VALENTINE PFLUM, who devotes his energies to farming on section 5, Olney
Township, is one of the representative citizens and honored pioneers of Richland
County, born in Baden, Germany, February 12, 1829. He is a son of Peter and
Barbara (Sharp) Pflum. The father was a German farmer and remained in his native
land until 1854, when he crossed the broad Atlantic and took up his residence in
Meigs County, Ohio, where his death occurred in 1872, at the age of seventy-one
years. His wife survived him some time, and departed this life in West Virginia,
in 1886, when eighty-two years of age.
In the usual manner of farmer
lads, our subject spent the days of his boyhood and youth. He remained with his
parents until twenty-five years of age, when he determined to seek home and
fortune in the New World, of whose advantages and privileges he had heard such
favorable accounts. It was on the 12th of March, 1854, that he took passage on a
Westward-bound vessel, which after a voyage of twenty-eight days dropped anchor
in the harbor of New York.
Ere leaving his native laud, Mr. Pflum was
married, Miss Elizabeth Hartman becoming his wife. A family of eight children
has been born of this union. Peter, who was born in Germany, is the eldest, and
was only about a year old when his parents crossed the Atlantic; John is a
farmer of Noble Township, Richland County, and operates a steam-thresher; George
is also engaged in farming in this county; Valentine follows agricultural
pursuits; Adam is engaged in the same business; Henry is at home; Elizabeth is
the wife of John Snippert, a farmer of this county; and Mary is the wife of Case
Bassett, also a farmer. The children all own their own farms, and, like their
parents, are well-known and highly respected citizens of the community.
For some years after coming to the United States, Mr. Pflum made his home in
Ohio, where he carried on farming. In 1874 he came to Richland County with his
family and settled in Noble Township, where he resided until 1888, when he
purchased the farm upon which he now lives. It is one of the best improved
places in the township. It has upon it a comfortable residence, good barns and
other outbuildings and a five-acre orchard.
Mr. Pflum exercises his
right of franchise in support of the Republican party, but has never been an
aspirant for the honors or emoluments of public office. He is a member of the
German Evangelical Church of Olney, and is a man whose sterling worth and strict
integrity have gained for him many friends. Whatever success he has achieved in
life is due entirely to his own efforts, and the competence which he now
possesses is but the just reward of his labors. The day on which he sailed for
America was a fortunate one for him, for he has met with prosperity in his new
home.
Extracted 12 Apr 2020 by Norma Hass from 1893 Portrait and Biographical Record of Effingham, Jasper and Richland Counties, Illinois, pages 252-253.
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Lawrence |
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