My Genealogy Hound

SIMON BAECHLER, farmer, Sec. 13; P. O. Fairbury; was born in Lorraine (near the city of Nancy), Northeastern France, in 1834; in France Simon followed farming with his father, commencing work at a very early age; his father removed to America in the year 1855, settling in Tazewell Co., Ill., to which place Simon had preceded him one year before; in Tazewell, Mr. Baechler, Sr., continued the pursuit of farming, Simon working with him until the year 1859; then he returned to France, remaining there from the spring of 1859 until fall, when he married and returned to America, bringing his wife with him; for two years, he and his wife remained with his father, and then settled on the Little Mackinaw in Tazewell Co., remaining there until their removal to Yates Township, McLean Co., where he purchased and broke 180 acres of raw prairie; in the spring of 1879, he bought seventy acres more, making 250 acres, all of which are under cultivation, and valued at about $40 an acre; the farm is a good one, and is considered one of the best improved in Yates Township. In the year 1874, he was elected to the office of Road Commissioner, serving three years, from 1874 until 1877. Himself and family are members of high standing in the Mennonite Church. In 1859, he was married in France to Miss Elizabeth Wenjer, born in 1842, in Alsace, France; they have had a family of six children, two of whom, Helene Ida and Simon Oliver, are dead; the living are Anna M., Eliza A., Emma H, and Mary L.