The subject of this sketch is one of the many Germans who, emigrating to America without means, have found here friends and financial success. His farm consists of four hundred acres situated on section 4, Meridian Township, and is one of the most valuable in Clinton County. Upon coming here in 1868 he bought six hundred and forty acres, for which he paid $12 per acre. There were no improvements upon the land, and it then gave few indications of its present cultivation, but during the twenty-five years Mr. Heinzmann has made it his home, he has succeeded in transforming the place into one of the best in the locality.

Born in Baden, Germany, November 26, 1826, our subject is a son of Valentine and Frances (RITLER) Heinzmann, natives of the same place as that in which C. L. first saw the light of day. The father owned eighty acres of land, which he operated, and at the same time he conducted a water mill near his home. About 1830 he removed to Russia and located near the Black Sea, where he bought land and also ran a mill. The venture, however, proved an unfortunate one, and when he returned to Baden he had lost almost his entire property. In the city of his birth he continued to reside until his death, at the age of about sixty-five. He was a man of superior talent, excellent education, cultured and kind-hearted, and for years was a devoted member of the Catholic Church. He was twice married, his first union resulting in the birth of six children, while by his second wife (our subject's mother) he had ten children.

In the parochial schools of Russia and Germany the subject of this sketch conducted his studies prior to the age of fourteen. Afterward he worked upon a farm until 1851, when, in company with his mother and eight brothers and sisters, he crossed the Atlantic to America. One of the children died in St. Louis of the cholera soon after the family reached that city. Only four of the entire family are now living: Clemenz L., Valentine; Mary, Mrs. Ferdinand STEIN; and Barbara, Mrs. Joseph SPICER. The first-named son spent a few months in St. Louis upon arriving in this country, and thence he came to Clinton County, and in Looking Glass Prairie found employment upon a farm. For eight years he remained in the employment of others, at the expiration of which time he bought a team and operated rented land for three years thereafter.

The first purchase made by Mr. Heinzmann consisted of one hundred and twenty acres located in Madison County, and there he worked as a tiller of the soil for eight years. In 1868 he sold that place and bought the farm where he has since resided. In connection with general farming he is engaged in stock-raising, and in both branches of agriculture has gained success. His first marriage occurred in 1854, his wife being Catherine DEBADIN, and their union resulted in the birth of six children: Joseph, Sebastian, Clemenz, Valentine, Fritz and Ida, the latter being the wife of Andrew SCHEIGER. Mrs. Catherine Heinzmann died in the year 1869, and afterward our subject married Elizabeth Debadin, a sister of his former wife. Four children have blessed this union, namely: Catherine, the wife of Jesse MCCLELLAND; Elizabeth, Flora and Mary, who reside with their parents. The children have been given excellent advantages, and after completing the district school studies have attended Catholic institutions of learning. Mr. and Mrs. Heinzmann are both Catholic in religious belief and are identified with the church at Sandoval. In politics he supports the principles of the Democratic party.

Source: Portrait and Biographical Record of Clinton, Washington, Marion and Jefferson Counties, Illinois, 1894, Chapman Publishing Co., Chicago, IL

Submitted by: Connie Albers

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