When I saw the name Herbert Heinrich Hoff in our German Family Tree, I first noticed that his initials were H.H.H. When I see those initials, it brings to my mind the name of Hubert H. Humphrey, once a candidate to become the President of the United States. By the time I was done researching the life of today’s main character, I realized there were definitely some similarities between these two men with those initials.

Today’s post will look a bit different from most of the posts that I write. I only was able to locate one church record for Herbert Hoff, and there are even a few census entries that I was unable to locate. However, when I searched the archives of local newspapers, the results were incredibly numerous. Most of the documentation you will see today will be newspaper articles, either from the Perry County Republican or the Perry County Sun. I will use the abbreviations PCR for Perry County Republican and PCS for Perry County Sun throughout this post.

Herbert Heinrich Hoff was born on October 7, 1895, so today would be his 130th birthday. Herbert was the son of John and Ida (Sanders) Hoff. He was baptized at Immanuel Lutheran Church in Perryville. His baptism record is displayed below.

Herbert is found in the 1900 census at the age of 4. His father was a farmer in the Bois Brule Township.

Next, we find Herbert in the 1910 census as a teenager. He was helping his father on his farm.

In an article published in the PCR in 1916, we see that Herbert was the teacher at the McBride school. He would have been about 21 years old at that time.

In April of 1917, Herbert enlisted in the military. His military record shown here is for a person who served in the Army/Marines as described on the Missouri Secretary of State Soldiers’ Records site.

I did not find a World War I draft registration form for Herbert, so I have to conclude that he enlisted in the military prior to having to complete that form. Herbert did get sent overseas and was in Europe from November of 1917 until August of 1919. This form also says he suffered severe injuries while there.

While he was overseas, there was apparently a rumor circulating in the Perryville area that he had been killed. A PCS article reported that he was not dead in 1917.

We also have evidence that, after he returned from his military service to Perry County, he played baseball for the Perryville team. According to this PCR article printed in 1920, he played shortstop.

I failed to find Herbert in the 1920 census. Then, in another PCR article published in 1921, it said that Herbert, along with several other veterans, had their education provided by the Federal government. Herbert was going to study to become a lawyer at Washington University in St. Louis.

Not long ago, Fred Eggers wrote about a raid that was made by law enforcement on an illegal alcohol violation at Star Landing which took place in 1925. The article that Fred displayed in that post said that Herbert Hoff was the local prosecuting attorney at that time. As prosecuting attorney during the years of Prohibition, I located a few other articles that referenced Herbert being involved in alcohol-related cases.

A 1926 PCR article said that Herbert was qualified to serve as a Republican candidate to become a Missouri State Representative. It also mentions that he had already served as prosecuting attorney. In addition, it mentions that he had been wounded twice during his service during World War I.

Another event took place for Herbert Hoff in 1926. In the PCS article shown below, it says that he married Daisy Howell on June 14th in Chester, Illinois. That wedding took place at a Methodist parsonage in Chester.

I found no evidence that Herbert and Daisy had any children. A PCR article published in 1927 says that Herbert was about to assume his duties as Missouri State Representative. He apparently had won the election for that position.

Herbert and Daisy are found living in Jefferson City, Missouri when the 1930 census was taken. Herbert was called an attorney.

In 1936, Herbert Hoff would get married again. I failed to discover what had happened to his first wife. His second wife was Vivian Punch. This couple was married in St. Louis on November 7, 1936. It says they were married by a minister. It indicates that Herbert was from Jefferson City, Missouri, and Vivian was from Puxico, Missouri.

The PCS published this article about Herbert Hoff in 1937. It said he was a passenger in a car that crashed, and he was injured. The crash took place in Perry County.

An article published in the PCR in 1939 indicated that Herbert Hoff received a medal and a citation for his military service during World War I. It gives evidence that Herbert had been gassed in June of 1918 and then wounded again in October of that year.

The 1940 census is yet another resource in which I failed to find Herbert Hoff. Then, in a 1947 PCR article, it says Herbert was planning to move to Farmington, Missouri to establish a law firm.

It does not appear that Herbert spent much time in Farmington because the 1950 census shows the Hoff’s living in St. Louis. Herbert was called an adjuster for the Veterans Administration.

A 1961 PCR article says that Herbert had retired from the Veterans Administration and was living in Denver, Colorado.

Vivian Hoff died in 1971 at the age of 59; Herbert Hoff died in 1976 at the age of 81. Both Herbert and Vivian are buried in the Fort Morgan National Cemetery in Denver.

Herbert Heinrich Hoff certainly had an interesting life filled with a variety of endeavors, many of which were involved in serving the public. A teacher, an athlete, a decorated soldier, a lawyer and prosecuting attorney, a Missouri State Representative, a bureaucrat in the Veterans Administration. That is quite a list. I even found another article that I chose not to display which described Herbert as an actor in a play that took place in Perryville in his younger years. I found his story to be very fascinating. In his case, I would not have had much of a story to tell had it not been for his recurring presence in newspaper articles published in Perryville. There is one thing that amazes me about such a renowned character in Perry County history. How is it possible that I was unable to find one photograph of such a prominent citizen? Maybe one of our readers will supply one.