The Avery Company

History of the Avery Company

By J. P. Carroll

Caterpillar Tractor Company

We engineers are primarily concerned with current and future problems; however, an occasional look at history helps us to do a better job of evaluating the present and planning for the future. I think the Avery story will be interesting to you because the Avery Co. was Peoria's largest manufacturing industry in the early '20s and its demise presents a case for engineering, research and training programs.

The idea responsible for the founding of the Avery enterprise had its inception in the Andersonville Confederate Prison when a captive Union soldier named R. H. Avery spent his prison time sketching a design for a corn planter in the sand. At the close of the war Mr. Avery returned to his farm home in Kansas and by 1874 he had a full size working model of his corn planter built. The original planter is now in the Edison Institute Museum at Ford's Greenfield Village in Dearborn, Michigan. In 1877 R. H. Avery and his brother C. M. Avery established a company bearing their names, in Galesburg, Illinois. R. H. had the inventive ability and C. M. excelled in the business end of the enterprise. They engaged in the manufacture of corn planters, stalk cutters and cultivators. Success was immediately theirs as their products met with wide acceptance among the farmers in the area. Because of better shipping facilities in Peoria, Illinois, the company purchased ten acres of land east of the intersection of North Adams and North Jefferson Streets. In 1882 they erected the three story square building which still stands, currently being used by R. G. LeTourneau, Inc. for offices. In 1883 the company name was changed to the Avery Planter Co. By 1891 they began the manufacture of steam traction engines and grain threshers. The first steam engines had top mounted engines and were used for both drawbar and belt work. The yellow wood threshers were known to the trade as the Yellow Fellow and were a big part of the company's business for over thirty years. Numerous Avery inventions were incorporated in their machines. R. H. Avery died in 1892 and his brother C. M. Avery ascended to the presidency. J. B. Bartholomew, a relative, was made vice-president. He was an outstanding figure in the company with inventive ability as well as business acumen. He was destined to lead the company to become Peoria's largest manufacturing industry. At the age of fourteen he invented a grain weigher for threshing machines. A major invention was the J. B. wind stacker for threshers, and, during his career, three large volumes of letters patents on farm implements were issued to him. At the turn of the century a company reorganization was effected with capitalization at $1,000,000 and the name was changed to the Avery Manufacturing Co. In 1902 a cemetery just north of the plant was purchased for future expansion. The Hannah Wagon Co. plant just back of their plant was purchased the same year and a number of branch houses were established in the principal mid-western cities. Expansion was under way, business was good and the products were accepted in the field. David McCullough, in his "history of Peoria" published in 1902, commented upon the Avery Manufacturing Co. in a chapter on Peoria industries. "The Avery Manufacturing Co. is a rapidly increasing business managed by young and progressive men. If the history of the manufacturing industries of Peoria shall be written fifty years hence, it is safe to say that the volume of business at present conducted by this concern, vast as it now is, will appear small in comparison with what it is destined to become as the result of growth and development of another fifty years." It might be interesting at this point to mention a few contemporary highlights of the period. In the year 1903 the Wright Brothers made their first successful flight and the Ford Motor Co. was formed. In 1904 the Society of Automotive Engineers was organized, the first Vanderbilt Cup Race was held, the first Maxwell, Reo, Stoddard-Dayton and Studebaker automobiles were built, the Colean Manufacturing Co. was manufacturing farm implements and steam traction engines in East Peoria, and the first track-type tractor was built by the Holt Manufacturing Co. of Stockton, California. C. M. Avery died in 1905 and J. B. Bartholomew became president. Sons of the Avery's held minor executive positions, but from then on the business was under the absolute control of J. B. as he was known to everyone, even in printed advertising literature. The capital stock was increased to $2,500,000 in 1907 and the name was changed to the Avery Co. By then their products were being distributed worldwide. Another point of parallel history of interest to Peoria occurred in 1909 when the Holt Manufacturing Co. purchased the bankrupt Colean Manufacturing Co. plant and established their eastern manufacturing branch in East Peoria. The three story Avery office building was built on the west side of the Adams and Jefferson intersection in 1910 and the following year, after moving the cemetery, the large buildings now occupied by R. G. LeTourneau, Inc. were erected. Further product development brought the 1912 locomotive style double under mounted steam traction engine on the market. One of these is also in the Edison Institute Museum. The internal combustion engine was now challenging steam power for tractors, so the first of a line of gasoline powered tractors appeared in 1912 along with a line of two, three, and five ton trucks. Later some of the trucks were of the cab-over-engine design. The gasoline tractor engines were of the opposed cylinder design in both two and four cylinder models. The crankshaft was set transversely on the chassis permitting a straight spur gear type of transmission to the drive wheels.

