Charles Henry Ingwersen
INGWERSEN, CHARLES HENRY (1836–1910), inducted 1916
Artist: Robert Wadsworth Grafton (1876–1936)
INGWERSEN, HENRY CHRISTIAN (1829–1907), inducted 1916
Artist: Likely Robert Wadsworth Grafton (1876–1936)
Brothers Charles and Henry (“Harry”) Ingwersen were born in Hattstedt, Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. Their family immigrated to America in 1852, settling on a farm in Clinton County, Iowa, where they raised cattle and hogs and started a small livestock commission business. In 1870–1871, Charles was sheriff of the county. In 1872, the brothers moved to Chicago to open a straight commission business, and they moved the business to Union Stock Yards the following year. Meeting with success, they handled over 7,000 carloads of cattle, hogs, and sheep annually. Ingwersen Brothers partnered with John W. Smith in 1893 and expanded into the Omaha market. They invested in Iowa Packing Company in 1895 as well. The Ingwersens sold their interest and then turned the commission business over to their sons in 1900 and 1901, retiring to Clinton County, Iowa.
Harry Ingwersen’s great-grandson, Jim Ingwersen, would become a Saddle & Sirloin portrait artist (depicting inductee Frank Richards) more than half a century after his relatives were inducted.
Source: Saddle & Sirloin Guidebook 2026, p. 116