Biographies

HERMANN G. ANNEGERS, who is successfully engaged in farming on section 28, Stronghurst Township, is one of the worthy citizens that Germany has furnished to Henderson County.

He was born on the 1st of June, 1834, in the Kingdom of Hanover, at Badbergen, and is a son of Hermann G. and Catherine M. (Kuhlmann) Anuegers, who were also natives of that country.

The father was a civil officer, and his family numbered five children, of whom our subject was the second in order of birth. No event of special importance occurred during the early boyhood of Mr. Annegers, who remained at home until sixteen years of age, and in the common schools acquired a good education.

At length he determined to try his fortune in America. He bade adieu to friends and native land and took passage on the sailing-vessel "Matilda," which after a voyage of forty-three days dropped anchor in the harbor of New York. Lauding on the 2d of June, 1851, Mr. Annegers spent four years in New York City, engaged as a clerk in a grocery and provision store. On the expiration of that period he was joined by his parents, and together they made their way westward to Henderson County, III., where the father purchased one hundred and sixty acres of land on section 29, Stronghurst Township, having brought some capital with him from Germany. Upon that farm he remained until his death, which occurred on the 14th of June, 1891, at the age of eighty-six years, his birth having occurred on the 8th of March, 1805.

His wife was born March 12, 1806, and died October 31, 1857. They were buried on the old homestead, and a substantial monument now marks their last resting-place. Both were members of the Lutheran Church, and were highly respected people.

During the first winter after his removal to the west, Mr. Annegers of this sketch engaged in clerking in Burlington, Iowa, and then returned to the farm, aiding his father in its cultivation and management until 1870, when he purchased the farm on which he now resides. He has three hundred and thirty acres of rich and arable land, under a high state of cultivation. His home is a comfortable residence, in the rear of which stand good barns and other outbuildings, while these in turn are surrounded by well-tilled fields, whose neat and thrifty appearance indicates the careful supervision of the owner.

On the 14th of September, 1875, Mr. Annegers was united in marriage with Miss Julia H. Taylor, of Burlington, Iowa. She was born at Huntington, Lorain County, Ohio, August 30, 1845. Their union has been blessed with four children: Mary Jennette, born October 24, 1876; Clara Elmina, born December 2, 1881; John Hermann, born April 18, 1886; and Francis Allen, born December 19, 1887. The family circle yet remains unbroken, for the children are still with their parents. The Anuegers household is the abode of hospitality, and its doors are ever open for the reception of their many friends.

On questions of national importance, Mr. Annegers is independent and he supports the man whom he thinks best qualified for the office.

He has served as Supervisor, and is a member of the Evangelical Lutheran Church. The cause of education finds in him a warm friend, and his eldest daughter is now attending the High School of Stronghurst. Mr. Annegers is a self-made man . who started out in life empty-handed, but by a resolute will and determined effort has overcome the difficulties and obstacles in his path and steadily worked his way upward to success.

From the Portrait and biographical record of Hancock, McDonough and Henderson counties, Illinois : containing biographical sketches of prominent and representative citizens of the county (1894)
May, 1894. Lake City Publishing Co.