A life-long resident and highly respected citizen of Troy Grove township
is he of whom the following lines are penned. By the exercise of his native
talents and well directed energy he has become well-to-do, financially, and
in the midst of his many business undertakings he finds time to discharge
his duties as a citizen of this great republic. His success is due solely to
his own efforts, and integrity and justice mark all of his dealings with
others.
The parents and ancestors of our subject were natives of
Germany, and both of his grandfathers lived and died in that country. His
grandfather Hochstatter, who was a farmer, lived to reach his seventieth
year, and reared five children. After the death of the maternal grandfather
his widow came to America, passed her declining years in LaSalle county, and
is now sleeping her last sleep in the old Catholic burying ground. Theodore
Hochstatter, the father of our subject, was born in Prussia, and in 1846
sailed for the United States. Upon arriving in Illinois, he worked on the
canal at Lockport for some time, and received a bolt of cloth in payment for
his labor, and this cloth later paid his transportation from Lockport to
Troy Grove. Locating in Troy Grove township, he bought an eighty-acre farm,
which he improved, and as the years rolled by he invested in other property
until his possessions amounted to seven hundred and twenty acres. He was
summoned to the silent land on the 12th of March, 1895, when he was in his
seventy-fourth year. He had occupied the offices of road commissioner and
school director for many years, and enjoyed the respect and confidence of
the entire community in which he had dwelt so long. His devoted wife, whose
maiden name was Christina Kratz, was born in Prussia, also, and, like
himself, was a member of the Catholic church. She survived him about one
year, dying at the age of seventy-five. They were the parents of three sons
and two daughters, one of whom is deceased. The others are John, William,
Helen, widow of Theodore Sondgeroth, and Peter, of Kellogg, Kansas.
William Hochstatter, of this sketch, was born on his father's farm in this
township, September 29. 1853. He attended the district schools, the Lutheran
seminary, and Henderson's high school at Mendota, and thus his educational
advantages were much better than those of most of his youthful associates
and neighbors. His father also gave him some timely aid, after he was
married, and was starting out on the difficult pathway of independent
living. With this sum — five hundred dollars — he rented a farm of one
hundred acres, and purchased necessary agricultural implements and household
furnishings. He continued to lease the farm for about twenty years, in the
meantime, however, purchasing a quarter-section farm in 1881, and buying and
selling several other homesteads. Recently he sold a farm of three hundred
and twenty acres in Kansas, which he had owned for some time, and he still
has seven hundred and twenty acres in his possession. In addition to
farming, he conducted an extensive grain business for two or more years, and
built an elevator at Culton, which station was established on the Illinois
Central Railroad at his solicitation. The town is located four miles south
of Mendota, and three miles north of Dimmick, and the land for the site was
donated to the railroad company by Mr. Hochstatter. For just a quarter of a
century he has served as a school director, and has been instrumental in
securing good educational advantages for the children of his township.
Politically he is independent, using his franchise for the candidates and
principles which he considers worthy of his support, regardless of party.
The marriage of our subject and Miss Eva, daughter of Conrad and
Margaret (Schroeder) Sondgeroth, was celebrated October 25, 1875. They have
become the parents of three sons and six daughters, namely: Christina,
Catherine, Peter, Annie, Henry, Ella, Maggie, Benjamin and Eva, all of whom
are at home with the exception of the eldest born, Christina, who is the
wife of Joseph Happ, of Calloway county, Missouri. They have two children,
named in honor of our subject and wife — William and Eva.
Extracted 13 Jun 2019 by Norma Hass from Biographical and Genealogical Record of LaSalle County, Illinois, published in 1900, volume 2, pages 667-669.
| Lee | DeKalb | Kane |
| Bureau |
 |
Kendall |
| Putnam | Grundy | |
| Marshall | Woodford | Livingston |
