My Genealogy Hound

JOHN STOEHR, familiarly known as “Squire” Stoehr, is numbered among the honored pioneer settlers of Randolph County. He was born in the kingdom of Wurtemberg, Germany, in 1825, and is the elder of two children, whose parents were John and Magdelene (Lingle) Stoehr. They were both born and reared in the kingdom of Wurtemberg, and the mother there died. The father afterward married Christina Brown, and about 1834 crossed the Atlantic and took up his residence near Dayton, Ohio, where his death occurred some four years later.

The subject of this sketch went to Cincinnati, Ohio, where he learned the carpenter’s trade, serving a three years’ apprenticeship. At the expiration of that period he went to St. Louis, and in 1843 located in Monroe County, where he followed farming in connection with carpentering for several years. Two years after his arrival in that county he was united in marriage with Magdelena, widow of John Stuhlfauth, and a daughter of Jacob Rahn. Upon the farm they began their domestic life, and there Mr. Stoehr carried on his work until the spring of 1857, when he removed with his family to Red Bud. Here he embarked in the brewing business, but soon sold out. In 1860 he was elected Justice of the Peace, and with the exception of four years filled the office continuously until 1893, when he resigned. His reputation as a Justice was unsullied through all the long years in which he filled the position, and no higher testimonial could be given of his efficiency than his repeated re-elections. In his business career he has met with success, and as the years have passed he has made judicious investments in real estate, until he now owns three thousand acres of well improved land, which yields to him a handsome income.

By his first marriage Mr. Stoehr had one daughter, Catherine. The mother died in the spring of 1881, and he afterward married Mrs. Elizabeth Rabe, widow of Fred Rabe. Previous to her union with Mr. Rabe, Mrs. Stoehr married William H. Dickmann, by whom she had four children: Annie, wife of Otto Platte; Emma; William H., who resides on the old homestead; and Louisa, wife of Ernest Kastrup. The children of her second marriage are, Maggie, wife of O. Helber; Louis and Lillie.

During the late war, Mr. Stoehr offered his services to the Government, but as his eyesight was not perfect he was not accepted. The men and measures of the Republican party ever find in him a stalwart supporter, ready to advance their interests, and he is recognized as a leader in local politics. He served as delegate to the county and state conventions of his party, and was a delegate to the national convention which convened in Baltimore and nominated Abraham Lincoln for the presidency. For fifteen years he filled the office of School Trustee of his township, and has ever been a zealous friend of the cause of education. An industrious man, his success has come to him through close attention to business and well directed efforts. He landed in Illinois a poor boy, but has steadily worked his way upward from an humble position to one of affluence. He makes many friends and no enemies, and throughout the community in which he has so long resided is held in the highest regard.