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The land Xavier and Therese purchased in September 1846 and the houses, barns, and various outbuildings the family constructed remained in the family until 1919 when the farm was sold to the Leask family. Thereafter, the road that divided the farm became known as Leask Lane, which is the name it bears today. In June 1882, Joseph purchased another farm. This farm was located on the DuPage River in Naperville Township on what was later called River Road. This second farm was north of the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad tracks and was about a mile northeast of his brother Xavier's farm. It was 161 acres in size. The land was purchased from Noah and Catherine Early. Family members report the original house on the farm was a log cabin, and that the farm was noted for the fact that it "had the third silo built in the area." Many people will remember the land as the farm of his grandson, Sep Drendel. Some of the land remains in Joseph's family, as Sep's daughter, Virginia Drendel Getz, still resides in the now modernized farmhouse. Virginia is the fourth generation in the family to own the land. It has been in the family for 112 years - the longest continuous ownership of any parcel of land within the Drendel family at large. Joseph purchased the second farm because he had three sons who could help him work the new farm as well as helping the original Drendel farm on which they were living. He also bought the farm because his older boys were ready to begin independent farming, and Frank was soon to be married. When he bought the new farm, all the boys from his first marriage were still at home - Frank, age 24; Joseph II, age 21; and Alois, age 19, as well as his second wife, Magdalen, and six younger children. The second farm on River Road was purchased for $15, 000. As part of the purchase price, he assumed two mortgages in the amounts of $2,000 and $5,000. As a further part of the transaction, Joseph leased the farm back to the Earlys for the first y ear for $490 and "all the taxes levied or to be levied on said farm for the year 1882...(and) all the oat straw raised on the farm shall be fed out on the farm." The lease also provided that Early "shall be allowed to take his necessary fire wood to be taken from old down wood." Therefore, at least for the first year, Early operated the farm although Joseph placed some livestock on the farm to be fed by Early. It is possible this rental arrangement lasted only for the partial year of purchase because Frank married Catherine Hoffman the next February and we believe the newlyweds moved to the new farm when the Noah Early lease ended. Frank died only four years later in 1887. Thereafter, Joseph II and Alois operated the farm, and we believe these sons lived there until Joseph II married in 1888. Mary and Joe made the farm their home after they married, and Joe leased the land from his father and began to operate his own farm on that site. Alois may have lived with them for a while, but later bought a house in Naperville and lived there until his death in 1935. Joseph devised the River Road farm in his will to Joseph II and Alois, and imposed the obligation on them to pay Frank's children, Emma Josephine and Helen, $500 each. Joseph, whether by plan when he purchased the farm or not, bought the Naperville Township farm for the sons of his first family who moved to and operated that farm for him. The original Drendel farm in Milton Township was 200 acres in size at his death and it passed to his widow, Magdalen, and the children of his second marriage. Joseph died in 1890, three years after his son, Frank. Again, no death certificate is available, so we cannot identify the cause of death, but family lore indicates it was "cancer of the stomach." As was generally true at the time, Joseph made out a will shortly before he died. The will was prepared January 29, 1890. Because we consistently found wills executed shortly before death, we assume people of the economic class of our ancestors did not engage in "estate planning" in their early years or at a time when death was not beckoning. Joseph died ten months later on November 4, 1890. The witnesses to the will were his two brothers-in-law, Ferdinand Schwartz and George Yender, and his younger brother, Peter. Peter was living in Chicago at the time. It would be unusual for Peter to visiting in the winter, so I assume he was in Naperville for the express purpose of visiting Joseph during his illness and/or to witness the will. Ironically, Peter died shortly after Joseph in February 1891. Joseph's death left Magdalen with five children ages fifteen and under. The older brothers and sisters helped raise the younger children, as did other relatives, thus keeping this second family together on the original Drendel farm. They also employed a number of hired hands. Joseph's will gave the River Road Naperville Township farm to the children and grandchildren of his marriage to Therese Hoerterich as previously noted. He gave the residue of his estate, including 200 acres in and near the original homestead to "Magdalen Drendel...so long as she remains my widow. In case my said wife should remarry...or at her death in case she does not remarry," he gave the rest of his estate to his seven children and heirs. This arrangement was know as a "life estate" and was the most common arrangement for keeping farms and farm stock in the same family after death of the owner. DRENDEL, ALOIS (CONTINUED) Magdalen did not remarry. She outlived Joseph by 53 years, dying on October 4, 1943 in Naperville. Joseph also provided that Magdalen, in her discretion, could pay any of the children $1,000 at age 25. However, he cautioned "she shall not make the same if thereby she cramps herself