Woodford County Biographies

The biographies in this section were transcribed from:

"From Past and Present of Woodford County, Illinois (Wm. Le Baron, Jr. & Co., 1878)"

"Portrait and Biographical Album of Woodford County, Illinois (1889)"

"The Biographical Record of Livingston and Woodford Counties, Illinois (1900)"

and "Montana, its Story and Biography" (Chicago: American Historical Society, 1921)

If you are looking for the Surname beginning with the letter:
A-C	D-F	G-J	K-M
N-P	Q-S	T-V	W-Z

Portrait and Biographical Album of Woodford County, Illinois (Chicago: Chapman Bros., 1889)

Peter Garber, a native-born citizen of Illinois, is now a prosperous member of its farming community, bringing a well-balanced mind and cool common-sense to his work, so that his farm on section 25, Cazenovia Township, is in every respect well-ordered and under the best of management. Our subject was born in Tazewell County, Aug. 8, 1849. His father, Joseph Garber, was born in the German province of Alsace, while it was under the dominion of France, and his father was also a native of that part of the country, and was there reared and married. In 1840 he started with his family for America, and landing at New Orleans, came at once to Illinois by way of a steamer up the Mississippi River. The steamer sprang a leak, and all the passengers were landed on the Tennessee shore, and while they were waiting for another boat to take them to their destination, the great-grandfather of our subject, who was of the party, was taken sick and died, and his remains were laid away in this strange land so far away from his new home of which he had but caught a glimpse. As soon as possible the family proceeded on their journey up the Mississippi and Illinois rivers to Peoria, and from there came to Woodford County, and became early settlers of Worth Township. There the grandfather purchased a tract of timber, and after erecting a log house for a dwelling entered upon the improvement of his land. At that early day deer, wild turkeys, wolves, and other wild animals were plenty, and the country roundabout gave but few indications of the advancing civilization. There were no railways here for many years after that, and Spring Bay, one of the most flourishing towns in this section of the county, was the resort of the people for miles around, who went there to market their grain and buy their supplies. The grandparents of our subject continued to reside in Worth Township until their death.

The father of our subject was a young man when he came to this country with his parents, and he continued to live with them until his marriage, when he established a home of his own. Being in very limited circumstances when he commenced life for himself, he rented land until he could afford to buy. This he was soon enabled to do, as he worked hard and was economical and thrifty, and he invested his savings in sixty acres of land in Worth Township. He occupied that a few years and then sold it advantageously and bought a larger tract, containing 100 acres, in the same township, which he still owns and occupies. He has accumulated other valuable property besides, having always been industrious, and investing his money very judiciously. He has a farm of 160 acres near Colfax, McLean County, a 230 acre farm in Tazewell County, and forty acres of fine timber land in the latter county. The maiden name of the mother of our subject was Anna Sweitzer, and she was also born in Alsace. Her union was blessed by the birth of eight children, of whom seven are now living -- Peter, Mary, Joseph, Christian, Valentine, Magdalena and Jacob.

The subject of this biographical review is the eldest of the family. He was reared in Worth Township, and gleaned a sound education in the public schools. As soon as he was old enough he began to aid his father in the farm work, and under his careful training gained much useful knowledge concerning the best methods of conducting agriculture. He remained under the parental roof until his twenty-third year, and then, as his father had done before him, he commenced life for himself on rented land, leasing a neighbor's farm for two years, and at the expiration of that time moving onto one of his father's farms, which he managed profitably until 1883. In that year he settled on his present estate, which he had purchased in 1882. This farm comprises 160 acres of choice, well-improved land, furnished with a neat and commodious set of frame buildings, and the place is adorned with beautiful shade, ornamental and fruit trees.

