BIOGRAPHY - FRANK STADLER
Frank
Stadler owns and cultivates a well improved farm of one hundred fourteen and
a half acres on section 1, Brenton township. His entire life has been passed
in this county, his birth having occurred on the 4th of March, 1870, on a
farm seven miles southwest of Piper City. There he resided continuously
until 1905, when he came to his present farm, which he had purchased the
previous year. He is a son of John and Katharine (Valendor) Stadler, who
were natives of Germany. The father came to America with his parents when
eleven years of age and the family home was established on the unbroken
prairie of Brenton township. Ford county. Here he aided in turning the tirst
furrows on the farm and pLmted the first tree. As the years went by he
brought his place under a liigh state of cultivation, having one hundred and
sixty acres on section 30, Brenton township. To this he added from time to
time until he was the owner of a valuable property of three hundred and
sixty acres, all in one patch on sections 30 and 31. It continued his place
of residence until his death, which occurred in September, 1884, when he was
but forty-nine years of age. He bought his first land at twelve dollars per
acre and it was many times worth that sum which he was called from this
life. A most industrious and energetic man, he labored untiringly in tilling
the soil and as the years passed gained a gratifying measure of success
which was proof of his well directed labor and sound business judgment. He
belonged to the Lutheran church, of which Mrs. Stadler was also a member.
She still survives him, resides in Piper City and is mentioned elsewhere in
this volume.
In their family were the following named: Jacob, now living in Piper City; Louis, who died at the age of twenty-six years; Katie, the wife of Fred Risto of Piper City; Frank of this review; Helen, the wife of Joseph K. Montelius, also represented on another page of this work; Samuel, a resident of Livingston county, Illinois; Elizabeth, the wife of Ferdinand Luther of Piper City; Charles, also of Piper City; Anna, the wife of George Montelius; and William who died at the age of nineteen years. By a former marriage the father had two children: George, now living in California, and John, whose home is in Chicago.
In taking up the personal history of Frank Stadler we present to our readers the life record of one who is widely and favorably known in this locality for he has always lived in Brenton township. As a boy he was occupied with the duties of the schoolroom, the pleasures of the playground and the work of the home farm and lessons of industry and integrity were early instilled into his mind and have borne fruit in his business career. Since attaining his majority he has worked at farm labor and his present place of residence indicates his careful supervision for it presents a most attractive appearance, being a well improved place of one hundred fourteen and a half acres on section 1. He has remodeled and added to the buildings and has made many other substantial improvements. He raises the cereals best adapted to soil and climate and rich harvests annually reward his efforts.
In 1895 Mr. Stadler was married to Miss Anna Jacobsen, who was born in Denmark in 1872 and came to Piper City in 1891 with friends, her family remaining in the old country. Mr. and Mrs. Stadler are now members of the Second Presbyterian church of South Brenton, of which he is serving as an elder and in the moral development and progress of the community they are deeply interested. His political support is given the democracy. For eight years he has served as school director and has done effective work in behalf of the cause of education, of which he is a stalwart champion.
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 544-548.
