Edward Behrens, whoso business career was ever active, honorable and upright, loft to his family, at his death, an untarnished name. He was born in Oldenburg, Germany, August 30, 1850, and was a son of Frederick and Rinsty (Wilms) Bchrens, also natives of Germany. In their family were two children, one of whom died in infancy. After losing his first wife the father married again and there were two children of that union: Bernard, who died when a young man; and August, who lives in Montmorency township, this county. In 1806 -the father came to America with his second wife and settled in Whiteside county, Illinois, near Diusmoor. A few years later he bought a farm in Montmorency township, comprising one hundred and sixty acres of land, which he brought under a high state of cultivation, successfully carrying on tho work of the fields for many years. He was born February 27, 1819, and died April 6, 1891, at the age of seventy-two years, having for some time survived his second wife. Edward Behrens acquired a good education in the schools of Germany, manifesting special aptitude in his studies, and for one season he was a student in an English school in this country. He was reared on his father's farm, making his home with his parents until he attained his majority, although he occasionally worked out by the month. He was a youth of fifteen years when the family crossed the Atlantic to the new world and for forty-years was a resident of Whiteside county and an interested witness of the events which have shaped its policy and formulated its history.

On the 2d of May, 1878, Mr. Behrens was married to Miss Catharine Bongartz, a daughter of Wilhelm and Gertrude (Evan) Bongartz. Mrs. Behrens was born at Cologne, Germany, and came to America with her widowed mother and two brothers in 1870, after the French war, her father having died in Germany when she was six years of ago. The death of her mother occurred in Sterling in 1890 when she was about seventy-two years of age. The family numbered two sons and four daughters: Elizabeth, the widow of Adam Hutton, of Sterling; Maria, the widow of Martin Roff, of Chicago; Frank Bon- gartz, who makes his home in Sterling; Agnes, the deceased wife of Robert Babclick, her death occurring in Germany; Mrs. Behrens; and Henry Bongartz, who lives in Sterling. Unto Mr. and Mrs. Behrens were born throe sons, but all died in infancy.

Following his marriage Mr. Behrens worked for a time in the wire mill in Sterling and subsequently bought a farm of eighty acres in Montmorency township. There he lived for seven years and afterward bought another farm of forty acres. Subsequently he disposed of both of those places and invested in one hundred and fifty-six acres in Montmorency township but removed to Sterling, where he established a coal business. After his father's death Edward Behrens became administrator of the estate and. withdrawing from the coal trade, took up his abode upon his father's farm, which he conducted for a year. He then sold his interest in the place to his brother and became a dealer in agricultural implements at Rock Falls in partnership with Jacob Hoffman under the firm style of Hoffman & Behrens. They continued together for several years with good success, after which Mr. Behrens retired. During all this time he retained the ownership of his farm of one hundred and sixty acres but since his death Mrs. Behrens has sold it to his brother August.

It was on the 10th of May. 1906, that Mr. Behrens passed away, when nearly fifty-six years of age. He belonged to St. John's Lutheran church, having been confirmed in the Lutheran faith at the age of fourteen years. He became a charter member of the organization of that denomination at Rock Falls and when he removed to Sterling transferred his membership here. He was a highly respected citizen, who in every relation of life was found true to his duties and to any trust reposed in him. He held membership with the Knights of the Globe and was president of the local organization at the time of his death. He served as a school director in Montmorency township and the cause of education ever found in him a warm friend. He was a manly man. who held to high ideals in citizenship and in business, while friendship with him was inviolable. Those who knew him entertained for him the warmest regard in recognition of his genuine worth, and his death was the occasion of deep sorrow to many who had known him and had learned to appreciate his good qualities of heart and mind. Mrs. Behrens still survives her husband and owns a good home at No. 310 Fourth avenue, where she now resides amid the many friends whom she has made in Sterling.

Transcribed by Christine Walters
Whiteside County History 1908 by Davis