Champaign County IL Archives Biographies.....Behrens, Henry 
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File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by:
Celia Snyder cgsnyder@uiuc.edu September 1999

Biography of Henry BEHRENS, Champaign County, Illinois

From:  "History of Champaign County, Illinois with Illustrations," 1878

HENRY BEHRENS

Henry BEHRENS, who has lived in East Bend township since 1870, was born at
Bremen, Germany, on the 16th of September, 1839. His father's name was
Aaron BEHRENS, and the subject of this sketch was the youngest of nine
children. His early life was spent as a sailor. He followed the sea for a
considerable number of years, and met with all the adventures which are
usually incident to a "life on the ocean wave." He came to America when
fifteen years of age, and the next fifteen years were spent on board
American vessels, principally sailing on the coast from New York to
Virginia and the Carolinas. During the late war of the rebellion he served
on board a vessel chartered by the United States government, and was
employed in transporting goods and troops, on the Atlantic coast. The
vessel on which he was a sailor was captured by the rebel privateer, the
Alabama, which caused such great destruction to American commerce, and he
was liberated by being let off on the Jersey coast.

After the close of the war, in the spring of 1865, he came to Illinois. He
had a brother living near Paxton. After remaining a while in that part of
the state he went to Chicago, and for one season he followed his old
occupation of sailor on Lake Michigan. In the year 1869 he bought 120 acres
of land in section 34, East Bend township, Champaign county, on which he
settled and went to farming. This was a pursuit in which he never
previously had been engaged, but he has been successful enough as an
agriculturist to entitle him to the credit of being a good farmer. When the
Havana, Rantoul and Eastern railroad was constructed, a station was
established on land belonging to him and called Behrens, which was the name
of the town and post-office until recently changed to Dewey. His father
came from Germany in 1866, settled in Ford county, and died in East Bend
township in 1875.

Mr. Behrens was married in July, 1870, to Mary HANGEN, who was at that time
living in Aurora, Illinois.

They have three children living, Herman, Lewis and George. He has been
independent in politics, and has always believed in voting for the best man
for office.


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