"I worked for Mr. Nagel until May, 1859, when I went to Macomb, where, in company with Jacob Vogt, I opened a bakery and restaurant. Mr. Vogt is still living, on a farm south of Macomb.
"In 1860 I was married to Miss Catarina Krauser, of Macomb. In 1863 I sold my interest in business at Macomb and went to Chicago and opened a saloon on Milwaukee Avenue. I ran the saloon five months and sold out and went into government employ, baking 'hard tack' for the army and navy. My bakery was on Canal Street.
"On Dec. 31, 1863, I was sent to Louisville, Ky. We were snowbound four days at Michigan City, Ind., on the trip, but I reached my destination finally and was put in charge of a government bakery and vinegar works at $100 a month. My wife joined me at Louisville and we lived there until the close of the war, 1865, when we came north and settled in Bushnell, where I again went into the saloon business, which I followed until 1867, when I sold my saloon stock and fixtures and worked by the day until 1869.
'I traded my Bushnell property for this 80 acres of land, on which the buildings stand, and we moved on it. The land was covered with timber, but we -- myself and my wife -- cleared and improved it and erected a small house for the shelter of ourselves and children. The country even then was new and not very thickly settled.
"I got $1000 from the old country, we saved up the money that we earned, and were soon able to buy more land, subdue it from its primitive wildness, erect better buildings, build good substantial fences, and make for ourselves and family comfortable home.
"Since my wife and I united our lives and fortunes she has been a great help to me in all my different enterprises, and since we moved on the farm she had done her share of outdoor work and in helping clear it. She can handle an ax as well as some men, or better. I had a strapping big fellow helping me clear up a piece of land, a few years after we moved on the farm, and he and my wife were chopping off the larger timber. One day, while chopping down a big oak tree, some three feet in diameter, my wife finished her side of the tree and stepped around to see how long it would take my hired man to finish his. When he noticed this he stopped chopping, shouldered his ax and said: 'You are the first person I ever found who could beat me chopping, and you are a woman. I'll never stick another ax into a tree again.' And he didn't. He went home and never did another day's work in the timber to the day of his death, some 15 or 20 years afterward. She comes of good old German stock and is a representative of a very old German family. She has faithfully shared in my labors, has aided me in the upbuilding of our home, and like me preserves a pretty healthy body and cheerful disposition, though we have both long since passed the meridian of life.
"Both game and fish were abundant when we came to this place and rattlesnakes were very numerous. We thought nothing of killing two or three rattlers each day when we were out clearing. The last deer that was killed in Cass township was shot by George Campbell, over there where my orchard stands. A few months later George Bevard killed its mate in Bemadotte township. This was, I think, in 1868 or 1869 There were some wolves and other large animals in the heavy' timber along Spoon River for several years after we came to the township.
"We are the parents of 13 children, four boys and nine girls, 11 of whom are living. In rearing and caring for this large family we have been compelled to endure many hardships and privations. But we entered upon the hard task before us bravely and with a sturdy determination to conquer all obstacles, and we have succeeded fairly well, at least. Those of my children who are living are all married, save one, and have homes of their own.
"1 have a fair education, and some knowledge which can only be gained by personal efforts, travel and contact with humankind. I was early thrown upon my own resources and began the battle of life single handed and alone, have evolved a productive farm from the wildness, and here on the bluffs of Spoon river, Put creek and the Laswell branch, I guess the old woman and myself will pass the remainder of our lives. Our early labors have been fairly well rewarded, and if we have not a handsome competency we have enough to keep is. We have tried to make our course in life as father, mother, neighbors and citizens creditable to ourselves and have tried to win and merit the esteem of all around us. We believe we have partially succeeded and we are happy and contented."
Mrs. Catarina Helle's girlhood was spent in Germany, but she has been a resident of Illinois for half a century and has witnessed much of the growth and development of central Illinois.
"When we first came to the country," she said, "we were obliged to live in the most primitive manner and to do our cooking by the fireplace, as we had no stove. Deer then were quite plentiful and could oftentimes be seen crossing the fields or prairies.
"Yes, I entered upon the pioneer task of helping my husband fell the forest trees and prepare the land for cultivation, and in due time we had a fine farm. We have planted fruit trees, shrubbery and flowers, and in other ways adorned our home, and hope to spend the last years of our lives here surrounded by some of the comforts for which we have worked o hard. We have reared 11 children to good and useful lives and ought to be contented and happy. The upright and useful yes of these sons and daughters, we believe, reflect some credit upon the parents to whom they owe so much for loving are and good counsel.
"The scenes of my earliest recollections are of the Fatherland and the beautiful blue Rhine, and both my husband and myself were reared under the tenets of the Catholic church. here is a silver crucifix that has been in the Krauser family over 200 years. It is a family heirloom that we prize very highly and it will be handed down to our children and children's children.
"I have worked faithfully, both in the house and out on the farm, and my occupations were sometimes numerous and varied. I have raised flax, pulled it and spun and woven both it and wool into cloth. Prosperity gradually came to us, although it seemed slow in those days of ceaseless toil.
"That geranium there was grown from a slip cut from a plant near Lincoln's tomb, at Springfield. This old German prayer book is many years older than I am, but will be kept in the family as long as I live, and at my death will be given to the oldest child living.
"I have lived in towns, cities and villages, but I like farm life best of all. My husband and myself have lived to see a prosperous and flourishing community of people where, it seems only a few years ago, we found almost a wilderness. We have grown with the growth of Central Fulton and Cass township, and trust we have been, to some extent, factors in the great work that has resulted in making this one of the richest farming countries on the globe."
Mr. and Mrs. Helle are deservedly held in high estimation by the entire community in which they live, for their kind manners, warm hearts and many generous deeds. They have gained the friendship and affection of their neighbors, who feel that they can look to them for help in times of trouble and suffering. Universally admired for their boundless hospitality, and greatly esteemed by all who know them, they are slowly and contentedly journeying down the declivity of life, sharing each other's joys and sorrows and helping to bear each other's burdens.
Mr. Helle is endowed with great strength of character and has independent opinions of his own that give him influence in the community in which he has lived for so many years. He is a self-made man with a cool head, sound commonsense and good business tact, and when he and his wife began life together they started with nothing but the bare necessities and none of the comforts of home. Now they have a fine farm and a pleasant home, replete with every comfort that one could desire.
Mr. Helle's first vote in this country was cast for Lincoln in 1860, but now in politics he is a conservative Democrat, of the Jeffersonian type, and sturdily advocates the principles of his party. He still reads a great deal and takes as much interest in public matters as he did in his younger days.
Katharine Krauser Helle and Frederick Helle circa 1900
note; very strong family resemblance to Donald Lee Helle 15 generation ( grandson to Frederick)
Frederick Helle and Katharine Krauser were married 4 Sep. 1860 in Macomb, Illinois. On 21 August 1861 FRANZISKA LISABETH "LIZZIE" was born and on 8 November 1862 FEDERICK, JR. was born. In 1863 Frederick sold the bakry in Macomb and moved to Chicago where he opened and operated a saloon on Milwaukee Avenue for five months. He sold that saloon and entered government employ baking 'hard tack' for the Army and Navy in a bakery he had leased or bought on Canal Street.
Having resided in the United States for the required five years, Frederick was naturalized 2 November 1863. The Certificate of Naturalization reproduced was loaned by Berneice Helle Bordner.
