Theodore G. Herbert, of the firm of Herbert Brothers, proprietors of a meat market in Mendota, was born in Lee county, this state, near the town of Compton, July 31, 1864. The Herberts are of German origin. Mr. Herbert's parents, Andrew and Appolonia (Zach) Herbert, were both born in Germany, Hesse-Darmstadt being their native place. In their family were eleven children, seven sons and four daughters, of whom five are now living, three sons and two daughters, namely: Theodore G., the direct subject of this sketch; Andrew J., his partner; Benjamin, of Mendota; Caroline, wife of Charley Beckett, of Mendota; and Emma Elizabeth, wife of Henry Fike, residing two miles north of Mendota. Their father, a shoemaker by trade, emigrated to this country about the year 1862 and first located at LaSalle. A short time afterward he moved to a place near Perkins' Grove. Lee county, all this time working at his trade. Next we find him engaged in farming, which he continued up to 1895. He first rented eighty acres and later a larger tract, and for several years he carried on farming operations successfully. In 1894 he bought a home in Mendota, and has lived here ever since, retired. He and his wife were originally German Catholics, but for some years past have been identified with the German Evangelical church. Politically he is a Republican, and at one time he served as the road commissioner of Lee county.
The paternal grandfather of our subject was Andrew Herbert. He, too, was a native of Germany, and by trade he was a mason. He lived to the ripe age of eighty-five years. Of his children, three sons and four daughters, only two are now living, — Andrew and Margaret Becker. Grandmother Herbert was seventy-six when she died. The great-grandfather of our subject also was named Andrew Herbert. He was a farmer. Both he and his wife reached advanced age, he being ninety-six at the time of death and she seventy-four.
The maternal grandfather of Mr. Herbert lived and died in Germany; served his time as a soldier in the army, and afterward worked at his trade, that of carpenter. Both he and his wife attained old age. Their only child was Mr. Herbert's mother.
Theodore G. Herbert was reared to farm life in Lee county, Illinois, receiving his early education in the district school near his home and later attending a seminary in Aurora, Illinois. When he started out in life on his own account it was as a farm hand, working by the month, and after one year of this kind of service he rented eighty acres of land, which he cultivated two years. At the end of this time, in 1890, he moved to Mendota and engaged in running a meat market in company with M. O. Larson, with whom he was associated two years, then buying out his partner and the next three years running the business alone. The following three years he had for a partner J. B. Kuney; and since then he and his brothers, Andrew and Benjamin, have been associated together under the firm name of Herbert Brothers. They have a nice shop and are doing a large business, meeting with the success which their enterprising efforts warrant.
Mr. Herbert resides in a pleasant home on Twelfth street in Mendota. He was married on the 4th of February, 1890, to Miss Emma E. Rupert, daughter of Andrew and Mary (Metzger) Rupert. They have four children, viz.: Hildah L., Rupert A., Theadore A. and John Robbins. All the family belong to the Evangelical church, and both he and his wife are identified with the Mystic Workers of the World, and he also belongs to the Modern Woodmen of America. Politically he is a Republican.
Extracted 26 Dec 2016 by Norma Hass from Biographical and Genealogical Record of LaSalle County, Illinois published in 1900, volume 2, pages 426-427.
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