Nature seems to have intended that man should enjoy a period of rest in the evening of life. In early years he possesses strong hope, laudable ambition and almost limitless energy. In later years his labors are guided with the strength that comes through experience and superior judgment, and if he follows a course which the world recognizes as leading to honorable success he can achieve a measure of prosperity which will in his declining days permit him to put aside the arduous cares and responsibilities of a business life. Such a course has Jacob SUCHER followed and is now living retired in the village of Granville. His birth occurred on the 6th of March, 1829, in the village of Lopsann, Alsace, France, now a part of Germany, and in 1845, when a youth of sixteen years, he came to America in company with his parents, George B. and Margaret (KNOPF) SUCHER, who already had two sons and a daughter in the new world. The former had located in DuPage county, Illinois, about eighteen miles from Chicago, and there the parents also settled, the father purchasing a farm on which he resided until his death.
In his native country Jacob SUCHER had acquired a fair education, and in the new world he assisted his father in the operation of the home farm until about ten years prior to the father's death, when he took charge of the farm, continuing its operation until after the father's demise, when in 1855 he sold the property and removed to Putnam country, where his wife's parents were living. He had been married on the 15th of September, 1850, to Miss Catherine KREBS, who at that time was visiting in DuPage county. She, too, was born in the fatherland, her parents being Jacob and Sophia (BENDER) KREBS, who lived upon a farm near the Rhine, in Alsace, and who crossed the Atlantic in 1847, at which time they established their home upon a farm in Putnam county about a half mile southeast of Granville, on section 10, Granville township. There they remained for a long period, and when well advanced in years took up their abode in Tonica, where the father died August 26, 1875, the mother surviving him for six months. Their family numbered three daughters: Mrs. SUCHER; Salome, the wife of Henry KAMMERMEYER, of Peru, Illinois; and Caroline, the widow of Fred KNOPF, and a resident of Pontiac, this state. On coming to the United States Mr. KREBS brought with him five thousand 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 courthouse in Hennepin.
Removing to this county, Mr. SUCHER purchased an eighty-acre farm and subsequently bought one hundred and sixty acres. His property lies in Granville township, where for more than two decades he actively and successfully carried on general farming, but since 1878 he has lived retired, having purchased a house and seven acres of land in the village of Granville, while his sons carry on the work of the farm. Unto Mr. and Mrs. SUCHER have been born seven children, of whom six are living: Mary, who is the widow of Fred BENDER, a resident of Earlville, Illinois; Frederick W., who is upon the home farm; Jacob, who was formerly a farmer in Granville township and afterward lived in Peoria, Illinois, but is now located in California; Anna, the wife of William HENSHAW, of Peru, Illinois; Lewis, who died in childhood; George, who is assistant city attorney at Peoria, Illinois, and is a graduate of Knox college, at Galesburg, after which he taught for two years in Auburn, Illinois, before being admitted to the bar; and Caroline, who is the wife of Dr. JOYNSON and is living in Granville.
Mr. and Mrs. SUCHER were reared in the Lutheran church, but are quite liberal in religious belief. Both have many friends in the county and the hospitality of the best homes is always accorded them. Mr. SUCHER votes with the democracy, yet has ever been without political aspiration. He preferred during his active business life to concentrate his energies upon his farming interests, which, being carefully managed, brought to him a measure of prosperity that has made him one of the substantial citizens of Granville. His life should serve as a source of inspiration and encouragement to others, showing what may be accomplished by determined and earnest purpose.
Extracted July 2011 by Norma Hass from Past and Present of Marshall and Putnam Counties Illinois, 1907.
| Bureau | Putnam | |
| Stark |
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La Salle |
| Peoria | Woodford |
