Lake County IN Archives Biographies.....Berg, Joseph B. 1862 - ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/in/infiles.htm ************************************************ File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by: Joy Fisher sdgenweb@yahoo.com December 21, 2006, 11:58 pm Author: T. H. Ball (1904) JOSEPH B. BERG. Joseph B. Berg is one of the stanch German-Americans who stand so high in the ranks of citizenship in Lake county, and who are known for their energy, honesty and efficiency in all of life's relations. Industry is a keynote in his succesful career, and as he has accomplished much for himself so likewise has he done his share in the upbuilding and development of the county. To no one class of citizens does Lake county owe more of its substantial progress and prosperity than to the fine German-American element which will be found there in such numbers. Mr. Berg was born in West Creek township, Lake county, December 22, 1862, and is the third in a family of four children, two sons and two daughters, born to Bernhard and Katharine (Lang) Berg. He has a sister older than himself, named Elizabeth, who is the wife of Anton Huseman, a prosperous farmer of West Creek township; and a younger sister, Mary, who is the wife of Philip Fetsch, a resident of Chicago. His only brother is deceased. Bernhard Berg, the father, was born in Westphalia, Germany, in 1834, and died in Crown Point in 1889. He received his education in the German language, but also learned English after coming to America. He was a young and comparatively poor man when he took passage on a sailing vessel and made the long and tedious voyage of weeks' duration to reach this land of opportunity and freedom. He came to Lake county and began as a wage-earner. He later purchased one hundred and twenty acres of land in West Creek township, going in debt for most of it, but before his useful career came to a close he had been the possessor of six hundred acres of the fine land of Lake county, which indicates how successful was his work. He was a Democrat in politics, and he and his wife were Catholics, with membership in the St. Anthony's church, which he had helped to build. His wife was also a native of Germany, and at the present writing makes her residence in Crown Point, being a bright and vigorous old lady of sixty-four years. Mr. Joseph B. Berg spent his youth as well as his later career in West Creek township, and his early education was obtained in the parochial schools. He was confirmed in the Catholic church at the age of thirteen. He is a practical farmer and stockman, and has given his best efforts and years to that honorable industry. He spent one year in Kankakee and Will counties, Illinois, engaged in the grain and live-stock business, but after that returned to his estate. March 4, 1889, he was married to Miss Louisa Cloidt (but the original spelling of the name in Germany was Kloht). Three children have been born to this happy union, and all are living: Fred Joseph, who is in the sixth grade of school work and last year attended the parochial school of Crown Point, his intellectual fondness being especially for arithmetic; Elizabeth T. and Clara M., both in school, and the former in the fourth grade. Mrs. Berg was born in Kankakee, Illinois, November 2, 1866, a daughter of Joseph and Louisa (Klein) Cloidt, and she was educated in the English schools. Both her parents were natives of Germany, and after coming to this country her father participated in the Civil war. He was wounded in the hip at the battle of Gettysburg, and he cut out the bullet with his own pocket-knife and still preserves the shot as a memorial of his brave soldier life. He had a brother Anton who was killed in the war. For a long time he was in the grain business at Beecher, Illinois, but is now living retired at Sollitt, Illinois. He is a Democrat in politics. His wife was born hi Westphalia, Germany, and there were nine children, two sons and seven daughters, in their family, five of whom are living and all in Illinois except Mrs. Berg. Mrs. Berg is a quick, smart and energetic woman, an able assistant to her husband, and an esteemed member of the social circles of this community. Mr. and Mrs. Berg have five hundred and sixty-seven acres of good land in West Creek township, and in 1893 they erected their beautiful residence, followed in the next year by a commodious new barn. Their farmstead is a model in appearance and productivity, and there is not a better one in the township. They have a fine lot of Hereford cattle, besides some excellent horses, and Mr. Berg is known throughout this part of the county for his excellent judgment on the points of stock. He owns stock in a brick and tile company at Eagle Lake, Illinois. Mr. Berg is a Democrat, but has usually cast his vote according to his independent opinions. He and his wife and eldest children are members of St. Anthony's Catholic church at Klaasville, Indiana. Mr. Berg is a stockholder and the vice-president of the Crown Point Pure Food Company, which was incorporated to raise currants and manufacture jellies and preserves, this being an enterprise of much value to the farming district of Lake county. Additional Comments: Extracted from: ENCYCLOPEDIA OF Genealogy and Biography OF LAKE COUNTY, INDIANA, WITH A COMPENDIUM OF HISTORY 1834—1904 A Record of the Achievements of Its People in the Making of a Commonwealth and the Founding of a Nation. REV. T. H. BALL OF CROWN POINT, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF ILLUSTRATED CHICAGO NEW YORK THE LEWIS PUBLISHING COMPANY 1904 File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/in/lake/bios/berg527gbs.txt This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.org/infiles/ File size: 5.8 Kb