Grundy County IL Archives Biographies.....Zinngrebe, George W ************************************************ 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 March 25, 2006, 1:01 pm Author: Bio/Gen Record LaSalle/Grundy 1900 George W. Zinngrebe The story of the struggles and triumphs of a self-made man is always an interesting one, and it is instructive as well. In a broad sense it has been told many times, but the circumstances of life are so various that it can never be told twice alike, and it always possesses the element of novelty in some of its details. Among the self-made men in Grundy county there are few more highly regarded than the man whose name appears above; there is none whose honest and triumphant fight for success is more worthy of emulation. George W. Zinngrebe, one of the most respected citizens and substantial farmers of Good Farm township, Grundy county, Illinois, was born at Germerate, Hesse-Cassel, Germany, June 17, 1833. His father, George Zinngrebe, was an honest, industrious, well-to-do farmer, descended from old German stock, who married Mary Zinngrebe (not of a family related to his), and was killed by an accident in August, 1836, when his son George W. was little more than three years old. Two of his children died in infancy, Henry died at the age of nineteen and Elizabeth at the age of eleven. None survived except George W., the subject of this sketch, who was reared by his mother and went to school from the time he was six years old until he was fourteen, part of his time having been devoted to Bible reading. He began to work out at farm labor at sixteen years of age. His mother had married Claus Zinngrebe when George W. was six years old, but there were no children by this marriage. The boy had worked hard, receiving at most, however, only eight dollars per year; but he saved his wages and upon the death of his mother, at the age of fifty-three years, he received a little money from her property, - about enough to pay his passage to America; and he sailed from Bremen Haven for Quebec, in the ship Swallow, May 10, 1852, when he was about nineteen years old. The ship was forty-two days on the water, and the voyage was as tedious as it was long. From Quebec he came west by rail to Chicago, where he arrived July 18, 1852. He had two companions, George Kistner and Claus Baker, who had been his neighbor boys in Prussia, and at Chicago they found German friends. George W. left Chicago within a week after his arrival and went twelve miles west of that city and worked at farm labor nine months. He was later employed in Chicago one season in a brick-yard, and then went to Kankakee county, Illinois, and worked two years as a farm laborer, and then in Grundy county with another man until he engaged in farming in Will county, where he was thus employed for two years. March 23, 1856, at Chicago, Mr. Zinngrebe married Henne Alsassar, born at Hirrlingen, Wurtemberg, Germany, December 15, 1834, a daughter of John and Emrencer (Beider) Alsassar. Her parents were of old German families and her father was a blacksmith. He came with his family to America about 1855, located in Ohio and became a prosperous farmer there, owning one hundred acres of land and a blacksmith shop near his home. He was a Catholic in religious affiliation, and died after having lived an industrious and profitable life. His children were named Mary, Lizzie, Henne, Susannah, Mary 2d and Frederica. After his marriage George W. Zinngrebe settled in Will county, Illinois, on a rented farm near the town of Florence, and lived there two years. He then went to Livingston county, Illinois, and rented land there three years in Nevada township. From there he came to his present farm, which he rented two years. He was then able to buy forty acres of the place, then wild land, and shortly afterward he bought sixty acres more, the improvements on which included a small house. He gradually improved the farm by his hard work and industry, and added to his holdings until he owns two hundred and eighty acres, a large and valuable farm, on which he has built substantial and attractive buildings, and is one of the most prosperous farmers in the county. The children of George W. and Henne (Alsassar) Zinngrebe are John, Theodore, Emma, Susannah, Lizzie and Mary. Mrs. Zinngrebe, who was a member of the Evangelical church, died August 14, 1882, aged about forty-seven years. She was an industrious woman, a good housekeeper and possessed many virtues which made her a model wife, mother and neighbor. Mr. Zinngrebe also is a member of the Evangelical church and has been one of its trustees for many years, and was long one of its class-leaders. He helped to build its house of worship and has always assisted liberally toward its support. In politics he is a stanch Republican, but is not an office-seeker or active political worker. In 1877 Mr. Zinngrebe met with a painful and serious accident while threshing. His right foot was caught in the tumbling-rod of the thresher- power, and his leg was broken in two places, and consequently he was laid up for four months and permanently crippled. But he has not let this affliction make him unhappy. He has always been a hard-working, prudent and thrifty man, a man of honesty and high character, and there is little in his life to cause him regret. He is entirely a self-made man, having had but thirty-five cents when he arrived in Chicago. He owes his elevation entirely to his own efforts. He has always been a firm believer in the efficacy of hard and persistent work and has demonstrated its value in his own successful life and its material achievements. Additional Comments: Source: Biographical and Genealogical Record of La Salle and Grundy County, Illinois, Volume 11, Chicago, 1900, p464-466 File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/il/grundy/bios/zinngreb18gbs.txt This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.org/ilfiles/ File size: 6.2 Kb