Rock Grove Township and much of the territory contiguous owes its settlement and development mainly to men who emigrated from Pennsylvania for the purpose of establishing a permanent home on prairie soil. Some were young and unmarried, and some, after gaining a precarious living among the mountains of the Keystone State, cut loose from early ties, old associations, and came with their families to a new and untried territory. There were just such men needed in this section at that time, and it is doubtful whether it would have become so eminently prosperous without them. Among the class above mentioned was John Bolender, the father of our subject, who in the spring of 1840 set out from his native State for Northern Illinois. He was accompanied by his wife and family. Their outfit consisted of five horses, two wagons and one buggy, by which means they transported their household goods and provisions, and as there were no hotels along the route, camped and cooked by the wayside and slept in their wagons at night. The elder Bolender, who had onsiderable means, purchased 400 acres of land, mostly prairie and partially improved. Their goods hd been shipped by water, and when these arrived the family took possession of the substitute for a dwelling which hd already been erected on the land. The same year he erected the present commodious residence which is occupied by his son Levi. Mr. John Bolender managed his own farm until 1859, then rented the land to Levi and retired from active labor, remaining at the old homestead until his death, which occurred about 1868. He was then seventy-two years of age. The faithful wife and mother had passed to her long home two years before. The father of our subject was a man of much force of character and held various local offices. Both parents belonged to the German Reformed Church.

John Bolendor was born in Union County, Pa., Feb. 26, 1796. He was the son of Henry Bolender, whose father was a native of Germany, but emigrated to America and located in Pennsylvania at a period in the early history of that State. Henry Bolender married and reared a family of seven sons and three daughters, and spent his entire life in Pennsylvania, engaged in agricultural pursuits. The father of our subject remained with his parents until his marriage. For a number of years thereafter he remained upon and rented a part of the old homestead. Afterward he removed to Buffalo Valley, Union County, where he resided for a period of eight years, while he completed his preparations for a removal to the West. He had married, in early manhood, Catherine Stees, a native of Union County, Pa., born in 1800, and daughter of Frederick Stees. The parental household of John Bolender included fourteen children, of whom Levi, of our sketch, was the fourth in order of birth. Of these nine still survive. Levi remained under the parental roof until his marriage in 1852, receiving a fair education in the public schools and gaining a good insight into the methods required in order to succeed as a farmer. After he had assumed the responsibilities as the head of a family he commenced working the farm on shares. Two years after the death of his father the property was sold, and our subject purchased 154 acres of the farm. This has continued his home since that time, and he has kept pace with the progress of the age in adding modern mprovements and keeping up the reputation of the estate as one of the most valuable in the township.

The marriage of Levi Bolender and Miss Sarah Haas took place at the home of the bride in Oneco Township, Oct. 19, 1852. Mrs. B. was born in Snyder County, Pa., April 27, 1834, and became the wife of our subject when just past eighteen years of age. Her father, David Haas, was a native of Union County, Pa., where he carried on farming and shoemaking, and from which he removed to this State in 1850. The paternal grandfather of Mrs. B. was a coverlet-weaver by trade and was of German parentage. He served in the War of 1812, and died in Pennsylvania at the ripe old age of eighty-four years. The marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Bolender resulted in the birth of thirteen children, who were named respectively, Henry H.; Emma C., now the wife of John D. Lass; David C., Allen; Amanda J., now Mrs. G. Thorn; Edward J., Ida May, John, J. H.; William, who died in 1859; Clayton S. in 1880, and two died unnamed. The eldest living is over forty, and the youngest son a lad of fifteen years. Mr. Bolender is a man highly respected among his neighbors, and with his wife belongs to the Lutheran Reformed Church. His father early in life was identified with the old Whig party, but later subscribed to the principles of the Republicans, to which his son Levi, and his grandchildren, the sons of Levi, also closely adhere.

Contributed by Karen Hammer
Portrait and Biographical Album of Stephenson County, Illinois Chicago: Chapman Brothers, 1888 p. 283