Biography - Louis Sedentop
LOUIS SEDENTOP. It is an undeniable truth that the life of any man is of great benefit to the community in which he resides, when all his efforts are directed toward advancing its interests, and when he lives according to the highest principles of what he conceives to be right, helping others and practicing the Golden Rule in very truth. Such a man is Louis Sedentop, who is a self-made, prosperous and leading citizen of Bois D'Arc Township, where he has resided for forty years. His name has become a familiar one to the people of Montgomery County, as well as the surrounding counties, and his genial and sincere nature, no less than the occupations and enterprises in which he has been engaged, has tended to bring about this result. He is the founder of the thriving village of Farmersville, and much credit is due him for its present prosperity. Without a doubt, he has done more for the village than any living man, and is possessed of strong convictions and the courage to maintain any position he may take.
Mr. Sedentop was born in Brunswick, Germany, May 3, 1835, and his parents, Christopher and Dora Sedentop, were natives also of the Fatherland. In the year 1852, when not yet of age, young Sedentop decided to cross the ocean to America. He took passage at Bremen, and fifty days later landed at New Orleans. From there he went up the Mississippi River to St. Louis, which was then a small town, and was engaged in different occupations there. During the winter, he came to the Sucker State, and in the spring of 1853 stopped in Macoupin County for about three months. In 1853, he came to Montgomery County, this State, with only about $10 in money. For several years he worked as a farm hand and was obliged to work very hard to get a start. He had received a good education in the German language in his native country, and after coming here he acquired a fair knowledge of the English tongue.
His marriage with Miss Honora Leonard was celebrated on the 16th of March, 1859. She was born on the green isle of Erin, County Limerick, and was the daughter of Patrick and Catherine Leonard, both natives of Ireland. She came to America in 1857. This union resulted in the birth of the following children: Jane, wife of Charles Clark; Josephine, Dennis, William, Dora, Katie, Maggie, Nora, and Louis M. (deceased). For seven years Mr. Sedentop worked as a farm hand for Frank Fassett, who resided near Zanesville, Ill., and subsequently rented land of the same man for over three years. During this time, by industry and economy, he had accumulated considerable means and he then purchased eighty acres in Macoupin County. This land was uncultivated and he went earnestly to work to improve and develop it. After remaining on it for three years, he removed to Montgomery County, and first settled on eighty acres one-half mile west of his present farm in the spring of 1869.
All Mr. Sedentop's accumulations are the result of years of hard labor, for he is a self-made man in the true sense of the term, and his possessions have been obtained by industry, economy and perseverance on the part of himself and his most estimable wife. He has made all the improvements on his fine farm, and on this the present village of Farmersville was started and laid out in 1887, Mr. Sedentop being the promoter of the same.
When our subject first came to America, he was a Lutheran, but since his marriage he has joined the Roman Catholic Church, of which his wife is also a member. In politics, he is an ardent Democrat, and takes an active interest in the success of his party. He is public-spirited and enterprising, and takes a deep interest in everything pertaining to the public good. Mr. Sedentop is prominently identified with the stock-raising interests of the county, and is raising a fine grade of sheep. All his farming operations are conducted in a manner showing him to be a man of excellent judgment and much good sound sense. He has met with the success attending perseverance and industry, and is now one of the substantial men of the county. His broad acres and his pleasant and attractive home are a standing monument to his industry and good management. He is one of the most intelligent, self-made men of Montgomery County, and in every walk of life has conducted himself in an upright and honorable manner.
Extracted 29 Nov 2016 by Norma Hass from 1892 Portrait and Biographical Record of Montgomery and Bond Counties, Illinois, pages 138-139.
