Bios: Arnett/Offerle/Ott families: from Warren County, PA 

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>From "History of Henry County, Illinois", by Henry L. Kiner, Volume II,
Chicago:  The Pioneer Publishing Company, 1910.  Alice Gless


GEORGE ARNETT

Prominent among the successful farmers and old settlers of Henry County
is George Arnett, who for over seventy-two years has been closely
identified with the history of this region.  He is a man of keen
discrimination and sound judgment, and his pronounced business ability
and excellent management have brought to him a high degree of success,
so that now he is one of the wealthiest citizens of Geneseo, where he is
now living a retired life.

His birth occurred in Warren County, Pennsylvania, June 6, 1833, his
parents being Louis and Clara (Schotte) Arnett, the former a native of
France and the latter of Germany.  On coming to Illinois, the father
settled first in Chicago, which at that time was a mere village, and he
was offered a house and lot near the present postoffice for six months¹
work but refused to accept the proposition.  In 1837 he came to Henry
County and secured two hundred and forty acres of government land in
Loraine Township.  Upon the wild unbroken prairie he built a log house
and then began the cultivation of his land.  Later he added more land to
this farm but finally sold the place and purchased a farm in Whiteside
County.  There his wife died in March, 1866, and about four years later
he disposed o his farming interests and went to live with his
son-in-law, David Heller.  His lack of a knowledge of the English
language at the time he came to America caused him to meet with many
hindrances in business transactions but he finally became able to use
the tongue of his adopted land and to converse very fluently.  He was a
member of the Evangelical Church and gave his early political allegiance
to the Whig Party, while later he supported the Republican Party. He
died in January, 1868, honored and respected by all who knew him.

George Arnett was the eleventh in a family of twelve children, eight of
whom were born in Germany, while the others were natives of Warren,
Pennsylvania, where the parents located after their arrival in the new
world.  The children were:  Louis, who died in Warren, Pennsylvania;
Jacob, who died in Geneseo, Illinois, in 1899; Mary, who wedded Samuel
Cogswell and both died in the Keystone state; Anthony, a resident of
Colorado; Catherine, who married David Heller and lived for some years
in Loraine Township, this county, but was a resident of Geneseo at the
time of her death, which occurred in 1900; Joseph, who died in Geneseo;
John who died in this county in 1898; Philip, who died in California in
1850; Susan who married Simeon Heller, both of whom passed away in Henry
County; William, who died in Loraine Township in 1898; George, the
subject of this review; and Samuel also a resident of Geneseo

The educational opportunities which George Arnett was accorded during
his boyhood and youth were very meager but, possessing an observant eye
and retentive memory, he has added much to his knowledge and has also
learned many valuable lessons through experience and through reading.
He remained on the home farm until reaching manhood and on the 28th of
March, 1853, started for California with the Hite family, to whom he was
to pay fifty dollars for his traveling expenses and the drive a team
half of the time.  In an uncovered wagon he traveled across the plains
and over the mountains and as there were no bridges the rivers had to be
forded, and to keep the wagons from pushing against the horses in going
down the mountains, trees had to be tied to them and trail behind, thus
providing an obstacle to their rapid progress.  En route the party with
which Mr. Arnett traveled had several encounters with the Indians and
their horses were stolen by the red men a number of times but were
afterward recaptured.  Stopping first in Oregon, he was there employed
for a short time as a farm laborer but at the end of six weeks purchased
provisions and with one horse started for California, traveling for five
hundred miles through unbroken wilderness.  On reaching Scott River he
found employment with his brother at seventy-five dollars per month and
for six months had charge of the pack train in the mountains.  At the
end of that time he purchased the train and outfit from his brother and
engaged in the same business on his own account with good success.
During his sojourn in the west, he had many thrilling and interesting
experiences which, if written in detail, would rival many of the stories
of fiction.

After about four years spent in California, Mr. Arnett returned east by
water, arriving in Henry County just before Christmas Day in 1856.  He
then took charge of the farm and later made his first purchase of land
from his father, becoming owner of one hundred and sixty acres in
Loraine Township.  During the period of the Civil War he had the
misfortune to have his house destroyed by fire.  In the summer of 1864
when so many men were at the front it was impossible to find men willing
to work on the farm and his wife drove the horses of the reaper while he
and his hired man bound the grain cut on one hundred and seventy-five
acres.  Wheat advanced in price to three dollars per bushel and he was
thus enabled to get a good start in life.  From time to time he made
further investment in property until he became the owner of thirteen
hundred acres in Henry County and twenty-four hundred acres in
Minnesota, thus becoming one of the most extensive landowners of this
part of the state.  In connection with general farming he raised and
handled live stock, making a specialty of fine Durham cattle.

