Bio of Heerman, Edward E. Wabasha Co., MN
=========================================================================
USGENWEB NOTICE: In keeping with our policy of providing free information
on the Internet, material may be freely used by non-commercial entities,
as long as this message remains on all copied material, AND permission is
obtained from the contributor of the file.
These electronic pages may NOT be reproduced in any format for profit or
presentation by other organizations. Persons or organizations desiring to
use this material for non-commercial purposes, MUST obtain the written
consent of the contributor, OR the legal representative of the submitter,
and contact the listed USGenWeb archivist with proof of this consent.

If you have found this file through a source other than the MNArchives 
Table Of Contents you can find other Minnesota related Archives at:
http://www.usgwarchives.net/mn/mnfiles.htm
Please note the county and type of file at the top of this page to find 
the submitter information or other files for this county.
FileFormat by Terri--MNArchives

Made available to The USGenWeb Archives by: Barbara Timm and Carol Judge
=========================================================================
This bio comes from "HISTORY OF WABASHA COUNTY" 1884.
Check out Barbara's site for more great information on this book:
http://www.rootsweb.com/~mnwabbio/wab1.htm
There are also some pictures and information from descendents for some 
of the bios on her pages.

Heerman, Edward E., steamboat owner and captain, is among the pioneers and
self-made men of Wabasha county. He is a son of Timothy and Amelia T.
(Barter) Heerman, the former born in Maine and the latter in England. His
grandfather, Timothy Heerman, was a native German, and was pressed into
service on a British man-of-war, during the Revolutionary war. While the
vessel was at anchor off Portland, and its officers indulging in a drunken
orgy, Mr. Heerman locked the forecastle door and went ashore and notified
the American authorities, who went on board and captured the whole force.
When our subject was seven years old his father went to Burlington, Iowa,
and here the future captain laid the foundations of a life of usefulness.
When fifteen years old he chopped steamboat wood on an island in the
Mississippi River to procure money to enable him to attend school. When
his job was done he received a worthless order on a business man in
Burlington for his pay. Knowing the youth's object, and feeling pity for
him, the gentleman cashed the order, and promised young Heerman employment
in the spring, if he would return to him. After spending the winter in a
common school, the lad presented himself and was employed on a ferry boat.
From this he went on a steamer plying on the Iowa and Mississippi rivers,
and afterward secured possession of a flatboat and spent some years in the
wood business at Alma, Wisconsin. His genial nature and upright integrity
made him friends as he went along, and their kindness enabled him to ride
some rough financial storms and triumph over misfortune. Capt. Heerman has
built five steamers, all of which he named after his daughter, Minnie, and
has engaged in traffic on the Chippewa and Mississippi rivers. During the
winter of 1879-80 he built a steamer at Read's Landing, which he loaded at
St. Paul next spring, and sailed by way of the Missouri river to Fort
Benton (about four thousand miles), making a successful voyage despite the
sneers of his friends. In the winter of 1882-3 he built and is now
operating at Devil's Lake, Dakota, the steamer Minnie II. All the material
had to be hauled a distance of seventy miles from the then railroad
terminus, and the vessel cost, when completed, over thirty thousand
dollars. This is used in trade between Devil's Lace City and "West End,"
where is a town site, in which Capt. Heerman is interested., Capt. Heerman
is a member of the Knights of Honor in Wabasha, and a firm supporter of
the Republican party, although he would never accept a civil office. While
his religious views are not modeled after any creed, he is everywhere
known as a consistent Christian gentleman. On the 10th of November, 1856,
he was united in marriage to Miss Haliceia Hannon, of Hastings, who died
October 20, 1866, leaving two children. Albert E., the eldest, is now in
the insane hospital at Rochester. Minnie E. is with her father at Devil's
Lake.