George W. Bolender, widely and favorably known as one of the thrifty farmers of Buckeye Township, is comfortably located on section 14, where he has 200 acres of land, of which he has been in possession since the spring of 1865. He comes of excellent Pennsylvania stock, and was born Sept. 28, 1839, in Beaver Township, in that part of Union County now included in Snyder County. His father, Frederick Bolender, was a native of the same county, and the son of George Bolender, who spent the last years of his life in Union County, engaged in fanning pursuits. The father of our subject was reared in his native county and married Miss Hannah Ritzman, also a native of Union County. Frederick Bolender remained a resident of Union County until 1844, and then, accompanied by his wife and two children, started overland for the Prairie State. Their outfit consisted of four horses, two wagons and a buggy, and they carried their household goods and provisions, camping and cooking by the wayside, and landing in this county after a tedious journey of six weeks. Mr. Bolender rented a house in Rock Grove Township, and the summer following purchased the land which constitutes the present home of our subject.
The land first purchased by Frederick Bolender in this county was without improvement save a small log caliin and a straw stable, although ab attempt had been made at clearing twenty-four acres. The remainder was covered witli timber and brush. The family moved into the cabin, and making themselves as comfortable as possible, occupied it until the spring of 1850. Mr. B. had in the meantime put to good use his natural enterprise and resolution, and at the date mentioned began the erection of a substantial frame dwelling. The lumber for this was laboriously transported from the then unimportant little city of Chicago by horse and ox teams. When erected the dwelling was the admiration of the country around and was considered a very stylish and pretentious structure.
At the time the father of our subject located in this county Freeport consisted of a few cabins and one store. Chicago and Galena were the nearest markets for several years. The farmers used to join together in transporting their produce, and would form quite a caravan, proceeding to market equipped with their provisions and blankets, for there were no hotels along the route, and they were obliged to take their meals by the wayside and sleep under or in the wagons at night. It is hardly necessary to say that the roads were unimproved and a mud hole of considerable depth was no infrequent obstacle with which they had to contend. Upon these occasions they doubled up their teams, each man assisting his neighbor to get out of the mire.
Frederick Bolender endured, with his brother pioneers, the hardships of that life, and lived to see the country well developed, and beautiful homes established upon the prairie, where at one time deer and other wild animals roamed in freedom. After building up an enviable record as an honest man and a good citizen he departed this life at the home which he had established, on the 25th of November, 1885. He had been prominent in township affairs, served as Supervisor several terms and held other offices of trust. The wife and mother preceded her husband to the silent land in 1852, and he married twice afterward. The third wife still survives. The children of the first marriage were Harriet E., now the widow of Israel Fry, and a resident of Orangeville; George W., of our sketch, and Hannah C., the wife of John Kunkle, of Buckeye Township. Of the second marriage there are now living: Mary J., the wife of Elder Yeagle, of Harlem Township, and Addie E., Mrs. W. W. Etzler, of Winslow Township.
The subject of this history was the only son of the first marriage of his father, and was but four years old when his parents made the overland journey to this county. Although many years have intervened since then, he still remembers many of the incidents connected with the preparation for departure and the subsequent journey. While sitting in his comfortable home and surrounded by everything to make life desirable, he often recalls the shifts which the pioneers were obliged to make and the deprivations which they endured. He attended the district school, and in common with the other sons of the pioneers, began early in life to make himself useful on the farm. He remained under the parental roof until August, 1861, after the breaking out of the Rebellion, when, laying aside his plans for the future, he enlisted as a soldier of the Union in Co. A, 46th Ill. Vol. Inf. He spent the following four years in a manner becoming a man interested in the preservation of the Union, and participated with his comrades in many of the important engagements with the enemy, including the battle of Pittsburg Landing, the siege and capture of Vicksburg and Spanish Fort, and was engaged at various other points. He fortunately escaped wounds and capture by the rebels, and after the close of the war received his honorable discharge in February, 1866. He was not long in returning to the old homestead, where he has since continued, engaged like his father before him, in farming pursuits.
Mr. Bolender was married, Nov. 17, 1867, to Miss Margaret A., daughter of Jacob and Rebecca Jones, natives of Maryland and early settlers of Ogle County. She was born near Dixon in that county, Aug. 19, 1847, and by her marriage with our subject became the mother of seven children, viz., Edith E., Harvey C., Nellie V., Walter F., Clara B., Charles L. and Lulu May. Mr. Bolonder of late years has had little time to devote to political matters, but keeps himself well posted on current events, and at important elections casts his vote with the Democratic party.
Contributed by Karen Hammer
Portrait and Biographical Album of Stephenson County, Illinois Chicago: Chapman Brothers, 1888 p. 756
