Mr. Bontz was born in Bavaria, May 1, 1819, lived there until he was twenty-one, and then came to America. After landing in this country, he staid in Pittsburg, awhile, and was engaged to work for a gardener. He had no money, and could not understand the English language, and when he was called to breakfast, didn’t know enough to go. There were but few Germans there at that time, which was unfortunate for him, as he seemed all the more friendless. He had left the old country to avoid going into the army, as he had no taste for military life. He was glad to get anything to do by which he could turn an honest penny, and when the gardener for whom he first worked paid him off, he gave him $9 in paper money, and as our subject had never seen any of it before, he thought it was useless. However, he presented it to the agent of whom he purchased a ticket for Chillicothe, Ohio, offering him a $5 bill for the fare, which was a dollar or so, and as he handed it to the man as if afraid of it, the agent gave him change in silver, which much relieved him.

Our subject had some acquaintances in Chillicothe, and after seeing them he secured work on a farm in that vicinity, and afterward went from there to St. Louis, Mo. He had the misfortune to learn that the bank in which he had placed his money to the extent of $100, had become insolvent and he lost his savings. He had a hard time to get work in that city, and he tramped to St. Charles, often stopping on the way, and asked for employment, but failed to get it. He finally managed to get a job in St. Louis carrying a hod, at which he was engaged until he secured money enough to bring him to Peoria. When he arrived in that city he started out in search of work, and found there was plenty of it, but no money to pay with. He finally went to live in a tavern on the river bank kept by old Mother Slough, his employment being as hostler. He worked there until 1844, when he rigged up a team of three yoke of oxen and a breaking plow, and started out to break the prairie. Most of the wild land in the vicinity of where he now lives was broken by him, among the farms where he turned the wild prairie, being the Alva Moffatt place, and the land lying along the bluff bounded by that and the plank road. In the winter he used to haul logs to Monroe’s sawmill, and continued in that some years. At one time, at an early day he was in the employ of a man who sent him with some cattle to L. L. Guyer, in Brimfield Township. He staid there over night, and the next morning walked to Peoria, a distance of twenty-two miles, for his breakfast. In the latter part of the journey he was nearly exhausted with the pangs of hunger, and finding an onion on the way, a delicacy of which he was not fond, he picked it up and ate it with avidity.

When Mr. Bontz was married, he built a log shanty under the bluff, near the intersection of the plank road, the land there all being covered with timber, which extended along the creek and bluffs. In the building of this dwelling he had the assistance of Ernest Lee, and they put up a structure 16x16 feet in dimensions, whose clapboards were held on by long poles that were tied down, and a mud and stick chimney served to carry away the smoke from the rude fireplace that was then used in place of a stove. Mr. Bontz placed a barrel of water on a sled in front of the door, and when his bride asked him if the water was handy in their new home, he said “it is just in front of the door,” and there she found it when she came. They lived there two years, when he bought a piece of land where Collier’s coal bank is, for which he paid in driblets of $50 a year, until he had paid up the $300 which was the price of the eighty acres. He cleared the land, put it under cultivation, fenced it all, and made money by chopping wood which he sold in town. He then built a good log house, getting the water in front of the door, sure enough this time, and ever since there has been an unfailing supply of pure cold water.

Our subject subsequently bought ten acres of land beautifully located on the bluff, and built a neat dwelling. One day Alva Moffatt came along and said: “Coon, there must be coal here,” and he went to work and found it, and then gave our subject $4,000 for the eighty acres. Mr. Bontz then located on his present farm, buying at that time one hundred and twenty acres which were partly broken. He built a good house, and in a few years bought the piece of land adjoining, on which he now lives, and built his present large and comfortable residence.

Mr. Bontz has become wealthy by his operations in his various judicious investments of money, and the good business management that he has displayed in the conduct of his affairs. He owns four hundred and ten acres of land where he lives; has a large interest in a herd of three thousand cattle in New Mexico, has given his son, A. N. Bontz, $3,000 to use for speculation in the bank business, and has $17,000 deposited in the bank which his son is connected.

Our subject was married in 1845, to Miss Mary Magdalena Bettelon, a daughter of Isaac and Mary Bettelon. They came to Woodford County in 1835, and her mother died shortly after, and the children were all put out to live with others, three of them being reared by John Armstrong on the bluff. The father lived among his children until his death. Mr. and Mrs. Bontz have nine children: Julia, Mary, Amelia, Philip Jacob, William C., Lizzie, John D., George Isaac, and Antoine N. Julia is the wife of Fred G. Kruse, proprietor of a meat market in Peoria, and they have one child, Alma; Mary is the wife of William Henry Bishop, a farmer of Kickapoo, and they have three children; Amelia E., is the widow of William Stromer, of Washington, Ill., where her husband was engaged as a merchant until his death, which left her with two children, one of whom—Ada—survives; Philip, who lives on his father’s farm, married Miss Wehner, of Washington, and they have one child, Mabel; William is in New Mexico, where he owns a large cattle ranch; Lizzie is the wife of Oscar Van Arsdale, President of a bank in Burton, Kan., and they have one child, Harry; John, who lives on his father’s place, is married, and has two daughters; George is a young man at home; he has interests in New Mexico with his brother, and spent several years there; Antoine, cashier of a bank, lives in Sylva, Kan.; he married Miss Elsie David, of Burton, Kan.

A man of good mental caliber, energetic and capable, our subject’s perspicacity and far reaching enterprise in business matters have gained him a conspicuous place in the financial circles of this county. He is a man of broad and enlightened views, possesses a ready wit, and is well informed on m any subjects. He is an independent Democrat, but takes no part in politics. He was reared in the Lutheran fold, but is not now a follower of that faith, his religion being to do good and help others, and in him the suffering, sorrowful and needy find a sympathizing and generous friend. He does what he can to elevate the moral status of the community by contributing liberally to build churches of the various denominations that are represented here.

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