In the books' own words, not ours, with obvious scanning errors fixed. The later printing (1901) is folded below the first. Families often supplied these stories to the publisher, so check key dates.
Born 1836
From Encyclopedia of the history of Missouri, a compendium of history and biography for ready reference (1901), Encyclopedia of the history of St. Louis, a compendium of history and biography for ready reference (v. 2) (1899)
Haarstick, Henry C., one of the wealthy, self-made men of St. Louis, and one who has done much for the commercial interests of the city and State, was born July 26, 1836, in Hohenhameln, Germany. In his early childhood his parents decided to.leave the fatherland and seek a home and prosperity in this country, and in the year 1849 they arrived in St. Louis. They were sturdy, industrious people, who came from the North of Germany, a region which has given to the United States many worthy citizens and large numbers of people who have contributed, in no small degree, to the development and upbuilding of our country. The elder Haarstick was a thrifty and enterprising man, and his wife a quiet, industrious and kindly woman, who was much beloved by the people among whom she made her home in St. Louis. Soon after their arrival they established themselves in the dairy business, their industry and sagacity being rewarded with a fair share of material prosperity. They had three children, two daughters and the son, Henry C., all of whom practically grew up in this country, inheriting the good qualities of their German ancestry, assimilating therewith true American energy and progressiveness, Henry С. Haarstick attended what was known as the “Saxony School” of the German Evangelical Lutheran Church. His capacity for close application and his broad mental grasp attracted the attention of his instructors, and an earnest effort was made by them to induce his parents to educate him for the ministry, The elder Haarstick, however, felt that his son should follow mercantile pursuits, and sent him first to Wykoff's English School, and later, to enable him to further qualify himself by education for a business career, he entered upon a course of study at Jones’ Commercial College. At this institution, one of the best known in the West, he was also a favorite with his teachers, and President Jonathan Jones especially interested himself in his behalf, obtaining for him a Position in the office ту & Tilton, then operating a large
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While his several personal investments have brought him large wealth, he has continued to be the same modest, unassuming man that he was in earlier years, when he had little of this world’s goods and his fortune yet to make. Devoted to his family and friends, he has been known always as a most kindly and considerate man, in whose nature there was none of the element of harshness, and whose conduct in social and domestic life, as well as in his business career, is worthy of emulation. His sympathy for those in need of encouragement and assistance is made manifest in the acts of his everyday life, but what he has done in this way has been done so quietly that few know the extent of his benefactions. Не married, in 1861, Miss Elise Hoppe, a lady well suited in every way to become the wife of such a man, as kindly and charitable as her husband, and a most worthy and estimable woman. They have three children, of whom their elder daughter, now Mrs. Ida Herf, is well known as a woman of superior intellectual attainments, devoted to music, poetry and literature, and giving much of her time to charitable work. Their younger daughter is Emma R., and their son is William T. Haarstick, who has already achieved marked distinction among the younger business men of the city, and holds the office of vice-president of the St. Louis & Mississippi Valley Transportation Company.
As printed in Encyclopedia of the history of St. Louis, a compendium of history and biography for ready reference (v. 2) (1899). See the original pages. Wording is the original; obvious scanning errors have been corrected, and a few may remain.
Haarstick, Henry C, one of the wealthy, self-made men of St. Louis, and one who has done much for the commercial interests of the city and State, was born July 26, 1836, in Hohenhameln, Germany. In his early childhood his parents decided to leave the Fatherland and seek a home and prosperity in this country, and in the year 1849 they arrived in St. Louis. Henry C. Haarstick attended what was known as the "Saxony School" of the German Evangelical Lutheran Church. His capacity for close application and his broad mental grasp attracted the attention of his instructors, and an earnest effort was made by them to induce his parents to educate him for the ministry. The elder Haarstick, however, felt that his son should follow mercantile pursuits, and sent him first to Wykoff's EngHsh School, and later he entered Jones' Commercial College. At this institution he was a favorite with his teachers, and President Jonathan Jones especially interested himself in his behalf, obtaining for him a position in the office of Molony & Tilton, then operating a large distilling enterprise in St. Louis, where he received, to begin with, a salary of twenty-five dollars per month. His industry, assiduity and fidelity won and received the substantial recognition of his employers, and he received promotion rapidly from one position of trust and responsibility to another, until in the course of a few years he became the manager of the affairs of the Tilton Company, and later a partner in the business. He was connected with this enterprise until the distillery was destroyed by fire in 1861, as a result of which the partnership which had existed heretofore was dissolved. Soon after this Mr. Haarstick built a distillery of his own on Barton Street, but finding the internal revenue legislation of the war period embarrassing to the business, he sold out after a short time. He was then asked to take charge of the affairs of the Mississippi Valley Transportation Company, whose property consisted of little more than a few barges and towboats sadly in need of repairs. Under his energetic and sagacious management, however, its business at once began to improve, and the "Barge Line," as it was called, became an institution of great value to St. Louis. From the time of the opening of the Mississippi River by the building of the jetties in 1878, the flow of grain to Europe by the "water route" has been constant and continuously greater from year to year, and in 1881 all the large transportation interests on the Mississippi River were combined in one powerful organization under the name of the St. Louis & Mississippi Valley Transportation Company, and the management was confided to Mr. Haarstick's hands. Since that time his views and judgment have been the dominating power in the conduct of a business which has made St. Louis one of the principal export grain markets of the country. He has worthily filled the office of president of the Commercial Club, the most influential private organization of the central West; he is the vice president of the St. Louis Trust Company, president of the Compton Heights Improvement Company, president of the Compton Heights Railway Company, director in the Lindell Railway Company, and was president of the St. Louis Merchants' Exchange during one of its most prosperous years. He married, in 1861, Miss Elsie Hoppe, a lady well suited in every way to become the wife of such'a man, as kindly and charitable as her husband, and a most worthy and estimable woman.
As printed in Encyclopedia of the history of Missouri, a compendium of history and biography for ready reference (1901). See the original pages. Wording is the original; obvious scanning errors have been corrected, and a few may remain.
Named in this biography: William T. Haarstick (b. 1865)
The printed record stops around 1901. We trace your line from there down to you, with every source cited.