Historical Encyclopedia of Illinois and History of Montgomery County Alexander T. Strange, Editor Volume II, Published 1918 Munsell Publishing Co. Chicago Page 1055 FRICKE, Gustav C., one of the prosperous farmers of Rountree Township, owns and operates a fine farm of 160 acres on Section 2. He was born in Ryamond Township, this county, November 22, 1872, a son of Christian and Dorothea (Eppers) Fricke. Christian Fricke was born in Brunswick Germany. He came to the United States when about twenty years of age, landing at St. Louis, Mo., and he followed firing on Mississipppi River steamboats for a few years. As soon as he had amassed sufficient money, he returned to Germany after his bride, and following their marriage, they resided at St. Louis for a time, he continuing on the steamboats. Still later, he worked on the Missouri Pacific Railroad, doing the work of two men in order to make more money. Moving to Madison County, he rented land for eight or ten years, and then came to Montgomery County and bought eighty acres of land in Raymond Township, where he spent the remainder of his life, adding to his acreage until at the time of his death he had nearly 500 acres of valuable land. He and his wife whad twelve children, six of whom now survive, namely: Augusta, who is the wife of Herman Rosenthal of Rountree Township; Albert, who lives at Hillsboro; Henry, who lives in Rountree Township; William, who is on the home place in Raymond Township; Gustav; and Dora, who is the wife of C.H. Kerr, lives at Nokomis, Ill. The father died on the homestead April 19, 1893, but the mother survives and makes her home at Nokomis with her daughter Mrs. Kerr. Gustav C. Fricke was educated in the district schools of Raymond Township, and remained at home until he was twnety-one years old. For the following four years, he worked for Henry and William Fricke, and then located on his present farm. In addition to his farm, he is a stockholder in the Nokomis State Bank. On November 10, 1897, Mr. Fricke was married to Theressa Doerr, born February 13, 1877, a daughter of Louis and Minnie (Walters) Doerr, natives of Germany and old settlers of Montgomery County. Mr. and Mrs. Fricke have three children, namely: Henrietta W., born March 21, 1901; Lester L., born April 30, 1904, and Walter C., born January 11, 1907. Mr. Fricke is a Republican and is now serving in his fifth term as a chool director. He belongs to Nokomis Lodge No. 338, I.O.O.F. and is also a member of Harvel Lodge, A.H.T.A. A man of industrious habits and a natural liking for farming, he is making a success of his work and stands well with his associates everywhere. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- USGENWEB NOTICE: These electronic pages may NOT be reproduced in any format for profit or presentation by other organization or persons. Persons or organizations desiring to use this material, must obtain the written consent of the contributor, or the legal representative of the submitter, and contact the listed USGenWeb archivist with proof of this consent. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by Robert Appleton (© 1997 Robert Appleton)