ISAAC S. BRESSLER 

      Isaac S. Bressler, whose capably directed labor has gained him a place among the men of affluence in Jordan township, lives on Section 34, where he is now successfully carrying on general farming.  He is one of Whiteside county's native sons, born August 23, 1851, a son of Henry Bressler, well known and honored as one of the pioneer residents of this part of the state.  He attended the common schools until sixteen years of age and afterward had the benefit of a few terms instruction in Cornell College at Mount Vernon, Iowa.  After leaving college he returned to his native county and from his grandfather, Isaac Bressler, rented a farm located on section 35, Jordan township.  With characteristic energy he began its development and his labors were soon manifest in the improved condition of the fields.

     While on the old Bressler farm, Isaac S. Bressler was married to Miss Delora E. Brewer, a daughter of George W. Brewer, of Sterling.  She was born December 14, 1851, in the city of Sterling and comes from sturdy old New England ancestry, her parents removing, however, from the state of New York to the west.  George W. Brewer has made his home in Whiteside county since 1837 and is therefore one of its oldest residents.  He was born near Cooperstown, Otsego county, New York, May 6, 1827, and was descended from Revolutionary ancestry, his paternal grandfather having been a soldier of the American army in the war for independence.  His father, Henry Brewer, was a wagonmaker by trade and in 1836 made a prospecting trip to the middle west.  The following year he started with his family for Whiteside county, Illinois, going down the Allegheny and Ohio rivers on a lumber raft.  From Louisville he proceeded by steamboat to St. Louis and from that point came to Whiteside county.  He assisted in building a number of the first houses of the county and his family was among the first to establish a home in this part of the state.  He afterward built and conducted a wagon shop and was thus one of the earliest representatives of industrial interests in Whiteside county.  He died February 27, 1848, while his wife passed away January 6, 1867.  Their son, George W. Brewer, father of Mrs. Bressler, is the only survivor of a family of nine children.  He has lived continuously in this county for more than seventy years and in early life worked at the wagonmaker's trade.  Later he turned his attention to farming, which he followed for a long period, and later gave his attention to the purchase and sale of land.  Acquiring, as the years passed by, a handsome competence, he is now living retired in the enjoyment of well earned rest.  He was married March 4, 1851, to Elizabeth S. Green and they became the parents of four sons and six daughters, of whom Mrs. Bressler is the oldest surviving.  Extended mention is made of George W. Brewer on another page of this work.

     Unto Mr. and Mrs. Bressler have been born three children:  Fred Nelson, born September 12, 1876, married Miss Ray Zella Lamar, of Chicago, a daughter of Raymond Lamar, a photographer of that city.  This marriage was celebrated in 1900 and unto Mr. and Mrs. Fred N. Bressler have been born three children:  Gladys born June 30, 1901; Burton, deceased; and Edward, born November 19, 1907.  Fred N. Bressler is a graduate of the country schools and further continued his studies in the high school and business college, being graduated from the latter with honors.  At present he is identified with commercial interests in Sterling.  George B. Bressler, the second son, born December 21, 1880, after attending the common schools pursued his education in the high school and business college of Sterling.  In 1903 he went to Chicago, where he has since resided, and at present occupies a responsible position with Crane & Company, of that city.  He was married in 1905 to Miss Dot Lee, of Chicago.  Carrie E., born December 1, 1887, began her education in the district schools and afterward took up the study of music in Sterling.  In 1907 she gave her hand in marriage to Frank L. Weatherwax, of Milledgeville, Carroll county, Illinois, a son of Thomas Weatherwax, deceased, an old settler of Carroll county.  Mr. and Mrs. Frank L. Weatherwax are now living on her father's farm on Section 35, Jordan township.

     Isaac S. Bressler, became the owner of his present farm in 1883.  He has always lived the life of an enterprising, active and energetic agriculturist and his labors are attended with a measure of success which has gained him place among the men of affluence in his county.  His farm is a well developed property, in the midst of which stand substantial buildings, while everything about the place is indicative of the careful supervision and practical methods of the owner.  He is widely known as a reliable business man and trustworthy citizen and has an extensive circle of friends in the county in which his entire life has been passed.

SOURCE: History of Whiteside County, Illinois : from its earliest settlement to 1908. Chicago: Pioneer Pub. Co., 1908, 1493 pgs.