BIOGRAPHY - Charles A. Fellwock
CHARLES A. FELLWOCK, who is engaged in farming and also deals in fine
horses, is a resident of Lyman Township, located on section 35. He was born
near the city of Dresden, Germany, and is a son of August and Wilhelmina
(Schneider) Fellwock. The father served for eight years in the German army.
He was a blacksmith by trade, and, with his family, emigrated to America
when our subject was a lad of about eight years. They landed at New Orleans,
which Charles remembers as a little Creole City, not larger than Roberts at
the present time. The family went up the Mississippi and Ohio Rivers to
Cincinnati, and thence to Ripley County, Ind., where the father purchased
eighty acres of land and began farming. When the war broke out in 1861, he
came to Livingston County, Ill., and purchased a half-section of partially
improved land, upon which he made his home until 1882. Since that time he
has been a resident of Ford County, and is a highly respected citizen. He
has always been a stalwart Republican, and is a member of the Evangelical
Church of Lyman Township. Although seventy-seven years of age, he is still
hale and hearty. His wife died March 7, 1876, and her remains were interred
in Livingston County.
The eight children of the Fellwock family are all living at this writing:
Augusta, the eldest, is the wife of Mr. Lomarsh, a farmer of Livingston
County; Charles is the next younger; Mollie is the wife of Adam Gihrish, a
butcher of Chenoa, Ill.; Herman is married, and is a butcher of Beatrice,
Neb.; Linda is the wife of Chris. Gehrish, of Chenoa, Ill.; Louis is a
stock-raiser of Beatrice, Neb.; Linnie is the wife of Mr. Alden, who
successfully carries on a meat market in Beatrice, Neb.; and Emile follows
farming in Kankakee, Ill.
In the usual manner of farmer lads, our subject was reared to manhood, and
was educated both in English and German. He has inherited the industrious
disposition of his German ancestors, and has made of his life a success. He
now owns and operates two hundred and forty acres of arable land, which is
under a high state of cultivation and well improved with all the
conveniences of a model farm. There are large barns and other outbuildings
and the beautiful residence is one of the finest in the township. This is a
most desirable and valuable place. In addition to general farming, Mr.
Fellwock also makes a specialty of the breeding of fine horses, and now has
a fine imported English shire horse about ten years old.
On the 18th of April, 1867, our subject wedded Miss Katie Barrick, a native
of Wayne County, N. Y., born April 3, 1839. Her education was acquired in
the common schools, and she is a lady of gentle manner and kind and
benevolent disposition. Her parents are both deceased. Her father died in
Yates County, N. Y., at the age of forty-three years, and his wife died in
Ford County, at the age of sixty. Mrs. Fellwock has one sister, Lydia, who
is living in Lyman Township, and a half-brother, Levi J. Pfaat, a resident
of Fairbury, Ill.
Three children were born unto our subject and his wife, but Laura and Lewis
both died in infancy. Lydia M. is the wife of Joseph A. Minch, a resident of
Lyman Township. She is the only living child and the comfort of her parents.
She belongs to the Evangelical Church, and was married November 19, 1891.
Mr. and Mrs. Fellwock are both members of the German Evangelical Church, are
earnest workers in the Master's vineyard and for many years have been
identified with the Sunday-school work. In politics, he is a warm advocate
of Republican principles and east his first Presidential vote for Abraham
Lincoln. His upright life and sterling worth have won him high regard, and
he well deserves representation in this volume.
Extracted 28 Mar 2020 by Norma Hass from Portrait and Biographical Record of Ford County, Illinois, published in 1892, pages 273-274.
