ILROOTS-L Archives

From: "Karima" <>
Subject: John MARBOLD - Germany to Menard County, Illinois 1800s
Date: Sat, 7 Aug 2004 08:58:16 -0500

Good Morning!

We find many names, dates and places in our research which create a
"skeleton" of sorts. However, for some of us, it is quite rare to find any
"meat" for those "bones." When we do find little bits and pieces, here and
there, they help to flesh out the lives and character of our ancestors and
create a more understandable history of them for us.

Articles such as the following do just that. It doesn't contain a great
many names and dates, but does provide some interesting reading for anyone
who might be researching the MARBOLD family, which apparently immigrated
from Germany to Illinois in the 1800s.

Following are excerpts from an article in the State Journal Register. I am
sending it, along with the URL, for anyone who might be researching this
family. I'm not sure how long these articles are kept on the Internet
archives, probably not very long.

************************
MARBOLD makeover
by Ann Gorman
State Journal Register
Springfield, IL
August 7, 2004

"GREENVIEW - Time has taken its toll on the once-majestic Marbold family
home, which stands prominently just outside Greenview in Menard County.
However, a group interested in preserving the brick manor hopes to resurrect
it as a combined historical and agricultural tourist attraction."

"Immigrant John Marbold began buying land near Greenview in the 1840s with
money he'd obtained from the sale of his family's estate in Germany. His
spacious home was built in 1850 by Diedrich Fisher on ground where the
Potawatami Indians once roamed.

"His son, Henry Harmon "H.H." Marbold, had the house remodeled in 1880,
adding rooms, balconies, a modern bathroom, a glass portico and a
conservatory. There also was a washhouse, icehouse, smokehouse, heat plant
and barns, but some of those have since crumbled with age."

"A 4-foot-wide boardwalk then extended from the home to the Greenview city
limits. In its heyday, the mansion was the site of such parties as the
annual Independence Day celebration. And in 1894, the Marbolds hosted the
Old Settlers Picnic, with about 4,000 people attending."

"Generation upon generation of Marbolds developed farms and orchards and
raised livestock, including racehorses, on the thousands of acres they'd
acquired. They also operated a general store and opened the Marbold State
Bank in Greenview and Middletown, among other things."

"According to historical records, many local families got their start in
America by working for the Marbolds as farmhands or tenant farmers,
housekeepers, store clerks, stable boys or laborers."
************************

You can read the entire article regarding the restoration of the MARBOLD
Mansion in Greenview, Menard County, Illinois, at:
http://www.sj-r.com/sections/news/stories/32009.asp






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This thread:

• John MARBOLD - Germany to Menard County, Illinois 1800s by "Karima" <>