Mr. Arnett was married November 15, 1857, to Miss Margaret Sieben, a
daughter of Joseph and Appolonia (Gabel) Sieben. Mrs. Arnett was born in
the village of Abenheim, Hesse-Darmstadt, Germany, near the city of
Worms, and was ten years of age when she came with her parents to
America in 1852.  They took passage on a Rhine steamboat at Mainz on the
8th of August 1852, went to Rotterdam and then proceeded to London.  As
passengers on a sailing vessel they came from the world'¹ metropolis to
the United States, reaching New York after a voyage of forty-eight
days.  The family made their way direct to Chicago and because of the
illness of the mother were obliged to remain in that city.  The death of
Mrs. Sieben occurred in the following January and In February, 1853, Mr.
Sieben with six of his seven children, went to Whiteside County and
settled on the Rock River bottom near Crandall¹s Ferry.  At that time
the father went in debt to the extent of one hundred and seventy-five
dollars.  He rented a farm and took possession of a vacant cabin, which
he made comfortable by chinking it with mud.  He then obtained work, for
which he received fifty cents per day, while two of his sons worked for
thirty and twenty-five cents per day, respectively, and had to board
themselves.  In 1856 the log house was burned and the entire contents
were destroyed.  It was in that year that the father married a second
time and he remained a resident of Whiteside County until his death in
1858.

His daughter, Mrs. Arnett, has been a resident of Henry County since
1857 or for a period of fifty-two years.  She has been to her husband a
faithful helpmeet and companion on life¹s journey, standing loyally by
him in all of the struggles of his early business career and through her
wifely sympathy and wise counsels has helped him to achieve success.
She is a lady of refinement and an estimable woman and receives the love
of her children and the esteem and confidence of her many friends.  By
her marriage she became the mother of six children:  Harriet M., the
eldest, became the wife of William Hudnall and died, leaving a daughter
Inez, who married Otis Godfrey, a large sheep man of Montana.  Julia is
the wife of Lamont Rowe of Washington, Iowa, and they have three
children, Wilma, Margaret and Catherine.  Franklin G., living in
Culbertson, Montana, married Elma Brockman and has one daughter,
Rowena.  Minnie Albeta is the wife of Perry Kempster, of Prophetstown,
Illinois, and they have three sons, Cecil, Arnett and Oliver.  Perry
Adelbert, residing ten miles from Laverne, Minnesota, married Catharine
Lynch and has two children, Margaret and George L.  Floyd Henry, the
youngest of the family, is at home.

Mr. and Mrs. Arnett are devoted members of the Methodist Church.  Mr.
Arnett is a stalwart Republican in his political views and has taken an
active interest in local politics.  He served for twenty years as school
director in Phenix Township, where he also filled the office of
supervisor for eight years.  His history is one which is most
commendable as it is the record of a man who has wisely placed his
dependence upon his own energy and ability.  In all of his business
affairs he has been thoroughly reliable, and his industry has carried
him into important relations with the agricultural and financial
interests of the county.  He has lived in the county for seventy-two
years and his wife for fifty-two years and they are among its most
highly esteemed citizens.  There is perhaps no resident of this part of
the state who can speak in more comprehensive and reliable manner
concerning events which marked the early pioneer development,
characterized the later growth and have fostered the present progress
and upbuilding of the county.  He can remember when the greater part of
the land was still uncultivated but has lived to see it transformed into
rich farms, in the midst of which are beautiful homes.  Towns and
villages have also sprung up and the work of development and improvement
has been carried steadily forward.  Mr. Arnett rejoices in all that has
been done on the side of advancement.

SAMUEL J. ARNETT

For more than forty years, Samuel J. Arnett has lived in Henry County
and at different periods has been identified with general agricultural
pursuits and commercial interests, his capable direction of his business
affairs making him one of the substantial and prosperous citizens of
Geneseo.  His birth occurred in Portland Township, Whiteside County,
Illinois, January 16, 1844.  The Arnett family is of French origin and
was founded in America by Louis Arnett, the grandfather who arrived in
this country in 1828, settling first near Warren, Pennsylvania, where he
engaged in farming.  He became one of the pioneer residents of Henry
County, Illinois, settling in 1837 just across the county line from his
son.  He took up land from the government and at once began the arduous
ask of breaking the sod and developing new fields.  He served as a
teamster in the French War of 1812, prior to his emigration to America.
His life in this country was a busy and useful one and his labors
constituted an element in the agricultural development and substantial
growth of the section in which he lived.  He died on the old home place
at the age of seventy-seven years, while his wife, Mrs. Clarissa Arnett,
passed away in 1866 at the age of seventy years.  They were the parents
of seventeen children, twelve of whom reached years of maturity.

