Biography - H Hensen
H. H. HENSEN. Although quite a young man, this gentleman already has considerable weight in the community where he resides, a fact which is easily accounted for by his strong principles, his active interest in the welfare of all around him, and the pleasant manners which are the crowning charm of a fine nature.
Mr. Hensen was born in Hamburg, Germany, March 22, 1860. He is the son of Frederick and Hannah Hensen, who came to the United States in 1868, and settled in Henry County, this State, where he received his education. After leaving school, our subject learned the trade of a butcher, and from that occupation drifted into the poultry business, and from that has built up a large wholesale and cold-storage business. Success has undoubtedly crowned this gentleman's efforts, as the receipts of last year’s business prove, the amount being $365,000. He gives employment in the winter time to about two hundred men and boys, and the different branches of his large enterprise are at Virden, Carlinville, Carrollton, Palmyra, Jerseyville, Raymond, Bunker Hill, Shipman, Litchfield and Roodhouse.
Our subject has built up this extensive business within the last eight years, and commenced this enterprise with a capital of $250. To say that he has made a big success but faintly expresses the idea, for few men can see such encouraging results from the labor of a lifetime, let alone the work of eight years. Mr. Hensen finds time to engage in other enterprises as well as the business above referred to, and is a member of the Litchfield Hotel Company. In social life, he is a member of the Knights of Pythias and the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. For many years he has been interested in the Litchfield Fire Department, and is now foreman of Hose Company No. 1.
On the 25th of February, 1887, our subject became united in marriage with Maria C. Gable, of Gillespie, Ill., and their family now consists of two children, Blanche Irene and Warren Harold.
In politics, Mr. Hensen has always been a Democrat, and takes great interest in the success of his party. At the same time, he extends to those who differ from him in political faith that toleration which he demands for himself. As a business man, he has been successful beyond the ordinary lot of man, and enjoys the reputation of being clear-headed. He is deliberate in his judgments, a good judge of men, and universally esteemed for his integrity and social qualities. A marked characteristic is his faculty of adapting himself to circumstances, and a rule of his life is to make the best of everything. He is a man of even temperament, and, while prosperity has never caused him to be elated overmuch, his nature is too sturdy to permit of his being cast down by misfortune and disappointments. In his business and private relations, he has sustained a manliness of character that has won for him universal confidence and esteem. Notwithstanding his success while yet young, he has none of the pretense of a vain man and none of the hesitancy of a weak one, but moves about his business with the fullest consciousness of his ability to manage and conduct it in detail.
Extracted 10 Jan 2017 by Norma Hass from 1892 Portrait and Biographical Record of Montgomery and Bond Counties, Illinois, pages 363-364.
