Will County IL Archives Biographies.....Hertzog, Charles 1815 - 
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File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by:
Deb Haines ddhaines@gmail.com May 4, 2007, 4:30 pm

Author: Portrait & Biographical Album, 1890

CHARLES HERTZOG. 

The life of this gentleman presents a record of arduous labor which is perhaps 
not exceeded in that of any other resident of the county. He has now retired 
from active work, feeling the weight of seventy-five years and the toil which 
he endured. A twenty-acre tract of land with a pretty cottage upon it is the 
home of himself and wife, and his farm of one hundred and sixty acres on 
section 17, Kankakee County, is rented to his son. He also owns forty acres of 
land on section 22, in this township, a part of which he uses for pasture, the 
rest being rented out.
 
Grandfather Hertzog came from Alsace to America many years ago, being sold for 
his passage. He settled in Pennsylvania, where his son, George, the father of 
our subject, was born. The latter married Catherine Iob, a native of the same 
State, whose father had served during the entire Revolutionary struggle, spent 
the memorable winter with Washington at Valley Forge, and walked barefooted on 
the snow and ice, leaving tracks of blood to mark his way. He hated a Hessian 
soldier with all the strength of his being.

Charles Hertzog, of this notice, was born in the Keystone State September 5, 
1815, and had such limited educational privileges that his schooling was not 
more that a year all told. When sixteen years old he was bound out to learn 
the shoemaker's trade, at which he served four years and eight months, 
receiving only his board and clothes, although during haying and harvesting he 
worked for farmers and his master took the pay. The youth had very hard 
treatment during the years of his apprenticeship.

After learning his trade young Hertzog went to Pottsville, where for a short 
time he was engaged in journey work, after which he became a laborer in the 
coal mines for several years. In the intervals of mining he worked at other 
occupations, some of his labor in Pennsylvania bringing him the wages of fifty 
cents per day, from which he was obliged to board himself. He labored in 
sawmills and also followed the river a while. On September 11, 1836, Mr. 
Hertzog was united in marriage with Miss Abigail Fiddler, a native of the 
Keystone State, in which they continued to reside until 1850. They then came 
to Illinois, making their home in Napierville, a few months after which they 
removed to Kankakee County, then a part of Will County. Mr. Hertzog bought one 
hundred acres of prairie land, twenty acres of which had been broken, and 
opened up a good farm. He was almost empty-handed when he located upon the 
place and he had a hard time to get along, but stubborn perseverance finally 
conquered. He remained upon the farm until his home was burned out, when he 
spent a short time in Kankakee, returning to his farm, from which he removed 
to Will County several years since.
 
The first vote of Mr. Hertzog was cast for Martin VanBuren. Since then he has 
been a Whig and a Republican of conservative views. While in Kankakee Township 
he served as Director of the School Board and as Overseer of Highways. During 
his residence in Pennsylvania he was a member of the Sons of Temperance. He is 
the father of eleven children, of whom the following survive: Charles Wesley, 
Mrs. Henrietta Nicolai, Mrs. Ellen Fisher, Henry H., James N., and Mrs. Martha 
Fleming. He lost one son during the Civil War, at which time Charles Wesley 
and William F. belonged to the Thirty-ninth Illinois, Yates Phalanx. The first-
mentioned returned to his home at the close of the war, but William was killed 
June 18, 1864.



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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