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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