Grundy-Will County IL Archives Biographies.....Munch, Ferdinand April 3, 1851 - ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/il/ilfiles.htm ************************************************ File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by: Deb Haines ddhaines@gmail.com February 20, 2006, 3:59 am Author: Gen/Bio Record Will Co IL 1900 Ferdinand Munch, who is engaged in the coal business at No. 502 Jefferson street, Joliet, is one of the leading Masons of the city. He was made a Mason in Mount Joliet Lodge No. 42, A. F. & A. M., in 1882, and has since been identified with the same lodge, of which he has been elected worshipful master each year since 1891, and is the present incumbent of the office. For the same period he has represented the lodge in the grand lodge of the state. Through his influence and under his leadership the lodge has been maintained in a prosperous condition, with a large and active membership. Mr. Munch was born in Joliet Township, this county, April 3, 1851, a son of Xavier and Mary Ann (Pflager) Munch, natives of Alsace, then a part of France. The paternal grandfather, who brought his family to America, went to California in 1849 with a son, Sebastian, and a son-in-law, making the trip across the plains with an ox-team. On the journey overland Sebastian was lost. He started back east by ship, but cholera broke out on the vessel and his relatives never heard of him afterward. Without doubt he perished of the plague. Xavier Munch, who came to this county about 1840, worked on the Illinois and Michigan canal in early life. During the Mexican war he enlisted from Illinois, went to the front and served until peace was declared, when he returned to his farms. He has since made agriculture his occupation, and owns a well-improved farm of one hundred and twenty-two acres, adjoining Joliet, which is the old homestead of his father. Since 1890 he has made his home in Joliet. His wife, who was a daughter of Martin Pflager, an early settler of Joliet, died in this county many years ago. Both were Catholics from childhood. They were the parents of seven children, six of whom are still living. The next to the oldest of the family was Ferdinand. He was educated in a district school, the Joliet night school and Professor Russell’s school. September 27, 1872, he came to Joliet, and for two years was employed by J. Q. A. King in the coal business. When Mr. King failed, Mr. Munch and two other employes bought the business, forming the firm of Frey & Co., and continuing the Jefferson street business for a year. Mr. Munch then sold his interest, in 1875 purchased from E. L. Shaffner the building and yards at No. 502 Jefferson street, where he keeps all kinds of hard and soft coal. The yards are connected by a siding with the Chicago & Alton Railroad. To this business he is devoting his attention with energy and success. He is a member of the Retail Coal Dealers’ Association of Illinois and Wisconsin, and takes a warm interest in everything pertaining to the coal business. Politically he is a Republican. The marriage of Mr. Munch, in Joliet, united him with Miss Jennie Hurley, who was born in England. Her father, William Hurley, settled in Minooka, Grundy County, Ill., where he was employed by the Chicago & Rock Island Railroad Company. Later he removed to Ottawa, but is now residing in Moline, this state, and is still connected with the Rock Island road. Mr. and Mrs. Munch are the parents of three sons: Louis Irving, who died in August, 1896, at the age of eighteen years; Fred Elmer, a high school graduate in 1899; and Archie Hiram, a member of the high school class of 1902. Source: "Genealogical and Biographical Record of Will County, Illinois", 1900, Biographical Publishing Company, Chicago, Pages 271-272 File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/il/grundy/bios/munch157nbs.txt This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.net/ilfiles/ File size: 4.1 Kb