Henry "Hank" Mathias Barkmeier, the second oldest child of Frederick John and Mary Catharine (Tepe) Barkmeier, was born February 28, 1870 in Westendorf, Germany.  He immigrated to the United States at the age of 19 years in 1889 with his family and settled near the village of Exeter, Nebraska.

 His brother, Frank "Franz" Ferdinand Barkmeier, the oldest child, immigrated to the United States a two years earlier in 1887. Frederick and Mary Barkmeier and their other children immigrated to the United States in 1889 and settled in the Exeter area.

Hank married Mary Harre, the daughter of Ferdinand Shulting and Gertrude Harre on April 26, 1898 at St. Stephen's Catholic Church in Exeter, Nebraska. Mary was born in Riemsloh, Germany on October 9, 1877. Riemsloh is approximately 2 kilometers east of Westendorf, Germany where Hank was born in 1870.

Hank and Mary farmed in the Fairmont Township in Fillmore County, Nebraska. The 1910 and 1920 census indicated that Henry lived in the Fairmont Township and was listed as a farmer who rented. They did not have any children.

Hank and Mary rented a 160 acre farm from Peter Michaely immediately east of the 160 acre farm owned by his parents Fred and Mary Barkmeier. Following the death of his father in 1916, his brother, William "Bill" Barkmeier, and his wife, Anna Marie, then moved to his parents 160 acre farm. His mother, Mary, and his adopted sister, Victoria Geyger, lived with Bill and Anna Marie for a while. His sister, Anna Marie (Barkmeier) Ekeler, and her husband, Frank Ekeler, lived on a 160 acre farm immediately across the the road to the north. Hank and Mary later moved into Exeter and lived in a home near the northwest edge of town. 

Mary and Victoria Geyger moved from the 160 acre farm in the Fairmont Township to live with Hank's brother, Frank "Franz" Barkmeier, who lived on an 80 acre farm southeast of Exeter. After Franz died in 1928, Mary and Victoria moved into Exeter and lived with Hank and Mary.

Mary died at the age of 53 years on July 17, 1931 and Henry died at the age of 75 years on January 26, 1945. Henry and Mary are buried in the Exeter Cemetery in Exeter, Nebraska.

From 1918 Fillmore County Atlas