Jacob Arnett, the father of Samuel J. Arnett, was born in France but was
reared in Illinois and chose as his life work the occupation with which
he became familiar in his boyhood days.  It was in 1828 that he arrived
in the United States and after living for about eight years in Warren,
Pennsylvania, he became a resident of Whiteside County, Illinois, in
1836, settling in Portland township before the land was surveyed.  He
shared in all the hardships and privations incident to pioneer life, but
with the passing years his labors brought good results and for a long
period he was one of the enterprising agriculturists of the community.
He took up considerable land and his possessions were therefore quite
extensive, for later he made additional purchases.  In 1852 he made an
overland trip to California with two ox teams of four yokes each and ran
a pack train while on the Pacific coast.  In 1854 he resumed his farming
operations in Whiteside County and in the spring of 1876 he removed to
Geneseo where he was engaged in business for a short time but afterward
lived retired until his death.  He was called to the home beyond in 1900
at the age of eighty-five years while his wife died in 1881 at the age
of sixty-six years.  They were both devoted members of the German
Evangelical Association.  Mrs. Arnett bore the maiden name of Charlotte
Sommers.  Her father was a native of Alsace, Germany, while her mother
was born in Heidelberg Germany.  On making the long voyage across the
Atlantic they settled at Warren, Pennsylvania, where the father followed
farming.  He died at an advanced age, but his wife passed away in early
womanhood.  They were the parents of four sons, and their only daughter
became Mrs. Jacob Arnett.  Of that marriage there were seven children,
four sons and three daughters:  Lewis C., now living in Prophetstown,
Illinois; Samuel J.; Philip S., of Erie, Illinois; Mary, the wife of
Andrew Smith, of Geneseo; Albert W., living in Ogallala, Nebraska; Clara
A., the wife of Abraham Rapp, of Henry County; and Otilla, the wife of
Charles Alber, of Kansas City, Kansas.

On taking up the personal history of Samuel J. Arnett we present to our
readers the life record of one who is widely and favorably known here,
measuring at all times up to the full standard of honorable manhood.  He
was reared in Whitened County, Illinois, on his father¹s farm, attending
the old time subscription schools of the early days, while later he
completed his education in the college at Plainfield, and also in the
high school at Warren, Pennsylvania.  He remained at home until about
the time he attained his majority, and at eighteen years of age he
suffered a serious accident in a mowing machine, resulting in the loss
of a foot.  Following his marriage he took up farming on his own account
on a tract of land which he owned in Whiteside County and subsequently
he purchased a farm originally in the possession of his paternal
grandfather and has lived in Henry County since 1868.  The place
comprised two hundred and fifty-seven and on-half acres of rich land
which he carefully cultivated until 1875.  He then sold the place to his
brother-in-law, Abraham Rapp, who is still the owner.  At that date Mr.
Arnett came to Geneseo and opened a dry goods store which he conducted
for five years.  He then turned his attention to the agricultural
implement business, in which he still continues, and now has a
well-appointed establishment while his annual sales reach a large and
satisfactory figure.  His business probity is above question, and his
reliable methods insure him a continuance of a liberal patronage.

On the 17th of September, 1865, Mr. Arnett completed his arrangements
for having a home of his own in his marriage with Miss Eliza
Grossenburg, who was born in Warren, Pennsylvania, March 20, 1843, and
is a daughter of Samuel and Elizabeth (Yost) Grossenburg.  Her
grandfather, also Samuel Grossenburg, was a native of Switzerland, where
he wedded Mary Ann Stopfel and they spent their entire lives in the land
of the Alps.  The maternal grandfather of Mrs. Arnett was Francis T.
Yost, a farmer by occupation who became one of the early settlers of
Rock Island county, Illinois.  He has crossed the Atlantic from Germany
and, taking up his abode in this state, developed and improved a farm
upon which he lived to the advanced age of eighty-one years.  His wife,
Mrs. Catherine Yost, died in middle age.  Mr. Yost had served under
Napoleon in the war that was waged in Alsace-Lorraine and sustained a
severe saber slash across the back.  Unto him and his wife were born the
following children:  Catharine; the wife of Joseph Hauser; August;
Elizabeth, who became Mrs. Grossenburg; Solomon; and Rebecca, who
married Charles Stamm.

Samuel Grossenburg, the father of Mrs. Arnett, was born in Canton Berne,
Switzerland, and when twenty years of age came to the United States,
locating in Pittsburg.  He there worked as a laborer for six months and
as a butcher for three and a half years.  He afterward went to Warren,
Pennsylvania, where he engaged in the butchering business and in 1839 he
took up his abode near Stoneham, Pennsylvania, in Meade Township, Warren
County.  When he removed to that locality he penetrated an almost
trackless wilderness and in the midst of the forest he cleared and
developed a farm, his original home there being a log cabin, which was
afterward replaced by a fine dwelling.  He was a man of great energy and
of undaunted enterprise and as the years passed by prospered in his
undertakings, becoming the owner of one farm of ninety acres, one of
eighty-two, and another of two hundred and forty acres.  On the last
mentioned tract, in 1866, he built a sawmill which was removed in 1885.
On the 19th of January, 1836, he married Elizabeth Yost, who was born in
Alsace, Germany, and when eight years of age was brought to America by
her parents.  This worthy couple had a family of ten children:  Samuel,
Jr., Eliza A., William H., Jerome C., Albert G., Clara E., Lillie O. and
three who died in infancy.  The father died September 23, 1885, at the
age of seventy-six years, while the mother passed away September 25,
1907, at the age of eighty-nine years and three months.

