p. 930
JOHN J. KOENIGSMARK, business director of the Koenigsmark Mill Company of Waterloo, is a man of the most modern and admirable business methods and is held in highest regard and affection as an employer and public-spirited citizen. He is a representative of one of the old families of this section, and, as the name indicates, the family is of Teutonic origin, its various members being characterized by many fine traits which have come to be indelibly associated with the children of the Fatherland. In addition to his industrial interests Mr. Koenigs mark is an extensive realty owner, and his loyalty to this favored section of the great state of Illinois is of the most definite type.
Mr. Koenigsmark was born January 15, 1869, at Columbus, Illinois, the son of Thomas and Theresa (Geiger) Koenigsmark. He was educated in the public and parochial schools of Columbia, Illinois. On June 24, 1896, he was united in marriage to Miss Matilda Heer, of
p. 931
Waterloo. Her father, Frank Heer, was a native of Hanover, Germany, his birth having occurred in that city on February 16, 1824. He came with his parents to America in 1835, and came via Baltimore to Waterloo, where he passed a useful life as a farmer and veterinary surgeon and died a much respected citizen, on April 22, 1901. This favorably remembered gentleman was for twenty-five years trustee of Saints Peter and Paul church in Waterloo and was helpfully interested in all public affairs. He was one of the pioneers who broke the land from the virgin forest and witnessed a process of swift and sure development seldom paralleled. Mrs. Koenigsmark's mother, whose maiden name was Charlotte Meyers, came to America from Laven, Germany, with her parents in 1854, landing at New Orleans and making the journey from that creole city up the Mississippi to Waterloo, which was to represent her future home and be the scene of the principal events of her life. She was born September 22, 1838, in Minden, Germany. Her two sisters reside in this country, namely: Miss Catherine Heer, of Waterloo, Illinois; and Mrs. Amelia Arms, of St. Louis, Missouri.
The marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Koenigsmark has been blessed with the following sons and daughters: Carmalita, aged fourteen years; Dolores, born November 28, 1900, and died when seventeen months old; Thomas, aged eight years; Constance, aged six; and Fidelis, aged three. These are all promising little men and women and promise to bear creditably the honored name of Koenigsmark.
Mr. and Mrs. Koenigsmark are valued members of S. S. Peter and Paul church, which is of the Catholic denomination, and they are very active and generous in the charities and other good works under its supervision. The head of the house takes much pleasure in his fraternal affiliations, which are for the most part in those organizations especially sanctioned by the church, such as the Knights of Coulmbus, the Catholic Knights of Illinois, the Western Catholic Union, and he is also an enthusiastic member of the Commercial Club of Waterloo.
Mr. Koenigsmark removed to Waterloo in the year 1886, and has ever since been in the milling business with his father and brother. He also has important real estate holdings, being interested jointly with Jacob J. Koenigsmark in all the properties left by Mr. Thomas Koenigsmark, his father. Mr. Koenigsmark is an ideal employer, kindly considerate and sensible, and it is a source of great pleasure to him that his employes all come to him with their troubles. He is beloved and respected by them all and unusually fine relations exist between employer and employed. The subject is domestic in his tastes, finding his greatest pleasure at his own fireside in the company of his wife and children. In every question bearing upon the general welfare of the community he takes keen interest and can ever be depended upon to support to the best of his ability all measures likely to conduce to its happiness and prosperity. The name of Koenigsmark is one which is synonymous for public-spirit and generosity. He owns a beautiful home, which is the center of gracious hospitality and over which his wife presides with signal grace and kindliness.