Jacob, Solomon and Samuel H. Fisher were pioneer settlers in Rock Grove township, Stephenson Co., Ill., in October, 1839. It is well established by tradition in the family that the original progenitor of the Fisher side came from Wurtemberg, Germany, and landed and settled in the neighborhood of Philadelphia, Pa., between the years 1685 and 1695, and was a great-great-grandfather of the said Fisher boys. On the Atlantic Ocean, in the passage from Germany to America, a son was born to him who was known as Henry, and he was the great-grandfather of our subjects. Henry had a son named John, and the latter’s son Jacob was the father of our subjects.

In tracing the history of the family thus far the full names have been given. What follows subsequently is this history, only the baptismal name will be given. If the reader will understand, therefore, that when the baptismal name is used one of the above persons is referred to.

All we know of Henry Fisher is that he had three sons, Michael, John and Peter, the latter a bachelor, and a soldier in the Revolutionary War. Henry settled near Philadelphia, and his three sons when quite young migrated to Berks County, Pa., where the city of Reading now stands, and opened farms in the forest in that part of the State. John, the grandfather, gained large landed possessions. He was married three times. The maiden name of the first wife is lost. By her he had three sons, Henry, John and Michael, to whom he apportioned the estate, and they settled in Ohio and were lost to the balance of the family. The second wife of John, the grandfather, was named Pfahl. Her people came from Westphalia, Germany. By her he had three sons, George, Jacob and Isaac, and two daughters, Anna Maria and Catherine. The Pfahl wife was the grandmother of the subjects of this sketch. John, the grandfather, was born in 1720, and died in 1806. In his extreme old age he married his third wife, who was a widow by the name of Gehret. He was killed by a bolt of lightning while standing in his own door observing the passage of a thunder storm. During the Revolutionary War he sold a farm on credit, and when the notes became clue the continental money had depreciated so that it was of no value whatever, but it was nevertheless legal tender, and he was obliged to take the stuff at par, thus losing the entire value of the farm. Solomon, one of the subjects of this sketch, remembers that when a small boy he played with pasteboard cards which represented the money pledges of the Continental Congress.

Father Jacob Fisher, second son of John, was born Jan. 30, 1774, and at the age of thirty-two was married to Susanna Haberacre, daughter of Dewald Haberacre. She was born March 21, 1779, and died in 1862. During his single life he was by occupation a blacksmith. After the death of his father in 1806, he received his legacy in land, and for a time carried on a mixed business, both farming and plying his trade. In the year 1809 he sold his property in Berks County, Pa., and bought an improved farm in Haine Township, Centre Co., Pa., near Millheim. The farm consisted of 170 acres, on which he died March 9, 1829. The children born to him were: Jacob, born Aug. 2, 1806; Catherine, born May 31, 1811, died Aug. 20, 1811; Solomon, born July 24, 1812, still living; Daniel, born Nov. 24, 1814, died March 8, 1815; Anna Maria, born Feb. 10, 1816, died April 18, 1874; Susanna, born July 27, 1818, died Feb. 14, 1870; Samuel H., born Jan. 18, 1822, still living. One child died in infancy unnamed. After 1809 he followed farming exclusively.

In October, 1839, Jacob and Solomon Fisher migrated to Rock Grove Township, Stephenson County, and bought a spotter’s claim of forty acres. They broke the grounds, built fence, and erected a one-story house 16 x 16 feet. They also bought 200 acres of timber, with the privilege of taking as much prairie to the west of it as desired, for all of which they paid $1,600. When the Government offered the land for sale in 1843 Jacob entered 100 acres of timber and 124 acres of prairie. Solomon entered ninety-five acres of timber and 211 acres of prairie, to which he added by purchase later forty-seven acres, and now holds 353 acres, all of which is under cultivation excepting forty or forty-five acres which is still in timber. The improvements consist of four dwellings at different points of the land, wherein all the children yet living reside.

Samuel H. Fisher lived at home until his father’s death, and afterward at intervals, attending school, and working by the day and month until he was nineteen years of age, when he learned the trade of a weaver. He was to serve two years, but his instructor failed in business before the end of his term. He then attended subscription schools and fitted himself for teaching, and at the age of twenty taught one term of school in Centre County, after which for ten years he was a clerk in different stores. He then came West, and landed in Rock Grove Township. His first purchase of land was in Oneco Township, in 1844, when he had made a visit to Stephenson County. Before settling, in 1852, he had made various visits to Stephenson County, and various purchases of land, so that when he became a citizen of the county he owned 683 acres. Soon after arriving he established a general merchandise store in the village of Rock Grove, which he operated for five years, in addition to looking after his farm. He then sold his interest in the store to his partner, J. D. Smeltzer, and gave his attention to the improvement of his farm until 1859, when he and his old partner built a warehouse in Dakota Township which they managed for ten years. He then retired and built a handsome residence where he has lived quietly ever since.

Samuel H. Fisher was married, in 1861, to Miss Kate A. Mingle, daughter of David and Lydia Mingle, the former of whom was a native of Berks County, Pa., but moved to Centre County at an early day. He was a shoemaker by occupation, and came to Stephenson County in 1853. He spent his last days with Mr. Fisher, dying at the age of seventy-seven. His wife died at the age of fifty-two in Ridott Township. She was a Miss Lots, daughter of Jacob Lots, a blacksmith, who died in Centre County at the age of eighty. Mrs. Fisher was born Sept. 19, 1829. Mr. Fisher is the father of four children: John H., twenty-six years of age, at home; Edwin J., at the Illinois College of Pharmacy in Chicago; Frank D., attending Dakota College, where he will take a general course. The last child, Katie A., died July 10, 1870, at the age of three years. Mr. Fisher votes the Democratic ticket, as did his father before him. He has never held any office except that of School Director for twenty-eight years, and Trustee of Schools for thirty-four years. His present term expires in 1890. He and his family are church-going people.

It is fully established by tradition that the original progenitor on the mother’s side, John Haberacre, came from Alsace, a land of contention between Germany and France, on the west side of the River Rhine. He landed near Philadelphia about the year 1690. A son was born to him named John, who when quite young migrated to the forests where now stands Reading, in Berks Co. where he acquired a large landed property which at his death was divided between his two sons John and Dewald. The latter was the grandfather of the Fisher boys. He also lost several thousand dollars by that great continental money fraud. The maiden name of the wife of Grandfather Dewald Haberacre was Kuehn. The Kuehn family also came Alsace.

Transcribed by Christine Walters
History of Stephenson County 1888 Portrait & Biographical Pg 498 - 500