Henry Frank, circa 1900

Henry Frank (1836-1916) was born in Obbach, Bavaria, to Mayer and Caroline Frank. He left for the United States at the age of eighteen in 1854 and began as a peddler in New York. He moved to Cincinnatti to briefly work as an apprentice in the textile buisiness before moving to St. Joseph, Missouri in 1856 to work in a retail clothing business. Frank joined a party of people headed to the Colorado area in search of gold, but were unsuccessful and returned to St. Joesph. Frank fought in the 13th Missouri Infantry during the American Civil War, after which he movet to Natchez, MO, with the family of Mr. John Mayer. He became a merchant in 1866, renting the Postlethwaite Store on main stree.