Source: This is a bio. sketch from "History of Manitowoc County Wisconsin" by Dr. L. Falge, 1911-1912, v.2, p.594-594.

George Henschel is engaged in blacksmithing at Kiel and the shop which he now owns and conducts was the first establishment of the kind in the town. He was born in Russell township, Sheboygan county, December 4, 1877. His father, Louis Henschel, a native of Germany, came to America with his parents in his boyhood days, the family home being established in Russell township at a period when the work of development and improvement had scarcely been begun there. The grandfather followed the occupation of farming throughout his entire life and Louis Henschel was reared to that pursuit. He worked on the old homestead in his youth and early manhood and later he took up farming on his own account, clearing a tract of land in the midst of the forest and there developing his fields. For a half century he has lived upon the place which is still his home but he is now retired from business cares at the age of seventy-seven years. He married Louisa Buchman who died in 1911 when sixty-six years of age. Unto them were born ten children: Louis, now living in Holstein, Wisconsin; Philip, a resident of Russell township; Charles, whose home is in Hansonville, Wisconsin; George, of this review; Adam, living near Milwaukee; Jacob, of Kiel; John, a farmer of Hubert, Wisconsin; Ida, the wife of Robert Mattes, of Kiel; Bertha, the wife of Jacob Rockless, of Milwaukee; and Emma, the wife of John Rockless, of Kiel.

George Henschel was a pupil in the public schools near his father's farm and later took up the business of cheese making. He afterward turned his attention to blacksmithing which he followed for three years in the employ of Charles Weiskopf of Kiel, after which he went to Adell, Wisconsin, and also spent some time in Plymouth, working at his trade. In the year 1900 he bought a smithy at Hansonville and conducted it until 1906 when he sold out and made a prospecting trip to the western coast. There he lived for one year after which he returned to Kiel and purchased the Gus Wimmer blacksmith shop, not only the oldest establishment of this kind in Kiel but also in this section of the state. It was the first industry opened in the town and has been conducted continuously since.

Mr. Henschel was married in 1902 to Miss Katie Spranger, who was born in Rhine township, Sheboygan county, in 1882, a daughter of August and Sophia (Schuelen) Spranger, who are now living at Kokomo, Indiana, where her father carries on farming.

Mr. Henschel was reared in the Reformed church and holds membership in the congregation of that denomination at Kiel. He is also connected with the Modern Woodmen of America there. He is interested in various measures relating to public progress and improvement and his cooperation can be counted upon to further projects for the general good, yet his time and attention are chiefly concentrated upon his business affairs.

Return to the Sheboygan Page

Return to Bios page