HELD, Peter
Peter HELD, residing on section 25,
Hopewell township, has been a life long resident of the
township, being born on section 11, on the old homestead of his
parents, Conrad and Apalona (FREEZE) HELD, July 28, 1849. He was
reared on the farm, and received his primary education in the
district schools, after which he attended Henry college, and
completed his course at Northwestern college at Plainfield, Illinois.
On returning home from school, he resumed
his place upon the farm and worked for his father until his
marriage in 1872, with Miss Tillie C. HOFFERT, who was born in
Chicago,
Illinois, and who is a daughter of Isaac and
Mary Ursula (ESHER) HOFFERT, the former a native of Reading, Pennsylvania,
born in 1811. Her father was educated at
Columbus,
Ohio, and was ordained to the ministry in the
Evangelical Association and was an itinerant preacher through
Ohio,
Illinois and Wisconsin. He subsequently located in the
suburbs of Chicago
on a farm, which he operated, in the meantime preaching on
Sundays in the surrounding neighborhood. He was a man of
considerable pulpit ability, and his services as a minister were
generally in demand. The mother of Mrs. HELD was born in
France, from which country she emigrated to
Warren, Pennsylvania, and after her marriage with Mr. HOFFERT they
moved to Wheeling,
Illinois, and later to
Chicago, where the father died in 1876.
The mother still survives and yet makes her home in
Chicago. They were the parents of nine
children, as follows: Mrs. Mary U. NEIBERTGALL, living in
Chicago; Isaac, residing in Chicago; Mrs. Caroline KNOFF, of the same city; Tillie C.,
wife of our subject; Mrs. Sarah E. SNYDER, of Chicago; George, also of that city; Alfred E.,
residing in Roberts township, Marshall county; Jesse R.,
deceased, and John Jacob, also deceased. The great-grandfather
of Mrs. HELD, on her father’s side, was a soldier in the war of
1812. Mrs. HELD was the fourth child in the family, and after
attending the district schools entered Northwestern college at Plainfield, Illinois, and
when it was removed to
Naperville
continued with it and completed the course at that place.
After their marriage, Mr. and Mrs. HELD
located upon a farm one mile north of their present home, where
they remained until 1886, and then moved to their present place
of residence on section 25, where they have a fine farm of four
hundred and eighty acres, all of which is under excellent
improvement. Mr. HELD has followed farming during his entire
life, and has been quite successful, having at the present time
a farm well stocked with the best breeds of horses, cattle and
swine to be found in this section of the country.
To Mr. and Mrs. HELD three children have
been born – S. Loretta, now the wife of John J. MYERS, living in
Roberts township; C. Olive and Mamie A. living at home. All have
received good educations, the eldest having been a student in
one of the educational institutions of
Chicago. The family are all members of
the Methodist Episcopal church at Varna, of which Mr. HELD is
a trustee. His wife and her two eldest daughters are teachers in
the Sunday school. In the work of the church and the Sunday
school they have ever taken the greatest interest, and have
always done their part in promoting the Lord’s cause.
Politically, Mr. HELD is a stanch republican. For nine years he
has been road commissioner and has served as school director for
district No. 2 for a number of years. The family live in an
elegant home on section 36, which is well furnished with every
convenience found in a modern home. The daughters are well
educated in music and have had the best musical training
possible. The mother herself is a musician of no ordinary
ability, and in her younger days was a teacher of music. Their
fine library is in constant use by every member of the family
and all keep well posted on the current literature of the day.
Extracted March 2011 by Norma Hass from
The Biographical Record of Bureau, Marshall and Putnam Counties, Illinois,
1896.
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