Macoupin County
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Biography - FREDERICK GUSTAV BURGDORFF

A valuable farm of eighty acres in Bird township represents years of labor and wisely directed effort on the part of its fortunate owner, Frederick Gustav Burgdorff. Landing in America from a foreign country in his boyhood, he applied himself so successfully that he earned the money with which to buy a farm, and he now has the satisfaction of knowing that he is in a large measure financially independent for the remainder of his life. A native of Hanover. Germany, he was born May 11, 1870, a son of Ferdinand and Caroline Burgdorff, both of whom were born in Hanover. The father of our subject was a farmer and learned the miller’s trade. The grandfather on the paternal side was a miller and came to America, settling in Wisconsin, where he passed the remainder of his days. Ferdinand Burgdorff and his wife spent their entire lives in Germany. He served for a number of years in the German army and was a guard in the King’s Regiment, being known as one of the most reliable soldiers of the regiment. In the family of Mr. and Mrs. Burgdorff were the following children besides the subject of this review, namely: Charles, who is now living in Peoria, Illinois; Herman, who died in California; William, who died in Germany; Ferdinand, who served for three years in the German army and died in the old country; Mrs. Caroline Myer, of Carlinville; Annie, who lives at Athens, Menard county; Hermina, the wife of J. Frederick Lange, of Carlinville; Frederica, who married Fritz Huhs and resides in Germany; and Stoll, of Hanover, Germany.

In the public schools of his native land Frederick G. Burgdorff received the advantages of a preliminary education. In 1884, being then fourteen years of age, he went aboard a sailing vessel at Bremen and crossed the ocean to New York city. He came direct to Carlinville, Illinois, arriving at this place September 3d of the year named, and has ever since resided in Macoupin county. He found employment as a farm laborer and so continued for twelve years, at the end of which time he engaged in farming on his own account. After six years he purchased eighty acres of land on section 13, Bird township, where he established his home. He paid seventy-five dollars an acre for his farm, and it is now worth one hundred and fifty dollars per acre. In his work he has met with a gratifying measure of success. He is thoroughly familiar with the care and handling of live-stock and few men in the county can claim better judgment as to the value of farm animals. He is also a good agriculturist as is shown by the bountiful harvests which are gathered under his direction.

On February 22, 1897, Mr. Burgdorff was married at Carlinville to Miss Olga Kasten, who was born in South Otter township, August 13, 1869. She is a daughter of Christian and Christina (Meiher) Kasten, both of whom were born in Hanover, Germany. The parents emigrated to America, being accompanied by the grandfather of Mrs. Burgdorff on the maternal side, and settled in South Otter township, Macoupin county, Illinois, where the father engaged in farming. Subsequently he removed to Carlinville, where he spent the remainder of his life, but his wife is now living at Carlinville. In their family were nine children: Charles, who is engaged in farming in Kansas; William, who lives on a farm which he owns in South Otter township; Gustav, who lives in Carlinville and owns land in South Otter township; Albert, who also lives in Carlinville and owns land in Carlinville township; Emil, who is living on the home place in South Otter township; Matilda, the wife of Jacob Worner, of Missouri; Bertha, who married Grant Turk and lives in St. Louis, Missouri; Ida, who is at home with her mother; and Olga, now Mrs. Frederick G. Burgdorff. Mr. and Mrs. Burgdorff are the parents of three children, Irma, Albert and Olga, all of whom are living at home.

Religiously Mr. Burgdorff and his wife are both identified with the Evangelical church at Carlinville, in which he is now serving as a member of the board of directors; he is also a member of the Bankers Life Association of Des Moines. A man of strong convictions and unsullied reputation, he has overcome many difficulties and now enjoys the reward of his early self denial. In his wife he has found a willing assistant and they have many warm friends in Macoupin county, who perceive in them the traits of loyalty and perseverance to worthy objects so necessary in the development of a noble and upright character.


Extracted 20 Oct 2018 by Norma Hass from History of Macoupin County, Illinois: Biographical and Pictorial, by Charles A. Walker, published in 1911, Volume 2, pages 209-211.


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