The plant of the Avery Company covers a total of twenty-seven and five-hundredths acres and the main factory building, together with the various warehouses, have a total floor space of six and a half acres. The various departments of the factory are united by an improved type of trolley system of the company's manufacture which greatly facilitates the rapid handling of both finished and unfinished goods at a minimum of expense. That harmonious and notable relations exist between the company and its employees is indicated by the fact that labor troubles are unknown in their factory. The company manufactures steam and gasoline traction engines, self-lift plows, traction steam shovels, traction hauling wagons, threshing machinery and all its various attachments, mounted steel water tanks, farm wagons, corn planters, riding and walking cultivators, single "and double row stalk cutters and gasoline tracts — both farm and city. Their output is sent to all parts of the country and into foreign lands as well. They have branch houses located at Omaha, Des Moines, Kansas City, Minneapolis, St. Louis, Indianapolis, Grand Forks and Fargo, North Dakota, and Aberdeen, South Dakota. They have a large traveling force upon the road and their Canadian trade is handled from Winnipeg. Their foreign shipments go to Mexico, Argentine Republic, Brazil, Russia. Austria-Hungary, the Philippines, Portugal, China, Sweden, Cuba and Egypt. The foreign trade gives an outlet for much machinery at a time when the shipping season for the home trade is lightest. The officials of the company work together in the utmost harmony and their relation is one of close social as well as business interests. From Rice, James Montgomery. "Peoria City and County, Illinois: A Record of Settlement, Organization, Progress and Achievement," S.J. Clarke Publishing Company, 1912

