About Nettelhorst, Louis Nettelhorst Elementary School

Louis Nettelhorst was born on February 4, 1851 in Bremen, Germany. As a teenager he moved to Chicago without his parents, who joined him a few years later. Upon arriving in Chicago in 1870 he joined an insurance company that sent him to New York where he married Tillie Ropeniak. After five years Louis Nettelhorst missed Chicago, so he quit his job selling insurance in the East and returned to Chicago.

He took a position as a bookkeeper for Charles Emmerich & Co., the world’s largest feather dealer, and worked hard to become a partner in the company. In 1876, with his assistance, this Chicago-based company exported 15,000 lbs. of feathers to Germany.

Louis Nettelhorst served on the Chicago Board of Education from 1886 to 1892, three of those years as President. An advocate for immigrants’ rights, he helped establish cultural organizations and gymnastics clubs called turnverein.

While campaigning unsuccessfully for city treasurer he caught the flu and never fully recovered. He died at his home in Chicago on March 14, 1893 leaving behind his wife and three young children: Freda, Carl and Louis, Jr. Several thousand people attended the funeral of this popular German immigrant. He is buried in Graceland Cemetery on Chicago’s North side.

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