or, the income from such property remaining in her hands shall fail to furnish her a comfortable and liberal support." Any sums so paid were "to be deducted from the share...of my said children...to the end that each of said last named children shall receive an equal share of my estate." By the time Joseph's estate was closed in December 1892, none of the children were 25. Nevertheless, she had paid Kate $500 from the estate. The payment was made shortly after Kate's marriage to Ed and was likely made in the nature of a parental wedding gift or to help them set up housekeeping. Agricultural censuses for 1860-70-80 reveal the extent and nature of Joseph's farming operation. Even though he owned 200 acres in 1800, 100 acres were still "unimproved." This means much of the land was still in woods, or creek bottom or perhaps some untilled prairie. In 1860, the farm had five horses and in 1870 and 1880, eight horses which would indicate several teams could be working at the same time and perhaps one fine team was used for transportation for the family only and not for field work. The dairy operation increased dramatically from 8 "milch" cows (as they were called in those days) in 1860, to 25 in 1880 with butter and milk production up substantially. The trend of the farm away from wheat and barley, which might be sold to others, to a livestock operation with all of the farm produce used to feed and bed the stock was quite clear. The farm produced barley and not much wheat in 1880. Corn production was greatly increased from 250 to 900 bushels and oats from 390 to 1600 bushels. They added one acre of potatoes-100 bushels in 1880. Poultry was greatly increased from none in the first two decades to 50 in 1880 with 1250 dozens of eggs sold. Twenty-five calves were born in 1880 and none sold or butchered, so they were intent on increasing their livestock even more. Swine went from seven to 20 to 30 over three years. Interestingly, only 1870 showed any wine production and then only eight gallons. It is hard for me to believe that vines once planted did not produce every year, and that any farm in those times was without some homemade wine. My guess is they did not volunteer information to the nosy census takers and some products simply went unreported. Historical researchers can read books, interview old-timers and speculate all they want, but nothing reveals more clearly than a probate inventory, how a given family lived - what their priorities were, or what their work day must have been like. The inventory of Joseph's estate provides a direct view into the life of the family. It peels away privacy and lays bare the assets and debts of the decedent. For a farmer, it tells us at a point in time (November 1890, for Joseph) the nature and extent of the family's farming operation. Joseph's probate inventory included two farms - the original Drendel family farm in Milton Township of 200 acres and the River Road farm in Naperville Township consisting of 161 acres purchased in 1882. Joseph left his family with no debt. The farms had no mortgages, indicating Joseph had conducted a prosperous farming business. Family members recall old timers telling them the farm was a very active business operation with several hired hands at any one time. Joseph's estate also included a full range of animals. Ten sows, 40 pigs, 46 cows, five heifers, five calves, one bull, eight horses, "one colt coming," "two colts sucking," 100 chickens, 15 turkeys, and seven ducks. This reveals a wide range of livestock - virtually all kinds of animals a farmer of that time might have, except for sheep. The number of pigs and chickens and the addition of turkeys and ducks tells us they continued to increase these parts of the farm business and were selling a lot of pork and poultry products. Adding different fowl is a sign Joseph was willing to experiment with new animals and products. In the was of farm equipment, he had three wagons one sulky plow, one milk wagon, two walking plows, two mowers, one seeder, two drays, two Gorham sulky cultivators, one roller, one hay rake, and one self binder. He had no mechanized equipment, but plenty of horsepower. The family's transportation consisted of one top buggy, one double buggy, one bobsled and hayrack, and one cutter (a two-horse sleigh). The stored crops were 200 bushels corn, 200 bushels rye, 500 bushels oats, 50 loads cornstalks, 50 tons hay, 30 milk cans, one scale, one grindstone, and potatoes. Among the miscellaneous items were 50 baggs (sic.), three sets of double harnesses for horses, and one lot of stove wood for the cook stove. Perhaps the household articles were not as carefully inventoried, but these furnishings seemed sparse compared to all the farm items: one lounge, one table, six cian (sic.) seat chairs, one rocking chair, two stands, 70 years of rag carpet, one rocking chair (again), two stands, one sofa, one bedroom set and bedding, two bedroom sets, 4 bedds (sic.) and bedding, one bureau, eight old chairs, one table, one cupboard, and one lot of dishes. This inventory presents a snapshot of a busy farm family who lived plainly. Most of the assets were in livestock and grain. Seventy years of rag carpet tells us that seven children were wearing out clothes on a regular basis, but it also tells us the family made use of these old clothes to cover the floor rather than purchase expensive carpets. It appears that whatever was needed for the farming operation was obtained, but house and kitchen furnishings were lean, particularly for a family of nine. This frugal way of life explains how Joseph was able to own almost 400 acres of land with no debt. Clearly, the family worked hard, farmed well and made do with few extra pleasures in life. 11/01 |
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