Unto Mr. And Mrs. Arnett were born two daughters and two sons:  Minnie
C., who died when six and a half months old; Jerome J., who married
Amelia Hoeft and is a barber of Geneseo; Glenn W., who wedded Ida
Williams and is conducting a barber shop at Silvis, Illinois; and
Blanche E., who married Frank F. Pierce, of Geneseo, and has one son,
Samuel Dale.  The family residence is on North State Street, where Mr.
Arnett owns a beautiful home.  His wife is a member of the
Congregational Church.  Politically he is a Republican and has been
called to serve in various positions of trust and responsibility.  He
served as collector in Portland Township, Whiteside County, and since
coming to this county has been school director, assessor, collector and
supervisor and also served for eight years as alderman from the third
ward in Geneseo.  As a member of the city council he exercised his
official prerogatives in support of many measures for the public good
and leaves tangible proofs of his loyalty and progressive citizenship.
Throughout his entire life he has been a resident of this portion of the
state, interested and active in works of public moment and displaying in
his business life those sterling qualities which make for honorable and
substantial success.

SAMUEL ARNETT, SR. (there is picture of him and his wife)

Samuel Arnett, Sr., has passed the seventy-third milestone on life¹s
journey and is now enjoying in well earned rest the fruits of his former
toil.  He was born in Warren County, Pennsylvania, July 6, 1836, and is
a son of Louis and Mary Clara (Shelty) Arnett, both of whom were natives
of France, having been born near Strassburg.  The paternal grandfather
was John Arnett, who devoted his life to farming and died in France at
the comparatively early age of forty-six years, his son Louis being his
only child.  The maternal grandfather was Christian Shelty, who was born
in France and was serving in the army at the time of the Russian
invasion.  He probably lost his life at that time for he was never heard
from afterward.  Unto him and his wife, Mary Clara Shelty, there were
born four daughters.

It was in the year 1826 that Mr. And Mars. Louis Arnett came to the
United States, and after living for a time in Waterford and in Buffalo,
New York, they removed to Warren, Pennsylvania.  Northern Illinois was
still a frontier region when in May 1837, they came to Henry County.  So
few had been the settlements made in this portion of the state that the
land was not yet placed on the market.  Mr. Arnett settled upon a farm
of one hundred and sixty acres, and after the government placed the land
in this district on sale he purchased adjoining tracts, improved the
property and there reared his family.  As time passed he developed one
of the best farms in what is now Loraine Township, but later he sold
that place and removed to a farm three miles farther west, continuing to
make it his home until 1868 when he passed away at the age of
seventy-eight years and ten months.  His wife died in 1866 at the age of
about seventy-two years.  They were the parents of twelve children, all
of whom reached adult age, but only two are now living, George and
Samuel, both of Geneseo.

Samuel Arnett was reared in Loraine Township on his father¹s farm and
lived at home until twenty-one years of age.  His first schooling was
received under private instruction from a man whom his father employed
to teach the children.  He built a partition in his log cabin, thus
forming a little schoolroom, after which he employed the teacher, for he
desired that his sons and daughters should have the best advantages in
that direction that he was able to secure.  The first district school in
the neighborhood met in the Evangelical Church, which was a little log
structure.  There he learned to write, he and the other pupils standing
on the rostrum, each practicing ten minutes at a time, one giving way to
the other.  While the methods of instruction in those days were
primitive and the branches of learning taught were few, the work done
was usually quite thorough and proved an excellent foundation on which
to build the superstructure of further knowledge as the pupils went out
in the world and began to learn the lessons in the school of experience.

In 1859, Mr. Arnett made a trip to Pike¹s Peak, traveling overland with
an ox-team.  The Indians were then numerous, and the buffalo and deer
were thick upon the prairie, the former at times having to be driven
away from the camp.  Mr. Arnett traveled westward with a company of
about fifty men in search of gold.  He spent two and a half years in the
mines near where the city of Maniton, Colorado, now stands, after which
he returned to Henry County and for two years engaged in the cultivation
of rented land.  He first bought a farm of one hundred and forty-seven
acres in Loraine Township, making his home thereon for thirty years, and
finally he improved the farm with a new house, new barn and other modern
accessories.  In 1895 he rented his farm and took up his abode in
Geneseo, where he built an attractive and modern residence which he
still occupies.  He had added to the farm in the meantime, and when he
sold that property in 1906 it contained one hundred and eighty-six
acres.

