Laramie County WY Archives Biographies.....Henke, O. Rudolph 1846 - 
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Joy Fisher http://www.genrecords.net/emailregistry/vols/00001.html#0000031 October 21, 2011, 2:08 pm

Source: See below
Author: A. W. Bowen (Publisher)

O. RUDOLPH HENKE.

  The German element in our national life has been prominent in many lines of
industrial activity, also making itself felt in the arts, sciences and not a few
of the learned professions and America has not been slow in recognizing and
appreciating its eminent influence. The gentleman whose name appears above is
the son of a typical representative of the Teutonic character and he embodies
many of the sturdy physical characteristics and mental attributes for which his
ancestors were noted. Richard Henke, father of O. Rudolph Henke, is a native of
the province of Posen, Prussia, born on August 3, 1846. He was reared in the
town of his birth, and after receiving a strict educational training in the
public schools was apprenticed to the trade of machinist, in which he acquired
much more than ordinary skill. After working for some years in various shops in
his native country he went to Scotland and from 1869 until the breaking out of
the Franco-Prussian War he was similarly employed in Glasgow. When the great
struggle between Germany and France became unavoidable, Mr. Henke returned home
and joined the German army, with which he served gallantly until Prussia
defeated her hereditary enemy after one of the most notable, and to France one
of the most humiliating wars of modern history. For bravery displayed in some of
the bloodiest battles of the war Mr. Henke received two medals of honor and a
bombadier's commission, and when the war closed he returned to his mechanical
pursuits in Glasgow, in which city he was married in 1872 with Miss Christina
Appal, a native of the province of Hanover, Germany. After following his chosen
calling in Scotland until 1881 Mr. Henke came to America, and for about three
months worked at his trade in Grand Rapids, Mich., then came to Laramie, Wyo.,
and obtained a position in the Union Pacific shops, which he held until 1896,
and in 1885 he bought a ranch on Sybylle Creek, which he stocked with cattle and
placed in the charge of his sons while he continued his work in the shops at
Laramie. In 1886 he disposed of his first ranch and in 1888 purchased the
improvements and filed on his present ranch in the Sybylle district of Laramie
county, twenty-four miles southwest of Wheatland, moving to the property eight
years later. Since 1896 Mr. Henke has made his home on the ranch and in
partnership with his son, who manages the estate, he has been engaged in
cattleraising upon quite an extensive scale. His life has been active and busy,
attended at times by thrilling episodes, especially during his military life,
and from the beginning to the present time his career has been upright,
straightforward and in every respect honorable and praiseworthy. He proposes to
pass the remainder of his days in the health-inspiring, free outdoor life of the
ranch and to enjoy here some of the fruits of his many years of honest industry.
While retaining many tender recollections of the Fatherland and losing no jot of
his loyalty to its government. Mr. Henke is a true American and manifests a most
profound regard for the laws and institutions of his adopted country. He is an
excellent citizen, true to his ideals of right, and his character and integrity
are above reproach. He is well liked in the community where he lives and enjoys
the unbounded confidence of all. Mr. and Mrs. Henke have had five children,
Reinhold, Pauline, Rudolph, Richard and Rose. Rudolph Henke, who is his father's
partner and business manager, was born in Glasgow, Scotland, on May 29, 1876,
and was about five years old at the time of the family emigration, consequently
the most of his life has been spent in the west, under conditions favorable to
sturdy physical and mental development. His educational discipline embraces a
knowledge of the branches constituting the public school course, but his
training in the rugged school of experience has been of a wider range and much
more practical nature, eminently fitting him for the duties of a very active and
successful business life. Since moving to the ranch in 1886 he has been
associated with his father in cattleraising and has earned the reputation of a
very careful and far-seeing business man. The place which the two jointly own
contains 420 acres of valuable grazing land, much of which is susceptible of
tillage, though but a small portion is devoted to agriculture. Rudolph Henke is
one of the intelligent progressive young men of Laramie county, and has a
prosperous business career before him. He is a member of the Modern Woodmen of
America, belonging to the local organization at Wheatland.


Additional Comments:
Extracted from:

PROGRESSIVE MEN OF THE STATE OF WYOMING

ILLUSTRATED

CHICAGO, ILL.
A. W. BOWEN & CO.
PUBLISHERS AND ENGRAVERS
1903


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