Grundy County IL Archives Biographies.....Bookwalter, Benjamin 
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Deb Haines ddhaines@gmail.com March 25, 2006, 8:44 pm

Author: Bio/Gen Record LaSalle/Grundy 1900

Benjamin Bookwalter is a representative of one of the pioneer families of 
Greenville township and is regarded as one of the most substantial farmers of 
Grundy county. He is of Pennsylvania Dutch lineage, his ancestors having been 
among the early settlers of Lancaster county. John Buchwalter was the 
grandfather of our subject, and since that time the orthography of the family 
name has been changed. He was born in Lancaster county, Pennsylvania, and was 
a farmer by occupation, owning and cultivating one hundred and twenty acres of 
land. A man of sterling honesty and high moral character, he took great 
interest in religious matters and was a member of the Mennonite church. He 
served as the tax collector of his township for many years, and was highly 
respected for his genuine worth and marked ability. His children were 
Benjamin, Abraham, Mattie, Christina, Elizabeth and Hester.

Abraham Buchwalter, the father of our subject, was born in Lancaster county, 
Pennsylvania, in February, 1794, twelve miles east of the city of Lancaster. 
He acquired the usual common-school education and added to his knowledge by 
his extensive reading in later years. He possessed an observing eye and 
retentive mind, and these qualities enabled him to-gain an excellent fund of 
knowledge. He, too, was a farmer by occupation, making that pursuit his life 
work. In Lancaster county, Pennsylvania, he married Elizabeth Witwer, whose 
birth occurred in that county. Her father was Rev. Witwer, a minister of the 
Mennonite church and a highly respected man who for many years devoted his 
energies to the work of the gospel. His services were especially demanded on 
the occasion of funerals, and his marked sympathy and broad acquaintance made 
him particularly capable in delivering addresses on such occasions. He was one 
of the best known Mennonite ministers of his day, and was also a wealthy 
farmer of Lancaster county, owning an extensive and valuable tract of land. He 
died in his native county in middle life. His children were Isaac, David, 
Benjamin, Michael, Daniel (who became a physician), Elizabeth and Barbara.

After his marriage Abraham Buchwalter located on the old homestead farm near 
New Holland, where he lived for a number of years, removing to Mercer county, 
Pennsylvania, in 1843. There he purchased a farm of over four hundred acres, 
making his home thereon for about eight years, when he sold his property and 
bought three hundred acres of land, on which there was a flouring-mill. After 
three years spent on his property there he came to Illinois, in the spring of 
1854, making the journey by rail. In the previous autumn he had started 
westward and had spent the winter of 1853-4 in Elkhart county, Indiana, whence 
he came to Grundy county in the spring. Here he purchased three hundred and 
twenty acres of land, including the quarter section upon which our subject now 
resides and a tract of one hundred and sixty acres in Maine township. Forty 
acres of the land had been fenced and a small frame house had been erected, 
but otherwise there was no improvement upon the property. The country around 
was a wild and undeveloped prairie, on which wolves, deer, prairie chickens 
and quails were frequently killed. Mr. Buchwalter began improving his land, 
and his untiring industry enabled him to develop a good farm, upon which he 
spent his remaining days. He was one of the founders of the old Mennonite 
church in this vicinity and served as one of its deacons for many years. In 
politics he was an old-line Whig, but severed his allegiance with that party 
in order to aid in the organization of the Republican party in this locality. 
He became a substantial and well known citizen as the result of his industry 
and honest effort. All who knew him esteemed him for his high moral character 
and his genuine worth. In his family were the following children: John, Mary, 
David, Samuel, Annie, Benjamin, Elizabeth, Michael, and one that died in 
infancy. All were born in Lancaster county, Pennsylvania, and during the civil 
war David entered the country's service, remaining at the front for two years.

Benjamin Bookwalter, the subject of this review, was born July 31, 1831, in 
Lancaster county, Pennsylvania, and has adopted the more modern method of 
spelling the family name. He acquired a good common-school education, and when 
about twelve years of age went with his parents by wagon to Mercer county, 
Pennsylvania. At the age of twenty-three he came to Illinois, arriving in 
Grundy county in April, 1854. He and his brother, Michael, drove two horses, 
hitched to a wagon, from Elkhart county, Indiana, spending four days upon the 
way. He worked for his father through the following year and in the succeeding 
year, when his father retired from active business, Benjamin and his brother 
Michael assumed the management of the home farm, which they conducted for five 
years. After the marriage of our subject the brothers dissolved partnership, 
each engaging in business for himself. Benjamin took the old homestead of one 
hundred and sixty acres, and here he has since lived. He improved his farm, 
built a residence upon it and has made many other substantial improvements 
which add to the value and attractive appearance of the place. Through his own 
well-directed efforts and the capable assistance of his wife he has steadily 
prospered and is now the owner of six hundred and forty acres of fine farming 
land, all in one body. For many years he has been engaged in raising cattle 
and fine trotting horses, and has been the owner of some of the best horses in 
the state.