The old Kingman Plow Co. plant a mile up the track was acquired for use as a foundry in 1916 and became Avery Co. plant No. 2. In 1917 the Davis Manufacturing Co. engine plant in Milwaukee, Wisconsin was purchased, becoming Avery Co. Plant No. 3. They were then prepared to build all of their own engines. The Glide automobile plant in Peoria Heights, Illinois was a side enterprise of J. B. Bartholomew's. He manufactured the Glide automobile for several years and in 1920 decided to bring the plant into the Avery Co. fold as plant No. 4 for the manufacture of trucks. With four plants comprising the Avery Co. and an employment of four thousand people, it appeared that David McCullough's prophecy was well on the way towards realization. Times were changing, however, as new developments were given impetus by World War I and competition was becoming a greater challenge in manufacturing industries. In the earlier years new inventions could be incorporated into machines for production as saleable products without any appreciable amount of engineering and development work. The time was now approaching when products had to be built better in order to compete for the customers dollar and to stay sold. An inventor with a few draftsmen could not accomplish this task alone; it required a program of engineering, research and training of young men to execute the program. The company realized that competition and product obsolescence were challenging their products. Two major developments in the far West were beginning to be felt in the Mid-Western area. The track type tractor and the combine-harvester were challenging the large steel tire wheel tractor and the stationary threshing machine. Mr. Bartholomew was quite capable of conceiving new and advanced ideas for products to create new markets. Here are some of the later developments. In 1917 the small motor cultivator appeared featuring a friction drive transmission with infinitely variable speeds. Later when the power was increased with the use of a six cylinder engine the friction drive was not adequate and a conventional clutch and sliding gear transmission was adopted. They built as high as fifteen hundred units a year. Here was a machine that the farmers were eager to own, but lack of proper engineering follow up in the field left these machines in need of de-bugging and then popularity was retarded as a result. A blade attachment was made for the motor cultivator and it was sold under the trade name of Road Razer. This one-unit grader idea was later carried further with the development of a larger machine permitting the blade to be placed between the axles. The blade assembly was mounted on a ball bearing slide rail which permitted quick side shifting of the blade. The "Track runner" was the only attempt at entering the track-type tractor field. The track operated on loose rollers in a continuous channel and the idea was abandoned after a number of unsuccessful applications. You can't blame them for trying for, with our free enterprise system we have the right to fail as well as the right to make a profit. Their first all steel thresher model was not placed into production as considerable engineering was required to make it commercially practical. That task was left for the successor company. The Avery Co. reached its key day in 1920 but clouds were appearing on the horizon. The agricultural depression of 1921 gave the company a jolt, and the missing segment in the arch of its organization, engineering, research and training, was making itself felt. The bubble burst in 1923 followed by bankruptcy and receivership in early 1924. One year later J. B. Bartholomew died, and 1925 was also the year that the Holt Manufacturing Co. of Stockton, California and Peoria, Illinois and the C. L. Best Co. of San Leandro, California merged to form the Caterpillar Tractor Co. Although popular opinion blamed over expansion for the failure of Peoria's largest manufacturing industry, I believe that it was a case for engineering, research and training programs. I believe this because concentration upon any one of J. B.'s latter day ideas would have assured success. Another company began mass production of the row crop type of tractor, very similar to J.B.'s motor cultivator, the same year the Avery Co. went bankrupt. Other companies were destined to develop and produce the one-unit type of motor grader. The Avery story would not be complete without telling you about the successor company which was organized in late 1925 as the Avery Power Machinery Co. A group of men, who had done a lot of thinking down stairs in the old company, joined, with the backing of several local business men and bankers, to organize the new company on a considerably smaller scale utilizing the major portion of the old plant No. 1. All of the other plants and parts of plant No. 1 were disposed of during the receivership. This new group of men decided to start without the engineering and experimental departments and to delegate proper authority to the various departments throughout the organization. They concentrated upon a line of advanced design steel threshers and combines and they hired two old time inventor-thresher men as consultants to the engineering department. Here is a statement of policy by the Avery Power Machinery Co. officers. "Every Avery owner must be a satisfied customer".

There are four bed rock principles which we believe in and are building upon:

1.  Higher quality and simpler machines.

2.  Back every machine with real service.

3.  Always give a square deal.

4.  A friendly spirit.

On the four bed rock principles we have built the four foundation walls:

1.     A belief in concentrated energy.

2.     A love for truth

3.     A belief in first hand knowledge.

4.     A belief in united effort.

We have laid these four corner stones:  

1.  Strong financing.

2.  Advanced engineering.

3.  Efficient manufacturing.

4.  Economical distribution.

This was indeed a reaction to the policies of the predecessor company. History was their teacher. This fine group of men did go forward with their avowed policies to develop and manufacture an advanced line of all-steel anti-friction bearing threshers and combine harvesters. They continued to manufacture the Power Road Maintainer and parts for all of the previous machines. Their new products gained wide acceptance and the company made money; the profits being plowed back to reduce indebtedness. Close contact was kept with customers in the field by company officers, design engineers and field engineers. In 1929 the great depression struck but did not make itself felt to any great degree until 1931 when wheat dropped to 25 cents a bushel. Trading steel for 25 cent wheat was practically out of the question. The company had not been in business long enough to clear their debt and build a reserve fund to carry them through so the banking interests placed a manager in charge in late 1931. Under the bank manager a gradual liquidation policy was pursued. I am sure that this group of men would have gone forward successfully had they had enough time to gain financial independence. Nearly all the key men left to join another harvester company in similar capacities and they have made a success there these past twenty years. In 1938, with liquidation complete, two local businessmen purchased the parts manufacturing business for the required 10 year period. They changed the name to Avery Farm Machinery Co. Inc. In 1941 the large plant was sold to R. G. LeTourneau Inc. and the parts business was moved to smaller quarters on South Washington St. in Peoria. In 1949 the corporation was dissolved and, with considerable demand still existing for Avery parts, Mr. Earl K. Smith purchased the parts manufacturing rights. Mr. Smith changed the name to Avery Farm Machinery Co. and is today engaged in both the manufacture of Avery parts and a line of Hart Oil Burners. I might mention here that the Avery tractor currently being merchandised by Montgomery Ward and Co. is being built by the B. F. Avery Co. of Louisville, Kentucky and has no connection with the former Peoria Company. Yes, I think that if an engineering, research and training program had been a part of the old Avery Co. policy, David McCullough's prophecy of 1902 might have become a reality. Wouldn't he be amazed if he were here to witness the huge industrial expansion that has taken place in the Peoria of 1952?

