Henry LAMPEN
Among the old and prominent German citizens of Clinton county is Henry
Lampen. He is a native of the Duchy of
Oldenberg, Germany, and was born December 11, 1815. His
father, Paul Lampen, was a farmer and land-owner. Henry is
the second son. He received an excellent education in the
schools of his native country. At the
age of nineteen years he left Germany and came to America, landing in
New York,
May 4, 1835. From there he went to
Pittsburg, where he found employment in a saw-mill pulling a
whip-saw. He remained at that employment for two
years, then rented a piece of ground in Allegheny town, and raised
garden-truck
for the markets. One year later he came
west to Illinois, arriving in the fall of 1838. He came here
at the solicitation of his friends, looked at the
country, was please, then returned and brought out his
family. He bought fifty-five acres of improved land
and twenty acres of timber, near Germantown in this county.
He had prior to that, however, purchased
improved land, but sold it soon after, and bought the land near town,
which was
unimproved, and there opened up a farm, and continued on it until 1850,
when he
sold out and went into Hanover (as the town was the called) and engaged
in
general merchandizing. He remained
there until 1858, when he and Dr. KLIENEKARTE
built the Hanover Flouring
Mills. Mr. Lampen continued in the
business for seven years, when he sold his interest to his
partner. He then bought a house and lot, improved the
place, and remained there one year; then removed to the village of
Breese,
where he staid six months; then came to Carlyle and engaged in
business. In 1868 he built his present storehouse, and
the next year went into business, in which he still continues.
In 1837, while a resident of Allegheny city, he married Helena WINKLER,
a German lady. She died in 1845. A son, named J. H.
Lampen, was the only son
by that marriage that grew to manhood, married, and died March 13,
1881,
leaving a wife. There is also a
daughter by that marriage, named Helena Maria, who married August LONG,
by whom she had two children, named Eugenie and Margaret. The
latter is now a teacher in a Catholic
school in St. Clair county, Illinois.
In 1846, Mr. Lampen married Margaret WORSEMAN.
She died August 13, 1874. By this marriage there were two
children---a
son and daughter. The latter,
Elizabeth, married Hermann KOCH,
of Hanover. She died in March, 1867, leaving one daughter
named
Elizabeth. John C., who was born
February 8, 1852, is still at home and a partner with his father in
business. He was educated in the
College of the Franciscan Monks at Teutopolis, in Effingham county,
Illinois.
Mr. Lampen was among the first German settlers of
Clinton county. When he came here the
county was young and unimproved. The
prairie grass was as high as a man’s head, and the country,
particularly when
he settled, filled with swamps and miasma, and consequently fever and
ague
abounded, and quinine and whiskey were in great demand; but
notwithstanding
these drawbacks the sturdy old settlers were determine to stay and
conquer all
difficulties.
Politically, Mr. Lampen is a democrat.
He cast his first vote for Martin
VANBUREN
for president in 1840,
and has been a democrat from that time to the present. In
1848 he was elected justice of the peace,
and held the office for sixteen years continuously. In fact
he did pretty much all the legal business that was
transacted in the town of Hanover while he was a resident
there. He was made the administrator of the estates
of deceased persons, and often had as many as six or seven estates to
settle at
each term of court. His time was much
occupied with that class of business, going to sales, conducting them,
looking
after the appraisement of property, etc.
That was to some extent the reason for his removal to the town of
Hanover and engaging in the mercantile business, so that he might have
more
time to attend to this class of business.
Between attending to public business and his own, and fighting the ague
and fever, a good portion of the time he was kept busy. Mr.
Lampen has been very successful as a
business man, and has accumulated a comfortable fortune. It
has all been the accumulation of his own
toil, the practice of economy, and the exercise of good
judgment. Few men in the county are more respected for
their honesty and sterling integrity than Henry Lampen.
Copied from “The 1881 History of Marion & Clinton
Counties,
Illinois.”
Submitted by:
Pamela Safriet
Clinton County
Biography Index
Clinton County ILGenWeb Page
