Henry Hartzold was born about 1862 in Lancaster, PA. He moved to McLean County in 1894, becoming a prominent farmer near Danvers.
He and his wife, Mary Rengel Hartzold, had four children—Eugene, Pretta, Edward, and Hallie. Hartzold’s sons, Eugene and Edward, farmed together with him.
Hartzold died in 1938. Edward Hartzold continued to farm and died in 1975. Three sons and a daughter survived him. One son, Edward J. Hartzold, entered the military and was fatally injured in 1952 while in Korea. All are interred in St. Mary’s Cemetery.
The collection includes personal family information; county government allotment production contracts for hogs; sales records to the Bloomington and the Peoria Livestock Producers Commissions; sales records to the Chicago Producers Commission; and a photo album covering Edward J. Hartzold in Japan, as well as some photos from approximately World War I.