Draft:Karl Helwig

Karl Helwig, born July 15, 1821, in Frankfurt, Germany (then know as the Confederation of the Rhine), immigrated to the United States in 1840. He moved to Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, and remained there until 1841, when he moved to Kirksville, Missouri. He owned a tavern that, according to current local folklore, donated whiskey to Jesse Kirk, so Kirk could encourage the surveyors to name the town after him. This same tavern was bought by Jesse Kirk, and later destroyed in the tornado of 1899.