Macoupin County
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Biography - WILLIAM H. RIEMEIER

The Rev. William H. Riemeier, for the past ten years pastor of St. Paul’s Evangelical church, was born in Cappeln, St. Charles county, Missouri, on the 19th of October, 1858. He is a son of William Henry and Henrietta (Moenning) Riemeier, natives of Hanover, Germany. The father was reared in the old country and there he also married his first wife. In 1850 together with his family he emigrated to the United States, locating in the vicinity of Cappeln, Missouri, where he bought an uncleared and unimproved farm of one hundred and twenty acres. He felled trees and built a cabin which provided his family with a home, then began the cultivation of his land. In 1854 an epidemic of cholera swept through that section of the country and he lost his wife and three of his four children. Later he married Miss Moenning and by this union there were born four sons, all of whom attained maturity. The order of their birth is as follows: John F., a minister of the Evangelical church at Ferguson, Missouri; William H., our subject; George W., who is a resident of Foristell, Missouri; and Frank F., who is living in Marthasville, Missouri. The father passed away in 1883, at the age of sixty-five, while the mother survived until 1898, her demise occurring when she was seventy-two years of age. Both were earnest members of the Evangelical church.

The boyhood and youth of William H. Riemeier were spent on the home farm in St. Charles county, in a manner very similar to those of other lads in the community. His preliminary education was obtained in the district and parochial schools, and at the age of fourteen he was confirmed and took his first communion in the Evangelical church. When he was eighteen he went to Elmhurst, Illinois, to attend college, being graduated from this institution with the class of 1880. For twenty years thereafter he taught in parochial schools, his first position of this kind being in Carlinville, where he remained four years. From here he went to Chicago and five years later he took charge of a school in St. Louis with which he was identified until 1899, when he entered the ministry. His first pastorate was at Sulphur Springs, Missouri, where he spent two years in fruitful labor. At the expiration of that time he responded to the unanimous call of the congregation of Carlinville and came here. During the ten years of his service here Mr. Riemeier has done most effective work. The parochial school has been supplied with new furniture, while various substantial and minor changes and alterations have been made in the other property of the church. A small and somewhat indifferent congregation has been succeeded by an active and most earnest membership which numbers three hundred and fifty communicants. The development has been slow but steady and permanent, and today St. Paul’s is one of the most enthusiastic and active congregations in the town.

It was while he was teaching in Carlinville that Mr. Riemeier met Miss Emma Balke, who became his wife on the 21st of October, 1883. Mrs. Riemeier was born in Carlinville on the 10th of April, 1859, a daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Ferdinand Balke, natives of Germany. The parents were among the pioneer settlers of Macoupin county, where they spent the remainder of their lives. The mother passed away in 1865, while still in her early womanhood, but the father was about fifty at the time of his demise. Two children were born of their union, Ferdinand, who died when about twenty-two; and Emma, now Mrs. Riemeier.

Unto Mr. and Mrs. Riemeier there were born three daughters: Laura, Hulda and Selma. The eldest daughter, Laura, passed away on the 17th of January, 1911, at the age of twenty-five years. She was a very beautiful character, possessing a bright mind and a kindly, helpful nature, and had been of almost invaluable assistance to her father in his work. An excellent student, after completing the course of the parochial school in St. Louis, she entered the Madison school in that city, from which she was graduated with honors in the class of 1899. Six years ago she undertook to teach the parochial school of Carlinville, with which she was connected up to the time of her demise, having met with most excellent success. Miss Riemeier was also a musician of more than average ability and for some years past had been the organist of St. Paul’s. Hulda, the second daughter, is still at home and has taken her sister’s place as organist of the church. Selma, the youngest member of the family, passed away at the age of three years.

Broad minded and liberal in his views, lenient in his judgments and charitable in his criticism, Mr. Riemeier has greatly endeared himself to the people of Carlinville. He has always taken an active and helpful interest in all community affairs, lending his aid wherever needed to lift the standard of thought and living, and cooperating in every way possible in promoting every movement tended to advance the spiritual, moral or intellectual welfare of the citizens.


Extracted 15 Nov 2018 by Norma Hass from History of Macoupin County, Illinois: Biographical and Pictorial, by Charles A. Walker, published in 1911, Volume 2, pages 455-457.


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