https://youtu.be/ZBJ5tvXVM2c

https://youtu.be/ZOjZspHhc7w

Source:

www.phelpsfamilyhistory.com/branches/phelps/wataga/avery_tractor_company_history.asp

Avery trucks did better. The Avery Co. of Peoria, Ill., was well known for its steam engines and tractors, including the 8-16 and the 14-28. When the company ventured into the truck field in 1910, it was well situated in the agricultural field, with a dealer network in place to help let buyers know about the new product.

The Avery Co. described its motor truck as a "gasoline farm wagon" and "general farm power machine." The firm decided up front that its trucks would be most useful to farmers during the harvest season, so they included a large belt pulley that could be attached to the front crank shaft for powering grain separators and other belt-driven machines. Early Avery trucks also had cast steel wheels with holes into which wooden plugs could be driven, to give added traction; when the wood wore down, new wooden plugs were simply inserted.

Company advertising claimed the truck carried loads on its own body, pulled plows and other machinery in the field, and drove other machines by belt power: "You can do road work, field work or belt work, all with this one machine."

 

AL FRESCO AMUSEMENT PARK, PEORIA HEIGHTS, ILLINOIS 1905-1944

Al Fresco Amusement Park, Peoria Heights, IL (1905-1944)

In 1904, a man from Chicago by the name of Vernon Seaver made his way into Central Illinois with a plan. Seaver, president of the Trans-Continental Amusement Company, wanted to provide Peoria with a trolley park. The entrepreneur had constructed White City Park in Chicago and was prepared to model the Peoria park after it. He allegedly anchored his yacht at the foot of Main Street in the Illinois River and searched the area for the ideal location for his creation.

The area Seaver landed on was in Peoria Heights, off Galena Road, adjacent to the Illinois River. Thomas Webb, a prominent Peoria diamond jeweler, owned the land, and agreed to participate in Seaver's project. All Seaver needed now was financial assistance. Luckily, John Finley, head of the Central City Streetcar Company, backed funding for the park. Finley's assistance didn't come merely from the kindness of his heart; he figured that the amusement park would bring enormous amounts of business to the streetcar company during the summer months. As the future popularity of the park would show, he was correct.

Construction of the park began immediately. Seaver obtained the services of the Ingersoll Amusement Company to build many of the park's main attractions, including a 65 foot-high Ferris wheel and a figure-8 roller coaster. Most of the rides contained within the park were the first of their kind in Central Illinois. Not all the rides and attractions were built from scratch; the 1904 St. Louis World's Fair provided statues, benches and lights to the park.

Word quickly spread of the park's construction and residents of Central Illinois eagerly anticipated the opening of their newest attraction. Seaver named his park Al Fresco, meaning "Open Air", and in a March of 1904 an article of the "Journal Star" declared it be a "summer resort free from all vulgarity, where families can go and have innocent enjoyment."

The article's anonymous author sang Seaver's praises, stating that "such a place has been a long felt want in Peoria and it seems a wonder that in a prosperous city like Peoria, no one has been enterprising enough to inaugurate a place like this."

