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Compiled by John H. Wheeler Published in 1903 by B. F. Bowen Biography Page 146 - 147 |
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HENRY HANSEN
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The men of force and capacity who take strong hold of the rugged conditions of life and mold them to their will are entitled to all honor among their fellow men, not only for the individual triumphs they win but also for the fruitful potencies awakened and inspired by their examples. To the complex fabrics of our American social life nearly every civilized nation on the face of the globe has contributed its quota, and here we have many of the sturdy sons of the far Norseland who have come to our hospitable shores and by personal effort won for themselves success and prestige. One of this number is Mr. Hansen, who is an honored citizen of Cadillac, and who is at the present time incumbent of the office of register of deeds of Wexford county. Henry Hansen is a native of Denmark, where he was born on the 17th of September, 1848, being a son of Hans and Johanna M. Rassmussen, representatives of staunch old Danish stock. He was reared to the age of seventeen years in his native land, where he received his early educational discipline, and he then severed the home ties and valiantly set forth to seek his fortunes in America, whither he came alone and as a veritable stranger in a strange land. Mr. Hansen disembarked in the port of New York city in the month of April, 1867, and thence made his way westward to Champaign county, Illinois, where he secured employment on a farm, and to this line of work he continued to devote his attention, in different counties of that state, for a period of five years, while he also worked at mining for two years, having a. deep respect for honest toil and never hesitating to turn his attention to any honest employment he could secure, while he spared no effort to advance himself in the knowledge of the English language and the customs of the country which he had adopted as a home. From Illinois he went to Denver, Colorado, where he was employed as a lumber inspector for one and a half years, in the meanwhile passing six months in the mining districts of the state. After leaving Colorado Mr. Hansen returned to Denmark, where he continued to reside for the ensuing seven years, at the expiration of which he came again to the United States, locating in Wexford county in 1881 and here securing employment as a common laborer in the lumber woods, where he remained about six months, after which he was in the employ of the Cummer Lumber Company for about the same length of time. At the expiration of this incumbency he secured a clerkship in the law and insurance office of Rosevelt & Christensen, in Cadillac, remaining with this firm about two years and gaining valuable experience and knowledge. Thereafter he was in the employ of E. E. Haskins for six months and then passed two years as a clerical assistant in the law and insurance office of Hon. Clyde C. Chittenden. Mr. Hansen then resumed work in connection with the lumbering industry, securing employment in a sawmill at Grayling, where he remained about six months, at the expiration of which he returned to Cadillac and secured the position of assistant postmaster, of which he remained incumbent for two years, after which he was variously employed until 1890, when he was appointed deputy county clerk and deputy register of deeds for Wexford county, under Samuel J. Wall, with whom he remained about six years. In the autumn of 1896 Mr. Hansen was elected to the office of county clerk, on the Republican ticket, and gave so capable and satisfactory an administration that at the expiration of his term of four years he was made the candidate of his party for the office of register of deeds, being elected by a gratifying majority in the autumn of 1900 and being now in tenure of the office, while he has proved himself well worthy of the confidence and trust reposed in him by the people of the county. Mr. Hansen has given a staunch allegiance to the Republican party and has been an active and influential factor in its local ranks, while as an official and a citizen he enjoys unqualified confidence and esteem in the community in which he has won prestige and success through well directed and honorable effort, being essentially the architect of his own fortunes. Fraternally he is identified with the Gotha Lodge No. 5, of the Swedish United Sons of America, and with Cadillac Tent No. 232, Knights of the Maccabees. In the city of Cadillac, on the 1st of August, 1885, Mr. Hansen was united in marriage to Miss Johanna Eng, who was born in Norway, and they are the parents of three children, Ingeborg M., H. Paul and Donald E. |