Gilbert Marion Heinz of Kickapoo Township

Gilbert Marion Heinz was born on May 17, 1924, in Kickapoo, Peoria County, Illinois, the fourth child of Alex P. and Rosella V. (Gilles) Heinz. Raised on the family farm, he was educated in the local community and helped with agricultural work until he joined the U.S. Army in 1943. During his service in the European Theater of World War II, he participated in the historic D-Day invasion at Normandy and fought in the Battle of the Bulge. He was wounded in the leg in France on August 20, 1944, earning the Purple Heart medal before receiving his honorable discharge in 1946.

Following the war, he returned to Illinois and married Ruth Cook Rogers on August 20, 1947, at St. Mary's Church in Kickapoo. Gilbert adopted Ruth’s son from a previous marriage, Michael Heinz (born November 6, 1946), who later married Norma Jean Rodriguez. Together, Gilbert and Ruth had five more children: Joyce E. Heinz (born August 27, 1948), who married Danny Laverne Baggott; Randall P. Heinz (born January 12, 1951), who married Karol Million; Cheryl R. Heinz (born November 1, 1954); Roland J. Heinz (born December 7, 1955); and Richard M. Heinz (born August 19, 1958). 

This chapter of his life was marked by tragedy when Ruth, at age 33, was killed in a two-car crash on the Interstate 74 bridge on March 31, 1962. Gilbert remarried Elinor Crowder Dunlap on January 16, 1965. In a heartbreaking repetition of fate, Elinor was also killed in an automobile accident on October 15, 1967, and was interred at St. Mary’s Cemetery in Kickapoo. 

In 1969, Gilbert found lasting companionship with Marilyn Arnold, whom he married in Missouri. They moved to Rushville in 1970 and had two children: Gilbert Heinz (born May 1, 1969) and Marnie Heinz (born February 7, 1971), who later married Brian Eskridge.

Professionally, Gilbert was known for his extraordinary work ethic, retiring in 2004 after more than 59 years as a bulldozer operator. He was a dedicated member of St. Rose Catholic Church in Rushville and the Schuyler American Legion Post 4. Gilbert passed away at the age of 81 on June 12, 2005, at OSF St. Francis Medical Center in Peoria. He was buried at St. Patrick Cemetery in Kickapoo following a funeral mass at St. Mary's Church. At the time of his passing, he was survived by his wife, Marilyn, his children, 24 grandchildren, and 19 great-grandchildren.

Schools of Kickapoo 1902

Prior to the adoption of the free school system there were very few public schools in Kickapoo Township. 

In 1840 Mr. Samuel Dimon, who had come to the township in 1838, hauled the logs for the first school house in what is now District No. 1. It was situated on the northeast quarter of Section 11, where the present school house now stands. In that house Miss Harriet Hitchcock is believed to have been the first teacher, Samuel Dimon afterwards taught there for two or three terms.

Prior to 1851 there was a school house some distance west of Hale's Mill, known as the Kingsley School House; but it is not known when or by whom it was built. 

In 1851 Miss Sarah Smith taught the first school at Hale's Mill, occupying a cooper shop for a school house. The school house, now located at Pottstown, is known as No. 4. 

The first school house in District No. 5 was located on the northwest quarter of Section 9. It was a frame building erected in the spring of 1851, at a cost of $260. The first school taught there was by H. Gregory, commencing in the fall of that year. This school house was replaced in 1877, by a modern frame house which cost $570.

The first school house in District No. 6 was erected on the southeast quarter of Section 16, in August, 1860. It was a frame building costing $300. School was commenced there in the fall of 1860 by a teacher named H. M. Behymer. 

The first school house in District No. 7 was erected in the summer of 1867 on the northeast quarter of Section 33. Miss H. Pritchard was the first teacher there. She commenced in the winter of that year. 

The first school house in District No. 8 was erected in the summer of 1867 on the northwest quarter of Section 13, at a cost of $528. The first school was taught there in the winter of that year by Miss Hattie C. Humison. 

The township is now well supplied with school houses of modern style, and the schools are in a prosperous condition. The Patrons of Husbandry at one time had a strong hold in this township, there having been two granges. No. 446 or South Kickapoo, new extinct, and Orange, having a Grange Hall on the northeast quarter of Section 11, It is one of the seven yet surviving in the county.

George F. Heinz Farm of Kickapoo Township

 

George F. Heinz was born on 15 June 1862 in Kickapoo, Peoria County, Illinois. He was the son of Andrew W. Heinz and Christina (Reed) Heinz. He grew up in the Kickapoo community, where the Heinz and Reed families were among the early settlers of the region.

In 1880, George was living in Kickapoo, unmarried, and listed as a son in the household. He married Mary A. Heinz Becker in 1887 in Peoria County, Illinois. Together they made their home in Kickapoo, where they raised their family and remained active in the local farming community.

George experienced the loss of both parents during his adult life. His mother, Christina, died on 11 June 1902 in Kickapoo, and his father, Andrew, died on 22 May 1907 in Kickapoo Township. By 1920, George was recorded as the head of household in Kickapoo, living with his wife Mary.

Mary died on 16 February 1938 in Kickapoo. George died the following year on 31 January 1939 at the age of 76 in Kickapoo, Peoria County, Illinois. They are buried at St. Mary's Cemetery in Kickapoo.

The 47-acre site on Route 150 that now serves as the Pringle Robotics headquarters carries a deep agricultural legacy, having once been the farm of George F. Heinz. As mentioned above, a descendant of German pioneers who settled in Kickapoo Township in the mid-1800s, George F. Heinz managed the land for decades, raising his family there alongside his wife, Mary Ann Becker.

Today, the property represents a unique bridge between Peoria’s history and its future; while the fields once yielded traditional crops under the Heinz family's care, they now house a high-tech "robotics hub" where autonomous machines are assembled and tested, often within sight of the original farm structures.

Also (as per Haven on The Farm) the property associated with the Heinz family was first settled in 1838 by Samuel Dimon, one of the earliest settlers in the area and the teacher at the first schoolhouse, which stood on the property. After Dimon's death in 1880, the land passed through several owners before being purchased by George F. Heinz in 1898. Over the years, the property was divided and sold to various families, including the Cunningham, White, Dempsey, Folkers, Danehy, Nelson, Schielein, and Weary families.

The Schielein family moved to White Acres Farm in 1954 and created many memories of farm life with horses, ponies, cattle, pigs, sheep, and chickens. The original 1838 house was demolished in 1970 and replaced with a two-story pink brick southern colonial home.

In November 2021, part of the property was purchased by Ashley Wurzer, whose vision for Haven on the Farm was inspired by her own rural upbringing and desire to share the peace of small-town living.

Sources and More:

Haven On The Farm 

https://ejheinz.center/g1/p14.htm#i343

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