- WILLIAM GEENEN, who for more than a quarter of a century has been secreta ry of the Farmers' Home Mutual Insurance Company, is vice-president of t he Little Chute State Bank, a prosperous farmer and land holder of Buchan an township, and one of the leading men of his community. He was born in B uchanan township, Outagamie county, February 2, 1864; a son of John and Ca therine (Willenson) Geenen, who were born in Holland and married in Freed om township, this county. After their marriage they removed to Buchanan to wnship, where for eight years Mr. Geenen rented land and then bought the f arm which is now occupied by his son William. Here John Geenen died in 189 0, at the age of sixty-four years, his wife having passed away in 1874, wh en fortyfive years old, and both were buried in the Little Chute Cemetery.
William Geenen was the fourth of a family of eight children, and remain ed at home working for his father until his twenty-third year. He. was mar ried June 15, 1887, to Miss Susannah Schumacher, daughter of Peter and Ma ry (Pauly) Schumacher, natives of Germany. They were married in Wiscons in and settled on a farm in Kaukauna township, from whence they moved in 1 872 to Buchanan township, and lived on a farm until retiring to Appleto n, in which city Mr. Schumacher died in 1903, aged seventy-eight years, h is wife passing away in 1900 when sixty-six years of age, and both were in terred in St. Joseph's Cemetery, Appleton. Mrs Geenen was born Februa ry 7, 1864, and was the seventh born of her parents' nine children. Mr. a nd Mrs. Geenen also have had nine children, of whom two are deceased, t he survivors being: Ida, Everard, Laura, Marie, William, Paul and Margare t. The second oldest child, Agnes, who lost her life in an accident on t he Fox River, in June, 1911, was graduated from the Appleton High Scho ol in 1908, and the other child died in infancy. After his marriage, Mr. G eenen engaged in farming and gardening on his father's property, some of w hich he owned himself, and he also dealt to quite anextent in real estat e, at one time owning as high as 145 acres. He started in the florist busi ness in 1893 with a greenhouse of 800 square feet, which he has since incr eased to 27,000 square feet; operates an eighty-acre farm, which is all fe nced with barbed wire, and markets hay and grain. He built his modern hou se in 1891, which has eight rooms. For eighteen years he was also engag ed in the dairy business, and delivered milk in the village of Kimberly, b ut gave up his route in 1908. A Democrat in his political views, he was el ected school clerk when he was only eighteen years of age, and served in t hat capacity continuously for twentysix years. He has been secretary of t he Farmers' Home Mutual Insurance Company since 1885, and vice-preside nt of the Little Chute State Bank, of which he is also a stockholde r. He is a member of St. John's Catholic Church of Little Chute, of whi ch he was a trustee for eighteen years.
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1864 - 1941 (77 years)
1870 Census