A short article on June 9, 1905, announced Al Fresco's opening for the following day:

The completed Al Fresco Amusement Park deserved such declaration. It truly was a marvel. Besides the Ferris Wheel and figure-8 roller coaster, Al Fresco's also featured a number of games and other frivolities. Many attractions to the park could be considered dangerous by today's standards. High wire and high diving acts were quite common, and diving horse acts and motorcycle jumping acts also afforded a dangerous pleasure. Perhaps the most incendiary of Al Fresco's performances was what was called the "slide for life." In this act, a wire was attached to the top of the circle swing ride and stretched to a point on the river. A man was doused with kerosine, set afire, and before he burned himself alive, slid down the wire into the Illinois River.

Also in the park was a two-story pavilion called the Japanese Garden. The second floor featured a movie house that frequently screened films by Charlie Chaplin, while the ground floor housed a pavilion and beer garden. This area hosted a number of vaudeville acts and other performances. Some of the famous faces to grace the stage were escape artist Harry Houdini and boxers John L. Sullivan and Jim Corbett. Frequent performers included bands and orchestras, Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show, and the Cherry Sisters, a three-person singing act. The Cherry Sisters hailed from Iowa, where their father was forced to mortgage his farm. The sisters formed their singing team to help him. They were by far the most popular act, despite the fact that they sang so badly audiences would throw things at them, forcing them to perform from behind a screen.

Another important draw to Al Fresco was Dewey Beach, which allowed visitors the opportunities to swim and fish. Two bath houses lined the beach, where bathing suits could be rented for 10-25 cents. Fishing boats were also available. Al Fresco's boat dock contained a popular barge decorated to resemble a battleship.

Admission to the park was 10¢ for adults and 5¢ for children. In the summers between 1905 and 1927 nearly 10,000 people visited the park daily. Vacationers poured in from all around the Midwest, most of them traveling by ship from St. Louis and Chicago. Locals flooded the park as well, and arrived there by various modes of transportation. Many came by streetcar, while others simply parked on Grandview Drive and walked their way to the park via Gibson Pathway. Those who could afford it took steamboat rides from downtown Peoria.

One 1918 steamboat ride in particular ended in tragedy. As the Columbia brought passengers back downtown after a day's fun at Al Fresco, a hole was torn in the hull, sinking the boat and claiming the lives of 87 of the 500 passengers aboard. A memorial was dedicated to the victims in 2003.

For most of the twenty-odd years that Al Fresco was in business, however, it maintained the air of innocent fun that Seaver had anticipated. The park and its attractions flourished until the late 20s. Attendance rates began to drop during World War I, but natural causes would ultimately result in the death of the park. During the 20s, the Illinois River, raised by Chicago drainage, permanently flooded portions of the park. Several rides were damaged by this flooding and were never repaired. The dismantling of the famous figure-8 roller coaster in 1928 marked the end of Al Fresco Amusement Park as it was formerly known.

In 1929 the land was leased to Fred C. Feyler, who rented the area out to traveling circuses. Swimmers and picnickers still flocked to the area until World War II. Due to an enormous drop in attendance rates, Feyler declared that all men in uniform would be admitted for free. However, Feyler did not anticipate the number of soldiers that were stationed at nearby Camp Ellis. After his announcement, hundreds of men flocked to the once-popular amusement site. The park was forced to officially close in 1944.

Today, Al Fresco's address is 4602 N. Galena Road. Occupying the land where thousands of vacationers once frolicked is a trailer park and a private club. The Illinois River is no longer as clean and scenic as it used to be. Though times have changed and the Al Fresco Amusement Park is largely forgotten, the delight and diversion it once brought during its short existence is definitely something to remember this summer.

https://drloihjournal.blogspot.com/2018/11/al-fresco-amusement-park-peoria-heights-illinois1905-1944.html?m=1

