BIOGRAPHY - JOHN J. CLESS
JOHN J. CLESS, who is engaged in general farming on section 30, Brenton
Township, has had a varied life. He was born in Germany, has shared in the
hardships of piooneer life in Illinois and the experiences of gold mining in
California, and is now living quietly as a farmer. His birth occurred in
Wurtemberg on the 10th of July, 1827. He is one of ten children born to
Gotlieb and Catherina (Buckenberg) Cless. His father was a stonemason and
spent his entire life in his native land. When eighteen years of age, he
served in the army against Napoleon and was wounded at the battle of Lille
on the return of the French Emperor from Russia. The children of the Cless
family are Gotlieb, now a resident of Newark, N. J.; Conrad, who came to
this country and died of sunstroke; John, of this sketch; William, who is
living in Newark, N. J.; Gustaf, who died in Germany, and Fredericka, who is
living in Newark, N. J. The others of the family are all deceased and those
who still survive are residents of America.
At the age of fourteen, our subject began learning the carpenter's trade,
which he followed until twenty-two years of age, when he determined to seek
his fortune in the United States and in 1849 sailed from Havre to New York.
The succeeding three years of his life were spent in New Jersey, where he
worked for a time at cabinet-making at low wages, and followed any other
pursuit whereby he might earn an honest living. Attracted by the discovery
of gold, he sailed for California in the spring of 1852, going by the
Isthmus route, and spent three and a half years in the mines on the Pacific
Slope, meeting with a fair degree of success. He returned in 1855 by the way
of the Nicaragua route and remained in Newark, N. J., until 1856, when he
removed to Wisconsin and purchased a farm in Waukesha County, upon which he
made his home for ten years. He then sold out, and in 1866 came to La Salle
County, Ill., where he spent two years.
In September, 1856, at the age of twenty-nine, Mr. Cless was married, in
Newark, N. J., to Barbara Stadler, who was born in Baden, Germany, and when
a maiden of nine summers came with her parents to the United States. They
had seven sons and two daughters: William, a barber of Chicago; George, a
policeman of the same city; Jacob, who operates the farm; Samuel, who is
living in Chicago, where he is employed as a sign-hanger; Henry, Charles,
Edward; Louisa, wife of Dan Millgrain, a farmer of Brenton Township, and
Emma, wife of .John Burger, who is engaged in agricultural pursuits in
Brenton Township.
The year 1868 witnessed the arrival of Mr. Cless and family in Ford County.
He purchased one hundred and sixty acres of land, upon which he has since
made his home, with the exception of five years which he spent in Chicago
just after the great fire, his farm being rented during that period. He has
made many good improvements, has erected a comfortable house and barns and
planted hedges and shade trees, which add both to the value and attractive
appearance of the place. He is now living retired while his sons operate the
farm. When he came to America he had only $50 in his pocket, and he
certainly deserves great credit for the success which has crowned his
efforts and made him one of the substantial citizens of the community.
Mr. Cless cast his first Presidential vote for Franklin Pierce in 1852. He
voted for Abraham Lincoln in 1860, and on questions of national importance
affiliates with the Republican party, but at local elections votes
independently. He has held the office of Overseer of Highways in his
district but has never sought for public preferment. In religious belief, he
is a member of the Lutheran Church, as is also his wife. In the community
where he has made his home for almost a quarter of a century, he is widely
and favorably known and is recognized as a valued citizen.
Extracted 14 Dec 2017 by Norma Hass from Portrait and Biographical Record of Ford County, Illinois, published in 1892, pages 200-201.
