Antoine Hoffert was born on 17 August 1825 in the town of Walbach, province of Alsace, France. He was the son of Francois Antoine Hoffert (b. 1799) and Anne Marie Umbdenstock (b. 1790), who had been married in April of 1823 in Ostheim, Alsace. Anne Marie was nine years older than her husband. She was the daughter of Nicholas Umbdenstock. Francois was the son of Jean Hoffert and Madelaine Batten, whose families seem to have lived in Alsace for many generations.
Antoine grew up in the French farming community of Walbach with his six siblings. Three of them were boys: Jean, Nicholas and Joseph. The other three were girls, each named Anne Marie in turn after the preceding one died in infancy. Sometime in the late 1840's or early 1850's, Antoine seems to have left his family members behind and emigrated by himself to the United States. He settled near the town of Naperville on the Illinois prairie, just west of Chicago.
At Naperville, 28-year-old Antoine Hoffert married a young girl named Mary Forstoge. Mary was only sixteen at the time of their wedding. By October of 1854, she had given birth to a son whom she named Anton in honor of his father. But the family unit was soon to be shattered. Mary died sometime in 1855, perhaps during the labors of childbirth. She had not yet reached her 18th birthday.
Two years later, Antoine remarried. His second wife was named Mary Mathers. She had been born in 1838 in the city of Ostheim, Alsace, France. Mary took over the care of young Anton. She and Antoine also began a new family of their own. One source says that over a period of 23 years Mary Mathers gave birth to a dozen additional children. Genevieve Reinart remembered only three: John Hoffert of Minneapolis, Joe Hoffert of Illinois, and Mary Hoffert Luft of Rolfe, Iowa.
Antoine Hoffert and his second wife, Mary Mathers, seem to have lived in northern Illinois the remainder of their lives. It is not known exactly when his second wife passed away, but Antoine himself lived into his 72nd year. He died on 11 September 1897.
