Will County IL Archives Biographies.....Bergan, Bros. 
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Author: Portrait & Biographical Album, 1890

BERGAN BROS. 

The Messrs. Michael, John and Daniel Bergan own and operate three hundred and 
twenty acres of land on section 4, Manhattan Township, their specialty being 
the importing, breeding and sale of horseflesh. They have become known far and 
near for their herd of Shetland ponies which generally numbers from fifty to 
sixty head; and for the fine Kentucky saddle horses in which they deal. They 
also raise draft horses, full-blooded Short horn cattle, thorough-bred 
Cottswold sheep and full- blooded Poland-China swine. The zeal which they have 
manifested in their business is bringing them the success which they merit, 
and they have the pleasure of knowing that in their former line of labor they 
were also successful, not only gaining worldly goods, but relieving their 
parents of a great burden and securing their choicest blessing. Martin Bergan, 
the father of our subject, was born in County Kilkenney, Ireland, in 1803, and 
tilled the soil in his native land until the fall of 1847. In November he bade 
adieu to the Emerald Isle, crossed the Atlantic to New Orleans and started 
northward with his family. The river froze so that he was not able to reach 
Joliet, Ill., until April, 1848. He then bought eighty acres of raw land which 
now forms a part of the Bergan Bros, estate. At that time the township of 
Trenton, comprising what are now Green Garden and Manhattan Townships, 
contained but seven voters, and Mr. Bergan is the oldest settler therein now 
living. He improved and operated his farm, for some years being very 
successful, and adding to his landed estate until his possessions here 
amounted to three hundred and twenty acres and he held land elsewhere in the 
county. Misfortune, however, overtook him about a decade since, and he 
retired, his sons assuming control of affairs with the determination to 
recover all that he had seemingly lost. Mr. Bergan has at different times been 
the incumbent of the various township offices, and he has also been useful in 
his day and generation by reason of the assistance which he has given to the 
cause of education and religion. He put up the first schoolhouse in his 
district and has helped to build churches. He has always voted the Democratic 
ticket. He is now eighty-seven years of age, while his wife, formerly Miss 
Esther Welsh, of County Kilkenny, Ireland, has reached her three-score years 
and ten. Both belong to the Catholic Church and as devout believers have 
reared their children in the tenets of the faith. Their family includes 
Michael, Mary, John and Nicholas, who were born in Ireland, and two of whom 
are members of the firm of which we write. Mary is the wife of John Peterson 
and lives in Harris, Anderson County, Kan., and Nicholas resides in Nuckolls 
County, the same State. The children born in America are William, who died at 
the age of twenty-eight years; Mrs. Bridget Hayden, of Florence; Ann, widow of 
Thomas C. Kelly, who lives with her parents; Daniel, of the firm of Bergan 
Bros.; and Martin, who keeps a livery stable in Manhattan. The three brothers, 
of whom we write, were reared upon the farm which they now operate and the 
work of which they learned the rudiments of when quite young. They enjoyed the 
privileges of the district school in which they acquired a practical 
education. John was the hunter of the family and made several trips to Green 
Bay, Wis., and the hunting grounds of Minnesota, where he spent some time in 
hunting and trapping, doing well in this occupation. In 1880, after their 
father's misfortune, they put their shoulder to the wheel and together bought 
the home farm and engaged in the cultivation of grain. They worked hard, 
managed carefully and won success, soon being rewarded by seeing the mortgage 
lifted and having the deed of a well-improved farm in their possession. The 
brothers gradually worked into the stock business and in 1887 began importing 
Shetland ponies. John Bergan went to the Shetland Islands bringing back a herd 
and is now making his fourth trip thither. They not only import but they also 
breed the little animals, having the best herd of brood mares in the country. 
It includes Minnie Warren, the smallest brood mare in the United States; her 
weight is but one hundred and ninety pounds. She took the honors at the 
American Horse Show, in Chicago, where three other first premiums were secured 
by the Bergan Bros. Their ponies are all registered. Few prettier sights can 
be imagined than that afforded by the playful antics of the tiny equines. The 
Bergan Bros., keep nothing but fine stock, and in all their labors use the 
latest farm machinery, likewise keeping up to the times in the construction 
and arrangement of necessary buildings. An immense barn having a frontage of 
one hundred and sixty feet affords stabling and shelters the large amount of 
hay and grain needed to supply the wants of the stock. The land is watered by 
Jackson Creek and is further supplied with the cooling liquid by means of a 
windmill and tank, while a beautiful orchard and shade trees provide fruit and 
afford shelter from the scorching rays of the sun. In 1888 the Bergan Bros., 
assisted to organize the American Shetland Pony Association, of which John 
Bergan is Vice-President. All are members of the Grange at Manhattan, three 
miles distant from their home, and Daniel is Treasurer of the Lodge. He has 
also been Highway Commissioner for four years and is now serving as School 
Director. He is likewise a member of the Central Committee of the Democratic 
party, to the principles of which all the brothers stanchly adhere. They 
belong to the Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Joliet, and have a high standing 
among its members. 

Additional Comments:
Portrait and Biographical Album of Will County, Illinois, Containing Full Page 
Portraits and Biographical Sketches of Prominent and Representative Citizens 
of the County; Chicago: Chapman Bros., 1890

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