Frederick Helle Family

Frederick Helle Family
submitted by Sharon Bearce

Frederick Helle, born in Germany, was 22 when he sailed for the new world. Fred was born into a well-respected upper middle class family. He offended the German empire when requesting passage by finally saying, "If I want to go to America, the king of Prussia and all his army can not stop me." This was considered a direct insult to his majesty, the king, and his army, and disrespect for the government. Fred said "The gendarmes were sent to arrest me and I determined to flee to America. In fact, I was arrested three different times, but with the assistance of a friend, Frederick Bush, the government emigration agent, I eluded the police and was hidden away among some boxes, and was soon on my way to a country where the freedom of speech is not prohibited by law." He told of additional attempts to arrest him while on the ship, but he hid in disguise. He landed in New Orleans in 1857, with about $90 in his pocket. He worked in St. Louis then worked as a baker in Chicago for 10 months, and on to Bloomington, harvesting farms for 50 cents a day. Then he worked on what is now the C. B. & Q. Railroad in Peoria until he moved to Canton, Illinois in Nov. 1858. In Canton he worked for George Nagel's bakery at $8.00 a month. He moved to Macomb in May, 1859, and opened a bakery and restaurant with Mr. Vogi. He was married in Macomb, Illinois, in 1860 and sold his interest in the business to move to Chicago and open a saloon on Milwaukee Ave. After just five months he sold the business and went into government employ.
At the time that Fred had insisted upon leaving for America, he was in the process of being forced into an arranged marriage he strongly objected to.
Helle Sawmill History - Fred Helle and Katherine Krauser were German emigrants who met and married near the Spoon River Country, about fifty miles west of Peoria. In 1869 Fred Helle purchased 80 acres of unimproved heavy timbered land, near Spoon River, Fulton Co., IL. Thus was the beginning of Helle Sawmills in the U. S.

Fred Helle's wife Catherine (Katharina) Krauser:
b. 25 Feb 1839 in Mosbach, Hessen-Darmstadt, Germany, d. 15 Jul 1921, Smithfield, Fulton Co., Illinois

BIOGRAPHY: Smithfield - Monday, July 18, 1921
Biography of Mrs. Helle: Catherine Frances Krause(r) was born in Mossback, Germany, Feb 25, 1839 and passed from this life July 14, 1921 at the home of her son Fred, having reached the age of 82 years, 4 months and 19 days. The years of her girlhood were spent along the river Rhine. Coming to America when she was 19 years of age, she was for two years a resident of the state of Ohio. She afterwards lived in Macomb until 1860. In this same year she was united in the holy bonds of wedlock to Fred Helle. Their union was blessed with 13 children, two of whom died in infancy. Two others died after they had become of age -- Anthony on July 24, 1909 and William A. on May 29, 1911. Those living are: Mrs. John Orwig, Cuba; Fred Helle, Smithfield; Mrs. Mary Gray, Canton, Mrs. Dena Keuhn, Smithfield; Mrs. Sherman Fouts, Ellisville; George Helle, Cuba; Mrs. Kathryn Blout, Ellisville; Mrs. Charles Bolan, Smithfield; Mrs.Hiram Walters, Cuba. The husband preceded her in death 13 years ago. Besides being a good mother to her 13 children, she was a grandmother to 46 and a great mother to 22. She labored faithfully with her husband in caring for the family and assumed her share of the hard times that the settler of the country endured. Besides the relatives, she has many friends who sincerely mourn her passing. Funeral services were held Saturday, July 16 at the United Brethren Church, Rev. C. W. Martin officiating and burial was in Brock Cemetery. The pallbearers were her grandsons.
Son Delbert Helle: I remember Grandmother Katharine Helle well. "She always stood tall and straight and was always busy."

George Adam Helle, b. 27 Oct 1873, Smithfield, Fulton Co., IL d. 23 Nov 1943, Freeport, IL
George Adam Helle was born on the Helle homestead NW of Smithfield. His son Joe told about the lives of his parents: "When Dad was a youngster, Grandfather Helle got involved with a thick and thin sawmill. When the regular sawyer failed to show up for work, Dad tried his hand at sawing and was never able to let go again. Somewhere Dad also found a fiddle and this too he could not let go of. Not a violinist, he could not read music, but in his youth his musical talent was a main source of income earned at barn dances. Somewhere about that period in his life he became enamored with a girl from the Buckeye country and life was never the same again. His carefree days were behind him. Sawmills, threshing machines and this Buckeye girl were his life from then on. Their first home was a small house in Smithfield. With three boys in a few short years, they moved to a larger home across the street. Then five boys and a move to a farm in the country to hold the growing family. Next a girl, then what? Five more boys. With a reputation far and wide then, yes, two more girls for a total of 13. Sawmilling, farming, threshing. A disastrous detour into a coal mining project. There were many set- backs common to us all. The older sister and many of the older sons were establishing homes of their own when Dad and the younger boys gave up farming and headed back to the tall timber where they were more at home. At this time, if you listen, you can hear the whine of a chain saw or the deeper voice of a circular saw and know those Helle boys have not found their way out of the woods"
Helle Sawmill History - Fred Helle and Katherine Krauser were German emigrants who met and married near the Spoon River Country. In 1869 Fred purchased 80 acres of unimproved heavy timbered land in Cass County for $300. The family found shelter in a cattle shed on a bluff overlooking Spoon River. He erected a cabin on a hill. Frederick and Katharine worked clearing the land for the plow. About 1873, Fred bought a small sawmill to saw the timber on his farm. Their home caught on fire and the family once again was forced to take shelter in the cattle shed. He reconstructed another cabin, which also later burned. The first sawmills used 10 to 30 horsepower steam engines. All sawmills were portable, pulled by horses from one job to another. Horses were used to skid logs until the mid 30's, when caterpillar tractors took their place. Around 1882, Fred's son, George, took over the operation of the sawmill. George relocated the sawmill to Kewanee and to Wyoming, IL before selling it in 1940. George died in 1943. George's sons have continued in the Sawmill Industry.
Ethel: "Dad was such a gentle man. He really enjoyed all of us, was so proud of his big family. He was very sensitive about being German and the Germans starting World War I, and World War II. Dad's first and last occupation was sawmills. He was such a capable lumber man, he could walk through a woods and estimate the number of board feet in it. He could add long numbers in his head quickly without pencil and paper. One form of entertainment when Dad was a young man was debates. It is said he never lost a debate, and one senator said to him, after losing a debate to George, "What do you do for a living?" Dad told him he ran a sawmill. The senator then said, "My god, man, quit it and go to school." Pop always told us kids, "Once you lose your temper, you lose your argument." Dad was a great believer in self-education, only having four years of school himself. His older sisters taught him English in secret. They were not allowed to use it at home. Pop always had to have his Chicago Tribune which he would read and drop on the floor. Mom scolded him for being messy until one day, in their early days of marriage, Pop was working away from home doing threshing and became very ill. Mom went to care for him and in his delirious fever he was saying "Ida, I'll pick the papers up", over and over. After that she never scolded him about the papers."

