- LEO AUGUST HEGNER has been a resident of Grand Chute township all of his life, and is now engaged in agricultural pursuits on the farm on which he was born August 30, 1884. He is a son of John and Matilda (Tesch) Hegner, the former of whom was born in Saxony, September 1, 1839, and the latter in Pomerania, Germany, May 21, 1844. John Hegner came to America in the early '50s and first settled at Milwaukee, shortly thereafter renting land in Milwaukee county, on which he resided for three years, at which time he came to Outagamie county and bought the farm on which his son Leo A. now lives. This land was situated in the woods, and had no improvements of any kind made upon it, but he settled down, built himself a little home, and started in to clear up the property, and after many years of labor, in the spring of 1909, he turned over to his son a well-cultivated, fertile tract and retired to his home on the corner of Drew and Atlantic streets, Appleton. This handsome residence was built from attic to cellar by his son, Leo A., who even completed the inside work, plastering and painting. Of the thirteen children of John and Matilda Hegner, seven are now living, namely: Clara, who is the wife of Fred Miller, a farmer of Grand Chute township; Lizzie, the wife of Herman Vakes, a butcher of Appleton; Henry, who is a member of the Appleton marble works firm of Hegner & Wolf; Tillie, who married George Minster, an Appleton butcher; John, who is engaged in contracting in Appleton; Sarah, who is single and resides with her parents, and Leo August.
Leo August Hegner attended district school No. 9, in Grand Chute township, and the German school at Appleton, and when he was but seventeen years of age he commenced to work for others when he was not needed on the home farm. When he was eighteen years old he learned the carpenter's trade, which he followed during four winters in Appleton, and was also engaged in house painting. After his father's retirement he settled on the old home farm, which he is now cultivating with marked success, and the large crops which he raises denote the skilled agrculturist no less than the well-kept, substantial appearance of the buildings and equipment indicate the expert mechanic. Mr. Hegner was married November 25, 1908, to Anna Kack, who was born in Maine township, Outagamie county, March 30, 1887, daughter of William and Mary (Grunde) Kack, the former of whom was born in Germany October 15, 1848, and the latter January 19, 1850. The parents of Mrs. Hegner came to the United States in 1881, and after spending a short time in New York removed to the West, and finally settled in Ellington township, Outagamie county, where Mr. Kack cultivated a farm for about one year. He then went to Appleton, where he was employed in a brick yard for a year, at the end of which time he bought a farm in Maine township, on which he was located for nineteen years. Selling out, he went to Appleton and engaged in a retail liquor business for about five years, and he is now carrying on the same business in Forest county. Mrs. Kack also survives. They had a family of thirteen children, of whom nine survive: Tracy, who married Earl Keesler, a farmer of Shiocton; Otto, a lumberman of Lakewood; Mary, who married Ed Runge, a carpenter of Appleton; William, a lumberman of Lakewood; Herman, a farmer on the old homestead; Anna, who married Mr. Hegner, and Albert, Letitia and Louis, who are single and reside at home. Mr. and Mrs. Hegner have had one child, Viola Hattie, born October 17, 1909. Mr. Hegner and his wife are members of the Lutheran church. In political matters he is independent.
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1884 - 1946 (61 years)
Biography