Max Heinz (b1872) of Kickapoo Township

If not for Max Heinz, there would have never been a "Heinz Family: 1810 - 1975, by Mrs. Wm. L. Heinz and Robert D. Heinz " book published in 1975, or any of the research many of us have been able to conduct and publish over these last few years. While he stopped in 1948, the legacy continues. He could have never imagined how he, and his work, was going to be in full digital and end up far beyond his wildest dreams @ https://ejheinz.center/GedSite/EJ-o/g1/p17.htm#i412

"Max Joseph Heinz never married. He stayed at home on the farm until he was 25 years old, then rented land and went into farming for himself. In two years, he went broke. First the land was too wet, and later it was too dry. There was no crop and no grain prices to pay expenses. Later he did carpenter work and paper hanging.

In 1930 Mr. Heinz moved to Dalhart, Texas. In 1931 he borrowed the money to go into farming and went broke again because of the depression. Then he worked on the W.P.A. until he was 65 years of age, when he was taken off that. He then received Old Age Assistance.

In 1941 he moved to San Angelo, Texas, on account of his high blood pressure. There he lived the rest of his life.

Mr. Heinz undertook the task of writing a Heinz Historical Book. It is that book which provided the inspiration for the compiling of the Heinz Family History; by Mrs. William L. Heinz, Genealogy book. Mr. Heinz gathered facts and dates at family reunions and other social gatherings. If he had not pursued that interesting hobby, most of the early information contained in the book would have been lost from memory and gone forever! He continued the book until 1948."

THE GEORGE HEINZ SR. (b. 1813) FAMILY OF KICKAPOO TOWNSHIP

Ancestors of this large family were John Henry Heinz and Eva Catharine Ester, his wife, of Nausdorf, Hesse Cassel, Germany. They never came to America and lived in Darmstadt in the state of Hessen, Germany that was also part of Napoleon's Confederation of the Rhine.

George Heinz, Sr. (b. March 28th, 1813, d. March 29th, 1891) was the second child of this family and had five siblings; Annie Margaret Hoffman Berckler, John Henry Heinz (stayed in Germany), Andrew W Heinz, Wendell Heinz, and Fredrich S Heinz. He was baptized on March 28th, 1813. He married 25 year old Katherine Henlein, (b. July 20th, 1813, d. October 29th, 1895) on April 7, 1839 in a catholic church in Dietersheim, Germany in 1838.

George Heinz Sr. and Katherine (Henlein) Heinz were among the first pioneers who came to America. They left Germany in 1839, crossing the ocean in a sailing ship. The voyage lasted ninety days. They landed at Baltimore, Maryland on August 5, 1839. They came through the St. Lawrence River to Chicago, and then down the Illinois River with a tow boat drawn from a long rope by a mule and oxen, and landed at what is now Peoria, IL.

George worked for a while for Captain Moss at a point near Rome, IL. The first year George and Katherine received $5.00 in money, with both of them working every day and boarding themselves. The second year both worked every day and boarded themselves and received as payment one cow and no money. After working a few years for Captain Moss, George farmed the Bradley farm on the West bluff in the city of Peoria for a few years. This was just opposite Main Street.

Later, George purchased 160 acres of land on Section 16 in Kickapoo Township (now Cramer's as of 1975). He cleared the land for farming and built a log cabin. Later he made his own bricks and lime and built a handsome brick house (The farm is now owned by Martin Gensler as of 1975). All of their furniture was hand made. All of their cloth for clothes were hand spun. Georges first plow was a wooden moldboard that cut a width of 20 inches and was drawn by oxen. His first wagon was hewn out of logs and not a nail of iron was used in making the wagon. The wheels were sawed out of a log about three feet across and 8 or 10 inches wide. He drilled the hole for the axle in the wheel with a stone and for axle grease used soap. The pioneer farmers drove these wagons to Chicago and back with grain or dressed hogs to get money, since Peoria was only a trading post then. It took six weeks to make one trip to Chicago and back. There were twelve wagons which were called trains, and each wagon was hitched by a yoke of oxen. At the end of one journey only one wagon remained because all the rest were worn out and several of the oxen perished on the way since there were no roads and only trails with no bridges to cross the streams. For lamps, a tin pan with grease or tallow, and a rag or some kind of cord sticking out at one end as a wick, served the purpose. There were no stoves for cooking, baking, or heating, only the open fireplace.

