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ADELBERT A.
GRAVENHORST, editor and proprietor of the Effingham Volksblatt, was born in the Kingdom of Hanover, now
a province of Prussia, on the 8th of March, 1839. He is a son of Theodore and Sophia (Oehlker) Gravenhorst, both
of whom were natives of Hanover. His father was a lawyer by profession,
and died in his native land February 17, 1893, in the eighty-seventh year of his age. The mother is also deceased.
The subject of this sketch was educated in the gymnasium of Lunenburg,
Hanover. Between the ages of fourteen and nineteen
years he was a student of agriculture in his native country. At the age of nineteen he left his old home, bade
good-bye to his friends and family and emigrated to America. He located near Chicago, where he spent the two succeeding years
of his life. In 1860 he removed to Teutopolis, Effingham
County, Ill., but remained in that place only six months,
after which he embarked in farming. For some time he followed that pursuit, being thus employed until the autumn
of 1864, when, in Kendallville, Ind., he enlisted for the late war as a member
of Company F, One Hundred and Forty-second Indiana Infantry. He served until July, 1865, when he was honorably
discharged, the war having ended. He participated in the battle of Nashville,
Tenn., and a number of minor engagements.
On his return from the army, Mr. Gravenhorst resumed farming operations, which he continued until 1867. That year
witnessed his removal to Effingham, where he has since made his home. In that city, on the 3d of January, 1871,
he was united in marriage with Miss Barbara Blattner, a daughter of Samuel Blattner. The lady is a native of this
State, her birth having occurred in Highland June 5, 1855. Her parents were of Swiss
birth. Her mother is now living, but her father is deceased. Unto Mr. and Mrs. Gravenhorst has been born a family
of five children, four sons and a daughter, and they also lost two in infancy. Of those living Theodore S. is the
eldest. He is now engaged as a merchant clerk. The other children are John, Charles, Ida and Albert, all of whom
are attending school.
In 1878, Mr. Gravenhorst established The
Volksblatt, which for the
first four years was printed in Chicago, but in 1872 he completed his office outfit here, since which time his
paper has been printed in Effingham. Improvements in the office, both for newspaper and job work, have been made,
until at this writing the office is complete in its appointments and the paper is enjoying a prosperous and successful
career. The Volksblatt is the only German paper published in this
section of the State. It is a six-column quarto, Democratic in politics, and has a circulation of between eight
and nine hundred. Mr. Gravenhorst is a supporter of the Democracy and has served two terms as a member of the City
Council of Effingham. At this writing he is numbered among its Aldermen. For three years he has been Chief of the
Fire Department, and is President of the Washington Loan and Building Association, which position he has held since
the organization of the company. He was one of the founders of this company. He also aided in establishing the
Effingham Manufacturing Company and has since been a member of its Board of Directors. He is a heavy stockholder
in, and President of, the Wildi-Eddy Lumber Company, of Effingham, of which R. Wildi is Superintendent. Mr. Gravenhorst
and family are members of the Lutheran Church. He is an enterprising and successful business
man, energetic and progressive, and has aided materially in the upbuilding and improvement of the city in which
he makes his home.
Portrait and Biographical Record of Effingham, Jasper and
Richland Counties Illinois, Containing Biographical Sketches of Prominent and Representative Citizens, Governors
of the State, and the Presidents of the United States. (Chicago: Chapman Brothers, 1887), p. 204. Transcribed by
Judy Rosella Edwards.
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