Will County IL Archives Biographies.....Meier, Henry E 
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Deb Haines http://www.rootsweb.com/~archreg/vols/00003.html#0000719 February 2, 2008, 3:15 am

Author: Past & Present Will County, 1907

Henry E. Meier, a farmer residing in the village of Crete, was born in Crete 
township, June 13, 1871. His father, John O. Meier, a native of Hesse-Cassel, 
Germany, was born January 17, 1824, his parents being Conrad and Sophia 
(Schweer) Meier, both of whom were natives of Germany. Conrad Meier was a 
miller by trade and both he and his wife died in their native country, aged 
respectively fifty-five and eighty-two years. The family numbered four 
children, all of whom are now deceased. John O. Meier was the only one who 
came to the United States. He attended school until fourteen years of age and 
in the meantime worked in his father's mill. On leaving school he started out 
in life on his own account and at the age of twenty years he came to the 
United States as a passenger on the sailing vessel, Westphalia, from 
Bremerhaven. The voyage consumed forty-three days and after landing at New 
York city he proceeded by steamer up the Hudson to Albany, by rail to Buffalo 
and thence around the Great Lakes to Chicago. He began working at farm labor 
in Cook county on a farm now included within the corporation limits of the 
city. On the 18th of October, 1848, he was married in Chicago to Miss Anna 
Rinne, a native of Germany, who became acquainted with Mr. Meier while they 
were crossing the Atlantic. She died in Crete township, April 27, 1869. Eleven 
children were born unto them but only four are now living: J. W., a resident 
of Minnesota; W. H., who lives upon the old homestead; Mrs. Sophia Wassmann 
and Mrs. Mary Piepenbrink, of Crete township. On the 23d of December, 1869, 
Mr. Meier was married to Miss Engel Scheiwe, a native of Hesse-Cassel, born 
November 28, 1832. She died in 1889. They became the parents of two children, 
but Henry E. is the only one now living. The father and his family were 
members of the Lutheran church, in the work of which they took an active part, 
contributing liberally to its support, while John O. Meier served as a trustee 
for thirty years. In politics he was a republican, active in the work of the 
party and prominent in local affairs. He held all of the township offices, 
being supervisor for twenty years, and his service was recognized as most 
capable and efficient. He was also a good farmer, who won success in his 
undertakings and left an estate which comprised three hundred and eighty acres 
of land in Will county and considerable town property. His first purchase 
constituted eighty acres, which he secured from the government and on which he 
located in 1848. For many years thereafter he was energetically engaged in the 
cultivation and development of his land and as the years passed by he won a 
goodly measure of prosperity. He retired to the village in 1885, spending his 
remaining days in the enjoyment of a well earned rest and passing away on the 
3d of October, 1901. Henry E. Meier pursued his education in the public 
schools to the age of fourteen years, after which he attended successively 
Concordia College at Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Concordia College at Fort Wayne, 
Indiana, and Concordia College at Springfield, Illinois, thus preparing for 
the ministry. He later abandoned the idea of entering the priesthood and for 
one year was with his brother William H. on the farm. He spent three years in 
the county clerk's office at Joliet, after which he attended the Metropolitan 
Business College of Chicago for six months. He was next employed as bookkeeper 
for the Crete Manufacturing Company for three years, was with the Lockwood & 
Strickland Company of Chicago for the same length of time, and with Palmer, 
Fuller & Company, of Chicago, for a similar period. While in the employ of 
these concerns he resided in Crete, but after his father's death returned to 
the farm, where he owned one hundred and ten acres of land, but has since sold 
forty acres to the railroad company. He now has a tract of seventy acres 
besides a good home in the village of Crete. His time and energies are given 
to the further development and improvement of his farm, from which he derives 
a good income. On the 22d of September, 1895, Mr. Meier was united in marriage 
to Miss Mary Ruhe, a daughter of Louis Ruhe, who is living in Crete. They have 
two children, Henry J. L. and Marie. The parents are both consistent and 
faithful members of the Lutheran church, in which Mr. Meier is serving as 
deacon. He neither seeks nor desires public office but gives unfaltering 
support to the republican party, being in hearty sympathy with its principles.

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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