TOILLION, CHARLES

TOILLION, VINNE, JULY, BERSCHEID, WEBER, SCHAMEL, EISENBACHER, CHRISTENSEN, HEWETT, LAMBERTY, BISCHOFF, LEHR

Posted By: Jean Kramer (email)
Date: 7/12/2003 at 13:51:58

Biography reproduced from page 555 of Volume II of the History of Kossuth County written by Benjamin F. Reed and published in 1913:

Charles Toillion has for ten years been actively engaged in farming and stock-raising on section 20, Luverne township, where he owns a fine farm of one hundred and sixty acres. He was born in Scioto county, Ohio, near the city of Portsmouth, January 13, 1859, and is a son of John B. and Mary Louise (Vinne) Toillion. The parents were natives of France, where they were also married, and very soon thereafter they emigrated to the United States. The same year, in 1855, they settled in Scioto county, Ohio, and resided there until 1886, when they removed to Nebraska. They located on a claim in the vicinity of North Platte, Lincoln county, that state, upon which they lived until 1903, when they came to Kossuth county to make their home with their son Charles. Here the mother, who was born and reared in the vicinity of Paris, France, passed away on the 31st of January, 1910, and the father on May 25, of the same year. They are buried in the Catholic cemetery at Corwith. On the 27th day of September, 1864, the father enlisted in Company D, Forty-seventh Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and went to the front, where he remained until the close of hostilities. He was discharged at Washington, D.C., May 31, 1865. He was a public-spirited man and held some of the minor offices in his township, taking an active interest in everything that affected the development of progress of the community. Our subject now has in his possession a land patent granted his father on a Lincoln county (Neb.) holding, under date of April 3, 1890, and bearing the signature of Benjamin Harrison, who was then president. Nine children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Toillion: Victor, deceased; Joseph, who enlisted in the Union army at the age of sixteen years and was killed at the battle of Richmond; Frank, who is a resident of Stillwater, Oklahoma; Falase, deceased; Mary, the wife of Mac July, of Amboy, Illinois; Charles, our subject; Xavier, who is living in North Bend, Nebraska; John, of North Platte, Nebraska; and Lewis, who resides in the vicinity of Denver, Colorado.

Charles Toillion was reared on a farm in Ohio and educated in the common schools. At the age of twenty years he left home and started out to become self-supporting. For a year thereafter he worked on a farm but at the expiration of that time he apprenticed himself to the cooper’s trade at a shop located in the vicinity of Portsmouth, Ohio. After completing his period of service he followed his trade at various points in the state of Kentucky, subsequently locating in Peoria, Illinois, where he was employed for three years. From there he west to West Brooklyn, Illinois, and again turned his attention to agricultural pursuits. He resided there for three years and then went to North Platte, Nebraska, where he continued to farm until 1902. In the latter year he disposed of his interests in that state and came to Iowa, purchasing his present farm in Luverne township, where he has ever since resided. Mr. Toillion has wrought various improvements on his homestead, has repaired his buildings and erected a new one and has tiled his fields. He is systematic, practical and progressive in his methods and has prospered in his undertakings, his farm annually yielding him a good income.

In 1886, Mr. Toillion was united in marriage to Miss Margaret Berscheid, who was born in Mendota, Lasalle county, Illinois, on the 30th of January, 1866. She is a daughter of Mathias and Julia (Weber) Berscheid, natives of Germany, who emigrated to the United States with their parents when children. The family for many years resided in Lasalle county, where the father followed the cooper’s trade. They subsequently removed to Lee county, Illinois, and there the father, who engaged in farming during the last four years of his life, passed away in 1882. He was buried in the cemetery at Mendota. The mother is still living and makes her home in Kewanee, Illinois. The family of Mr. and Mrs. Berscheid numbered fourteen, as follows: Elizabeth, the wife of Jacob Schamel, of Mendota, Illinois; Adam, deceased; Henry, also deceased; Mrs. Toillion; Catherine, the widow of Frank Eisenbacher, of Wesley, Iowa; Mary, the wife of Nels Christensen, of Wyanet, Illinois; Matthias, Jr., who is living in Arlington, Illinois; Anna, who married Howard Hewett, also of Wyanet, Illinois; Lula, deceased; Carrie, who married Matthias Lamberty, of Kewanee, Illinois; Louisa, the wife of Charles Bischoff, of Ottawa, Illinois; Felix, who lives in Davenport, Iowa; Lena, the wife of August Lehr, of Jacksonville, Illinois; and one, who died in infancy.

Five children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Toillion: Clarence, who is a fireman on the Illinois Central Railroad; John Raymond, a brakeman on the Minneapolis & St. Louis road; Florence, a music teacher at St. Benedict, Iowa; and Harlan and Charles, who are at home.

The family are communicants of the Roman Catholic church and belong to St. Mary’s parish at Corwith. In politics, Mr. Toillion is a republican. He leads a very active, enterprising life as is manifested by the well kept and prosperous appearance of his farm, which is one of the attractive homesteads in Luverne township.