Mr. Garber is blessed with a good wife, who is of real assistance to him, and makes him home comfortable and cheerful. She was born in Worth Township, Woodford County, and her maiden name was Lena Dellenbach, she being a daughter of Jacob and Lena Dellenbach, the former a native of France and the latter of America. Mr. and Mrs. Garber have three children -- Annie, Nora and Laura. The family are esteemed members of the old Omish or Mennonite Church.

Mr. Garber is a self-reliant, straightforward young man, of good, practical views of life and of his work, and he is honest and truthful in his habits. He usually votes with the Democratic party on National questions, but in regard to local issues he acts independently, supporting whom he considers to be the best man for the office without regard to political views.

Transcribed and donated by Amy Robbins-Tjaden

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Past and Present of Woodford County, Illinois (1878)

Gingerich, Mrs. Catherine, farmer and stock raiser; Sec. 3; P.O. Metamora; was born in France, Nov. 14, 1829; she came to the United States when she was about nineteen years of age; she was married April 20, 1852, to the late Peter Gingerich, one of the early settlers of Woodford Co., who was born in France, Aug. 1, 1826; after their marriage they settled near Hickory Point, where Mr. Gingerich died in Aug., 1866, and about three years ago Mrs. Gingerich removed to her present home, where she owns 160 acres of land, valued at $9,500; she has five children living -- Mary, Christian W., Jacob, Peter and John

Transcribed and donated by Amy Robbins-Tjaden

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From The Past and Present of Woodford County, Illinois (Wm. Le Baron, Jr. & Co. 1878)

Gingerich, Daniel, saloon; was born in Germany, April 29, 1832; in 1852 he came to Tazewell Co., Ill., and about two years later went to Peoria, and remained there until 1863; he then removed to Bowling Green and built a distillery, which he run about four years, together with a flouring-mill which he had purchased; he engaged in farming from 1867 till 1873, when he came to El Paso and opened his present business; he was married in 1856 to Miss Adelia Engel, who was born in France in 1835; she died soon after his removal to El Paso, and in Aug. 1874, he married Miss Missouri B. Bateman, who was born in Metamora Township, in June, 1857; they have two children --Peter N. and Louisa C.

Transcribed and donated by Amy Robbins-Tjaden

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Kilian Grebner
Born: 10 Jul 1845 Hörstein Unterfranken Bavaria Germany
Died: 20 Jan 1912 Peoria Co IL
Burial: St. Mary's of Lourdes Cem, Worth Twp, Woodford Co IL

Left Germany in May of 1846 with his parents Jakob Grebner and Barbara Gerst and the other children in the family: Eva, Friederich and Anna M (Maria Anna). Settled in Worth township in Woodford County as did many other families from Hörstein. Kilian married Veronica Mueller a daughter of Johann Adam Müller. Veronica is also buried at St. Mary's of Lourdes Cem.

Kilian and Veronica are my great grandparents.

By Marjorie Grebner Welsch

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The Past and Present of Woodford County Illinois (1878)

Simon Grove came to Woodford County in 1833, and settled in Worth Township, on the place where Joseph Schertz now lives. He had four stalwart sons, two of whom still live in this county. Benjamin Grove is one of the prosperous farmers of Worth Township, where he has lived ever since his father came here in 1833. Henry lives over in the eastern part of the county, near Panola, Abraham in La Salle County, and Jacob in Missouri.

Early Settlers Link

Transcribed and donated by Amy Robbins-Tjaden

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The Past and Present of Woodford County Illinois (1878)

Louis Guibert, an old pioneer of the Spring Bay settlement, was born in France, and was a soldier of the Republic and of the First Empire, sharing in many of the great battles of Napoleon. At the battle of Austerlitz, he beheld one-half of his company shot down by a single discharge of an enemy's battery; and in another engagement, was one of eight out of a company of seventy-one men who survived the battle. He received the grade of Captain from Napoleon himself, on the field of Austerlitz, in acknowledgment of his bravery. He came to America in 1833, and settled near Spring Bay, in that portion of the settlement now in Partridge Township, where he peacefully spent the remainder of his life, in striking contrast to the stormy scenes of his earlier years.

