My Genealogy Hound

Henry Hemker, a native of Hanover, Germany, was born in 1821, and is the eldest of three children born to Francis and Catherine M. (Hentzler) Hemker, also natives of Hanover. Francis Hemker, a farmer by occupation, died in Franklin County, Mo., in 1846, aged fifty-three years; his widow died in the same county in 1880, aged eighty-six years. Henry Hemker came to the United States with his parents when seventeen years old, and first settled near Clover Bottom; he worked in St. Louis for several years but has spent the most of his life on a farm. He owns 170 acres of land. He was first married about 1843 to Mary Krameyer, a native of Germany. Of the five children born to their union only two, Mathias and Ann Eliza, are now living. Mrs. Hemker died March 3, 1852, and May 16, 1853, Mr. Hemker married Martha A. Rhodus. They are the parents of the following children: Joseph H., John A. (deceased), George H., Dedrick, Anna N. (now Mrs. Ed Green), William E. (deceased), Francis J., Benjamin (deceased), Henry E., Elizabeth, Catherine E., Sarah C, James S. and Ferdinand W. Mrs. Martha Hemker is a native of Madison County, Ky., and a daughter of Joseph and Sarah Ann (Griffey) Rhodus, natives of South Carolina and Madison, Ky. Joseph Rhodus is of Irish descent, settled in Franklin County about 1836, is a farmer by occupation, and is a son of Jesse and Mary (Elliot) Rhodus. Mrs. Sarah Ann Rhodus was a daughter of Jesse and Fannie Griffey, natives of Virginia. Mr. and Mrs. Henry Hemker are members of the Catholic Church. Politically, he is a Democrat. He was township collector for several years, and during the late war served in the Missouri State Militia.