Will County IL Archives Biographies.....Bahlmann, John H 
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Deb Haines http://www.rootsweb.com/~archreg/vols/00003.html#0000719 February 6, 2008, 1:20 am

Author: Past and Present of Will County, IL; 1907

John H. Bahlmann, proprietor of a general store at Goodenow, was born in 
Washington township, Will county, December 12, 1866. His paternal grandfather, 
Henry Bahlmann, Sr., was one of the oldest settlers of the county at the time 
of his death, which occurred in December, 1893. His wife had died earlier in 
the same year. They came to America in 1854, when their son Henry, the father 
of our subject, was a young man of eighteen years. He was born in Germany, 
engaged in farming on the old homestead after the emigration to the new world, 
and in the course of years became the owner of three hundred and seventy-five 
acres of valuable land as the result of judicious investment, careful 
management and unfaltering energy. He married Dorothea Harste, a native of the 
province of Hesse-Cassel, Germany, and they became the parents of six 
children: Henry, who is living on the old home farm and is supervisor of 
Washington township; William, a barber of Chicago; Charles, whose home is in 
Beecher, Illinois; John H., of this review; Mary, the wife of John Herman, of 
Cissna Park, Illinois; and Lena, who is living with her sister Mary. The 
father died September 10, 1886, at the age of forty-eight years, and the 
mother passed away a few years ago. No event out of the ordinary occurred to 
vary the routine of farm life for John H. Bahlmann in his boyhood days. The 
early spring found him at work in the fields and the late autumn saw him at 
work gathering the corn. In the winter months he attended the public schools, 
but his attention was largely given to the farm labor until he was twenty 
years of age when he came to Goodenow and began clerking in a store. Two years 
later, in 1890, he engaged in business for himself, building a store, 
equipping it with a stock of goods and then opening the doors to the general 
public. He has since ranked among the leading merchants of the town and his 
trade has steadily grown. For four years he has also owned a store at Eagle 
Lake and is conducting a good business at both places. His close application, 
his study of the trade and the public demands and his unabating diligence 
constitute the salient elements which have led him forth from a comparatively 
humble financial position to the plane of affluence. In 1890 was celebrated 
the marriage of Mr. Bahlmann and Miss Anna Wehrman, a native of Washington 
township. Her father, Frederick Wehrman, formerly a farmer of that township, 
is now deceased. Her mother is still living on a farm just east of Beecher. 
Unto Mr. and Mrs. Bahlmann have been born four children: Harry, Ruby, William 
and Helen. Mr. Bahlmann and his family are members of the Lutheran church and 
are deeply interested in its various activities and the extension of its 
influence. In his political views Mr. Bahlmann was formerly a democrat and 
served as postmaster of Goodenow during President Cleveland's second term. He 
was also justice of the peace for one term, notary public for one term and 
school director for fourteen years. He is always found on the side of 
progress, whether in business, community or social interests, and is accounted 
one of the leading and representative citizens of the village in which he 
makes his home. 

Additional Comments:
PAST AND PRESENT OF WILL COUNTY, ILLINOIS By W. W. Stevens President of the 
Will County Pioneers Association; Chicago: The S. J. Clarke Publishing 
Company, 1907

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