who, after the labors of a long and busy life, is spending his later years in ease and retirement in the village of Granville, Putnam county, was born on the 6th of March, 1829, in the village of Lopsann, Alsace, France, now a part of Germany, and that section of the country where the battles of the Franco-Prussian war were fought. In 1845, with his parents, George B. and Margaret (Knopf) Sucher, he came tO' America, alreadv having two brothers and a sister in this country. The former had located in Du Page county, Illinois, eighteen miles from Chicago, ancV there the parents also settled, the father purchasing a farm, on which he resided until his death. For ten years our subject operated that farm, but soon after his father's death he sold out and in 1855 came to Putnam county, where his wife's parents were living.
On the 15th of September, 1850, Mr. Sucher was united in marriage with Miss Catherine Krebs, the ceremony being performed in Du Page county, where the lady was visiting at the time. When sixteen years of age she was brought to America by her parents, Jacob and Sophia (Bender) Krebs, who lived on a farm near the Rhine, in Alsace, and emigrated to this country in 1847. They located upon a farm in Putnam county, a half mile southeast of Granville, on section 10, Granville township, where they resided until well advanced in years, when they removed to Tonica, where the father died August 26, 1875, while the mother survived him but six months, and they were both laid to rest in Granville cemetery. In the familv were three daughters, the sisters of Mrs. Sucher being Salome, now the wife of Henry Kammermeyer, of Peru, Illinois, and Caroline, widow of Fred Knopf, and a resident of Pontiac, Livingston county, Illinois. On coming to the United States Mr. Krebs brought with him five housand francs in his trunk in the hold of the vessel, and he paid for his land in five franc pieces, carrying the money in a sack on his back to the court house in Hennepin.
Mr. Sucher had about fourteen hundred dollars on his arrival in Putnam county, which he paid on an eighty-acre farm, the cost price of which was two thousand and fifty dollars, and he later paid fifty dollars per acre for one hundred and sixty acres. His half section of land lies partly on section 12 and the remainder on section 13, Granville township, and while engaged in active business carried on general farming, but since 1878 has lived retired, having purchased a house and seven acres of land in the village of Granville, while his sons carry on the farm.
To Mr. and Mrs. Sucher were born seven children, six of whom are now living. Mary is the wife of Fred Bender, of La Salle county, Illinois. Frederick operates the farm of one hundred and sixty acres on section 13. Jacob, now a resident of Peoria, for many years carried on the farm on section 12. Anna is the wife of William Henshaw, of Peru. George B., a graduate of Knox college, for two year-s taught school in Auburn, Illinois, was admitted to the bar, and in 1895 was elected police magistrate in Peoria, being the only democrat on the ticket who was elected. Mrs. Caroline Gunn, who lives at home with her parents, has one little daughter, Gertrude.
Mr. and Mrs. Sucher were reared in the Lutheran church, but are quite liberal in religious belief, holding membership with no church organization. She is a lady ol culture and intelligence, and like her husband, has many friends throughout Putnam county. He always casts his ballot in support of the men and measures of the democratic party, and is a straightforward, reliable citizen, who has gained the confidence of all with whom he has come in contact.
Source: The Biographical Record of Bureau, Marshall and Putnam Counties, Illinois published in 1896, page 480.
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