On the 15th of November 1863, Mr. Arnett was married to Miss Catharine
Urich, a daughter of Rudolph and Catharine (Rapp) Urich.  They became
parents of five children:  Annie, the wife of Samuel Spath, a resident
of Audubon County, Iowa, by whom she has two children‹Chester and Helen
Libbie; David W., a farmer of Loraine Township, who married Emma Deener
and has one daughter, Sylvia; Edwin Solomon, who resides on the old
homestead in Loraine Township and married Annie Myers, by whom he has
two sons-‹Glenn and Dale; Libbie L., who is the wife of William H. Wait,
living near Fort Morgan, Colorado; and George W., who resides at
Bozeman, Montana.  Mrs. Catharine Arnett died May 22, 1906, at the age
of fifty-nine years and nine months.  On the 1st of August 1907, Mr.
Arnett was again married, his second union being with Mrs. Mary E.
Crouch, the widow of Royal G. Crouch and a daughter of Gardner and Mary
P. (Ford) Hunt.  Her paternal grandfather was John Hunt who was the
twelfth John in the line of direct descent.  He wedded Clarinda Green.
The maternal grandparents of Mrs. Mary Arnett were Olivet and Mary P.
(Post) Ford.  Mrs. Arnett was born in Rutland, Vermont, and was there
married to Royal G. Crouch.  By that marriage she had four sons and a
daughter:  Mary Edna, who died in infancy; George Henry, of Bangor,
Michigan, who married Ada Sniff and has two sons‹Raymond and Lloyd;
Herbert Royal, of Abingdon, Illinois, who married Augusta Guild and has
two children‹Harry and Florence; David Wilbur, of Tulsa, Oklahoma, who
married Alice Booton and has two sons‹Victor and Kenneth; and Merritt
Gardner, of Moline, Illinois, who wedded Etta Smith.  Mrs. Arnett
belongs to the Grace Evangelical Association.  Mr. Arnett is a member of
Stewart Lodge, No. 92, A. F. & A. M.  His political allegiance is given
to the Republican Party, and he has been active in its local ranks while
his fellow townsmen, appreciative of his sterling worth, elected him to
the office of supervisor for three years, while for twenty-three years
they continued him in the position of highway commissioner.  His
official record has been a most creditable one, characterized by
unfaltering fidelity to duty, and in business affairs his probity has
never been called into question.  He has made an excellent record, both
as a citizen and businessman, and the high place which he holds in the
regard of his fellow citizens is well merited.

ALFRED S. OFFERLE

Alfred S. Offerle, a well known farmer and stock raiser whose farm
comprises the north half of the southeast quarter of Section 8, Munson
Township, was born in the City of Geneseo, December 15, 1870, and is a
son of John and Catharine (Fisher) Offerle, of whom mention is made
elsewhere in this volume.  He was reared to manhood in his native city
and in the acquirement of his education passed through consecutive
grades in the public schools until he had completed two years¹ work in
the high school.  He has, however, been largely dependent upon his own
resources from the age of thirteen years, when he began work by the
month as a farm hand.  He was thus employed until the time of his
marriage, which was celebrated on Christmas Day of 1895, in the Lutheran
parsonage in Edford Township, the lady of his choice being Miss Lulu
Wildermuth, a native of Osco Township and a daughter of Philip and Mary
(Niermeyer) Wildermuth, who are now residents of Geneseo.  Her father,
now about seventy years of age, was born in Alsace, Germany, and when a
lad came to America with his parents, Mr. And Mrs. Christian
Wildermuth.  Mrs. Offerle¹s mother was born in St. Louis, where she grew
to womanhood.  Two children have been born unto Mr. And Mrs. Offerle:
Earl John, who was born in Munson Townshhip, April 10, 1897; and Della
Irene, who was born on the home place, August 5, 1904.

Mr. Offerle is now the owner of a good farm which he purchased in 1904
and upon which he has erected a dwelling and other modern and
substantial buildings.  He manifests a spirit of undaunted enterprise in
operating his farm, and it is now a carefully cultivated place.  In
politics he is a Republican and has served for five years as school
trustee, being the present incumbent in the office.  He has also been
school director for five years and is a stalwart champion of improvement
along the line of public education.  Fraternally he is connected with
Independent Order of Odd Fellows, the Mystic Workers of the World and
the Yeomen of America.  He is a well-known resident of Munson Township
and is numbered among the worthy native sons of the county.

