Will County IL Archives Biographies.....Holz, Charles 1827 - 
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File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by:
Deb Haines ddhaines@gmail.com May 5, 2007, 3:08 pm

Author: Portraits & Bio Sketches, 1890

CHARLES HOLZ. 

This gentleman is numbered among the leading citizens of Beecher, and indeed 
of Washington Township, of which he has been Clerk for sixteen years. He has 
held other local offices and has a high reputation as an efficient public 
servant, and he is likewise regarded as one of the most successful farmers of 
this part of the county. He owns a fine estate of one hundred and twenty acres 
near the village and an excellent residence which he occupies within the 
limits. Mecklenburg-Schwerin, Germany, claims Mr. Holz as one of her sons and 
that duchy was the ancestral home for generations. Henry Holz, the father of 
our subject, was a shoemaker who followed his trade in the Fatherland until 
1858, when with his wife and family he emigrated to America. They sailed from 
Hamburg to New York on the "North America" which made the passage in thirty-
five days. The family journeyed direct to Chicago, Ill., and thence to Du Page 
County, from which the parents subsequently returned to Cook County, locating 
in Proviso Township. There the father died, July 24, 1878, in the sixty-
seventh year of his age. He was a Republican, a member of the Lutheran Church, 
and a good man who was respected by all who knew him. His wife, Mary (Miller) 
Holz, came to Will County after his death and died at the home of our subject 
in the winter of 1886. She was then seventy-three years old. She was a life-
long member of the Lutheran Church and was a devoted mother, loving companion, 
and excellent neighbor. The parental family consisted of two sons and four 
daughters, the subject of this sketch being the second in order of birth. He 
was born November 29, 1827, and was nearly of age when his parents came to 
this country. He reached his majority in Du Page County where he continued to 
make his home until 1865, being occupied as a farmer and an improver of lands. 
Upon leaving that county he took up his abode near Beecher and here he has 
gained a competence and secured an excellent reputation. In his early life he 
learned the trade of a shoemaker, but he has not followed it since he came to 
America. The estimable wife of Mr. Holz was known in her maidenhood as Minnie 
Oelerking. Their marriage rites were celebrated in Cook County and neither has 
had cause to regret the union. Mrs. Holz was born in Hanover, Germany, January 
9, 1842, received a good education in the land of her birth, and was so 
instructed by her good parents as to grow to womanhood possessed of a fine 
character and much useful domestic knowledge. She was nineteen years old when 
her parents came to this country and she lived in Du Page County until her 
marriage. Her union with our subject has been a childless one but they have 
become the foster parents of three children: Henry died when seven years old; 
Louisa and Rosa are still with their foster parents, under whose care and 
training they have been well reared and educated in both English and German 
schools. Mr. and Mrs. Holz and the daughters belong to the Lutheran Church and 
have many friends among their associate members, as well as in all circles in 
which they move. The parents of Mrs. Holz were Henry and Sophia (Hartmann) 
Oelerking, who were born reared and married in the Kingdom of Hanover. The 
father followed the business of buying up butter, eggs, chickens, etc., and 
selling them in the larger cities, doing in this way a fine commission trade. 
One son and five daughters were born to the good couple before they emigrated 
to America. They sailed from Bremerhaven in 1860, landing in New York seven 
weeks later, and coming at once to the Prairie State, took up their abode on a 
farm, in Du Page County. There the parents lived for some years, but 
subsequently became residents of Beecher. Here Mr. Oelerking died in October, 
1872, at the age of sixty three years. He was an honest, hardworking man, a 
good Republican in politics, and a sound member of the Lutheran Church. His 
widow survived him several years, breathing her last May 21, 1876. She was a 
good mother, and a kind-hearted neighbor, ever ready to assist those in need. 
With one exception the members of the parental household are still living.

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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