Biography - JOHN STADLER

As a merchant of Carlinville for the past twenty-nine years the gentleman whose name stands at the head of this review is well known. He is recognized as a substantial and trustworthy citizen, who by conscientious application to his business has earned the regard of the entire community. He comes of good German stock and was born on a farm near Mascoutah in St. Clair county, Illinois, April 26, 1850, a son of Jacob and Dorothea (Ball) Stadler. The parents were both natives of the kingdom of Bavaria, Germany, and in their family were six sons and five daughters, seven of whom survive: John, of this review, Philip, who is living in Los Angeles, California; Jacob, of Carlinville; George, who now resides at the old homestead in Carlinville township; Katharina, the wife of Henry Bartels, of Texas; Mary, who married Jacob Ring, of Morrisonville, Illinois; and Anna, who became the wife of Fred Stensell, also of Morrisonville.

Jacob Stadler, the father of our subject, was reared in his native land and came to America in 1849, taking up his residence in St. Clair county, Illinois. When he reached his destination among strangers he had three dollars and fifty cents in his pocket but secured employment as driver of an ox team and in a few years became one of the thrifty farmers of the county. He moved to Macoupin county in 1867 and located in Carlinville township, where he owned two hundred and eighty acres of land under cultivation and eighty acres in timber. He died in 1906, being then nearly eightv-two years of age. His wife died in December, 1905, also having nearly reached the eighty-second year of her age. Mr. Stadler was a member of the Lutheran church but his wife was a Catholic. He paid for a substitute at the time of the Civil war. The grandfather of our subject on the paternal side was Anthony Stadler, who was a farmer in Germany and lived to the age of eighty-seven years. He had two children: Jacob; and Philip, who came to this country and is now living near Madison, Monroe county, Missouri. The grandfather on the maternal side was Franz Ball, also a farmer of Germany. He died at the age of forty-five and in his family were two daughters, Dorothea and Mary Ann.

John Stadler passed the first seventeen years of his life in St. Clair county and received the principal part of his education in the public schools of that county. He came to Macoupin county in 1867 and has ever since lived in this county except eight years which he spent in Christian county. He remained at home until twenty and one-half years old, when he began working for wages and banked out coal as top man of the mining shaft in Carlinville, his father-inlaw, Henry Bartels, Sr., owning the mine. He also engaged as a miner and was identified with the mining interests for eleven years. He then entered the liquor business but after three years sold out and since 1882 has been successfully engaged in the mercantile business.

In September, 1870, Mr. Stadler was married to Miss Dorothea Bartels, a daughter of Henry and Minnie (Lereke) Bartels. There were four children born to this union, two of whom died in infancy, the others being Minnie and John J. Minnie married Henry Stratton and they had one daughter, Ella. She was again married, her second union being with William Grunder. They are now living on a farm near New Holland, Illinois. John J. was married to Flora Swank and they are now making their home at Los Angeles, California. They have one daughter, Anita. Mrs. Dorothea Stadler died in 1880, at the age of thirty years, and two years later Mr. Stadler was married to Fredericka Bartels, a cousin of his first wife and a daughter of Christian Bartels, whose wife was a Miss Sohns. There were six children by this marriage, three of whom are now living: Esther E., who became the wife of H. W. Turney, of Decatur, Illinois; Ruth, who lives with her sister Esther; and Elmer E., a carpenter of Carlinville. Mrs. Fredericka Stadler died in 1905, having reached the age of fifty-six years, and on the 7th of February, 1907, Mr. Stadler was married to Mrs. Delia L. Stowe, the widow of Ransom P. Stowe and a daughter of Samuel and Elizabeth H. (Cobb) Van Pelt. Mrs. Delia Stadler was born in Perry, Pike county, Illinois, September 10, 1865. Her father was born in Lexington, Kentucky, and her mother in New York state. They were early settlers of Pike county.. Illinois, the father arriving there when he was only seven years of age. He died at Bedford, Illinois, at the age of fifty-four and the mother at Springfield, when she was sixty-nine years old. They had eleven children, six of whom are now living: Lutitia, who is the wife of P. C. Hornback; Minnie, the wife of George Belden; Delia L., now Mrs. John Stadler; Harvey L. and Leon L., both of Springfield, Illinois; and Olive, who is the wife of I. W. Morgan, of Flora. Illinois. The paternal grandfather of Mrs. Stadler was William Henry Van Pelt, who married Lutitia Foley, and the grandfather on the maternal side was Philanthropy Cobb, whose wife died young.

Mr. Stadler is a firm believer in the Bible and is a member of the Baptist church, while his wife holds membership in the Christian church. Fraternally he is identified with the Modern Woodmen of America. Ever since arriving at maturity he has been a supporter of the democratic party and, although he has not sought public office, he served for seven years as township clerk. He has for many years been an important factor in business circles of Carlinville and his influence has ever been directed for the good of the community. He and his wife have many friends whom they have attracted by qualities of usefulness and unselfishness.

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 225-227.