Outagamie County, WI - Biography of Louis Greb of Appleton 1864- *********************************************************************** USGENWEB ARCHIVES NOTICE: These electronic pages may NOT be reproduced in any format for profit or presentation by any other organization or persons. Persons or organizations desiring to use this material, must obtain the written consent of the contributor, or the legal representative of the submitter, and contact the listed USGenWeb archivist with proof of this consent. The submitter has given permission to the USGenWeb Archives to store the file permanently for free access. http://www.usgwarchives.net *********************************************************************** Contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives SUBJECT: Biography of Louis Greb of Appleton 1864- Contriburo: Janice Marasch EMAIL: jmmarasch@aol.com DATE SUBMITTED: 25 August 1999 SURNAMES: GREB SOURCE: Commemorative Biographical Record of the Fox River Valley Counties of Brown, Outagamie and Winnebago, J.H. Beers & Co, p. 721-722, 1895 BIOGRAPHY: LOUIS GREB, who ranks among the energetic, prosperous young farmer-citizens of Freedom township, is a son of Conrad Greb, who for many years conducted the farm now owned and operated by our subject. Conrad Greb was born October 12, 1822, in Germany, son of Conrad, a weaver, who died in his native Fatherland, the father of eleven children (five of whom two sons and three daughters--lived to maturity. Conrad being the second son and the fourth child in order of birth. He attended school up to the age of fourteen, when he commenced to do farm work, and continued same in Germany until reaching his majority. At this time Conrad Shepherd (for whom Mr. Greb was named) was about to bring his family to America, and he agreed to pay Mr. Greb's passage on condition that the latter would work for him two years. They sailed from Bremen, and, after a passage of forty days, landed at New York, proceeding from there to Albany, thence via the Erie canal to Rochester, and thence to Hamilton, Ontario, where they arrived in August, 1843. Mr. Shepherd located on a farm in Lower Canada, and after working the two years for him, according to their agreement, Mr. Greb hired out to other farmers in Canada, and commenced life on his own account. On April 24, 1849, he was married in Canada to Gertrude Brown, who was born October 19, 1823, in Germany, daughter of Conrad Philip Brown, a carpenter; she came to Canada in 1841 with her eldest brother, George, and, until her marriage, worked as a domestic in various families. Up to the time of his marriage Mr. Greb had worked for others, receiving generally six dollars per month, out of which he had been able to save but little. He then rented a farm from a former employer, and after living there four years invested in one hundred acres of government land. It was wild and uncleared, and here he worked hard for ten years, at the end of which time, having made numerous improvements, he was able to sell at a good profit, and in February, 1864, he came to Wisconsin, where he has ever since had his home. For about eighteen months he lived at Young's Corners, in Dale township, Outagamie county, meanwhile working for neighboring farmers; in November, 1865. he removed to Freedom township, and bought eighty acres of unimproved land in Section 30; a log house, 18 X 22, was erected in the midst of the forest, and this was their only home for over ten years, when a substantial brick residence was built. When Mr. Greb commenced life in the New World he had no capital save a strong, willing pair of hands; but he has succeeded far beyond his early expectations. After coming to Wisconsin he took a farm from the dense forest, improved and beautified it, and continued there, actively engaged in farm labor, until 1889, when he rented his farm to his son Louis, and has since lived retired, enjoying his prosperity as only an industrious, self-made man can. Until May 1, 1894, he lived in the village of Seymour, but since then he has made his home in Appleton, having bought property on Atlantic street. He is highly respected by all who know him as an honest, industrious man, who has made a success in life by hard work and upright methods. In religious faith he is a member of the German Methodist Church at Appleton, and politically he affiliates with the Republican party. To Mr. and Mrs. Greb were born children as follows: John, a farmer of Seymour; Lydia, of Chicago, unmarried; George, a farmer of Greenville; Elizabeth, unmarried, who lives with her brother Louis on the farm; William, a harness maker of Greenville; Louis; and Henry, a cheese maker, of Osborn township, all born in Canada with the exception of Henry, who was born in Dale township. Louis Greb was born March 28, 1864, in Canada, and came with his parents to Wisconsin, when about two years old. He attended the district schools of the time, and was trained on the home farm to agricultural pursuits, in the winter season working in the lumber camps of northern Wisconsin. In 1889 h rented the home farm of his father, w ich he purchased in 1894, and now conducts on his own account. He formerly owned a cheese factory in Osborn township, which he conducted for three years, disposing of it in 1894. Politically Mr. Greb is a Republican, but takes no active interest in party matters. He has a profitable farming business, and, being yet young and full of progress and industry, is destined to take no subordinate place among the agriculturists of his section.