BIOGRAPHY - CLAUS REITZ
Claus H. Reitz, who owns a valuable tract of land of two hundred and forty acres on sections 20 and 17. Wall township, is one of the worthy sons that Germany has furnished to the United States, his birth having occurred in Holstein on the 24th of May, 1855. His parents, Andrew and Margaret (Beck) Reitz, were both natives of the fatherland the former still living in that country, his wife having passed away in 1905. They were the parents of eight children, namely: Claus H., of this review; Frederick and Christian, both of whom are deceased; Anna, who became the wife of Henry Powerson and makes her home in Germany; John, who has also departed this life; Hans, also living in Germany; Maggie, the wife of Herman Weist, of Germany; and one who died in infancy.
Claus H. Reitz pursued his education in the common schools of his native land and after he had attained his majority served as a soldier for three years in accordance with the laws of his country. In 1880. however, he crossed the ocean to the new world, being desirous of testing the truth of the favorable reports which he had heard regarding the excellent business opportunities which were here offered. On his arrival in the United States he located first at Gibson City, Ford county, Illinois, where he was employed by the month for three years; on the expiration of that time he operated a rented farm for thirteen years. He then purchased eighty acres of land but subsequently traded that tract for one hundred and sixty acres in Sullivant township, and in 1899 he traded the latter tract for three hundred and twenty acres in Iroquois county, Illinois. After living in that county for two years he sold his farm there and bought two hundred and forty acres on sections 17 and 20, "Wall township. Ford county, where he has since made his home and which he has partly improved. When he arrived in this country he had but one hundred dollars but as the years have passed by he has prospered, owing to his well directed labor and capable business management, and is now numbered among the substantial and enterprising agriculturists of Ford county.
Mr. Reitz has been married twice, being first wedded in Germany, in 1879, to Miss Anna Rahr, by whom he had two children: Christina, the wife of Mat Stafgan, of Wall township; and John, at home. In 1887 he was married to Miss Lena Borgers, also a native of Germany, where her birth occurred in 1866. She came to America in 1886, and has become the mother of three children: William, Margaret and Albert, all at home.
Politically Mr. Reitz is a republican, while his religious faith is indicated by his membership in the Lutheran church, with which his wife is also identified. For more than a quarter of a century he has been identified with the agricultural interests of this part of the state and has therefore been an active factor in the work of development which has transformed the region from a wild and uncultivated state into one of rich fertility and productiveness. He is numbered among those who left the fatherland to identify themselves with American life and institutions, who have pushed their way to the front and who are a credit alike to the land of their birth and that of their adoption.
Extracted 16 Oct 2016 by Norma Hass from History of Ford County, Illinois, From Its Earliest Settlement to 1908, author E. A. Gardner, Volume 2, pages 548-549.
