History of Reedsburg and the Upper Baraboo Valley, by Merton Edwin Krug, Publ. February 1929 by the author. Printed by Democrat Printing Company, Madison, Wis., Page 455-456
MR. ERNEST HINRICHS. A native of the town of Reedsburg, the man whose name heads this sketch is one of the local men who has gone abroad in the world and won for himself a singular success. One of Wisconsin's foremost Dairy Cow Testers, our subject is now with the Husbandry Department of Cornell University, N.Y., with which he is now completing a five year contract.
Mr. Ernest HINRICHS, was born to Henry and Lettie (HINTZMAN) HINRICHS, Nov. 12, 1898, on his father's farm south of Reedsburg. Henry HINRICHS was born Aug. 4, 1852, in Hanover, Germany, son of George and Catherina (HARME) HINRICHS. George (Jurgen) HINRICHS, was born March 6, 1823, and his wife, Nov. 20, 1825. They were the parents of three children, Henry, Fred and Doris (now Mrs. William KRUG), all of whom accompanied their parents to America in the Autumn of 1866. They located on the Henry HINRICHS farm south of the city, where our subject's father spent his native life. George HINRICHS died June 2, 1892; his wife, Nov. 18, 1903.
Being but fourteen years of age when he came to America, Henry HINRICHS grew to manhood in the town of Reedsburg, enduring the hardships of frontier life. He was married to Lettie HINTZMAN. She was born Feb. 1, 1862, in the town of Kildare, Juneau Co., Wis., daughter of William and Anna (KOEPKE) HINTZMAN. Her father was born in Pommern, Germany, Feb. 29, 1828; he was married in 1854; Anna (KOEPKE) HINTZMAN was born Nov. 26, 1825. Mr. and Mrs. HINTZMAN came to the United States in 1854, settling in Kildare, Juneau Co., Wis., when that county was a wilderness. Mr. HINTZMAN served in the Union Army during the Civil War. He died April 29, 1886; Mrs. HINTZMAN, June 14, 1909. Upon their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Henry HINRICHS assumed managership of the Reedsburg farm, which they purchased in 1882. They enjoyed considerable prosperity during their active years, and now, since Aug. 17, 1926, have resided in peaceful retirement at their residence at 743 E. Main St.
They were the parents of eight children: William, Louis, August, Henry J., Herman, Ernest, our subject, and Mable, all of whom were born on the home farm. Mable Catharine is the wife of Walter SIMMERMAN.
Our subject grew to manhood on his father's farm, attended the country school and the Reedsburg High School and during the summer of 1907 was employed on the W. H. KRUG farm in Winfield. That winter and the winter of 1909 he attended the University of Wisconsin. After completing his education he engaged in the poultry business in which he was quite successful. He wrote extensively on the subject for the farm papers, including the Wisconsin Agriculturist, the Farmers Dispatch of St. Paul, the Free Press, Times and the Reedsburg Prosperity Herald. On July 15, 1918, he entered the U. S. Army, going in training at Columbus, Ohio. From that point he went to Camp Hancock, Georgia. The war having been brought to a close before he was called into the ranks, he was discharged after spending less than a year in the service, June 28, 1919.
Our subject's career as a Dairy Tester began about 1910. On August 16, 1911, he went to Trinidad, Col. as manager of the Bowman Sanitary Dairy, which position he held until March 3, 1914, when he returned to Reedsburg. After the war he entered the official testing force of the Wisconsin College of Agriculture, and for several years traveled throughout the state, testing dairy cattle and also doing some Tuberculin testing. On April 7, 1923 he resigned his position with the Wisconsin University and left April 13, following, for Cornell University, Ithaca, N.Y., accepting a similar position with that institution, which position he still holds. Since going East he has made two trips back to Wisconsin, the first in August 1926, and the second in July 1928.
Submitted by Carol