Joseph Ertel, proprietor of the Eagle Mills and dealer in flour and all kinds of feed, Mendota, Illinois, is a young man who has worked his way to the front and who occupies a representative position among the business men of his town. Mr. Ertel was born in Austria, March 5, 1865, and was reared in his native land, learning there the miller's trade. In 1891 he took to himself a wife and on the same day of his marriage bade good-by to home and friends and native land and with his bride started for America. Upon his arrival in this country he came directly west to Iowa. After four weeks spent in Iowa City he located in Tomberg, Keokuk county, Iowa, and was there for two-years engaged in railroading, as a section hand. In 1893 he came to Mendota and secured employment in the Eagle Mills, then operated by Mr. Meisenbach, and remained with him one year. The next two years he was engaged in farming in Minnesota. Returning at the end of that time to Mendota, he took charge of the mills in which he had formerly been employed, and has since run them successfully.
Mr. Ertel was married in the old country, as already stated, in 1891, the lady of his choice being Mary Pesibel, and they are the parents of four children. Fraternally Mr. Ertel is identified with the A. O. U. W.
Extracted 26 Dec 2016 by Norma Hass from Biographical and Genealogical Record of LaSalle County, Illinois published in 1900, volume 2, pages 405-406.
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