Biography - Jacob Kircher
JACOB
KIRCHER, a wealthy resident of Shelbyville, was for many years actively
engaged in farming, but he now lives in retirement, though he still owns one
of the choice farms for which Shelby County is justly noted. He is a native
of Wurtemburg, Germany, October 20, 1827, being the date of his birth. His
father, whose name was Louis Frederick Kircher, was also born in that place,
as was his father before him. The latter came to this country in 1834, and
spent his remaining years in Maryland.
The father of our subject learned the trade of a shoemaker in his youth, and
with the exception of the time that he was a soldier in the German army, he
followed his calling in his native Wurtemburg until 1829, when, ambitious to
better his condition, he emigrated to this country with his wife and four
children. He landed at Baltimore with empty pockets, and what was worse, in
very poor health. He was fortunate enough to obtain the assistance of
friends, by whose help he went to Hagerstown, where he found employment in a
livery stable. He worked faithfully, frugally saved his money, and his wife
also worked hard, and after a time with their united earnings they had
enough to buy a horse and wagon, with which they started for Ohio, taking
with them all their earthly possessions. They walked the greater part of the
way, camping and cooking by the roadside whenever they were weary, and when
they arrived at Lancaster, Ohio, they decided to proceed no further.
Mr. Kircher looked about for a suitable location, and finally selected forty
acres of land belonging to the Government situated in Hocking County, ten
miles from Logan, the county seat. He did not have money enough by fifty
cents to pay for his claim, but he obtained it by mending a pair of boots,
and then walked to the land office to enter his land. His homestead was
heavily timbered and he had to cut away large forest trees to make room for
a cabin, which he built of logs, covering the roof with boards rived by hand
and held in place by weight pole-, the iloor being made of puncheons and the
chimney of earth and sticks.
The father was a man of remarkable industry and not only labored in the day
time, working hard to clear his land, in which he was assisted by his wife
and children, but he employed his time in the evening making shoes, and thus
earned the money to support his family. The older children soon went out to
work, receiving their board and their clothes for their services, while our
subject was left at home to assist his parents. He and his mother cut the
first crop of wheat, she using a sickle and he a butcher knife. The family
prospered and the father was enabled to buy eighty-five acres of land
adjoining, and in time improved a valuable farm, upon which he lived until
his death at the ripe age of seventy-nine years. His wife survived him some
few years and then died at the home of her daughter in Richland Township,
this county, at the venerable age of eighty acres. This worthy couple were
the parents of six sons and one daughter, named as follows: Louis, John,
Godfrey, Jacob, Mathias, Philip and Hannah. John and Mathias reside in
Richland. Louis, Philip, Godfrey and Hannah are deceased.
Jacob Kircher was only two years old when the family came to America, so
that he has but little or no recollection of other than his adopted home.
Just as soon as he was large enough, and that was when he was very young, he
began to assist in clearing the land and tilling the soil of his father's
homestead. He remained an inmate of the parental household until his
marriage and soon after that all-important event, in company with his
brother-in-law, he bought one hundred acres of land near by, on which was a
set of log buildings. He and his brother-in-law farmed together on that
place until 1855, when he sold his share of it, having decided to settle in
the fertile farming regions of Illinois. Accompanied by his wife and two
children, he journeyed across the country from Ohio to this State with a
pair of horses and a wagon, and on his arrival in this county he invested
all the money he had in forty acres of land in Ridge Township. This purchase
included a primitive log cabin, which had an earth and stick chimney, a
puncheon door, and two doors, but had no windows. Our subject and his
family, and his brother and family spent the winter of 1855-56 in that rude
structure, doing all their cooking by the fireplace, cornmeal being their
chief diet.
Mr. Kircher had been reared to habits of industry and economy, was possessed
of good judgment, and moreover had been fortunate in the selection of a wife
who afforded him material assistance in his labors, and his wealth steadily
increased. He bought other land at different times and the old farm upon
which he settled so many years ago, and which is still in his possession,
now contains three hundred acres of well-improved land, amply suppled with
good buildings and everything necessary to carry on agriculture
successfully, and besides this he owns valuable city property. He continued
to live on his farm until 1891, when he removed to Shelbyville, where he has
since made his home in retirement from active business. A life of honesty
and uprightness has won him the esteem of all who know him, and he is
regarded as one of our most trustworthy citizens. He and his wife and all of
their children are members of the Lutheran Church, and have done much to
help their pastor and fellow-members to make it a power for the advancement
of religion in the community.
Mr. and Mrs. Kircher were united in marriage in 1852. Mrs. Kircher, whose
maiden name was Rosanna Phipher, is a native of Ohio, born April 25, 1832,
and a daughter of John and Magdaline Pipher, who were natives of Wurtemburg,
and pioneers of the Buckeye State. Our subject and his wife have been
blessed by the birth of the following children: Lena, wife of William Roof;
Hannah, who married John Kimmel and died at the age of twenty-four years;
Matilda, wife of John Kniller; Theodore; William; Mollie, wife of Theodore
Warner; and Philip.
The reader's attention is invited to the lithographic portrait of Mr.
Kircher presented on another page.
Extracted 09 Apr 2018 by Norma Hass from 1891 Portrait and Biographical Record of Shelby and Moultrie Counties Illinois, pages 490-492.
