Meester Brothers and Sister
Two Meester brothers came from Germany in the year 1862 and located near Forreston, Ill. One year later the rest of the family came. There were three brothers and one sister and their mother. In the year 1869 we moved to Grundy county, where we still remain. We moved with three covered wagons and brought some horses and cattle along, making the trip in nine days. It was all prairie land around here. We bought the land here for seven dollars per acre. We had some mighty bad roads then, and there were no bridges. In the year 1870 we had our first crop, but it was so dry during the summer that we did not get very much. Ever since we have always had heavy crops. The four brothers and sister are still living, and our combined ages make a total of 394 years.--The Grundy Register (Grundy Center, Iowa), 31 January 1924, pg 6