Francis Arnold Hoffmann (June 5, 1822 – January 23, 1903) was a Lutheran clergyman, politician, banker and writer. He was born in Westphalia, Prussia, the son of Fredrick and Wilhelmina (Groppe) Hoffmann. In 1840 he emigrated to the United States to avoid conscription, and settled in Illinois. Hoffmann was a teacher and a pastor in Dunklee's Grove (now Addison, Illinois) until 1847. During this time he became active in public affairs and served as postmaster, town clerk and member of the school board. He also began writing and contributed articles to the Chicago ''Democrat'' and ''Prairie Farmer''. In 1844 he married Cynthia Gilbert. He served as pastor and teacher at St. Peter Lutheran Church and School in

Schaumburg Schaumburg is a district (''Landkreis'') of Lower Saxony, Germany. It is bounded by (clockwise from the north) the districts of Nienburg, Hanover and Hamelin-Pyrmont, and the state of North Rhine-Westphalia (districts of Lippe and Minden-Lübbe ...

from 1847 to 1851. In 1851 Hoffmann moved to Chicago, studied law and became an attorney. In 1852 he was elected to the city council. Hoffmann worked to attract German immigrants to Chicago and was able to establish a successful banking business using the money entrusted to him by the German community. Hoffmann was a vigorous opponent of the extension of slavery, an issue brought into prominence by the Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854. He left the Democratic Party and played a role in the election of

Lyman Trumbull Lyman Trumbull (October 12, 1813 – June 25, 1896) was a lawyer, judge, and United States Senator from Illinois and the co-author of the Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution. Born in Colchester, Connecticut, Trumbull esta ...

to the United States Senate. He helped to found the

Republican Party Republican Party is a name used by many political parties around the world, though the term most commonly refers to the United States' Republican Party. Republican Party may also refer to: Africa *Republican Party (Liberia) * Republican Part ...

in Illinois and was a political supporter and ally of Abraham Lincoln. He was elected the

15th 15 (fifteen) is the natural number following 14 (number), 14 and preceding 16 (number), 16. Mathematics 15 is: * A composite number, and the sixth semiprime; its proper divisors being , and . * A deficient number, a smooth number, a lucky ...

Lieutenant Governor of Illinois and served from 1861 to 1865. After the Civil War, Hoffmann worked for the Illinois Central Railroad as a land commissioner and established the International Bank (his first bank had failed during the war). After the Great Chicago Fire in 1871 he chaired a committee of city bankers whose efforts successfully avoided a banking panic. In 1875, he retired to his estate in Jefferson, Wisconsin and devoted himself to farming and horticulture. As an agricultural writer and editor, he wrote using the pen name "Hans Buschbauer".

References

* Lacher, J. H. A
"Francis A. Hoffmann of Illinois and Hans Buschbauer of Wisconsin"
''Wisconsin Magazine Of History''. Volume: 13 /Issue: 4 (1929-1930) * "Francis Arnold Hoffmann." ''Dictionary of American Biography Base Set.'' American Council of Learned Societies, 1928-1936. * Don Heinrich Tolzmann, ed., Illinois' German Heritage. Milford, Ohio: Little Miami Publishing Company, 2005. {{DEFAULTSORT:Hoffman, Francis 1822 births 1903 deaths Lieutenant Governors of Illinois Prussian emigrants to the United States Illinois Republicans 19th-century American Lutheran clergy