Brown County MN Archives Biographies.....Henle, Athanasius And John 
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Joy Fisher http://www.genrecords.net/emailregistry/vols/00001.html#0000031 November 24, 2014, 10:28 pm

Source: See Below
Author: L. A. Fritsche

ATHANASIUS HENLE.

    Athanasius Henle, who, in connection with his younger brother, John, is
engaged in the farm-loan and general real-estate business at New Ulm, this
county, is a native son of Brown county, having been born on a pioneer farm in
Milford township, seven miles west of New Ulm, May 2, 1861, six years after the
erection of the county in 1855, son of Athanasius and Elizabeth (Fink) Henle,
natives of Wurtemberg, Germany, who were among the original settlers of that
part of the county and long honored residents of this part of the state, whose
last days were spent in New Ulm.

    The elder Athanasius Henle was the original promoter of the sturdy German
colony which first settled Milford township and was for many years one of the
leading citizens of this county. He was reared in Germany, eldest son of his
parents, and was trained to the carpenter's trade. In 1852 he and his brother,
Anton, and his sister, Mary, came to the United States and for a year were
located in Chicago, getting "the lay of the land." Two years later, in 1854,
Athanasius Henle organized a considerable colony of Germans who had temporarily
located in Chicago and the party came to Minnesota home-seeking. The party
paused at Shakopee, down the river in Scott county, while Mr. Henle, Louis
Meyer, Alois Palmer and Franz Massafurst, came on up the river looking for a
proper location for their colony. They selected a site eight miles west of the
present city of New Ulm and entered a considerable tract of government land in
what later became Milford township, which land was apportioned among the
colonists and thus the settlement of that section of the county was begun. About
that time a colony of Germans came to this section from Cincinnati and located
about eight miles east of the Henle colony, thus forming the nucleus around
which gathered the settlement of New Ulm. The next year, in 1855, Brown county
was erected as a civic entity and from the very beginning of local government
Athanasius Henle took a prominent part in civic affairs, becoming a man of large
influence in the community, and one of the early and most useful county
commissioners. He also served as assessor and for years was on the school board.
In addition to his labors in connection with the development of his land tract
he did considerable carpentering and helped to get lumber and shingles out of
the timber. For some time he worked at the carpenter's trade at Ft. Ridgely,
daily walking to and fro from his home to that place, a distance of nine miles.
As he became settled in his new home he prospered and eventually became the
owner of four hundred acres of fine land in Milford township.

     One of the members of the Henle colony that settled in Milford township was
a young German girl, Elizabeth Fink, who had come to America with her parents,
John M. and Monica Fink, and her brother Max and her sisters, Zettel, Lucretia
and Monica, from far-away Wurtemberg. Not long after the establishment of the
colony, Athanasius Henle and Elizabeth Fink drove to St. Paul with an ox-team
and were there united in marriage by the Catholic priest, returning straightway
to their friends in the wilderness and there set up their home. The colonists
had hardly become settled in their promising new homes when the Indian uprising
occurred in 1862 and both Athanasius Henle and his wife barely escaped with
their lives dining the consequent massacre, in which fifty-four residents of
Milford township were cruelly slain by the savage redskins, this number
including twenty-four of the Henle connection. Mrs. Henle's parents, John M.
Fink and wife were locked in their cabin by the savages and the cabin was burned
over their heads, both perishing miserably in the flames. The subject of this
sketch was then a babe in arms, little more than one year old, and his devoted
parents exerted their utmost courage and resourcefulness to save him and
themselves and their other small children from the fury of the bloodthirsty
redskins. The elder Athanasius Henle and his wife reared their family on the
homestead farm and remained there until 1893, in which year they retired from
the farm and moved to New Ulm, where Mr. Henle died the next year, 1894, at the
age of sixty-five years. His widow survived him until 1908 and was seventy-two
years of age at the time of her death. Both were earnest and devoted members of
the Catholic church and their children were reared in that faith. There were
eleven of these children, of whom seven grew to maturity, as follow: Mary, wife
of John Lauderbach, of Redwood Falls, this state; Martin, now deceased; Grace
Crecencia, wife of Frank Schlumpberger, of Wanda, in Redwood county, this state;
Athanasius, the immediate subject of this sketch; John, who is associated with
the last named in business at New Ulm; Anton, who remains on the old homestead
in Milford township, one of the most substantial farmers in the county; Joseph,
now deceased, and four who died in youth.

