The mainpoints in the career of this energetic member of the business community of Dunleith are essentially as follows: He was born March 31, 1847, in the town of Puttelange, Moselle, France, and is the son of Nicholas and Anna (Kiser) Thill, natives of the same place, and in which also seven of their children were born, namely: John, Anna (Mrs. Nicholas Schmitz), Christopher, Henry, Nicholas, Jr., Mary, and William, the two latter of whom are deceased – Mary died in America, and William in France. The youngest child, Frank, was born in this county.

Charles Thill, the paternal grandfather of our subject, was also a native of France, where he spent his entire life, was one of the soldiers of Napoleon I, for fourteen years, and was twice wounded. On the mother’s side the grandparents of our subject were John and Lena Kiser, and were of pure French descent. The parents were married in Puttelange by Father Flamming, of the Roman Catholic Church. The father in his native country was a mechanic. He came with his family to the United States in 1855, when our subject was a lad of twelve years. They landed in New York City in the month of July after a voyage of thirty days on a sailing-vessel. They soon left the metropolis and proceeded Westward to this county, locating on the farm in Menominee Township, where the mother and two sons, Frank and Harry, are still living, and where the father died Nov. 5, 1881, at the age of sixty-six years. John is in Postville, Iowa running a hotel; Nicholas is a merchant in East Dubuque; and Anna (Mrs. Nicholas Smith) is in Caledonia, Minn.

Our Subject was educated in the schools of Dunleith, now in East Dubuque, and when approaching manhood left home and engaged in railroading and boating on the Mississippi River. In the year 1876 he settled in East Dubuque, where he still lives. He was married in June, 1873, to Miss Caroline, daughter of Eilliam and Sarah (Masnor) Mattmiller. The paternal grandfather of Mrs. Thill was Jacob Mattmiller, who died in Utica, N. Y. On the mother’s side her parents were John and Mary (Miller) Masnor, natives of Germany, where they were reared and married in 1788. They became the parents of nine children, only two of whom survive, namely: Sarah and Rosanna, now Mrs. Shepley of Dubuque. The parents of Mrs. Thill were married in Germany, in 1830, and to them were born seven children, viz: Jacob, John (who is written of elsewhere in this work), Rosa, Kate, Sarah, Frederick, and Caroline. Mr. and Mrs. Mattmiller came to the United States in the year 1847, making the voyage on the sailing-vessel “Victoria” in twenty-eight days. For twelve years thereafter they sojourned near Utica, N. Y., where the father was engaged in farming. Thence, in the spring of 1860, they removed to this county, locating on a farm, three miles southeast of Dunleith, with their eldest sons, who had improved it into a good homestead, which is now owned by John Mattmiller, with whom the mother makes her home. The father died at Rome, N. Y., in 1861, while on a visit to friends. Both he and his estimable wife and all their children were members of the Evangelical Church. Mrs. Mattmiller has five great-grandchildren.

To our subject and his estimable wife there were born: Idella, John who died when eleven and a half years old, Katie, Henry, and Frederick. Mr. Thill, politically, affiliates with the Democratic party. He is looked upon as a peaceable and law-abiding citizen, and in religious matters adheres to the doctrines of the Catholic Church, in which he was reared. He occupies a neat and comfortable home on Sinsinawa avenue, East Dubuque.

Contributed by Carol Parrish - Portrait and Biographical Album of Jo Daviess and Carroll Counties, Illinois (1889) 324-25