Francis Arenz

The founder of Arenzville dreamed of a village where freedom of religion and education permitted the people to develop as prosperous and caring citizens. A native of Prussia, Francis Arenz first came to the United States in 1827 and first settled in Kentucky. He was a businessman, farmer and savvy political leader. From humble beginnings as an immigrant, Francis Arenz established himself as a leader. He was one of the founders of the Illinois State Agricultural Society and in 1852 was appointed a special envoy of President Fillmore to carry dispatches to American diplomats in Vienna and Berlin. Read more about Francis Arenz's accomplishments in Perrin's History of Cass County or on the page of Arenz photos. [Photo of Francis Arenz is from A Local History Collection of Arenzville, Illinois, by Theodore and Hester Ham Lovekamp, 1988, and is used here with permission.]

Early Citizens

Arenzville has had lots of interesting people in its past, including a man who invented the spring seat plow. J.C. Pfeil, a friend of Francis Arenz and native of Germany, built the spring-seat gang plow. He was a tailor by training but took a suggestion from Jonathon Baldwin Turner, professor at nearby Illinois College, that it made no sense for a man to walk behind a plow all day long when horse feed is so cheap. Pfeil used his inventiveness to create a plow which allowed a place for the farmer to sit while guiding the horse.  [Information and photo found in A Local History Collection of Arenzville, Illinois, by Theodore and Hester Ham Lovekamp, 1988.)

Some of the same families who came to central Illinois looking for good farm land in the middle of the 19th century have descendents who still live in the region. Read biographical sketches of some of Arenzville's early residents from Perrin's History.