Portrait and Biographical Album of Fulton County,
Illinois: containing full page portraits and biographical sketches of
prominent and representative citizens of the county: together with
portraits and biographies of all the presidents of the United States,
and governors of the state; Biographical Pub. Co., Chicago, IL; 1890;
page 638–639; Transcribed by Margaret Rose Whitehurst
Josephus Bottenberg is a son of one of the old pioneer families
of this county, and he is well known in connection with its industrial
interests as the prosperous proprietor of the Fulton Flouring Mill at
Astoria, and as one of the most worthy citizens of the place.
Our subject was born May 19, 1829, in Brooke, in that part of
West Virginia known as the Pan-Handle. His father, Jacob
Bottenberg, is thought to have been born in Maryland, which was the
native State of his father, who bore the same name as himself and was
of German parentage. The latter was reared and married in
Maryland, taking Catherine Bartholomew as his wife. He
subsequently removed from there to Virginia, and was an early settler
of the Pan-Handle district. He resided there many years, but
finally made another and still greater change whereby he became a
pioneer of Illinois in 1836. He located in Vermont, and was a
resident of this township until death closed his life at a ripe old
age. His wife also died on the home farm in Vermont.
Jacob Bottenberg, the father of our subject, was young when his
parents, located in Virginia. His early life was passed there on
a farm, and he was often engaged in mechanical pursuits, as he had a
natural talent for such work, though he never learned a trade. In
1836, with his wife and six children, his parents and other families,
he came to Illinois. He built a flat keel-boat, in which the
little party embarked for the long journey down the Ohio and up the
Mississippi and Illinois Rivers to their destination. Whenever
there was any wind a sail was raised that helped propel the boat.
At other times the men used poles to push it forward, and when it was
convenient the boat would be rowed near the shore, and those in it
would pull it along by catching hold of the bushes as it passed
along. After a four-weeks journey Mr. Bottenberg and his friends
arrived at Sharp’s Landing, in Schuyler County. He had brought a
wagon with him, and when he landed he bought a pair of oxen, and made
his way to what is now Vermont. He had been here the year
previous, and had bought a tract of timber and wild prairie land one
and one-half miles southwest of Table Grove, and had erected the body
of a log house. The first night after their arrival the family
slept in the wagon, and the next day the father got out timber and
rived clapboards to cover the roof of his projected dwelling, and his
wife and children were soon comfortably house. The chimney was
made of earth and sticks and the floor of puncheon. At that time
deer, wild turkeys and other game roamed at will across the
sparsely-settled county, which was then in a wild condition, showing
but little indication of its present advanced state of
development. Mr. Bottenberg rounded out a long life on his
homestead in 1883, having lived to see a prosperous and flourishing
community of people where he had found a wilderness. His name
occupies an honorable place among the industrious, practical pioneers
of this part of Illinois who did much for its up-building.
Mr. Bottenberg was a pioneer in the mill business in this
county. In the fall of 1839 he built a sawmill on Sugar Creek,
which was the first one ever erected in that section of the
country. He soon built a gristmill, ingeniously constructed to
run by wind power. The building was round and high, and the roof
was so made as to revolve, and from it a sweep extended to the ground,
and when the wind changed the position of the wheel was changed
accordingly. This was the first gristmill for some miles around,
and drew custom for quite a distance. At last a cyclone blew the
roof off and destroyed the power, and then Mr. Bottenberg operated it
by horse-power until other mills were built and competition destroyed
his profits, when he closed it.
The mother of our subject was Elizabeth Swearingen before her
marriage. She was born in Beaver County, Pa., and was a daughter
of John V. Swearingen, who was also of Pennsylvania birth, and was of
English descent. He married Margaret Chapman, and they spent
their entire lives in Pennsylvania. Mrs. Bottenberg died on the
home farm in Vermont Township.
Our subject was one of a family of ten children, and though he
was only seven years old when his parents brought him to this county,
he remembers well the incidents of the removal hither and of the
pioneer scenes amid which he was reared. His schooling was
obtained in a rude log house, with a puncheon floor, benches made of
split poles with one side hewn smooth, and wooden pegs inserted for
legs. Wooden pins were also inserted in the walls of the room to
support slabs on which the elder scholars wrote in their copy
books. Mr. Botenberg made his home with his parents until he was
twenty-two years old. At that age he took an important step in
life, whereby he secured the aid of a good wife, as he was then, in the
year 1951, married to Mary J. Holmes, a native of Kentucky and a
daughter of Nathan Holmes. Five children complete the family born
to our subject and his wife of their happy wedded life, namely:
William A., Lenora K., John H., Carrie E. and Thomas E.
After marriage Mr. Bottenberg bought a tract of land in Eldorado
Township, McDonough County, and as a pioneer settler of that place did
good work in developing a fine farm, placing it under good cultivation
and making many valuable improvements. That was his home until
1881, when he returned to Fulton County, and bought the Fulton Flouring
Mill. At that time the mill was furnished with the burr
system. Since it come under his management he has greatly
improved the mill, and in 1885 introduced the roller process of
manufacturing flour, has provided all first-class modern machinery, and
has one of the best establishments for the manufacture of flour in this
part of the county. His flour is of the best quality, and is in
good demand in the markets.
Mr. Bottenberg is a man of solid worth, possessing in an eminent
degree those traits that command respect in the business world and gain
esteem among his neighbors and associates. He and his wife are
sincere Christian people as is attested by their everyday conduct in
all the relations of life that they sustain towards each other, towards
their children and all about them. The Methodist Episcopal Church
has in them two of its best members. Mr. Bottenberg is a true
Democrat in politics.