On the 31st of October, 1858, Mr. Bookwalter was united in marriage to Miss 
Susan Barkey, and their children are: Emma L., born August 3, 1860; Abraham 
L., born March 28, 1862; and two who died in infancy. The mother's birth 
occurred in Butler county, Pennsylvania, October 12, 1837, her parents being 
Enos and Eve (Ziegler) Barkey. Her father was born in Montgomery county, 
Pennsylvania, October 20, 1815, and the mother was born in Bucks county, 
Pennsylvania, December 15, 1814. They were married in Beaver county, that 
state, about 1835. Mrs. Barkey was a daughter of Christopher and Susanah 
(Shelley) Ziegler, natives of Bucks county, Pennsylvania, and representatives 
of good old Pennsylvania Dutch stock. Her father was for many years a deacon 
in the Mennonite church and was a most highly respected man. He lived to the 
advanced age of over ninety-eight years, and died in Mahoning county, Ohio. 
His children were Abraham, Andrew, Henry, Eve, Susan, Elizabeth, Catharine, 
and two who died in infancy.

Enos Barkey was the son of Abraham and Elizabeth (Borneman) Barkey. His father 
was a native of Montgomery county, Pennsylvania, and a representative of one 
of the old Pennsylvania Dutch families. Throughout his life he followed the 
profession of school-teaching. His children were Henry, Daniel, Enos, John, 
Mary and Kate. Enos Barkey obtained a common-school education and took up his 
abode in Butler county, Pennsylvania, whence he removed to Beaver county and 
later to Defiance county, Ohio. He worked at the shoemaker's trade in 
Independence, Ohio, for some years, and then removed to Elkhart county, 
Indiana, settling near the town of Elkhart, where he purchased eighty acres of 
timber land. There he built a home and made some improvements, but sold the 
farm and removed to Illinois in 1851.

He settled in Mazon township, Grundy county, where he purchased sixty acres of 
wild land, upon which not a furrow had been turned or an improvement made, but 
his industry soon wrought a great transformation in its appearance. As his 
financial resources increased he bought more land and engaged in the cattle 
business, driving his cattle from Indiana, where he purchased them very 
cheaply. He prospered in his undertaking and continuously added to his land 
until he owned about nine hundred acres, becoming one of the wealthy farmers 
and energetic stock dealers of Grundy county. Straightforward in all his 
dealings and honest to a fault, he was highly respected by all who knew him. 
Removing to Nebraska, he located in Gage county about twenty years ago, and 
there purchased fifteen hundred acres of land, to the improvement of which he 
devoted his energies until his death, which occurred when he was about seventy-
eight years of age. He left to his children a good property and the more 
desirable heritage of an honest name. In his old age he was a member of the 
Church of God. His children were: Daniel, who was born August 9, 1836, and 
died in infancy; Susan, born October 12, 1837; Mary, October 24, 1839; Judith, 
May 12, 1843; Zeigler, July 30, 1844; John Henry, May 4, 1848; and Enos, 
November 1, 1852. Enos Barkey, the father of Mrs. Bookwalter, died January 15, 
1895, and his wife passed away March 18, 1884. He was a stanch Republican in 
his political views, and an earnest advocate of the Union cause during the 
civil war. He had one son who joined the "boys in blue" and served throughout 
the war with an Illinois militia company, participating in a number of 
important engagements, but returned to his home in safety.

Benjamin Bookwalter is a man well known in Grundy county for his sterling 
honesty and upright character. Besides the property which he now owns he has 
given to his children one hundred and sixty acres of land. In politics he was 
an old-line Whig until the dissolution of the party, when he joined the 
Republican party and voted for John C. Fremont and Abraham Lincoln. He is 
recognized as one of the substantial and valued citizens of his community and 
well deserves representation in this volume.


Additional Comments:
Source:  Biographical and Genealogical Record of La Salle and Grundy County, 
Illinois, Volume 11, Chicago, 1900, p714-718

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