Jacob F. Herbstreit

 

SOURCE: "The Biographical Record of Champaign County, Illinois," The S. J. Clarke Publishing company, Chicago, 1900

SURNAMES: HERBSTREIT, SWEITZER, KINZEL, ROSS, SANBORN, VAUGHN, HERBE, HILL, SIMMERS

 

JACOB F. HERBSTREIT. One of the upright, enterprising young business men of Urbana is he of whom this sketch is penned. By diligence and strict attention to the needs and wishes of his customers he has won the favor of the public, and rarely, if ever, finds any leisure time upon his hands of late years. Public spirited and progressive, he takes great interest in the prosperity of this community, and performs his full share towards the common welfare. Though he is a native of Germany, his birth having occurred in the town of Witlandsweiler, Wurtemburg, August 26, 1864, he was so young when he came to the United States that he is, to all intents and purposes, an American. With his two sisters, Caroline and Maggie, he accompanied their parents, Jacob Frederick and Anna HERBSTREIT, to the hospitable shores of this fair land some thirty years ago, three weeks being spent in making the voyage. An uncle of our subject, Matthew HERBSTREIT, had crossed the Atlantic previously, and an aunt, Mary, who became the wife of Fred SWEITZER, in Cincinnati, Ohio, also had come to America. Anna, widow of Fred KINZEL, who died November 28, 1899, aged sixty years, resides in Mattoon, Illinois; Effie, who married John ROSS, of Urbana, died in 1888, and Mrs. SANBORN died in Missouri. Several of the brothers and sisters of our subject's mother reside in Germany, but none live in this country. Mrs. Anna HERBSTREIT departed this life about five yeas subsequent to the arrival of the family in the United States. Of the seven children born to Jacob Frederick and Anna HERBSTREIT all but two have passed to the better land. Maggie, wife of James VAUGHN, resides on Sixth street, Champaign, Illinois. Caroline, who was born in 1861, and died in 1892, was the wife of Ryman HERBE, and left five children to mourn her loss. Effie died in Germany with the small pox, which disease the father also had, and the other members of the family suffered from it in its lightest form. Fred and Frank, twins, did not outlive babyhood, the latter being about two years old at the time of his death. Annie, the youngest child, died when in her twenty-second year, in 1893. From the time of his arrival in Illinois, in 1870, until 1879, J. F. HERBSTREIT lived with his relatives in Champaign, attending the common schools and making thorough preparation for the more serious duties of life. Beginning to work at the trade of a tailor in the year last-mentioned, he found employment for several years with John Ross, of Urbana, and about nine years ago he embarked in business here independently. He has been located at his present commodious quarters in the Masonic building, on Main street, from the beginning, and, as the workmanship and style of all clothing ordered of him is excellent, and gives a high degree of satisfaciton to all of his patrons, he commands a large and lucrative trade. The marriage of Mr. HERBSTREIT and Miss Josephine HILL was celebrated April 16, 1885. Her father, William HILL, who died in 1894, at the advanced age of eighty-two years, was a native of Ohio, and was one of the old and honored pioneers of Urbana, his residence here extending over a period of thirty-five years. His wife, whose maiden name was Elizabeth SIMMERS, is still living at their old home on South Vine street. Mrs. HERBSTREIT is one of eight children, namely: William, Jesse, Joseph, Thompson, John, who was drowned in the Oswego river; Josephine, Carrie, and Alice, who died in 1882, aged fourteen years. Joseph is married, and is carrying on a farm in Woodbury county, Iowa. The half-brother of Mrs. HERBSTREIT is deceased. The only child of our subject and wife is Jean, a little girl of ten years. Mrs. HERBSTREIT has ably assisted her husband in his business during the past nine years. In political affairs, Mr. HERBSTREIT is a Republican, and fraternally, he is a member of the Masonic order and belongs to the Modern Woodmen of America. He deserves great credit for the success which he has achieved, for it is founded upon true merit and correct business principles. (This biography was submitted by Ruth Ryan.)