JOHN OFFERLE

John Offerle, who has passed the eightieth milestone on life¹s journey,
is a retired shoemaker living in Geneseo.  He was born in Alsace,
France, September 30, 1829, and is a son of John Jacob and Saloma
(Peter) Offerle, both of whom were also natives of Alsace.  The
ancestors of the family lived in Normandy, France, and were of the faith
of the Waldenses.  In the time of the Catholic persecution they fled
from Normandy to Switzerland, and thence their descendants went to
Alsace, settling in Baldenheim, in the Department of Du-Pas-Rhine near
Schlestadt.  The great-great-grandfather of our subject was John Jacob
Offerle, who was born in 1705 and died November 17,1773.  He was married
in 1730 to Sarah Meinold, whose mother bore the maiden name of Adam
Peter, a native of Alsace, France, and a linen weaver by trade.  Both he
and his wife died in that country.  John Jacob Offerle, who was a farmer
by occupation, died in Baldenheim on September 20, 1845, at the age of
forty-eight years, his birth having occurred April 20, 1797.  His first
wife, who was born in Baldenheim in 1798, passed away November 27,
1841.  He afterward married again, his second union being with Saloma
Hertzel. He and both of his wives were members of the Lutheran Church.
By his first marriage there were five sons and two daughters, but only
two are now living, the sister of our subject being Mrs. Mary Hessel,
the wife of Charles Hessel, of London, Ontario.  The two children of the
father¹s second marriage were Catharine and Christian.

John Offerle was educated in the schools of his native province in both
the French and German languages and when sixteen years of age began
learning the shoemaker¹s trade.  In 1847 at the age of eighteen years he
came to America, settling in Warren, Pennsylvania, where he engaged in
shoemaking.  Since 1864 he has resided continuously in Geneseo, where he
and his brother George established a shoe store, which they conducted
together for three or four years.  On the expiration of that period they
dissolved partnership and John Offerle continued to make boots and
shoes, enjoying a good patronage in that line until 1900, since which
time he has lived retired.  He remained an active factor in the world¹s
work until after his seventy-first year, and the rest which he has since
enjoyed has been well merited, for his competence was honorably earned.

On the 23d of December, 1852, Mr. Offerle was united in marriage to Miss
Catharine Fisher, a daughter of Andrew and Mary (Eisler) Fisher.  Mrs.
Offerle was born in Warren, Pennsylvania, April 12, 1836, but her
parents were natives of Alsace, France, and her father was one of
Napoleon¹s bodyguards.  He was tall and handsome, and moreover, a man of
high character, who led a consistent Christian life.  He died in Warren,
Pennsylvania, in 1848 at the age of fifty-three years, and his wife,
long surviving him, passed away in 1891 at the age of eighty-four years,
her death occurring in Geneseo.  Unto Mr. And Mrs. Offerle have been
born seven children:  Josephine, the wife of John Minsch, of Hooppole,
Illinois, by whom she has six children‹Lora, Charles, Florence, Alice,
Cora and Warren; Henry of Lane county, Kansas, who married Hattie
McKinley and has four children‹John, Eva, Charles and Freddie; Diana,
the wife of Philip Sommers of Abilene, Kansas, who has three
children‹Stacy, Lynn and Lorena; the wife of Richard Arnold, of Geneseo
and the mother of one daughter, Oneida; Cora, who died at the age of
twenty-five years; Alfred, a farmer of Munson Township, who married Lulu
Wildermuth and has two children‹Earl and Della; and Aaron, who resides
in Enid, Oklahoma.

Mr. Offerle is a stanch advocate of all that he believes to be right and
manifests his views in the temperance question by the loyal support
which he gives the Prohibition Party.  Both he and his wife are members
of the Evangelical Church and are good Christian people, active in the
church work.  They are highly esteemed for their genuine worth and have
lived exemplary lives before their children and before all of the
world.  Because of this they can look back over the past without regret
and forward to the future without fear.

ROY G. F. OFFERLE

Roy G. F. Offerle is well known in Geneseo, where he has spent his
entire life, his birth having here occurred on the 3d of December,
1882.  He is a son of Albert F. and Caroline J. (Dannenfelser) Offerle.
His paternal grandfather, George J. Offerle, came to America from
Alsace, which was then under the dominion of France, but the family were
of German lineage and spoke both the German and French tongues.  George
J. Offerle settled in Warren, Pennsylvania, and was there united in
marriage to Miss Magdalene Reig, who was also a native of Germany.
Removing westward they spent their last days in Geneseo where both died
when more than sixty years of age.  They were the parents of nine
children who reached years of maturity.  Albert F.; Lena, the wife of
Philip Rapp; Edward, deceased; Patrick; Belle; Anna, the wife of J. V.
Laver; Louis; Freeman; and Hattie, the wife of C. E. Hapgood.  The
maternal grandfather of our subject was Frederick Dannenfelser, who came
from Lorraine and at a very early day settled in Phenix Township, Henry
County, Illinois.  There he built a log cabin in which he began life in
true pioneer style but later improved his farm with good buildings.  A
number of years afterward he removed to Geneseo where he died at the age
of eighty-one years, while his wife was eighty-four years of age at the
time of her death.  They had a large family; Jacob, deceased; William;
Elizabeth, the wife of John O. Freed; Fred; Christina, the wife of F. E.
Gresser; Caroline J., who became Mrs. Offerle; and Julia, the wife of S.
S. Ott.

