Andrew Reinhart, born on August 28, 1813, in Hesse-Cassel, Germany, was a prominent farmer and stock-raiser in China Township, Lee County, Illinois. His parents, Christian and Anna C. Reinhart, emigrated from Germany to the United States in 1846, settling in Lee Centre before moving to China Township. Andrew, who grew up on the family farm, transformed it into a prosperous estate of 366 acres, expanding his holdings to 620 acres in China Township, 160 acres in Lee Centre Township, and 440 acres in Iowa. Married to Catherine Hafenrichter on June 1, 1868, they had six surviving children. Reinhart was known for his business acumen, community involvement, and support of the Evangelical Church and Republican principles.
Andrew Reinhart. The portrait presented on the opposite page is that of the wealthy farmer and stock-raiser residing on section 24, China Township, where his extensive agricultural interests center. Though not a native of Lee County, most of his life has been passed here as a boy and man, and as one of the most able men in his line who has been potent in its development, his place is among its foremost citizens.
Mr. Reinhart was born in Hesse-Cassel, Germany, August 28, 1813. His parents, Christian and Anna C. (Denhart) Reinhart, were also Germans by birth, and are known in the history of this county as among its early pioneer settlers, who for many years were valued citizens of China Township, where she died October 16, 1870; and he in April, 1865, from the effects of injuries caused by being kicked by a horse. They had come to the United States from the Fatherland in 1846, and at first settled in Lee Centre, whence they removed to section 24, China Township. They had a family of three sons and three daughters, of whom our subject was the fifth in order of birth.
Andrew Reinhart was nearly three years old when the family crossed the waters to found a new home on American soil, and his boyhood was chiefly passed in China Township where the busy years of his mature life have also been spent. He grew to an active, energetic manhood on the old farm that his father redeemed from the wilderness after settling here, and it is now his own. He has been remarkably successful in his career, as he has bent his whole energies to his business as a farmer and stock-raiser, and his wealth is the legitimate result of diligent labor well performed, directed by an intelligent, thoughtful mind. A promptness to take advantage of opportunities to make money when the markets were active, as well as an aptitude for business matters, also have something to do with his good fortune. He has a valuable estate, including three hundred and sixty-six acres comprising his homestead and other land in China Township, amounting in all to six hundred and twenty acres, besides one hundred and sixty acres in Lee Centre Township, two hundred acres in Sac County, Iowa, and two hundred and forty acres in Fayette County, Iowa. His homestead farm is a model of its kind, having all the modern facilities for conducting agriculture after the most approved methods, and its improvements are of a high order, including the handsome and conveniently arranged set of farm buildings that he has erected.
Our subject was married June 1, 1868, to Miss Catherine Hafenrichter, and she has been all to him that is implied in the word wife. Sorrow has not passed them by in their wedded life, as four of their children have died — Martha and Charlie dying in infancy; Theresa, at the age of seven months; and Mabel at the age of two years. They have these six children living — Charlotte C., Anna C., Henry C., Catherine Elizabeth, John F., and Catherine A. Mrs. Reinhart was born in Montgomery County, NY, March 7, 1845, and is the eldest of the nine children of Henry and Charlotte (Heise) Hafenrichter, who were early pioneers of Kane County, this State. They were born in Germany, and came to this country in July 1839, settling at Ft. Plain, Montgomery County, NY, whence they soon removed to St. Johnsville, in the same county, and dwelt there until they came to this State in 1846, and cast in their lot with the early settlers of Kane County, of which they are still residents.
In this life record of our subject, enough has been written of what he has accomplished to indicate that he possesses strength of mind and character and other inherent endowments that are essential to true success in any walk in life, and we may add that his personal attributes, such as frankness and generosity, are such as to make his neighbors and all with whom he associates esteem him highly. He is liberal in his religious views, cheerfully gives of his money to support the churches, and, with his wife, is a consistent member of the Evangelical Church. In his political sentiments, he is in full accord with the principles promulgated by the Republican party.