     The junior Athanasius Henle was reared on the homestead farm in Milford
township and was brought up amid the many hardships which marked the early days
of the pioneers in this section. He attended the district school in the
neighborhood of his home and for awhile attended the parochial school at New
Ulm, and remained at home until he was well grown, after which he went to New
Ulm and learned the wheelwright's trade and was engaged as a wheelwright for
thirty-five years, twenty-eight years of which time he was in business for
himself, one of the best-known artificers in that line in this part of the
state. During that time Mr. Henle was engaged m business at Springfield, this
county, for nine years and the rest of the time he had his headquarters and
factory in New Ulm. He made hundreds of stanch wagons and regularly kept a
considerable force of men employed at his place. In 1910 Mr. Henle gave up his
factory and since that time has been quite successfully engaged in the business
of making farm loans, together with a general real-estate business, in
association with his brother, John, at New Ulm.

     On May 5, 1885, Athanasius Henle was united in marriage to Ida Baer, who
was born at St. Paul, this state, but who was reared at New Ulm, daughter of
Joseph and Barbara (Hitz) Baer, natives of Germany and early settlers at New
Ulm, the former of whom is now deceased, but the latter of whom is still living
there. Joseph Baer and wife were the parents of seven children, Adolph, Sophia,
Ida, Edward W., Helena, Amelia and Paul.

     To Athanasius and Ida (Baer) Henle eight children have been born, namely,
George, who is operating a harness shop at Morris, this state, in partnership
with his younger brother, Raymond; Elizabeth, who is a clerk in a jewelry store
at New Ulm; Ida, who is a Sister in the convent at Wilkesbarre, Pennsylvania;
Robert, a chef at Rochester, this state; Raymond, who is associated with his
brother, George, in the harness business at Morris; Athanasius the third, who is
a linotype operator in a newspaper office at Redwood Falls, this state; Eleanor,
a stenographer and typewriter at New Ulm, and Arthur, who died when about six
years of age. Mr. and Mrs. Henle are members of the Catholic church and their
children have been reared in that faith. Mr. Henle is a member of the Knights of
Columbus and of the German Catholic Benevolent Society of Minnesota, in the
affairs of both of which orders he takes a warm interest. He is a Democrat and
has ever given his thoughtful attention to local political affairs, but has
never been included in the office-seeking class.

     John Henle, younger brother of Athanasius Henle, and who is associated with
the latter in the real-estate and farm loan business in New Ulm, the firm being
one of the most active hereabout, was born on the Henle homestead farm in
Milford township on March 28,1864, and remained there until he was fifteen years
old, having meanwhile attended both the public and parochial schools, at which
time he went to New Ulm and began to learn the harness-making trade, presently
becoming a very skilful craftsman in that line. In 1884 he established a
harness-making plant of his own at New Ulm and was quite successfully engaged in
that enterprise until 1905, in which year he gave it up in order to engage in
the insurance business, which he has continued ever since and in which he has
been quite successful, being one of the best-known insurance men in this
section. Mr. Henle is an ardent Democrat and for years has been active in local
politics. He served for some time as a member of the city council of New Ulm and
in 1910 was elected as a member of the board of county commissioners, in which
capacity his service on behalf of the public was so greatly appreciated that he
was re-elected and is now serving his second term in that office. In other ways
also Mr. Henle has given unselfishly of his time to the public service and for
eighteen years was a valuable member of the city school board. He is recognized
as one of the substantial business men of the community and is one of the
directors of the Citizens State Bank of New Ulm.

     On November 22, 1892, John Henle was united in marriage to Mary Gratz, who
was born at Owatonna, this state, daughter of Mathias and Mary (Sullivan) Gratz,
the former a native of Germany and the latter of Ireland. For years Mathias
Gratz and wife, both now deceased, were well-known residents of New Ulm. They
were the parents of four children who grew to maturity, John, Catherine, Alice
and Mary. Mr. and Mrs. Henle have an adopted daughter, Gladys. They are members
of the Catholic church and Mr. Henle is a member of the Knights of Columbus and
of the St. Joseph Society, in the affairs of both of which organizations he
takes a warm interest. The Henle brothers and their respective families ever
have displayed a proper interest in the social and cultural activities of the
community and are held in high esteem throughout the entire county. The family
is one of the oldest in the county, as set out in the preceding paragraphs of
this biographical sketch, and has done well its part in assisting in the
development of this region to its present high standard.


Additional Comments:
Extracted from:
HISTORY OF BROWN COUNTY MINNESOTA
ITS PEOPLE, INDUSTRIES AND INSTITUTIONS

L. A. FRITSCHE. M. D.
Editor

With Biographical Sketches of Representative Citizens and Genealogical Records
of Many of the Old Families

VOLUME II
B. F. BOWEN & COMPANY, Inc. Indianapolis, Indiana



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