EICHHOLTZ DANIEL, Grain and Stock Dealer; Shannon; born in PA. in 1835; came to this state in 1855; and to this Co. in 1859; owns 160 acres; has held offices of Road Commissioner, Town Clerk, School Director and School Trustee; he married Miss L. Neikirk, in Jan. 1863; she was born in Md.; has one child living; lost four.1835-

History of Carroll Co., IL, H. F. Katt & Co., Chicago, IL, 1878
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Daniel Eichholtz settled in Shannon Township before it had been laid off, being then included in Cherry Grove Township, and now boasts a thirty-four year’s residence in this county. He is comfortably situated on a well-improved farm on 160 acres, comprising the northeast quarter of section 30, of which he became the possessor by hard labor and the practice of economy. He settled on his land in its wild state, when not a furrow had been turned, and there was not even a shelter for his head. He came here with limited means, and for a number of years it was a struggle to make both ends meet, but perseverance and industry finally prevailed, and he has now no reason to regret that he was one of the first to venture in the western wilds. At first there was only one house within sight of his location, and that belonged to Mr. J. Long, being located east.

Our subject put up a small frame house on his land, the siding being of common boards and the walls without plaster or batten. He built a fence around it, and in the fall of the year, after his crops were gathered, plastered and weatherboarded his dwelling. He began raising the small grain and hauled his produce to Shannon the first year, after which the railroad was completed, the depot being located one and one-half miles from his farm. He endured many hardships and privations, but each year found him making some little headway, and as long as this was the case, he did not permit himself to give way to discouragement.

Blair County, Pa., was the early tramping ground of our subject, and where his birth took place May 15, 1835. He lived there until twenty years of age, securing a good practical education, studying on nights and rainy days. In the meantime he was employed at grading on a railroad in his native county, but in 1855 set out for Illinois, accompanied by his family, and settled near Polo, in Ogle County. From there our subject proceeded alone to Cooper County, Mo., where he worked three years as foreman and clerk for the South Pacific Railroad Company. Thence he proceeded as far west as the South Pass of the Rocky Mountains and Ft. Union. In 1858 he made his way back to Ogle County, Ill., where he worked on a farm of $13.50 per month until the year of 1860. He then came to this county and settled upon the land which he now owns and occupies. He purchased it of the Illinois Central Railroad Company, paying for it $12.50 per acre and six percent interest.

Mr. Eichholtz was one of the first Directors of School District No. 9, which office he has held for many years. He assisted in putting up the first school building, and aided in many other ways in advancing the moral and intellectual welfare of the people. He officiated as Town Clerk a good many years, and Highway Commissioner twelve or fourteen years. In the meantime he has been a stanch supporter of the Democratic party. He identified himself with the Masonic Fraternity in 1881, and now belongs to the lodge at Shannon.

Our subject, after having fully determined to settle in this county, was married, Jan. 23, 1860, to Miss Lydia Neikirk, at the home of the bride in Adeline, Ogle County. This lady was born in Washington County, Md., July 11, 1833, and was the daughter of Samuel and Susan Neikirk, natives of Maryland, and the father a linen-weaver by trade. They came to the West in 1854, settling in Ogle County, this State, where the father died in 1864. The mother, who in her girlhood was Miss Susan Beeler, is now deceased. Their family consisted of five children. Of this union there have been born five children, of whom only one is living, Cora C., who became the wife of M. P. Murphy, of Stillman Valley, Ill., they have two children – Grace E. and John D.

Henry Eichholtz, the father of our subject, was born in Williamsburg, Blair Co., Pa., on Perry Creek, and married Miss Angelina Chrisman; they reared a family of seven children, and upon coming to the West the father took up land in Ogle County, Ill., from which he constructed a good farm, and where he sojourned until his death, in 1870, at the age of sixty-three years. The wife and mother survived her husband until October, 1885, and died in Polo, Ogle County. Their family consisted of seven children, who are residing in different States. When Mr. Eichholtz first came to this region there were only about ten families in the four sections of land which were first marked out as District No. 9. He was instrumental in organizing this, and also the others which were organized in 1865. He was elected School Treasurer on the 7th of October, 1876, and has held the office uninterruptedly since that time

Transcribed by Carol Parrish from Portrait and Biographical Album of Carroll and Jo Davies Co., IL, 1889 Pg. 920

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