My Genealogy Hound

HENRY K. BENTE, senior member of the firm of Bente & Wilson, was born in Cooper County, Mo., July 8, 1866, being a son of Henry and Dorothy (Kropp) Bente. The former, a native of Hesse-Cassel, Germany, emigrated to America in 1845, and settled near Greenville, Ohio. Ten years later he commenced farming in Heath Creek Township, Pettis County, and at the time of his retirement, in 1860, his property was very valuable. He died in 1891, when nearly seventy years of age. Though he was a cripple, he volunteered for service in the Union army, but was rejected. His wife, a native of the same German province, died in January, 1893, when in her fifty-eighth year. They were both members of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church. Their eldest son. Rev. C. H., is a minister in a Congregational Church in St. Louis, Mo., while the others, W. A., John M., J. Y., George and Charles, are farmers near Otterville, Mo., and the only daughter, Minnie, also resides in that vicinity.

The early years of H. K. Bente were passed on a farm and his education was completed in Otterville College, from which he graduated in 1890, with the degree of Bachelor of Arts. For a time he was Principal of the Otterville public school, but in 1891 he entered the University of Michigan, graduating from the legal department two years later, with the degree of Bachelor of Laws. After practicing for six months in the office of Judge Shirk, he became a member of the firm with which he is now identified. He owns a share in the old homestead of three hundred and twenty-five acres in Cooper County.

In politics Mr. Bente is a Democrat, and fraternally is a charter member of the Royal Tribe of Joseph. He is also a member of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church, and is in every respect a young man of sterling character.