Wilhelm Henry Offerman 1868-1894

Wilhelm Henry (or William) was born in Otto Township, in Kankakee county, Illinois (possibly in Chebanse) on December 24, 1868.  He was the first child born to Heinrich Christian and Maria Sophia (Doscher) Offerman.  His brother John is my Great Grandfather.

Heinrich Offerman family, circa 1898 (William Henry is in the portrait)

Both the 1870 and 1880 census records list this Offerman family in Otto Township. Heinrich was a prominent farmer.  He and wife Maria Sophia were born in Germany and had come to America in 1867.  So William grew up farming, but at some point he learned how to operate a traction engine.  The article about his death calls him a Traction Engineer.

I looked it up… a Traction Engine, was a steam engine that could move on it’s own (not pulled by horses or oxen).  A real benefit on big farms!  One thing I read stated… “The steam engineer was a trained and skilled professional of the simpler unmechanized times.  The engineer was a breed of proud, strong and very important men who loved their work.”

Example of a Traction Engine, 1894

Sadly, the only other thing known to tell about William’s life… is how he died.  

Here’s what the Kankakee Daily Republican newspaper had to say…  “William Offerman, a young engineer, met his death in a horrible manner on a traction engine at 3 o’clock this afternoon in Otto Township.  The engine was hauling a corn sheller from one farm to another.  William Offerman was standing between the engine and the water tank running it, unsuspicious of the horrible fate in store for him.  The engine had reached the center of a wooden bridge across one of the small creeks in Otto, when the structure suddenly parted in the center.  The engine and water tank came together and the life of the young engineer was crushed out.  Death occurred instantly.  The men who assist in running the engine and corn sheller say that Offerman never uttered a cry.  His body is horribly mangled and still remained between the engine and the water tank when news of the shocking accident was brought to this city.  It was impossible to pull the machinery of the engine apart to extricate the mutilated remains of the unfortunate engineer without the assistance of a derrick or a large force of men.  Leon Hay brought the news to this city.  He notified the coroner, Jacob Willman, who immediately left for the scene of the accident.  The dead engineer is well known in Otto Township where his parents live.  He was 26 years old and unmarried.”

Technically he was 10 days shy of turning 26 years old.  William is buried in Mound Grove Cemetery, in Kankakee.