SANWALD, George
George SANWALD, now living retired at
Lacon, was for several years numbered among the prominent and
enterprising farmers of Roberts township, who are of alien
birth. Like others of his countrymen, he brought to
America
the habits of economy and frugality which are an inherent
characteristic of his native land, and the exercise of which,
accompanied by industry and good management, raised him to a
position of comparative affluence.
Mr. SANWALD was born in Wurttemberg, Germany, in 1824, where he grew to
manhood, but with the view of benefiting his financial condition
he sailed for the new world, landing on the shores of this
country July 25, 1854. He at once obtained work in
Pennsylvania, where he remained for two years, at
the end of which time he came to Illinois and here was employed as a farm hand
for the following eight years. Having succeeded in accumulating
one thousand dollars, in 1865 he invested this in land,
purchasing one hundred and sixty acres in Roberts township,
Marshall
county, to which he later added. He has given his son Otto two
hundred and thirty-three acres on sections 3 and 4, Roberts
township, which tract is supplied with good farming buildings,
and still owns three hundred and eighty acres on section 9,
which since coming to Lacon, he has rented. He is entirely a
self-made man, as on coming to this state he was without means
and all that he now possesses has been acquired through his own
industrious efforts. He was for some time extensively engaged in
raising and feeding stock, often shipping four car loads of
cattle to the city markets and from one to four car loads of
hogs. In this business he was in partnership with his brother
Jacob until about three years ago. The brother died upon the
farm in the summer of 1895, and the following fall our subject
removed with his family to Lacon, where he is now resting in the
enjoyment of the fruits of his former toil. His farm is highly
cultivated and well improved with a comfortable dwelling, good
barns and other outbuildings.
In 1863 Mr. SANWALD led to the marriage
altar Miss Anna CRIST, a native of Hesse, Germany,
who died in 1891. On the 6th of May, 1893, he was again married,
his second union being with Mrs. Mary KEINATH, widow of Matt
KEINATH, who lived for ten years in Lacon and then returned to Germany, where he died November 25,
1888, leaving one son, John, who now makes his home with his
mother in Lacon. By his former marriage Mr. SANWALD had one son,
Otto, who married Elizabeth RANCH, by whom he has three
children, Amelia, Bernardt and an infant unnamed, and is living
upon a farm near the old homestead.
Although usually voting the democratic
ticket, Mr. SANWALD is now strictly non-partisan, endeavoring to
support the man best qualified for the office. He holds
membership with the Lutheran church at
Varna, in which he takes an active part,
and enjoys the esteem and respect of all who know him.
Extracted March 2011 by Norma Hass from
The Biographical Record of Bureau, Marshall and Putnam Counties, Illinois,
1896.
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