****************************************************************************
File contributed to the Fulton County ILGenWeb Project
Copyright 2008, all rights reserved.

These electronic pages cannot be reproduced in any format 
without the written consent of the author at http://fulton.ilgenweb.net.

****************************************************************************

Source: The Historical Encyclopedia of Illinois and History of Fulton County
Munsell Publishing Co., Chicago, 1908

****************************************************************************

The Biography of R. F. HENKLE 

[Surnames: FREED, HENKLE, SMITH] 

HENKLE, R. F. 

    
One of the oldest real-estate, loan, and insurance enterprises in Canton is that established in 1869 by C. N. Henkle. The founder, a poor boy, was the best possible candidate for a successful real-estate business. He worked harder than would the son of wealthy parents, and hes was less easy to discourage. His field of operation was an advantageous one, both from the town and country standpoint, and he pursued clean methods and made his word and judgment respected. The result was a brokerage business which, while financially paying, placed the community in a favorable light to those living in adjacent towns and country. The business of Mr. Henkle passed from his management to that of his brother, R. F. Henkle, in October, 1897, and since has prospered through the energy and excellent business capacity of the younger man. 
    
R. F. Henkle is a native of Appanoose County, Iowa, where he was born Sept. 25, 1856. His father, E. W. Henkle was born in Virginia in 1809, and his mother, formerly Elizabeth Smith, was a native of Ohio, born in 1813. The former died in 1886, and the latter in 1884. The subject of this sketch had the educational advantages of the public schools of Canton, and after an absence from the city for some years, returned to assume the responsibility of his brother's affairs in 1897. In 1879 he was united in marriage to Melvina FREED, a native of Iowa, and of this union there are seven children:
Gertrude, Pearl, Elizabeth, Mable, Esther, Frankie and Newton. 
    
Mr. Henkle is a Democrat in politics, and in 1903, was elected Supervisor of Canton. he is fraternally connected with the Masons, I. O. O. F., and the B.P.O.E.