Will County IL Archives Biographies.....Steiber, Carl Wilhelm 
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Deb Haines http://www.rootsweb.com/~archreg/vols/00003.html#0000719 February 2, 2008, 2:52 am

Author: Past & Present Will County, 1907

CARL WILHELM STEIBER. To those who know Carl Wilhelm Steiber and recognize in 
him one of the substantial and prosperous farmers of Crete township, it is 
difficult to realize that when he landed in Chicago, on his way from Germany 
sixty years ago, he possessed a capital of but sixty-five cents. A life of 
industry has been crowned with success and his history proves that earnest oil 
is the best foundation upon which to build prosperity. Mr. Steiber was born in 
Hesse, Germany, in March, 1827, and is therefore now eighty years of age. His 
parents were Henry and Mary Steiber, the former born in Hanover, and the 
latter in Hesse, Germany, both of whom were members of the Lutheran church and 
are now deceased. The father served as a soldier in the German army and made 
farming his life occupation. In the family were eight children, of whom 
Frederick came to the United States in 1844, settling at St. Louis, Missouri. 
He served as a soldier in the Civil war. Carl W. Steiber and his brother 
Philip came to the new world in December, 1847, attracted by the favorable 
reports received from Frederick, and when Carl W. Steiber reached Chicago he 
had remaining in his pocket but sixty-five cents with which to start out in 
life in America. He earned his first money here by chopping timber in La Salle 
county for ten dollars per month, and he worked in Illinois at intervals and 
drove a team on the Illinois & Michigan canal. He afterward spent about 
nineteen years in the employ of the Illinois & Michigan Railroad Company, 
acting as section boss a part of that time, and later he purchased a tract of 
land near Whiting, Indiana, where he did truck farming, peddling his products 
in Chicago, to which place he hauled them with ox teams. There he remained 
until 1871, when he came to Will county and purchased two hundred and ten 
acres of land on section 21, Crete township, and began general farming. He 
prospered in this undertaking and later he purchased one hundred and fifty 
acres additional and subsequently one hundred and thirty-five acres where his 
son William C. now resides. His property is the visible evidence of his life 
of thrift—the proof of his unfaltering perseverance and diligence. Starting 
out in this country empty-handed, he resolved to win success if he could do so 
through earnest and honest effort, and he is today one of the large landowners 
and influential farmers of the county. Mr. Steiber was married in 1854 to Miss 
Ellen Heine, who was born in Hesse, Germany, December 7, 1832, and died on the 
1st of August, 1894. She came to the United States, June 11, 1854, met Mr. 
Steiber at Whiting, and they were soon afterward married. Eight children were 
born of this union: Mary, who was born February 20, 1850, is the wife of Henry 
Wilkening, a retired farmer, and they have ten children; Sophie, born June 15, 
1861, is the wife of Chris Behrens, of Crete township, and they have five 
children; Henry, who was born February 25, 1866, and is living on the home 
place, married Sophie H. Kraeft, a daughter of Frederick and Mary (Claus) 
Kraeft and a native of Crete township, born in 1870, while by her marriage she 
has six children; William C., born June 8, 1868, is living in Crete township 
and has six children; Augusta, born January 2, 1872, is the wife of William 
Schumacher, of Cissna Park, Illinois, and they have three children; Ellen M., 
who was born December 9, 1864, died on the 16th of the same month; John, born 
November 5, 1870, died two days later; and Herman, born April 6, 1875, died 
the following day. Mr. Steiber also has thirty grandchildren. In his religious 
faith Mr. Steiber is a Lutheran and his wife was a member of the same church. 
He has always voted the republican ticket since the organization of the party 
and is loyal to the institutions and interests of his adopted land, for within 
its borders he found good opportunities for business advancement and the ready 
reward of labor. He has worked diligently and persistently but has found that 
labor does not go unrewarded here as it often does in a country where caste 
and class divisions prevail. As the years have gone by he has prospered and is 
now in possession of valuable farming property, which makes him one of the 
prosperous residents of the county, and his life should serve to encourage and 
inspire others to put forth strenuous effort. He is now a venerable citizen of 
eighty years and as such receives the respect of his fellowmen.

Additional Comments:
PAST AND PRESENT OF WILL COUNTY, ILLINOIS By W. W. Stevens President of the 
Will County Pioneers Association; Chicago: The S. J. Clarke Publishing 
Company, 1907

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