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From Commemorative Biographical Record of the Counties of Rock, Green, Grant, Iowa and Lafayette Wisconsin, publ. 1901- page 729-730
JOHN H. STEINHOFF, a very successful stock and dairy farmer of Harrison township, Grant county, has achieved very satisfactory results by industry, thrift and integrity, and holds an enviable position in the business world because he is an upright and honorable man, not afraid of hard work, and willing to meet every engagement.
Mr. STEINHOFF was born in Platteville, Grant Co., Wis., Feb. 3, 1867, son of William F. and Amelia (SUE) STEINHOFF, both natives of Hanover, Germany, where the father was born in 1832, and the mother in 1831. They were married in Germany, and remained in their native land until 1857, in which year they came, by way of New Orleans and the Mississippi river, to Platteville. They crossed the ocean in a sailing vessel, and the voyage was tedious and protracted to a degree. They bought a small home in Platteville and occupied it for some time, leaving it to go on a rented farm in the town of Belmont, Lafayette county, on which they lived for several years. Mr. STEINHOFF rented another farm in Elk Grove, that county, where they made their home for several years, finally buying the home farm on which their son, John H., may now be found. It contained 150 acres, which Mr. STEINHOFF increased to 191 acres, and there he lived until 1894, when he moved into Platteville, where he purchased the house and lot where he now resides. He made many important improvements on the farm, remodeling the old home in many ways, and putting up a large barn in 1892. In 1883 his estimable wife passed away. She was the mother of thirteen children, twelve of whom survive, one son, Henry, dying when two days old. Lena, born in Germany, is living with her father. William was born in Harrison township, and is now a farmer there; he married Annie WACHTER, of Illinois, and has one daughter, Clara. August, born in Platteville in 1860, married Miss Minnie MILLER, and is a farmer in the town of Harrison. Minnie was born in Platteville in 1862, married Henry J. OPPERMAN, of Clayton county, Iowa, and lives on a farm in Iowa; they have two children, Albert and Irvin. Mary, born in 1864, married Albert NEHLS, and lives in Platteville; they have one son, Freddie. Emma resides with her father. Annie, born in 1871, is now the wife of Peter KARMAN, had has three children, Bernard, Walter and Mabel. Frederick, born in Elk Grove in 1873, married Flora GOLMAR, and lives on his farm in the town of Platteville, with his wife and two children, Guerdon and Margaret. Lizzie lives with her father. Miss Amelia lives with her father. Frank, born in 1878, was educated in the Platteville Business College; he is unmarried.
John H. STEINHOFF acquired a very fair education in the schools of Platteville and Elk Grove, and his life has been spent to a very large degree on the farm where he grew up. He is a thorough farmer, and brings to the cultivation of the soil good judgment of business opportunities and unflagging industry. In September, 1896, Mr. STEINHOFF and Miss Laura KLIEBENSTEIN, daughter of August and Laura KLIEBENSTEIN, were united in marriage. Her parents were born in Grant county, of German parentage, and Lewis KLIEBENSTEIN, her grandfather, was an old pioneer settler in Grant county. Mrs. STEINHOFF was born there in July, 1873, finished her education in the Platteville Normal, and is a cultured and scholarly woman; she was one of the successful teachers of Grant county for some five years, until her marriage. After their marriage the young couple purchased the old STEINHOFF homestead, which now contains, by recent addition of thirty-nine acres, 230 acres. They have one son, Edward Loraine, who was born May 10, 1899. Mrs. STEINHOFF lost her father when she was a small child, but her mother and a brother are still living. The latter, Edward KLIEBENSTEIN, of St. Cloud, Minn., is engaged as clerk in the shoe business.
Mr. and Mrs. STEINHOFF are members of the German Lutheran Church, as were their parents before them. He is a Republican, following the footsteps of his father also in this respect. His father was a member of the school board and a supervisor for a number of terms, and John H. has been township treasurer for the last five years, and also clerk of the school board. Socially he belongs to the Modern Woodmen of America. Our subject is one of those enterprising and active young men who are bound to come to the front in local affairs through native honesty and manifest ability. He and his excellent wife command the respect and confidence of all who know them.
This biography generously submitted by Carol Holmbeck