William Henry Hinrichsen was born in
Franklin, Illinois on May 27, 1850, the son of Edward S. and Nancy Ann Hinrichsen. He attended public schools and the
Illinois Industrial University at Champaign. Graduating in 1870, he took a job as a station agent for the
Northern Cross Railroad in
Alexander. He was elected
Justice of the Peace of Alexander in 1871 and was reelected in 1873. He married Louise Sparks on July 13, 1873. Hinrichsen was appointed Deputy Sheriff of
Morgan County in 1874 and served three two-year terms in that position, residing at
Jacksonville. He served as Sheriff from 1880 to 1882. In 1882, while serving as Sheriff, Hinrichsen became editor of the
Illinois Courier, a weekly newspaper in Jacksonville. In 1883, he pushed to have it become a daily paper. He moved to
Quincy in 1887 after purchasing the
Quincy Herald. Hinrichsen also founded the
Index, a legal reader. Hinrichsen became involved with politics, joining the
Democratic Party in 1888. He managed the press bureau of the state office until his death. Hinrichsen returned to Jacksonville after selling the
Herald in 1890 and was elected Clerk of the
House of Representatives of Illinois the next year. He was selected as a member of the
Democratic State Central Committee in 1892, where he traveled around the state to ensure that Democratic County Committees were properly organized. Hinrichsen was nominated as the Democratic candidate for
Secretary of State of Illinois in 1892 and was elected to a four-year term under
John Peter Altgeld. Hinrichsen sold his newspaper interests after the election. In 1895, Hinrichsen was named the chairman of the Democratic State Central Committee. He served as delegate to the
Democratic National Convention in 1896. Hinrichsen was nominated by his party to the
United States House of Representatives in 1896 and won the election. He served in the
Fifty-fifth Congress (March 4, 1897 – March 3, 1899). After his congressional term, Hinrichsen returned to his home in Alexander. He managed the
Cincinnati Enquirer for a year while its Democratic editor
John Roll McLean sought the governorship of Ohio in 1899. The next year, he was Traveling Manager of the
Democratic National Committee, raising funds for the 1900 presidential campaign. Hinrichsen spent his latter years as a writer. He contributed weekly short stories to the
Chicago Inter Ocean. He later published a collection of these stories in a book. He died in Alexander on December 18, 1907, and was interred in Diamond Grove Cemetery in Jacksonville. ==References==