Will County IL Archives Biographies.....Labo, Joseph 
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File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by:
Deb Haines ddhaines@gmail.com September 7, 2007, 11:44 pm

Author: Genealogical & Biographical Record

JOSEPH LABO is engaged in the florist's business in Joliet. In the spring of 
1898 he bought two acres of land at Raynor and Mason avenues and built a 
greenhouse.   

Since then he has built up a large business in cut flowers, nursery and 
decorative plants.  His greenhouses contain twelve thousand square feet of 
glass and are stocked with the choicest varieties of plants. In addition to 
his regular work as a florist he has had considerable demand for his services 
as a landscape gardener, and has displayed taste and talent in this line of 
business. Desiring to equip his greenhouses with the latest improvements, he 
has bought a gasoline engine, and uses steam and hot water for heating 
purposes.

Born in Cologne, Germany, May 21, 1868, our subject is a son of Theodore and 
Sophia (Mauch) Labo, natives of the same city, where the paternal grandfather 
was a stone mason and the maternal grandfather, Dominicus Mauch, an expert 
mechanic and manufacturer of scientific instruments. The father, who was a 
talented pianist, organist and violinist, played the grand organ in the 
Colonge Cathedral for years and also taught private pupils. He died in his 
native city when seventy-one years of age. His wife is still living in that 
place. They had only two children, of whom the daughter still remains in 
Cologne. The son, our subject, spent six years in the Cologne Gymnasium, where 
he studied German, English, French and Latin. At the age of sixteen he was 
apprenticed to the trade of florist and landscape gardener in his native town, 
and after two years he began travel as a journeyman, working in various German 
towns. In 1887 he entered the Seventh Artillery of Cologne Battery No. 8, in 
which he served for one year. His knowledge of foreign languages led to his 
promotion from the ranks to an official position. After retiring from the army 
he went to England and worked at his trade there, later was similarly engaged 
in France and Ghent, Belgium.

Coming to America in 1892, Mr. Labo was employed in a large nursery at 
Rochester, N. Y. In the spring of 1893 he went to Chicago, and for eighteen 
months worked in Lincoln Park under Superintendent Pettigrew, who recommended 
him to Warden Allen at Joliet. In this way he was appointed to the position of 
florist at the state penitentiary. He continued there until February 1, 1899, 
when he resigned in order to devote his entire attention to private business 
affairs. While at the penitentiary he laid out the front lawn and made the 
lily pond, transforming the grounds from their unattractive condition to a 
beautiful spot. He is a member of the Society of American Florists and takes a 
warm interest in everything pertaining to his occupation. In religion he is 
identified with St. John's Roman Catholic Church. He is a member of the Joliet 
Saengerbund. By his marriage in New York City to Miss Margaret Fisher, a 
native of Cologne, he has one son, Theodore.

Additional Comments:
Genealogical and Biographical Record of Will County Illinois Containing 
Biographies of Well Known Citizens of the Past and Present, Biographical 
Publishing Company, Chicago, 1900

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