Will County IL Archives Biographies.....Hartong, Jacob J 1830 - 
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File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by:
Deb Haines ddhaines@gmail.com May 5, 2007, 11:39 am

Author: Portraits & Bio Sketches, 1890

JACOB J. HARTONG is carrying on agriculture very advantageously in Plainfield 
Township, where he owns a farm, which for fertility and productiveness is 
classed among the best in this locality. His skill and experience in practical 
farming have proved of inestimable value to him since coming to this county, 
and he has done exceptionally well since purchasing his present farm, and is 
one of our substantial moneyed men. Our subject was born in Green Township, 
Stark County, Ohio, August 25, 1830, his father being an early pioneer of that 
section of the country. Jacob Hartong was a native of Pennsylvania, his 
father, grandfather of our subject, also having been born in that State, of 
German parentage. He was a farmer and spent his entire life there. The father 
of our subject was left an orphan when quite young, and was reared by his 
elder brother, Philip. He was bred to farming pursuits, and also learned the 
trade of a weaver. He was married in the Keystone State to Elizabeth Drich, a 
native of that State. After the birth of five of their children they removed 
to the wilds of Ohio to build up a new home in that part of Stark County, now 
included in Summit County. Mr. Hartong bought a tract of land in the primeval 
forests of that region, and built a log cabin which afterward became the 
birthplace of our subject. There were but few settlements in that part of the 
State, Indians still lingered around their old haunts, and the wolf and the 
deer, besides other kinds of wild game, often ran by the door of their pioneer 
home. They lived in the most primitive manner, the mother cooking their food 
before the fire in the rude fireplace, and making the cloth for their clothes, 
spinning the flax and wool with her own hands. In the years that followed hard 
labor was Mr. Hartong's lot, but he thereby improved a desirable farm, which 
he made his home until he closed his eyes in death. His wife too passed away 
to the life beyond from the old homestead. They reared a large family of 
children, seven sons and five daughters, to good and useful lives. The subject 
of whom we write was the eighth child in order of birth, and was reared and 
educated in his native town. He resided with his parents until his twenty-
first year, and then married and established a home of his own, and for four 
years managed his father's property. During that time he bought a farm in 
Jackson Township, Stark County, and operated it for two years, when he sold it 
and then lived on his father's farm until 1861. He then left Ohio, to take up 
his abode in this State, as he was much impressed with the many advantages 
offered to young men of enterprise and ability, to pursue farming with 
financial success in the rich farming country of Will County. After coming 
here he bought a farm on section 15, Plainfield Township, where he resided 
until 1868. Selling that place, his next purchase was in Manhattan Township, 
where he dwelt the succeeding thirteen years. Disposing of that place at a 
good profit, he bought the farm he now owns and occupies which comprises one 
hundred and forty-four acres of land under excellent tillage, and supplied 
with a substantial set of buildings and all needed improvements. In 1890 he 
bought a desirable residence in the village, to which he intends to remove in 
the spring of 1891. In 1850, Jacob Hartong and Mary Beard were united in 
matrimony. She was a native of Summit County, Ohio, and a daughter of Henry 
and Elizabeth Beard, natives of Virginia, and early settlers of Summit County. 
After a pleasant wedded life of ten years, death deprived him of her 
companionship, and their four children—Mary E., Martha A. and two since 
deceased—of a good mother. Mr. Hartong was married to his present estimable 
wife in 1861, and by their marriage they have four children now living—William 
H., Elias G., Charles V. and Martin F. Mrs. Hartong's maiden name was 
Magdalina Gardner, and she was born in Wittenburg, Germany, daughter of Martin 
and Henrietta Dewey Gardner, also natives of Germany. Mrs. Hartong came to 
America with her parents when she was five years old. They located in 
Cleveland, and later came to Illinois, in April, 1862, and settled in Lockport 
Township, where Mr. Gardner bought a farm. They resided there some years, and 
then removed to Joliet, where the father died, the mother dying in Lockport 
Township. Mr. Hartong's life has been guided by principles of honor and 
integrity, and he is a man of unspotted character. He is well dowered with 
firmness and stability, which attributes, together with forethought and 
persistent labor, have been instrumental in bringing about his present 
prosperous circumstances. He and his wife are members of the Evangelical 
Assocation. They are not of those who "hide their light under a bushel," and 
in the selfish striving for gain forget their duty to others, but they are 
ever kind and thoughtful in their relations with all about them, and no one is 
readier to extend sympathy or help to those in distress than they. Mr. Hartong 
interests himself in the political situation of the day, and sides with the 
Republican party.

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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