John Klehm

John Klehm was born in Germany on July 14, 1834. John’s father died in 1840 and his mother, along with her two sons, came to America in June 1851. They lived in Buffalo, New York, before moving to Dunton, Illinois (now Arlington Heights). Here, in 1853, young John bought an acre of land and built a home on the corner of what are now Miner and Davis streets.

John’s wife, Elizabeth Stitz was also born in Germany. She came with her mother and two sisters to America in 1860, settling in Arlington Heights (then known as Dunton). She married John A. Klehm on January 11, 1862. They had five children, but lost two in early childhood. Their three remaining sons were George, Charles and Henry. Elizabeth was instrumental in helping her husband establish Klehm Greenhouse and Nurseries.

John worked at the bricklaying trade for eight years, earning $1.50 a day. When he took a job grafting (see definition) cherry trees he discovered he could earn $25.00 for 25 trees, more than a month’s pay laying bricks. John decided he was in the wrong business. In 1862, he started his own nursery business on nine acres of land originally purchased for raising potatoes. He planted 5,000 Richmond cherry trees, 20,000 apple trees for stock, two acres of bearing apples and two acres of grapes and currents. Later he expanded his land to 147 acres, raising Moline Elms trees as well as the fruit trees.

John and his sons George, Henry and Charles worked in the nursery business. For over 50 years trees were planted on this land (today it is part of the Scarsdale subdivision in Arlington Heights). John continued to buy land and in 1882-83, on some acreage west of town, he built four brick hothouses at a cost of $5,000. These were heated by hot water. On this property he specialized in cut and potted flowers, tea and hybrid roses. John died March 16, 1916, and Elizabeth on March 29, 1924.

George Klehm

George Klehm was born on October 12, 1862, to John A. and Elizabeth Klehm in Arlington Heights.

At the age of 12, he began working with his brothers Henry and Charles in the nursery business that his father had started in 1856. His wife Louise Kolling was born in 1868 to John and Sophia Kolling in Illinois. George Klehm married Louise Kolling on October 8, 1891, and they had four children: Edwin, George, Henriette and Lillian. George was active in the nursery business until January 1947.

George died December 22, 1951, and is buried in Arlington Heights Cemetery. Louise died in 1928.

This item is part of the collection of the Arlington Heights Historical Society (http://www.ahmuseum.org).