In 1855 Mr. George Heinz donated a small tract of land for school purposes, located in Kickapoo Township and formerly called District 58. A schoolhouse was built the same year, being occupied until 1904 when the directors thought the building inadequate to accommodate the children attending and proceeded to erect a new building on section 16 in Kickapoo township. No deed for the ground had ever been obtained from Mr. Heinz, therefore the directors refused to build it until it was granted. A deed was finally secured from Andrew Heinz, son of George Heinz Sr.

The contract for the new school was let to J.S. Foster of Peoria in 1904, to be completed for the sum of $850.00. The building was finished and ready for occupancy the same year.

This school is still standing on Heinz Lane after the interstate 74 overpass on the left off of Route 150.

George Heinz Sr. owned 360 acres of fertile land which was divided among his 5 sons after his death. He was paralyzed for the last ten years of his life.

To the union of John Henry Heinz and Eva Catharine Ester were born five sons and one daughter:

1. George Heinz Sr., born Mar. 28, 1813, died Mar. 19, 1891, had five sons; Henry, born Sept. 26, 1840, died Aug. 22, 1881, Frank, born Oct. 19, 1842, died Oct. 22, 1922, George, born March 10, 1845, Andrew, born Sept. 25, 1847, and John, born Dec. 30, 1849.

2. John Henry Heinz was born on 21 Oct 1815 in Hesse, Darmstadt, Germany. He died in 1910 in Germany. He married Katherine Margaretha Schneider on Aug. 30, 1846 in Hesse-Darmstadt.

3. Andrew Heinz, Sr., born Feb. 16, 1823, landed at New York in 1848, and came to Peoria by way of the lakes to Chicago and the Illinois River. He worked for his brother George, also in brickyard, cut wood and hauled it to Peoria for 75c a load, and also worked for C. B. & Q. railroad. Married Christina Reed in Kickapoo Township, who was also a native of Germany, a daughter of Morris Reed. There were seven children of this marriage: Fred, Henry, Andrew, George, Katie, Anna, and Theresa.

4. Frederick Heinz, Sr., born May 19, 1827, landed in America 1848, and came direct to Kickapoo Township, where he joined his brother George. He married Eva Seibert from Hesse Darmstadt, Germany, who had come to America alone to live with her sister in Kickapoo Township. She died July 6, 1894. Mr. Heinz first purchased 80 acres of land, mostly timber, on Sec. 16, for $500. He cleared off the timber and built a log cabin, which was later replaced with a brick house. Mr. Heinz at different times served as Supervisor, Road Commissioner and School Treasurer of his Township. One child was born of this union, Anna M., who married John Brutcher.

5. Wendel Heinz, landed in America 1848, worked for his brother George. He had team of horses, harness and wagon; then went to St. Louis to get some more things, but never returned and no word ever heard from him.

6. Anna Margaret Heinz, born May 1, 1810, died March 11, 1895; married William Berckler, first husband, of Hesse Darmstadt, Germany, who was born in 1797; married Nicholas Hoffman, second husband, of Scharchbach, Germany, who was born Jan. 1, 1800 and died Nov. 30, 1868. Landed in America July 3, 1853, and to this union were born five children: John Hoffman, Maroa, Illinois; Nicholas Hoffman, Pottstown, Illinois; Peter Hoff-man, Iowa; Fred Hoffman, Maroa, Illinois; Eva Hoffman Laszell, Maroa, Illinois.

The history of the Heinz family has been the history of Kickapoo Township.

Authored by E.j. Heinz in 2023 with sources listed.

