Copyright USGenNet Inc., 2015 All Rights Reserved USGenNet Data Repository Please read USGenNet Copyright Statement on this page: Transcribed and submitted by Linda Talbott for the USGenNet Data Repository http://www.us-data.org/ =========================================================================== Formatted by USGenNet Data Repository Chief Archivist, Linda Talbott All of the above information must remain when copied or downloaded. =========================================================================== Biographical History of Northern Michigan B. F. Bowen & Co., - 1905 [53-54] WILLIAM MOHRMANN One of the well improved and ably managed farm properties of Central Lake township, Antrim county, is that owned and operated by MR. MOHRMANN, who is one of the sterling pioneer citizens of the county and one who is held in high esteem in the community. MR. MOHRMANN comes of stanch German lineage and is a native of the province of Mecklenburg, Germany, where he was born on the 23d of May, 1835, being a son of FREDERICK and LENORE (GILOW) MOHRMANN, who were born and reared in that same section of the fatherland, where they continued to reside until 1857, when they went to Chicago, Illinois, moving to Antrim county in 1874. The father was a school teacher by vocation. The subject of this review was reared to maturity in his native land, in whose excellent schools he secured his early educa- tional training, which he has effectively supplemented during the years of an essentially active and useful career, having applied himself to study and judicious reading after coming to the United States and soon securing a good practical knowledge of the English language and literature and being known as a man of broad information and distinctive intellectuality. He is well fortified in his convic- tions and opinions, and is able to express his thoughts effectively, having made numerous contributions to local newspapers within the past score of years. His loyalty to the land of his adoption is of the most insistent order, and was exemplified in no uncertain way by his ser- vice as a Union soldier during the war of the Rebellion. MR. MOHRMANN immigrated to the United States in the year 1852 and located in the city of Chicago. Later he became bookkeeper for an oil company in that city, retaining this incumbency for three years, and thereafter he followed similar lines of clerical work for twelve years. At the outbreak of the Civil war MR. MOHRMANN went to St. Louis, Missouri, and in response to the first call of President Lincoln, he tendered his services in defense of the Union, enlisting, in October, 1861, as a member of Company B, Benton Cadets, with which he served until August of the following year, when he re-enlisted, becoming a member of Company A, Seventy-second Illinois Volunteer Infantry, with which he remained in active service until the close of the great fratricidal conflict, receiving his honorable discharge in August, 1865. He displayed the highest of soldierly qualities, and this led to his promotion from the ranks. At the time of his discharge he was captain of his company, which he had commanded with marked efficiency. His command was a part of the Seventeenth and Sixteenth Army Corps, and participated in a number of the leading battles of the war, notably those of Vicksburg, Franklin, Nashville and Spanish Fort. After the close of the war MR. MOHRMANN returned to Chicago, where he continued to reside until 1874, in the spring of which year he came to Antrim county and took up a homestead in Central Lake township, at a point three miles north of the village of the same name. This origi- nal claim is an integral portion of his present fine landed estate, which comprises two hundred acres, while his younger son owns an ad- joining tract of one hundred and twenty acres. When MR. MOHRMANN located on this property it was covered with a dense growth of native timber and he established himself in the forest lodge, erecting a small house, which was practically little more than a shanty. He has reclaimed fifty acres of his land to cultivation and has secured good returns from the sale of the timber from his place, having been identified to a considerable extent with the lumbering industry in this section and still having about fifty acres of valuable timber on his farm. He lent material aid and co-operation in the public enter- prises of the early days, having assisted in the construction of the first roads in this section of the county, the building of bridges, the establishing of schools, etc., and having been an exemplar of progressiveness and public spirit. In the first years of his residence here he was compelled at times to go to Traverse City, a distance of forty-five miles, to secure the necessary supplies, and he and his family otherwise experienced the vicissitudes and deprivations of the pioneer era. The subject has erected good buildings on his farm, in- cluding a commodious and comfortable residence, and he is one of the energetic and discriminating members of the agricultural community, having gained a success worthy the name. In addition to the raising of the various cereals, hay, etc., he has good grades of live stock on his place and also secures good yields of potatoes and other vegetables, as well as fruits, having set out a considerable number of fruit trees which are now yielding good returns. In his political proclivities he is a stanch advocate of the principles of the Repub- lican party, and in a fraternal way he is identified with the Grand Army of the Republic and the Masonic order. In 1867, in the city of Chicago, MR. MOHRMANN was united in wedlock to MISS ELIZABETH SEED, whose parents, WILLIAM and MARY (RICHMOND) SEED, were natives of England, whence they came to the United States, finally locating in Illinois, where the father became a successful farmer, both being now deceased. To MR. and MRS. MOHRMANN have been born five children, namely: LENORE, who is the wife of GEORGE THURSTON, individually mentioned on another page of this work; GEORGE, who is engaged in mining operations at Minturn, Eagle county, Colo- rado; FRED W., who is associated with his father and younger brother in the work and management of the homestead farm; ANNA, who still remains a member of the home circle, and HARRY, who is also at home. =========================================================================== If you've reached this file through a SEARCH, you can access more of our growing collection of FREE online information by going to the following URL: http://www.us-data.org/ ===========================================================================