The State of Illinois has archived plat maps over the century and I am just beginning to locate family lands from previous centuries. I am using the 1905 edition for the purpose of this research. I have identified surnames that I recognize from our family tree. Additional names like Kahle, Van Ohlen and Ilseman also look familiar to me. On this plat of Clinton Township, Wm. Charlesworth is the husband of Anna Temme and the attorney who handled Robert Kopfer’s will, inventory at death, bond for debt and the sale of property. Robert’s wife was Mary Caroline Temme.
This map shows 160 acres for Robert Kopher in Clinton Township. I am assuming there may be eleven additional acres across the road in Squaw Grove Twp. His will reveals a total of 171 acres. Notice the Rissman property right across the road from Robert Kopfer and the Baie families just to the south. I am assuming for now that M. Rissman is Martin, Earl’s father. Or it may be Martin’s father, Michael (as in John Michael) who passed away in 1922. I will take any corrections offered on that assumption! Rissman kids would have had a hard time ditching school. Notice that the school house was across the road on D. C. Swift’s 160 acres. Evidence indicates that many of our relatives including Rissmans attended the Immanuel Lutheran school.
Names on this map that are found in our extended family tree include: The Baie family, Rissmans, Leifheits, Charlesworth and Kusters. I suspect I will find more as I research marriages in the 1800s.
DOCUMENT ONE: North and East of the village of Waterman in Clinton Township, DeKalb County, IL
DOCUMENT TWO: South of the village of Waterman in Clintion Township, DeKalb County, IL
The Baie properties below (Carl and C.H. Baie) are repeats from Document One. The Burlington and Quincy Railroad runs right through the village of Waterman and gives you another line of reference. I tried to provide one map for the entire township but the font became so small my eyes failed to make out the names, and the resolution did not improve when zooming in that map. The surname George Sawyer jumps right out at my eye. Per the online records that I can locate, George appears to be the brother of Nicholas Sawyer. Nicholas was grandfather to my Uncle Harrison Sawyer and great grandfather, of course, to my cousins. Also the name Schermerhorn rings a bell, but I may be confusing it with Schernborns. It is interesting to note that the immediate cluster of our family ties is found very much confined to the NE corner of the township. Marriages were often block parties at the turn of the 19th century! It will be interesting to move into Squaw Grove and see what we found in the northwest quadrant.
