My Genealogy Hound

HENRY HITZSMANN. Randolph County is greatly indebted for its present wealth and high standing to the sturdy, intelligent and enterprising tillers of the soil who came from Germany, and who have been instrumental in developing the vast agricultural resources of their adopted state. As a worthy member of the farming community who have contributed toward its material advancement, it gives us pleasure to present Mr. Hitzsmann in this volume. He has long been associated with the agricultural interests of township 4, range 8, where he has built a comfortable home, and owns a valuable estate of four hundred and thirty acres.

The birth of our subject occurred January 4, 1839, in Furstentuhm, Schaumburg-Lippe, Buckeburg, Germany, where also his parents, Fred and Wilhelmena (Meyer) Hitzsmann, were born, the father in 1811, and the mother in 1810. Mr. and Mrs. Fred Hitzsmann emigrated to the United States in 1858, and after locating in Randolph County, the father, who was a poor man, rented land, which he operated four years. Being a hard worker and a good financier, he managed to save enough of his earnings to purchase land, and at the date of his death, December 29, 1877, he was proprietor of one hundred and eighty acres of good land, located on Horse Prairie. His wife, the mother of our subject, reared a family of seven children, and is still living.

The subject of this sketch received a good education in Germany, and was a lad of seventeen years when he crossed the Atlantic, determining to make a fortune for himself in the New World. This was one year previous to the emigration of his parents, and it was through him that they located in this county. He has always followed the occupation of a farmer, and that he has met with good fortune in the prosecution of his calling is made sure when we announce that he is the proprietor of four hundred and thirty acres of land, and is one of the solid men of his township.

The marriage of Mr. Hitzsmann with Miss Wilhelmena Wiebke occurred December 18, 1862. Mrs. Hitzsmann was born in Randolph County, and is the daughter of Fred and Wilhelmena (Schrieber) Wiebke. Of the ten children of which she became the mother, only six are living, namely: Ernest, Henry, William, Charles; Wilhelmena, Mrs. Charles Fair; and Lena, the wife of Rudolph Attman. The Democratic party ever finds in our subject a faithful supporter. He is a thoroughly upright, honest man, always dealing fairly and squarely by all, and his estimable character has given him a high place among his fellow-townsmen. He and his good wife are members of the Lutheran Church, and heartily aid in its every good work.