Henry W. Hahn Biography


	This biography appears on pages 886-887 in "History of Dakota 
	Territory" by George W. Kingsbury, Vol. V (1915) and was 
	scanned, OCRed and edited by Maurice Krueger, mkrueger@iw.net.

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				HENRY W. HAHN. 

	Prominent among the forceful, resourceful and successful business 
men of the southeastern section of the state is Henry W. Hahn, 
president of the Farmers Bank of Humboldt. He was born in Milwaukee, 
Wisconsin, on the 24th of May, 1870, and is a son of Ferdinand and 
Amelia (Hening) Hahn, both of whom were natives of Prussia, Germany, 
where they were reared and married. Soon afterward they crossed the 
Atlantic to the United States and made their way into the interior of 
the country, settling at Milwaukee, Wisconsin. There the father worked 
at the trade of carpenter and cabinetmaker, living in that vicinity 
until 1878, when he removed with his family to South Dakota. He shell 
took up his abode at Sioux Falls and the same year filed on a homestead 
in Minnehaha county two miles south of Humboldt. Upon that place he 
built a dwelling and there located his family and while his sons looked 
after the farm he continued to work at his trade in Sioux Falls for 
about ten years, making occasional visits to his farm. Eventually he 
located permanently upon his claim, concentrating his energies upon its 
further development and improvement and bringing it to a high state of 
cultivation. There he resided to the time of his death, which occurred 
in 1896. About five years after his death his widow removed to 
Humboldt, where she has since made her home. 

	Henry W. Hahn was but a young lad when the family came to South 
Dakota and upon the home farm he spent his youthful days. He acquired 
his education in the public schools of Sioux Falls to the time when he 
entered the Nebraska State Normal College at Lincoln, there pursuing 
the teacher's course, which he completed by graduation in the class of 
1891. He had been teaching, however, for about three years prior to his 
graduation and he continued actively in that profession until 1897. He 
then engaged in merchandising in Humboldt in partnership with H. N. 
Duncan, forming the firm of Hahn & Duncan. They made a very modest 
start, having a small store room twenty-two by forty feet. They met 
with success from the beginning, however, and from time to time kept 
adding to their space until they occupied a building fifty by one 
hundred feet, handling a general line of merchandise. including dry 
goods, hardware. implements and furniture. On the 5th of November, 
1913, the business was destroyed by fire, which swept away the entire 
block and extended for a half block across the street. The firm 
immediately began plans for rebuilding on a larger scale and upon the 
old site are now erecting a modern two story brick structure, having a 
frontage of one hundred and five feet and a depth of eighty feet. This 
will accommodate four complete stores-general merchandise, hardware and 
furniture, drugs and farm implements. They carry an extensive and well 
selected line, adequate to meet the varied requirements of the public, 
and their enterprising business methods, reliable dealing and 
progressive spirit have brought to them a constantly growing patronage. 

	Into other fields Mr. Hahn has also extended his activities. In 
1903 he organized the Farmers Bank of Humboldt with a capital of five 
thousand dollars. The bank, like his mercantile business, has prospered 
and today has a paid up capital of thirty thousand dollars. Mr. Hahn 
holds the controlling interest in the bank and has served as its 
president since its institution. He recognizes the fact that the bank 
which most carefully safeguards its depositors is the one most worthy 
of patronage and conducts his interests along conservative lines with 
the result that the institution has won the confidence and support of 
the general public. When the bank was organized business was begun in a 
corner of the old store building and in October, 1910, was removed to 
the present handsome structure, which is a two-story brick block of 
South Dakota red granite and is the most imposing building in Humboldt. 
It is splendidly equipped and the bank, like the store, is one of the 
growing and profitable business concerns of the city. In addition to 
his interests therein, Mr. Hahn owns eight hundred acres of valuable 
farm land in Minnehaha county, of which six hundred and forty acres is 
in one body. 

	In 1902 Mr. Hahn was united in marriage to Miss Caroline 
Rehfeldt, of Victor, Iowa, and they have become parents of four 
children, Marjorie, Maurine, Henry W. and Robert Milton. Mr. Hahn 
belongs to the Ancient Order of United Workmen. He holds membership in 
the Lutheran church, yet usually attends the services of the 
Congregational church, of which his wife is a member. He is now serving 
as clerk of the school board, and has been identified with the board 
for the past ten or twelve years, the cause of education finding in him 
a stalwart champion and one whose efforts are practical and effective. 
He belongs to the Humboldt Commercial Club and is in entire sympathy 
with its movements for the upbuilding and benefit of the city. He 
justly ranks among the foremost residents of Humboldt. He carries 
forward to successful completion his well formulated plans and reaches 
out along lines whereby the public welfare as well as individual 
prosperity has been enhanced.