Albert F. Offerle, the father of our subject, was a shoemaker of Warren,
Pennsylvania, and when a young man came with his parents to Geneseo,
where he spent the remainder of his life, saving the last few years,
which were passed in Helena, Montana.  There he died in the Œ90s.  His
widow still survives and is a member of the German Evangelical Church,
to which Mr. Offerle also belonged.  For a short time he was proprietor
of a boot and shoe store in Geneseo.  In their family were two children,
William Albert and Roy G. F.

The younger was reared in Geneseo and lives in the house where he was
born.  He attended the public and high schools, and after putting aside
his text-books he began clerking in the grocery store of George Drehmer,
by whom he was employed for six or seven years.  He afterward accepted a
clerkship in the clothing store of Lagfer & Offerle, where he has
continued to the present time, and he is well known in the business
circles of the city.

Politically, Mr. Offerle is a Republican, and fraternally he is
connected with the Improved Order of Redmen.  He lives at home with his
mother on Center Street, and is well known in the social circles of the
city, having many warm friends in Geneseo where his life has been
passed.

`WILLIAM ALBERT OFFERLE

William Albert Offerle is well known as a member of the firm of Lager &
Offerle, successful clothing merchants.  He was born in this city,
October 1, 1872, and is a son of Albert F. and Caroline J.
(Dannenfelser) Offerle, who were natives of Pennsylvania and Geneseo,
Illinois, respectively.  The paternal grandfather was George J. Offerle,
who came to America from Alsace, which was then under the dominion of
France, but the family was of German lineage and the members of the
household spoke both the German and French languages.  Having crossed
the Atlantic, George J. Offerle settled in Warren, Pennsylvania, where
he was married, the lady of his choice being Magdalene Reig.  Both he
and his wife died in Geneseo when more than sixty years of age.  They
had a family of nine children who reached mature years, namely:  Albert;
Lena, the wife of Philip Rapp; Edward, deceased; Frank; Belle; Anna, the
wife of J. V. Laver; Louis; Freeman; and Hattie, the wife of C. E.
Hapgood.

Tracing back the maternal ancestry of Mr. Offerle, it is found that he
comes fin that line from ancestors who lived in Lorraine, also one of
the border provinces which at times has belonged to Germany and again to
France.  The grandfather was Frederick Dannenfelser, who cast in his lot
with the early settlers of Phenix Township, Henry County, Illinois.  His
original home there was built of logs and he lived in true frontier
style but as the years passed he added good buildings to his place and
improved it according to more modern methods.  A number of years later
he removed with his family to Geneseo where he died at the age of
eighty-one years, while his wife passed away at the age of eighty-four.
They had a large family, as follows:  Jacob, deceased; William;
Elizabeth, the wife of John O. Freed; Fred; Christina, the wife of F. E.
Gresser; Caroline J., the mother of our subject; and Julia, the wife of
S. S. Ott.

Albert F. Offerle, the father of William A. Offerle, became a shoemaker
in Warren, Pennsylvania, and when a young man accompanied his parents on
their removal to Geneseo, where he continued to reside until the closing
years of his life which were passed in Helena, Montana.  He died in the
Œ90s and is still survived by his wife.  They belonged to the German
Evangelical Association and their many substantial qualities won for
them high regard wherever they were known.  There were three children in
the family and the younger son, Roy G. F., is represented elsewhere in
this volume.  Another son, Perry, died in infancy.

William A. Offerle was reared in Geneseo where he has made his home to
the present time.  The public schools afforded him his educational
privileges until he had mastered the branches of learning therein taught
and later he pursued a business course in Northwestern Normal.  He then
began clerking in the store of E. A. Cragin, spending little more than a
year in that employ, after which he secured a clerkship in the clothing
store of M. Nusbaum & Company in 1890.  In 1893, he formed a partnership
with Carl J. Lager and they purchased the business of Nusbaum &
Company.  In 1897 they erected what is known as the Lager & Offerle
block, a fine brick structure in which they now carry on their clothing
business.  They have, however, two fine stores in Geneseo, one of them
being conducted under the name of the Model, while the other is carried
on under the firm style of Lager & Offerle.  They are enterprising
merchants whose business ability is manifest in the success which is
attending their efforts, their patronage being extensive and desirable.

