Hide Article Text (OCR)
WasTownBy the turn of the century, there were more Busses in the Elk Grove-Mount Prospect-Arlington Heights area than all other families combined.“In this part of the country, if you call a man just plain Mr. Busse, you’re liable to be right,” said one of the Busse family members at a family reunion in 1948.Bv 1920, there was a Busse or two in nearly every business townspeople could ask for. There was Busse Real Estate; Mount Prospect State Bank, where a Busse was president; Busse Insurance Agency; Busse Florist; Busse Hardware and even a Busse on the Elk Grove Village Board.Friedrich and Johanna Busse came to the United States in 1848 from Hanover, Germany. The families of their six children were farmers like their parents.The Busse homesteads in 1900 includ-—Henry Busse farm of 160 acres in Elk Grove Village east of the original Busse farm.—Christian Busse farm of 140 acres on Busse Road in Arlington Heights. The farm was also adjacent to the original family farm in Elk Grove Township.—Louis Busse farm at the corner of Algonquin and Arlington Heights roads. Louis was the youngest Busse son, and also had a creamery, operated a general store and sold farm implements on his land.—Frederick Busse farm adjoined the farm of his brother Christian.—Louise Busse, who married Frederick Tonne, lived on the 160 acre Tonne farm on the Cook-DuPage county line, a few miles south of the Busse settlement.—Johanna Busse, who married Chris-V****** V.V.V.V.V.VvAy.w : .The Louis Busse family was not the only family to participate in local government.Christian Busse, oldest son of the pioneer family, was a county board member, a member of the state board of equalization and township supervisor before his death in 1909.Christian’s son, Henry W. Busse, followed his father’s footsteps in politics. He held the offices of highway commissioner and township collector. He was also treasurer of St. John Lutheranhighway commissioner for Elk Grove Township, and built the first township road — now called Arlington Heightstian Henjes, lived on a 108-acre farm on Higgins Road near the intersection ofBusse Road.By 1920, all of the Busses, except theChristian Henjes and Louis Busse family,were still living on farms. Things weredifferent, however, by that time. Some ofthe Busses were looking beyond theirfarms.The youngest son, Louis, had taken timo fmm his farm duties to serve asHenry Busse was also a member of the Elk Grove Band. He played the bass horn. Busses from three other children of the original family were also in the band.experienceWilliamBusseBand director and cornet player was Fred Henjes, of the Johanna Busse family. Another member of the band was brass horn player Louis Busse of the Frederick Busse family. William Busse, of the Louis Busses, played cornet.“They thought that farmers could never be good musicians,” said Henjes in 1948 when he was 85 years old. “But they sat up in surprise when we played in Bloomingdale, Crystal Lake, Chicago andsurrounding places.”“Once the band received $50 when we played in Elgin, but we had to marchfive or six miles in addition,” Henjes said.Many monuments to the Busses still stand, including homes and businesses. The monuments which the family are especially proud of, however, are churches in which they have been active.The history of St. John LutheranChurch, 1100 Linneman, Mount Prospect,nearly parallels the history of the Bussefamily. The church was officially established in 1848, and two of the 32 charter signatures are Busse signatures.During the early 1900s, Busses served in many capacities at the church. Christian Busse was treasurer for 26 years,and his son, Henry W. Busse, held thesame post for 27 years.The St. Paul Lutheran Church, 100 S. School, Mount Prospect, is also closely allied with the Busse family.In 1913 J. E. A. Mueller became pastor of the church, formed in 1912. Rev. Mueller’s wife was the former Sophie Busse.
Newspaper Details
Hoffman Estates Herald
Hoffman Estates, Illinois, US
Mon, Sep 04, 1972
Page 48
Full Page
Clipped by
Barbara R.
NA, 27 Dec 2021
Other Publications Near Hoffman Estates, Illinois
Hoffman Estates Daily Herald
Hoffman Estates Herald