George Helle's wife, Ida Lodema Kaler, b. 19 Oct 1878 Cuba, Fulton Co., IL and died 17 Dec 1971, Savanna, Carroll Co., IL (where she had been living with her daughter, Charlotte Helle Osborn)
Ida descends from the Mayflower, a direct descendant of John and Priscilla Alden. Many of the descendants of George and Ida belong to the Mayflower Society and the John and Priscilla Alden Society, as well as the Daughters of the American Revolution.

MEMORIES, by granddaughter Crystal: "I have many fond memories growing up in the big Helle clan. We would go to the family reunions every year & many times Uncle Verle was there with his old rumble seat to give rides. We had such good times with all the cousins, there was never a doubt we all where from the same close tight family & the bond was held tightly by the head Grandma Helle. We had the luxury of having her live with us. It was a privilege as she was such a great lady. I shared a room with Grandma as a teen & you know it didn't bother me a bit. I truly miss her & will always remember the night she passed. The nurses said she was in a coma & couldn't hear me. I told her I loved her & she squeezed my hand. I knew then they where wrong. I'm sorry I never got to know Grandpa Helle as Mom has told us so many stories about "Pop".

Daughter Charlotte wrote: "I remember my childhood on the farm. Thirteen of us kids, Mom and Pop, and my maternal grandmother. We all lived, crowded but happy. Mom and Pop must have had cast iron nerves. My younger sister, four or five brothers and I would chase around and around that long dining room table whoop and hollering playing a game we called Bear Round the Table. Mom never got over June's death. I don't believe Pop ever did either. I guess even after 12 kids, the baby of any family has a special place in people's hearts. And June was special."

All of the Grandchildren remember the love and special feeling Grandma Ida Helle had for them. All agree with cousin Margail: "Grandma greeted me with hugs and kisses as if I was the only grandchild she had. She had a way of making each child feel like he or she was "the special one."

Granddaughter Sharon: "Grandma had a way with children that was very rare. When Danny was an infant, he was very sickly and cried steady. One night after he had been crying for over an hour, I had been walking the floor with him, but there was no comforting him. Grandma came out in her wheel chair, pushed by her nurse. She said, "give me that baby." I handed Danny to her, and I will never forget what happened. He was only a couple months old, but he looked up at her, smiled, buried his face in her arms and went to sleep. It was absolutely unbelievable; the love between Grandma and all of the children."

Ida lived with her daughter Charlotte in Savanna, IL until her death at he age of 93. She never lacked for company, with some of her family always visiting. Being a religious lady, Ida wouldn't touch a drop of alcohol, not even when the doctor prescribed a sip of wine daily for blood circulation at the last.

On Ida's 90th birthday, she was interviewed for a feature story in the Savanna, IL newspaper. "Ida recalls the year over 80 years ago, when as a little girl she drank cistern water rather than go to the well. She suffered typhoid fever as a result, and this caused her to lose her heavy head of long black straight hair, of which she was very proud. It grew back, but this time it was curly. Ida played the piano as a young woman and grew to love good music. She especially remembers a popular song of the day, "Ida", which her future husband, George Helle sang to her quite often during their courtship. Ida's best friend was Bertha Helle (George's sister). Both had many male admirers and eventually they became known as "The Buckeye Beauties," the name Buckeye coming from the community in which they were reared."

Daughter Ethel: "Mom never lost interest in any of us, nor any of us in her, right up to the last. Mom told of small pox breaking out in Smithfield where they were living before I was born. Knowing my father's brother, Fred had an empty house in the country; she contacted him. He sent wagons, after her, the children and the furniture. Dad came home that night to find a note on the door telling him where they all were. Mom managed to miss the small pox epidemic that had left many dead in Smithfield. This one story describes Mom. She never hesitated to act when any occasion came up that concerned any of us. Mom was always there."