Heinrich Degener

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Heinrich Wilhelm Degener

also known as Wilhelm Degener, Henry Degener

Date of Birth	May 30, 1819
Date of Death	September 29, 1869
Place of Birth	Rodewald, Kingdom of Hanover, Germany
Place of Burial	Proviso Cemetery
Known Siblings	Heinrich Friedrick Degener (older brother)	Born: January 28, 1813 Died: April 7, 1897 (See Heinrich Friedrich Degener)
Father	Christian Degener	Born: November 22, 1782 Died: March 29, 1870 Buried in "Immanuel" Proviso Cemetery
Mother	Anna Catherine Degener nee Duensing	Anna Catherine may have died in Germany prior Christian's immigration to America.
Date of Parents' Marriage	1812
Heinrich Wilhelm's Wife	Margaretha Mette Degener nee Ehrich
Wife's Date of Birth	July 11, 1815	Born in Kingdom of Hanover, Germany
Wife's Date of Date	January 29, 1903
Wife's Place of Burial	Waldheim Cemetery, Forest Park, Illinois
Marriage Date	In the 1840s
Wife's Bio
Date of US Immigration	1843-1844
Route of Immigration	Heinrich possibly came to America around the time of the birth of Karl.	At some time he moved his place of residence to Proviso Township, Cook County, between 22^nd Street (Cermak) and Roosevelt Road near Wolf Road.
Description of Land First Owned	As of the 1854 deed he owned 80 acres in Section 30, north 1/2 of northeast 1/4, Proviso Township.	As of 1861 he owned 303 acres in Section 19, 80 acres in Section 30 and 18 to 20 acres in Section 29, Proviso Township. The last acreage is contiguous with the Immanuel Lutheran Church property.
Occupation	Farmer

Children:

Name	Date of Birth	Birthplace	Date of Death
Heinrich Karl (also known as Charles )	May 11, 1843		January 11, 1900; buried at Immanuel Lutheran Church
Eduard (Edward)	1845	Proviso Township, Cook County, Illinois	1853; buried at Zion Cemetery
Heinrich Diedrich August (August)	January 16, 1849	Proviso Township, Cook County, Illinois	May 12, 1921; buried at Immanuel Lutheran Church
Friedrich Christian Herman (Herman)	January 16, 1849	Proviso Township, Cook County, Illinois	August 19, 1919; buried at Glendale, California
Ludwig Heinrich (Henry)	June 12, 1851	Proviso Township, Cook County, Illinois	May 29, 1935; buried at Evanston, Illinois
Wilhelm Ludwig Louis Christopher (Lewis)	September 27, 1853	Proviso Township, Cook County, Illinois	May 24, 1923; buried at Glendale, California
Emmeline Rosina Sophie Maria	December 14, 1860	Proviso Township, Cook County, Illinois	May 15, 1861; buried at Proviso Cemetery

Additional Biographical Information:

The Duensings, Volberdings and Degeners knew each other and had real estate dealings in Germany before their immigration to America.
By 1852, Teacher Bartling of the Zion Lutheran Congregation (then known as Churchville, Bensenville) was coming three times a week to teach at the home of Henry Degener. In October of 1852 another teacher, Mr. Hahn began teaching in the Degener home. This education was prior to the construction of the first schoolhouse (built in the spring of 1853). Mr. Hahn was replaced by John Kirchner in the spring of 1854.
In 1852 Henry Degener joined with eight other families to obtain permission to form a school district in the immediate locale of "Franzosenbusch", near present-day 22^nd Street (Cermak) and Wolf Road.
In 1853 Henry Degener was one of the builders of the schoolhouse for the Southern District of Addison Church (the school at Franzosenbusch). Henry was also one of the three Commissioners of Highways for Proviso Township.
By 1857 the "old" schoolhouse was too small for the growing community. Henry Degener, appearing before the congregational assembly, asked the members to assist the district by building a new school. (This new school became the schoolhouse built in 1858.)

To see the bibliography for this entry, click on the Founding Fathers--Bibliography

We welcome any comments, questions and corrections. In accumulating this information we have found conflicting evidence. We have endeavored to use the most reliable sources available BUT we can not be sure we have all of the facts completely accurate. We need your help. More information from the families of these nine "Founding Fathers" would be of great value to this ongoing project in order to maintain accuracy. At this time, we are especially interested in photos, journals, letters, etc., which would describe the southeast corner of 22nd Street (Cermak) and Wolf Road in Hillside, prior to the 1860's. This will help us now, as we work on the restoration.

Please feel free to contact me at j.arbuthnot@sbcglobal.net. I will route your email through our other researchers.

The primary compiler of this information was Lana Gits with:

Jim Arbuthnot
Larry Godson
Drew Reaves
Patricia Reaves
Shirley Slanker

Last Modified: 10/10/2002