment, Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry, and served as a private until the close of the war. He was at the siege of Nashville, the battle of Franklin and in many skirmishes, and while in the service rose to the rank of first lieutenant. In 1867 he was married to Mary Von Listen, daughter of Baron Carl Von Listen and Maria (Klepsch) Von Listen. Baron Von Listen came to the United States in 1866, and bought 200 acres of land in Washington County, Wis. He was very highly educated, being a graduate of four universities: Jena, Heidelberg, Goettingen and Zurich, and could speak fluently Latin, Greek, German, French and English. His patent of nobility dated back to the fifth or sixth century, some of his ancestors having been present at the Crusades for the recovery of the Holy Sepulchre. He lived in Wisconsin until 1871, when he died at the age of sixty-four years. Mr. Rohn and wife are the parents of the following named children: Mary, Helen, Herman, Charles, Josephine, Otto, Hermina, Antonio and Paula. Mr. Rohn was in the insurance business in Milwaukee for some time, when he purchased and lived on a farm in the county until 1876 and thence came to Newton County, Mo., and located on his nicely situated farm of 140 acres. He has held the office of justice of the peace, and in his political views is a Democrat. Mrs. Rohn was highly educated in Germany before coming to America, and can speak and write German, English, French and Bohemian. They are one of the first families in the county, and are highly cultured and intelligent.