| Notes |
A dubious biography in Portrait and Biographical Album of Woodford County (1889) says: "John Kennel, an Alsacian by birth, was a prominent and well-known pioneer of this section of Illinois in the early days of its settlement, and while engaged in the accumulation of a handsome property he was an important factor in the development of the wonderful agricultural resources of this region, and thus helped promote the material prosperity of the county."
We also found: "The father of our subject [John] was born near Strasburg, in the German province of Alsace, which France ceded to Germany after the close of the Franco-Prussian war. He received a very good education in the public schools, and continued to reside in his native land till he had attained manhood. He then came to the United States, ambitious to see something of life and to improve his fortunes. He first located in Ohio, and though a stranger in a strange land, his only capital good health, a fine physique, and indomitable energy, he soon found work, commencing his life on American soil by working out as a farm hand, receiving eight dollars a month and his board. After working about for a time he concluded to come further west, where he could secure cheap lands and have a better chance to build up a home, and in 1830 he made his appearance in Illinois, and located in what is now Worth Township, Woodford County. He made a claim to a tract of timbered land, the land roundabout here then being owned by the Government, and the most of it in its native condition... by years of hard labor he not only improved a valuable farm, but bought more land, and accumulated a handsome fortune. He lived on his farm for many years till 1871, when he came to live with our subject [his son Peter] and made his home with him till his death Dec. 18, 1888. His wife had died on the old homestead in Worth Township many years before."
The Illinois Public Land Tract Sales Database indicates that John Kennel purchased parcels of 80 and 67.5 acres at $1.25 per acre in Section 23, Township 27N Jan. 26, 1836. He purchased another 80 acres in Section 14 Oct. 15, 1840.
Their household appears next door to that of Christian Smith on the 1850 census of Woodford County: John Kendle, 48, France; Mary, 50, France; and Peter, 16, Illinois. The households listed immediately after theirs belonged to John Gascho [found as Cartshaw], Jacob Donner, and Joseph Belsley.
John and Mary are also found next door to the Smiths in 1860 and 1870. John appears on the 1880 census of Roanoke as a 77-year-old widower, born in Lorraine, in the household of his son Peter Kennel, 46, born in Illinois to parents from Lorraine, and Anna [Schertz], 43, born in Lorraine.
John is buried in Roanoke Mennonite Cemetery as 'John Kennell.' Part of the original wooden marker is embedded in his headstone. [1, 2]
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1803 - 1888 (85 years)
[1, 2] 
