Biography of G. C. Betz of Lamoille, Illinois

G. C. Betz, Lamoille, is a native of the Grand Duchy of Darmstadt, Germany, as were his parents, Adam and Elizabeth Betz. Adam Betz was a soldier under Napoleon Bonaparte, the great emperor and conqueror, and with him participated in the world-famous battles of Austerlitz and Jena and a number of other engagements. He was a farmer and came to the United States in 1844. He died in Peru, Ill., in March 1864, aged 82 years.

Our subject went to school in the old country and there learned the shoemaker trade.. He immigrated to the United States in 1840, and followed his trade in Philadelphia till 1848, when he removed to Lamoille, Ill., where he worked at his trade till 1861, when he became a successful farmer. He yet owns a farm of ninety acres.

Politically Mr. Betz has been a Republican and filled the office of Postmaster from 1858 to 1875; the office of Commissioner for six years; and Justice of the Peace and Police Magistrate almost from 1870 to the present time.

Religiously he is an earnest member of the Congregational Church.

He was married November 23, 1843, in Philadelphia, to Fredericka Stelz, a native of Wurtemberg, Germany. She died here February 3, 1876, aged fifty-five years. Her two children now living are Charles H., of York County, Neb. and Mrs. Lillie I. Morrison, also a resident of Nebraska. She is the mother of Mr. Betz’s two grandchildren, George and Herman Morrison.

Source: History of Bureau County, Illinois, H. C. Bradsby, Editor. World Publishing Company Chicago 1885

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