JOHN HOEBEL, Vice President of the German Insurance Company, of Freeport, expired at his residence in that city March 22, 1887. He was emphatically a self-made man. Whatever he set out to do he accomplished, and it may well be said that his life was an active one. He was born in Rhenish Bavaria Nov. 27, 1825, but spent only a few years of his life in that country. He heard of the great country beyond the ocean, called America and, imbued with the desire to do something in life, he bid farewell to home and Fatherland, and at the age of fourteen years took passage for this country. He made the trip alone, and did not know a soul in this land of promise when he arrived. A year or two afterward his parents crossed the ocean with the remainder of his family. Logansport, Ind., was the home of the Hoebels for a short time before they arrived in Stephenson County, which was in August, 1842. The trip was made in a wagon, and several days were occupied in coming over the then sparsely settled country. The first man he spoke to on coming to Freeport was Mr. Hettinger, President of the German Bank and German Insurance Company, who was then engaged in manufacturing and repairing wagons on a small scale. The gentlemen continued friends from that day.

The Hoebels settled on a farm in Silver Creek Township, the subject of this sketch applying himself to the trade of shoemaker, at which he worked for several years. In 1845 he went to the city of Galena, and remained there a few years, working industriously at his trade. Upon his return to Stephenson County, he went to work for a shoemaker named Bochine, and afterward started in business for himself on Galena street near Chicago. He also engaged in the same business in a frame building on Stephenson street, and remained there until he entered the employ of Mr. Frederick Bartlet, a hardware dealer, continuing with him eight or ten years. He then went into the saloon business, and conducted that successfully for about eighteen years, when he sold out to Cadwell & Franz, his desire being to spend the balance of his years in quietude. Shortly afterward he purchased the Johnson residence, on Galena avenue, in which house he passed away.

In his early days Mr. Hoebel took an active part in politics. In 1857 he was elected Alderman for the Third District, serving for two years. In 1862 John O’Connell resigned the seat he held in the City Council, and the people of this ward again elected John Hoebel an Alderman, H. D. Meachem being Mayor at that time. In 1865 he was the City Treasurer of Freeport, and in all these positions he served with credit to himself and the city, and it has often been said that he made one of the best Alderman that ever served the city. He was an enthusiastic citizen on the subject of public improvements, and during his administration he did much good for the fire department especially. He was one of the first members of the old Torent Company, and was appointed with D. B. Schulte to go to Chicago in 1862, purchasing at that time, for$1,200, the hand-engine that for so many years served for extinguishing fires.

Mr. H. belonged to the I. O. O. F., becoming a member of the order while at Galena, and afterward joining Winneshiek Lodge No. 30, of this city, which was organized in 1847. In 1857 he was one of the charter members of Freeport Lodge No. 239, and was also one of the persons who chartered Stephen A. Douglas Encampment in 1869. He had been a Noble Grand, and also had the honor of being a representative to the Grand Lodge of the State, as well as being twice chosen to represent Freeport Lodge in the Grand Encampment. The Saengerbund, of which John Hoebel was one of the most enthusiastic supporters, was organized in 1856. The German, the most popular insurance company organized in this part of the country, has a stanch supporter in John Hoebel. He had great faith in its future, and for many years had the honor of being its Vice President, holding this position at the time of his death. The career of Mr. Hoebel was identified with the growth and development of the city through all the hopes and vicissitudes of its pioneer life. Few men have enjoyed home life better than did he. As a husband he was kind and affectionate, and no father could be more considerate to his children.

Mr. Hoebel was married, in 1848, to Miss Catharine Baier, sister of ex-Alderman Baier. They had five children, two sons and three daughters, as follows: Mrs. Frederick Lakemacher, Philip H., Mrs. H. J. Mook, Miss Margaret Hoebel and Master John Hoebel. Mrs. J. M. Spratler, of Freeport, is his sister, his brothers being Jacob Hoebel, Hon. Louis Hoebel, a banker of Syracuse, Neb., and Philip Hoebel, a merchant at Blairstown, Iowa.

Contributed by Carol Parrish - Portrait and Biographical Album of Stephenson County, Ill. (1888)