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(From another section of this book)

Louis A. Guibert came from France to the United States in 1833, and settled in Partridge Township. He was a soldier of the Republic and of the First Empire, and participated in many of the terrific battles of those stirring times, among them, Austerlitz, Nina and Wagram: and, as a reward for his bravery, was made Chevalier of the Legion of Honor, on the battle field, by Napoleon himself. Capt. Guibert was born in January, 1784, in the province of Maine, and his childhood was passed in the stormy times of the Revolution, in which he was later destined to bear so active a part. He was of noble family, and during the political troubles of the time, his father escaped from France; his mother was thrown into prison, and, after her release, compelled to keep secreted during the long and terrible civil war that devastated that unhappy country. Before his father's return to France, he enlisted as a private soldier and served until Bonaparte's abdication, in 1814, when he had risen in rank to a Captain of infantry. An only brother had died in Spain of a wound received in the siege of Saragossa [Zaragoza]. His early years were marked with interest, having, in his youth, passed through the French Revolution, with its accompanying reign of terror, and had marched and fought over half of Europe. He had witnessed the melting away of one-half of his company before a single discharge of artillery on the field of Austerlitz; and at the close of another bloody engagement, was one of eight survivors from a company of seventy-one men who went into action.

As stated, he came to America in 1833, where, in a pioneer settlement, he bore all the trials and privations incident to a life on the frontier. He suffered some reverses, by which he lost a portion of the wealth he brought to this country; but, through energy and perseverance, retrieved his fortunes, and his last years were spent in comparative affluence. The long life that was so stormy and turbulent at its beginning was peaceful in its decline, and, finally, closed in quietude in August, 1866. He was a man of excellent mind, of fine native intelligence and gay humor, which lasted him to the end of his mortal career.

Early Settler Link

Transcribed and donated by Amy Robbins-Tjaden

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The Biographical Record of Livingston and Woodford Counties, Illinois (S.J. Clarke Pub. Co., 1900)

Christian Guenther

This honored and highly respected citizen of Spring Bay is now living a retired life. He was born in Wurtemburg, Germany, September 23, 1844, secured a good practical education in the public schools of that country, which he attended until twelve years of age. Later he was a student in high institutions of learning, and became familiar with the German and French languages, but his knowledge of English has been self-acquired. His father, Godfrey Guenther, operated a wooden mill and oil mill in Wurtemburg, in which our subject worked until 1863, when he emigrated to America, and worked at his trade for several years at Rockwell, near Hartford, Connecticut. Subsequently he was employed in a woolen mill at Maumee, Ohio, for nearly three years, and in 1868 moved to Peoria, Illinois, where he conducted a dyeing establishment until 1873. During the following thirteen years he was engaged in business in Toledo, Ohio, and then returned to Germany, spending about a year in visiting his old home and some of the prominent cities of the old world. In 1887 he returned to Peoria, and the following year accepted the general agency of the German Fire Insurance Company at that place, and devoted four years to that business, retiring at the end of that time on account of ill health.

In 1893, Mr Guenther came to Spring Bay, and on the 7th of August, that year, married Mrs. Catherine Eichhorn, a daughter of Christian Wenckler, one of Woodford country's earliest settlers, having located here about 1830 or 1832. Mrs. Guenther was reared and educated in this county, and in 1870 married Peter Eichhorn, a prominent brewer of Spring Bay, who died August 25, 1885, leaving four children: Herman G., a successful physician of Spring Bay; William, a farmer; Charles, a farmer of Spring Bay; and Algernon, at home with his mother. Mr. and Mrs. Guenther were born reared in the Lutheran faith, and are people of the highest respectability. Politically he is a stanch supporter of the Republican party, and is now a member and clerk of the school board of Spring Bay, but he has never cared for political honors.

Transcribed and donated by Amy Robbins-Tjaden

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