On the 1st of June, 1898, Mr. Offerle was united in marriage to Miss
Lois J. Hall, a daughter of William H. and Naomi (Brush) Hall.  There is
one son of that marriage, Robert Hall Offerle.  The parents are members
of the Unitarian Church and Mr. Offerle is prominent in Masonry, having
attained high degree in the craft.  He belongs to Stewart Lodge, No. 92,
F. & A. M.; Geneseo Chapter, No. 12, R. A. M.; Rock Island Commandery,
No. 18, K. T.; and Kaaba Temple of the Ancient Arabic Order of the
Mystic Shrine at Davenport.

His political endorsement is given to the Republican Party and while he
does not seek office he is interested in matters of citizenship to the
extent of giving generous support to every measure or movement
calculated to prove of public good.  He has always lived in Geneseo and
the fact that many of his staunchest friends are numbered among those
who have known him from his boyhood to the present time is an indication
of the fact that his life has displayed many sterling characteristics,
being in conformity with the high principles of honorable manhood.  A
genial manner, unfailing courtesy and social disposition have also
rendered him popular with all with whom he has been brought in contact.

HENRY R. OTT

The various lines of merchandising are well represented in Geneseo, and
connected with the commercial interests of the city is Henry R. Ott, a
harness manufacturer and dealer, who has lived within the borders of the
county for more than a half century.  He therefore needs no introduction
to the readers of this volume who know him as a citizen of worth and a
businessman of ability and enterprise.  He was born in Lake County,
Illinois, October 26, 1849, and is one of the ten children of Casper and
Mary Elizabeth (Trier) Ott, both of whom were natives of Germany.  The
former was a son of John Jacob Ott who spent the days of his youth and
early manhood in Germany and then sought a home in the New World.  He
wedded Mary Urban and died six miles west of Highland Park, in Lake
County, Illinois, at the venerable age of eighty-three years, while his
wife had passed the eighty-fourth milestone on life¹s journey at the
time of her demise.  Their family included five sons and two daughters.
The maternal grandfather of Mr. Ott died in Lake County, Illinois, at
the age of thirty years.  His wife, Charlotte Segmueller in her
maidenhood, also died in Lake County, when forth years of age.  Their
family numbered one son and three daughters.
Casper Ott, the father of Henry R. Ott, was a tailor by trade, becoming
familiar with that line of business in the land of his nativity.
Crossing the Atlantic in 1831, he settled in Warren, Pennsylvania, and
in 1837 removed to Lake County, Illinois, where he engaged in farming.
He was for seventeen years identified with agricultural pursuits there,
after which he removed to Henry County, Illinois, in 1854, and began
farming in Loraine Township, where he resided until 1871.  In that year
he took up his abode in Geneseo, where he continued to make his home
until called to his final rest in 1876, when sixty-four years of age.
His wife survived him until 1891 and passed away at the age of
seventy-four years.  They were earnest Christian people identified with
the German Evangelical Association.  In their family were six sons and
four daughters but only four are now living:  Casper, who makes his home
in Hooppole, Illinois; Henry R.; Adolph; and Sophia, the wife of Louis
Sand, of Spokane, Washington.

Henry R. Ott was a little lad of four and a half years when his parents
came to this county and upon the home farm he was reared, early becoming
familiar with the work of the fields and also with the pleasures in
which farm boys usually indulge.  His early education, acquired in the
district school, was supplemented by study in the Geneseo Seminary, and
when seventeen years of age he began learning the harness maker¹s trade,
which he has followed continuously since.  For the past twenty-nine
years he has been in business for himself, conducting a well-equipped
shop and enjoying liberal trade.

On the 17th of April, 1872, Mr. Ott was married to Miss Catharine E.
Wolf, who was born near Washington, Tazewell County, Illinois, while her
parents were Jacob and Margaret (Schaeffer) Wolf, who were natives of
Germany.  Her father died in 1883, but her mother is still living,
making her home with her daughter in Hooppole, Illinois.  The marriage
of Mr. and Mrs. Ott was blessed with five children, but they lost the
first two, Hermann Henry and Arthur, in infancy, while the third son,
Ferrel Alonzo, was killed by the cars when thirteen and a half years of
age.  The youngest child, John Wesley, died at the age of nine years, so
that the only surviving member of the family is Ethel M., now the wife
of Albert J. Smith, a resident of Colorado, by whom she has four
children, Catharine, Ferrel, Clarence and Dwight.

Mr. and Mrs. Ott are people of religious faith.  Mr. Ott holds
membership in the Methodist Episcopal Church, while his wife is allied
with the movement known as the Apostolic faith.  To the church Mr. Ott
is a liberal contributor and is an active worker, teaching the Bible
class in the Sunday school.  He is one of the most highly respected
citizens of Geneseo, his record being at all times in harmony with the
principles of honorable and upright manhood.  His success in business in
undoubtedly largely due to the fact that he has continued in the line of
activity in which he embarked as a young tradesman, winning his success
by reason of his good work, his perseverance and his honorable business
methods.