Christian Brockmeier. Among the prominent and extensive farmers of Ogle County, as well as one of her highly respected and esteemed citizens, is Mr. Brockmeier. He is comfortably situated on a well equipped farm section 10, Maryland Township. He is a native of Germany and was born at Sabbenhausen near Amtschwalenburg, April 29, 1827. His parents, Christoph and Elizabeth Brockmeier, were likewise natives of that country. Mr. Brockmeier spent his boyhood and youth in his native country being reared on a farm and enjoying the advantages in the way of an education that the public schools afforded. When he was quite young he had the misfortune to lose his mother. In May, 1848, his father with his children in charge, set sail from Bremen, for the United States. They landed at New York after a voyage of seven weeks and immediately started for Illinois. They went up the Hudson River to Albany, and then by the way of the Erie Canal to Buffalo, where they took passage on a lake vessel for Chicago. It must be remembered that the country at the time was not covered by such a network of railroads as it now is, in fact there were no roads leading from Chicago westward. The elder Brockmeier, however, hired teams at Chicago to bring the family to this county. Upon arriving here he bought some wild land, section 8 of what is now Maryland Township, and erected a small frame house into which the family moved the following year. Here the father lived a respected, and esteemed citizen, his death occurring in October 1870. At the time the Brockmeier family arrived in Ogle County Christian was a young man of 21 years, and the labor required to improve and develop a farm hitherto untouched by hand of man, was great and arduous. Young Christian went to work, however, with the will that has characterized him during his sojourn here. He labored on the home farm until his marriage with Miss Fentjel Luitjens, which occurred June 16, 1856. She was, like himself, a native of Germany, and was born April 20, 1835. In the autumn of 1856, he erected a dwelling upon the southeast corner of the farm which he now owns, and in which he at present lives. In 1870, however, he erected a more commodious residence upon the northeast corner of his farm, but in the fall of that year it was destroyed by fire and he was compelled to return to the old house. This has since been rebuilt and made some additions to, and it is now a comfortable dwelling. He has erected a good plain barn and other farm buildings, and beautied his place by planting a variety of shade and ornamental trees. He now lives surrounded by all the comforts neccessary to make life on the farm pleasant and desirable. He is an extensive stock raiser and deals in the higher grades of both cattle and swine. Mr. Brockmeier suffered the loss of his wife, Feb. 23, 1875. She had become the mother of eight children who were left to mourn her loss. The names of these are: Triena, Elizabeth, Fena, Mary, Christian H., Johana W., Wilhelmina, and Ella. The family are members of the Evangelical Church of the Association of North America, in which Mr. Brockmeier has been an Elder for a number of years. Mr. B. is a solid Democrat.

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