Among the many whose hearts were stirred, who banished temerity, who felt that opportunity was knocking at their door, who had developed an impelling migratory spirit, experiencing the impulsive force of the Wanderlust, among such as these were the Krumwiede brothers Henry, Frederick, William, and August. Henry K. Krumwiede - grandpa, great-grandpa - decided to take an important step in life, severing family ties and embarking on that trans-oceanic voyage for weal or woe. He decided to take the young maiden he loved so, Sophia Dorothy Sternberg, along. Arrangements were promptly made for the wedding. Pastor C. Hausmann of the Lutheran Church Hagen, in the former Kingdom of Hanover, Germany, officiated.
The young couple disliked leaving their aged parents, bidding them farewell, perhaps forever. And the old folks, feeling need of comfort and support by their children, agreed to emigrate with them. (2)
Mr. and Mrs. Henry Konrad Krumwiede entered the matrimonial state on August 4, 1854.
[Mrs.] Henry K. Krumwiede was born in Wendenborst in Amte Woelpe (the judicial district of Woelpe), in Hanover, Germany, on April 30, 1834. (3) A few old records and inscriptions in the Family Bible, now in the hands of the youngest and only surviving son George A. Krumwiede of Buckley, Illinois, indicated that Mrs. Henry K. Krumwiede nee Sternberg (Sophia Dorothea) was born May 14, 1834 at Wolpke in Hanover, Germany. (4)
According to the documents, the parents of Mrs. Henry K. Krumwiede were Juergen Heinrich Sternberg and Dorothea Louise Schneweiss. When these were born and where, we were unable to establish. No doubt, they too were natives of Hanover.
The Krumwiedes had relatives and friends that had settled in America years before. These were living in the Summit Lyons community, in close vicinity to Chicago, the young but fast-growing future metropolis of the Midwest. Naturally, communications with these relatives were cherished. The preparatory arrangements were made for establishing a home for the young couple and the aged parents.
By steamship, this little group and many other emigrants made the hazardous trip across the briny deep, for the port of New York. (5) By railroad, they proceeded to Chicago, and then to their waiting relatives near Summit, Cook County, Illinois, in 1856. (6) In that same year, the Illinois Central Railroad Co., in order to develop the rich country-side of Illinois, had been given a grant of land by the Federal government, four miles in width through the approximate center of which a railroad was to be built and operated. That new railroad was then building from Chicago to Champaign, to be extended to the Gulf of Mexico eventually. The Railroad Company had this land surveyed and divided into sections and was offering this fine farm land for sale at attractive prices per acre, with a promise to loan money and to otherwise assist worthy home builders.
The Krumwiedes obviously had visions of a prosperous future, cheap but rich land near a railroad, and an excellent market in Chicago. Land was cheaper here in Iroquois County than in Cook County. Encouraged by their wise parents, the Krumwiedes agreed to make their future home in Iroquois County, near Buckley (then called Bulkley). A tract of land partly wooded, along a main Creek (spring) (7) about a mile as the crow flies east of the Village of Buckley, Illinois, was chosen. The site was well-chosen. The rivolet as an outlet offered excellent drainage and a constant supply of soft water.
And that grove of hardwood trees offered not only a generous supply of building material, lumber, fence posts, and planks, but also pasturage and food (a plenteous supply of hickory, walnuts, and acorns, buckeyes, and possibly plums and wild berries). The land being a sanctuary for thousands of birds, migrating pigeons in multitudes, and fur-bearing animals, the family had a bounteous supply of excellent food. Stately trees made an ideal break for the chilling west and northeast wind, not to mention the shade in hot summer days and an ever-present kaleidoscope of pageantry in the sylvan presentation.
On the east edge of that grove to the south of the highway, some ten rods, a log house was erected from logs hewn in the hard, big woods. That was a cozy home, and their own. Klain-abar Main.
Whether Mr. Henry Krumwiede built that log cabin or not could not be definitely ascertained by the narrator.
Plenty of evidences were found, and are yet found, that real American Indians, the Illini Tribe, had their tepees along that creek, and in those wooded recesses.
As far as the writer could learn in his researches, no other family of German extraction had settled here up to that time. It may be of appealing interest to the progeny of the Henry Krumwiede and August Krumwiede families to insert a few notations, realizing "Who was Who" in those early years of Buckley communal life and what were their activities; what were the social and economic pursuits? The following, some of which had gone to farming here and others into business enterprises as necessities required, and others named here, came from the Atlantic border states, some from Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Indiana.
