Hieronymus Englemann (1844-1918)

The home of Hieronymus Englemann in Warren Township, Michigan.

    A member of the Michigan State Legislature for one term in the late 1880s, Hieronymus Englemann was a native of Germany before his relocation to the United States whilst still a child. Born in the province of Baden, Wurttemburg, on September 29, 1844, Hieronymus Engelmann was the second of two sons born to Baden natives Jakob and Charitas Anselm Engelmann. The Engelmann family immigrated to the United States when Hieronymus was three and established a home in Macomb County, Michigan. The family's last name has a variation in spelling, being given as both  "Englemann" and "Engelmann".
   Little could be found on Englemann's early years in Michigan. During the Civil War he enlisted as a member of Company I in the Third Michigan Infantry, and after returning home from military service began attending college in Milwaukee for about four years. In 1872 he took an extended trip through Europe to improve his health, traveling "through Germany, Holland, Belgium, Switzerland, Italy, France and England." Englemann married in the mid-1870s to Margaret Hassett, with whom he would have one daughter, Agnes Rose Englemann (1876-1942), later a resident of Grosse Point, Michigan.
   Hieronymus Englemann first entered public service in 1875, when he was appointed as Center Line, Michigan's postmaster, the inaugural holder of that post. He would serve in this capacity for nearly a decade and in 1884 ran for a seat in the Michigan State House of Representatives on the Fusion Party ticket.  He would go on to defeat Republican candidate Alexander Grant by a vote of 1428 to 1230, and upon his victory resigned the office of postmaster to "become an eligible member of the house"
   As one of two representatives from Macomb County, Englemann served in the legislature from 1885-1887 and held a seat on the house committees on Horticulture and the State Library. Following the conclusion of his term in 1887 little could be found on the remainder of Englemann's life. He died on March 6, 1918, at age 74 and was interred under a small headstone at the St. Clement Cemetery in Center Line, Michigan. No photograph or portrait of Mr. Englemann could be found to post at the time of this writing. 

You Can Help!

  I am currently seeking more information (as well as a possible photograph of) Hieronymus Englemann. As there is a dearth of information online in regard to this curiously named man, I'd like to take this time to plead for help on finding further details on him. If any reader or historian wants an interesting historical project to fill their time with, see what you can locate on this very obscure Michigan politician!