Brothers Isaac and Absalom Funk came to Illinois via Ohio in 1824. Working together the brothers raised cattle, hogs, and grew their first large corn crop near Fort Clark, now Peoria, IL. Absalom then started a meat packing concern in Chicago while his brother Isaac became a Central Illinois “Cattle King,” eventually amassing some 25,000 acres in McLean County alone. Funks Grove’s original chapel and cemetery are still active today, and the Funk Prairie Home and the Gem and Rock Museum are available for tours by appointment. Other Funk descendants are included in this collection.
The collection contains the genealogy of Adam Funk and descendants beginning in 1758. Much of the collection focuses on several generations of Isaac Funk’s family, with family histories and reminiscences, correspondence, and newspaper clippings.