From a volume of "Iroquois County Gleanings" some 60 years ago, the writer notes: E. D. Hartshorn, H.C. Ball, A.J. O'Hara, James Outtrain, Joel R. Smith, Japeth Hall, Ira O. Sanborn, A.F. Form, J.D. McNall, H.E. Billings, S.O. Roberts, Horace Lincoln, F. Hurst, William Carter, Levi Sanborn, C.J. Daniels, W.B. Flora, S.A. Didama, J. W. Riggs, Calvert Hartshorn, M.B. Waterman (the local poet laureate), A.J. Whittacer, M.H. Watterman, C. J. Nelson, A.W. Niles. Nelson Soper, Thomas Temple, J.B. Meserve, Ira O. Manley (RR Station Agent), J.G. McClave, W.A.B. Tate, E. Luther, William Coulter, J.R. Smith, John A. Koplin (Banker), C. Hurlbutt (Grain Dealer), A.H. Ruehe (Cobbler). In this group, the only one that understood some German was A.H. Ruehe. (8)
Other early residents were: Dr. M. Butler, J.M. Hueston, L.L. Marsh (Mason), W.H. Cleave (Saddler), Woodruff Beals, G. Schleh, L.H. Hamlin, James Petty, John S. Freeman, A.B. Ruehe, Robert Watt. Some of these held official position on the Artesia Township organization or in the municipality of Buckley. Even in the early colonial years, a community brass band had been organized under the leadership of A.H. Ruehe, with the following composition: A.H. Ruehe, E-flat cornet; F. Kerns, E-flat; J.G. McClave, E-flat; W.H. Cleave, B-Flat; J.M. Carter, B-flat; E.W. William (General Warren), first alto; Henry William Krumwiede, second alto; J.D. Riggs, tenor; J.F. Foster, tuba; W.S. Marsh bass drum; Elija Pierce, tenor drum.
The still-active "Farmers Pioneer Fire and Lightning Insurance Company of Buckley" was organized November 19, 1874, and is in a flourishing condition today (February, 1941), now 67 years old. Elmer and Elwin Hull, natives of Delaware County, Ohio, came here in 1853 as boys. D.W.F. Horner of Pennsylvania and later of Ohio and Indiana, located in Ash Grove in 1853, and 19 years later in 1871, moved to Buckley. William McClave bought his fine farm lands in 1854, at $2.50 per acre from the government land office at Danville, Illinois. Another old settler was C.W. Sprague (July, 1862).
John A. Koplin had the village of Buckley surveyed, and he and Wm. G. Riggs opened the first store in the village. Mr. Koplin was a member of the 30th General Assembly of Illinois. J.H. Martin and M.M. Meacham were Buckley druggists. W.L.R. Johnson was in the grain business. Mr. Johnson was a member of the Illinois Legislature, the newspapers proclaiming him the most handsome man in the Assembly.
The Methodist Church was organized by the Rev. T. Thomas Cotton through the exertions of William G. Riggs, about 1860.
The Presbyterian Church was organized May 19, 1870 and dedicated in August, 1872.
A number of German families from Downers Grove, Bennsonville, and Addison, Illinois came into the Buckley community in 1869. Among these were Frederick Luhrsen, William Ahlden, Henry and Louis Volverding. These longed for regular Divine services. Services were held now and then either in the public school house or in private homes. Among the several pastors that came here to preach to the German people was Rev. Suess of Melvin, Illinois. The Village of Buckley "by a vote of 4 to 6," decided for incorporation as a body politic. At the first meeting of the Board, Eli Strawn was chosen President. J.D. Riggs was elected Clerk, E.D. Hartshorn as Treasurer, Franklin Pierce, Constable, and John Heaney Street Commissioner. General E.W. Warren owned and managed the "Buckley Inquirer," a local newspaper in 1868.
Of course, much more could be stated, but this is not to be a history of Buckley. The preceding paragraphs may appear as a digression � the abstraction to serve as a background and to add to the picture as spice to life. Our aim has been to give a glimpse into the life of this community at an early day in its life when the hamlet was in its infancy. In this picture, we behold and follow our trail blazers, Messrs. Henry and August Krumwiede and their compatriots, their contemporaries.