| Notes |
- Obit: Feb. 22, 1909 Peoria Journal:
"Joseph Wagler, a prominent farmer of Elm Grove Township, was found dead at his home Saturday afternoon. Death was due to heart trouble, with which he had been afflicted for the past several months and not to unnatural causes, as was reported Saturday evening. The report which came to Pekin was that he had committed suicide, but this is untrue. Mr. Wagler had lived alone at his home three and one-half miles northwest of Tremont practically all of his life. He was an eccentric man, yet kind and accommodating to his neighbors. For his friends he would do almost anything, and many there are who will be deprived of his charity and assistance. Mr. Wagler was aged 70 years, and a member of one of the early families of the county. By hard work and good management he had acquired a farm of 115 acres in Elm Grove Township, considered one of the best tracts in that locality.
It is said that he left a will, by which he bequeathed all of his real estate and personal property to his nephew, Samuel Kinsinger. The land is valued at about $150 per acre.
Mr. Wagler had in his possession one of the first stoves manufactured, and it is certainly a curiosity. It is said that at the time of the World's Fair in Chicago that he was offered the sum of $100 to permit this stove to be taken there for exhibition. But, fearing that something would happen to it, the offer was refused. He is also said to have had a watch which strikes the hours and half hours, one of the first of the kind ever made.
Dr. C. G. Muehlman of this city had paid frequent visits to Mr. Wagler, and he was confident that his condition was alarming, but the old gentleman always contended that he would get along all right. He had frequent attacks of heart trouble, and his physician had warned him that he ought not to live alone when was liable at any time to be stricken.
He was a good man and his passing has left a void in the community which cannot be filled."
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"Joseph was a bachelor, living alone near Tremont, Illinois. When his family settled in that vicinity, Abraham Lincoln was growing up, struggling for an education. As he walked from Springfield to law school he often stopped overnight with Joseph since Tremont was midway between home and school. In the morning before he went his way, he would split rails to repay his lodging and breakfast. Sometime after the turn of the century, "old Uncle Joe" remembered those hickory rails, picked out some good ones, and had them made into walking canes, presenting one to each of his nephews, which were Peter's boys. These canes were held in high esteem as it was a personal contact with a great personality who later became President of the United States." [5]
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1838 - 1909 (71 years)
