Henry Grebe Biography


	This biography appears on pages 818-819 in "History of South 
	Dakota" by Doane Robinson, Vol. I (1904) and was scanned, 
	OCRed and edited by Maurice Krueger, mkrueger@iw.net.

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	HENRY GREBE, who has long served with signal efficiency as 
register of deeds of Yankton county, is a native of Germany, where he 
was born on the 16th of October, 1843, being a son of Christian and 
Elizabeth (Dillon) Grebe, of whose two children the other passed away 
in childhood. The father of the subject was an officer in the 
Revolutionary army in Germany in 1848, and his death occurred while he 
was in service. In 1853 his widowed mother came with the subject, who 
was then a lad of ten years, to America, taking up her residence in 
Fond du Lac county, Wisconsin, where she later became the wife of Jacob 
Petri, one child being born of this union, George, who resides on the 
old homestead farm in that county. The mother entered into eternal rest 
in 1877.  

	The subject of this sketch received his preliminary educational 
discipline in his native land and continued his studies in the common 
schools after coming to the United States. Prior to his sixteenth year 
he began to depend on his own resources, securing work on neighboring 
farms in Wisconsin and receiving for some time only four dollars a 
month in compensation for his services. In 1859 he entered upon an 
apprenticeship at the tailor's trade, becoming a skilled workman and 
continuing to follow this vocation for a long term of years,-up to the 
time of his election to his present office.  

	On the 15th of August, 1862, Mr. Grebe tendered his services in 
defense of the Union, enlisting as a private in Company H, Twentieth 
Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry, with which he served three years, being 
promoted from time to time and being mustered out as second lieutenant. 
He participated in the battle at Prairie Grove, Arkansas, and in the 
siege of Vicksburg, and from August 12 to December 26, 1863, he was 
confined in the hospital at New Orleans, after which he was on detached 
duty, serving in various capacities and thus continuing until he 
received his honorable discharge, on the 22d of June, 1865.  

	After the expiration of his military service Mr. Grebe returned 
to Wisconsin, locating in Ripon, where he remained until the following 
autumn, when he went to Chicago, Illinois, where he took a course of 
study in a commercial college. In April, 1866, he located in St. 
Joseph, Missouri, where he was engaged in the work of his trade until 
February 2, 1872, when he removed to Sioux City, Iowa, where he became 
foreman and cutter in the leading merchant tailoring establishment of 
John A. Magee, retaining this position for the ensuing six years, at 
the expiration of which, in 1879, he came to Yankton, Dakota, arriving 
on the 4th of June, and here he continued to be engaged in the work of 
his trade until the 1st of January, 1895, when he entered upon his 
duties as register of deeds for Yankton county, having since been 
consecutively the incumbent of this office save for an interim of two 
years. He is well known to the people of the county and commands 
unqualified confidence and esteem. In politics he has ever given a 
staunch support to the Republican party, his first presidential vote 
having been cast in support of Lincoln, while he was in the service 
during the Rebellion. Fraternally, he is a popular and honored comrade 
of Phil Kearney Post No. 7, Grand Army of the Republic, and is also 
identified with St. John's Lodge No. 1, Free and Accepted Masons. He 
and his family are members of the Congregational church.  

	On the 3d of August, 1868, Mr. Grebe was united in marriage to 
Miss Bacia Wilbur, and they became the parents of one child, Harry W., 
who is now a traveling salesman for the extensive pharmaceutical house 
of Parke, Davis & Company, of Detroit, Michigan. On the 21st of March, 
1882, Mr. Grebe consummated a second marriage, being then united to 
Miss Caroline E. Geyman, of Wisconsin, and they are the parents of 
three children, H. George, Walter C. and Elmer E., all of whom remain 
at the parental home, being numbered among the popular young folks of 
the city.