Henry W. Reemers a farmer and stock raiser living on section 36, Nelson Township, where he has developed a very line farm of one hundred and sixty acres of land that is exceedingly fertile, is provided with well-built farm buildings that are complete in their arrangements, and the place is fully stocked with cattle, horses, and swine of the best grades. Like many another good citizen of this country, our subject is of foreign birth, he claims the Grand Duchy of Oldenburg, in the northern part of Germany, as the land of his nativity, and he was there born, November 16, 1832, on the same little farm which had been in the family for some generations, and had been the birthplace of his father, Mamme Remmer, and also of his grandfather, Henry W. Remmers. The latter, with his wife, who was an Oldenburg lady, died in middle life. Both were stanch Lutherans in religion.

The father of our subject carried on farming on a small scale on the old family homestead, and was doing well at his calling when death terminated his busy life at the early age of forty years. He had married Margaretta Onken, who was also a native of Oldenburg, and she too died at the age of forty years, on the farm where her entire wedded life was passed. Both she and her husband were true to the faith of their fathers, and were members of the Lutheran Church.

Our subject is one of four children, all of whom are now living in this country. He grew to a stalwart youth amid the tranquil scenes where he had first opened his eyes to the light of day, and obtained a sound education in the good schools of his native province. As soon as he was old enough, he entered the German army, in accordance with the customs of his country, and for two years did duty as a soldier. He heard much of the United States of America, which possessed a great attraction for him, as he reflected that here was a land where he could more surely make his way to an independent competency than in the old country, and in the spring of 1866 he emigrated to these shores, sailing from the port of Bremerhaven, in the steamship"Veser." He landed in New York City, whence he came to Dixon, and during the ensuing four years was variously employed in Lee County. At the end of that time he went to Missouri, and for live or six years thereafter was engaged in farming on a small farm in Nodaway County, that State. Returning then to Lee County, he has ever since been identified with its farming interests, purchasing his present farm in Nelson Township, in 1876, and, as we have seen, he has been much prospered. He was a comparatively poor man when he first came here from the Fatherland, but has accumulated a goodly amount of property, and is well fortified against poverty.

Mr. Remmers was fortunate in his selection of a wife in the person of Miss Anna Bremer, to whom he was married in Harmon Township. Two children complete their pleasant household: Mamie A. and William H. Mrs. Remmers is a native of the same German province as her husband, and was born January 13, 1847, one of the six children of Edeo and Etta (Ahmels) Bremer, of whom four arc living. When she was six years old, her parents came to the United States and settled on a farm in Sugar Grove, Palmyra Township, this county, and later removed to Harmon Township, where the father did good pioneer work in the Improvement of a farm. He was an excellent farmer, and when he died at the age of sixty-six years, his township lost one of its most worthy citizens. His wife, who is nearly three-score years of age, makes her home with her children. She is a consistent Christian and a Lutheran in religion.

Mr. Remmers is a man of sturdy, stable diameter, who is perfectly able to think and act for himself, and carries his independence into his politics, exercising his right as a free American citizen to support whichever party he plenses and to vote for those candidates he deems best fitted for oflicc. His reputation is of the best, and none know him but to esteem him. In his religious belief he adheres to the faith of his fathers, and both he and his wife are active members of the Lutheran Church.

Portraits and Biographical Lee County IL 1892