Sources:

Material Furnished by Max J. Heinz, 1928

HISTORY AND REMINISCENCES - Old Settlers' Union of Princeville and Vicinity Vol. 4, 1929

Heinz Family History 1810-1975

https://ejheinz.center/GedSite/EJ-o/up/index.htm

                                                                                    

                                                                                    

    

Nicholas G. Heinz. A product of the agricultural regions of Peoria County

1933

Nicholas G. Heinz comes from a family of farmers and was himself intended for that vocation, but in his young manhood decided upon the trade of carpentry instead and for many years has been engaged therein at Kickapoo, where a number of residences and other structures bear evidence to his skill and good workmanship. He has never been a seeker after public office, but has always been a good citizen, and has won and held the respect and good will of his fellow-men. Mr. Heinz was born on the home farm in Kickapoo Township, Peoria County, in 1884 and is a son of George and Fredericka (German) Heinz, and a grandson of George and Catherine Heinz. The grandfather was born March 30, 1813, in Hesse-Darmstadt, Germany, where he received his education in Catholic schools, and was a young man when he made his way to the United States in search of his fortune. Landing at Baltimore, he came directly to Peoria, where he soon found employment by the day as a farm hand, but was industrious, enterprising and ambitious, and soon saved enough to start operations of his own in Kickapoo Township, where he took up land. Mr. Heinz eventually became one of the substantial men of his community and had the respect and esteem of his fellow-citizens. George Heinz, son of the pioneer was born at Mossville, Illinois, in which locality he attended the country school, and during all of his school period gave his leisure time to his father, in assisting in the development and cultivation of the home place. Born in 1845, he reached the ripe old age of more than eighty years, passing away in January, 1926, when he was accounted one of the well-to-do men of the county. He and his wife were the parents of seven children: Gertrude, Maximilian, Margaret, Charles, Nicholas G., Rose and Alexander. Nicholas G. Heinz attended school in the vicinity of the home farm, on which he worked until entering upon his individual career. His boyhood was crowded with hard and unremitting labor, and he had little liking for the tasks of the farm, so when it came time for him to make a choice he applied himself to a mastery of the carpenter's trade, which he learned with his brother. He has made a success both as a general carpenter and in addition has done some contracting and is known as a master of his vocation and as a man who lives fully up to the letter of his contracts. Mr. Heinz is unmarried and makes his home with his brother. He belongs to the Carpenters' Union at Peoria, and as a German Catholic holds membership in the Catholic Church at Kickapoo and in the Knights of Columbus,
in which fraternity he has numerous friends.

The transcription was taken from "Illinois: the heart of a nation" Volume 3.
-------------------------------

1975

Nicholas George Heinz was born May 29, 1884. He was the 9th child of George Heinz II and Fredricka (German) Heinz. He was of Catholic faith. He never married.

In his early years he worked on the farm at home. Then he bought the Silverleaf Pavilion, two miles east of Kickapoo, Illinois, in partnership with Emil Heinz. Later he bought out Emil’s share. Nick operated Silverleaf for several years, holding dances every two weeks and lots of parties. The annual Heinz Reunion was held there, starting in 1924. The building is no longer in existence.

Mr. Heinz worked for his brother Felix for awhile. He worked at Keystone Steel and Wire Co. for several years. He joined the Carpenter's Union #183 and was employed in that line of work until his death on Aug. 15, 1953.

Sources:

Quoted from The Heinz Family History, by Mrs. William L. Heinz, page 77.

http://www.peoriacountyillinois.info/bios/heinz%20nicholas%20g.html

George Heinz II (b1845) Kickapoo Township

George Heinz, who owned the farm, was a prosperous farmer and invented the first potato planter and the first potato bug catcher. He raised many potatoes in his early farming and raised and fed many hogs each year. He was a church director for several terms and a staunch Democrat all his life. He was the Township road maintenance overseer for many years. He was also Township Commissioner for two terms. He put the first gravel on the highway in Illinois for a pavement. Then came the State gravel road, then the State concrete road. His first drain on his land was four boards nailed in a square to drain off surplus water on his land. The box-like drain was laid underground so he could farm over it. It was successful.

George Heinz owned 1,410 acres of land at his death.