In June I went to the DuPage Recorder of Deeds Office in Wheaton Illinois in DuPage County. The staff was very helpful and patient.

The main research objective in visiting the Recorder’s Office was to find original deeds recording the earliest land acquistion transactions made by the Daleidens in DuPage County Illinois.

Upon review of the Deeds we gain and understanding of the expansion of the Daleiden family land holdings along Mack Road and within the Village of Winfield.

In 1864 Michael and Christopher Daleiden made their first purchase of property in Winfield Township on 4 May 1864. The total acreage purchased from Col. Julius Warren (founder and resident of Warrenville Illinois) was for forty acres for $ 520. This is the first recording of a Daleiden brother’s property purchase in their new home land following their immigration from Germany to the United States. This specific piece of land is located south of Mack Road and east of the West Branch of the DuPage River.

In October 1868 Michael and Christopher added on to their landholdings by purchasing an additional ninety acres near the West Branch of the DuPage River. They purchased the land from Thomas and Helen J. Pelham of Warrenville Illinois. Here is an 1863 map showing thei property property prior to the Daleidens purchasing the property from the Pelhams.

Thomas Pelham, the property seller, was born in 1835 in England and died in Jan 1914. The Pelham family were part of the first wave of east coast “yankee” settlers claiming property in DuPage County prior to the Irish and German immigrants moving into the County.

On December 19, 1881 Michael Daleiden purchased forty acres of land from James Fairbank (a widower) to add to his growing land holdings along Mack Road near the West Branch of the DuPage River. The Fairbank family were original landholders dating back to the 1830s. Their land spread out west of what is now Illinois Route 59 and extended east along the west and east banks of the West Branch of the DuPage River north of Mack Road.

The 1874 map (below) records the initial forty acres expanded to 80 acres along Mack Road. This is Section 27 in Winfield Township in DuPage County Illinois.

In November of 1881 Christopher Daleiden added an additional piece of property to his landholdings. The new property addition was along and hugged the east bank of the West Branch of DuPage River along Mack Road. This was a key property acquistion by the Daleidens. This provided their family and farm animals with direct access to then fresh and clean water of the DuPage River. The brothers were now both married, they now owned their own separate farm properties and at have been raising their families. The 1880 U.S. Census documents the growth of their families.

The map shown below dated 1904 is marked with the properties owned by Christopher Daleiden or his son Michael T. or property that eventually would be owned by his grandson Michael B. Daleiden. Christopher by the late 1890s and early 1900s may have begun contemplating future and his plans to retire or at least downgrade his active involvement with his farm along Mack Road. Christopher was looking toward retirement in his house near St John’s Church in Winfield.

Christopher and Margaret Daleiden eventually purchased lots in Section 14 near St. Johns Church along John Street (now Church Street) in Winfield. The ‘Store‘ shown in Lot 3 in Section 9 was the Bluebird Billard and Confectionary Store managed by William B. Daleiden. William and his wife had purchased a home in Lot 6 in Section 8 down and across the street from the store. Christopher purchased a large lot at the end of Frederick Street (now Beecher Street). This large lot according to my grandfather Frank Schlick was “Grandpa Daleiden’s hay field“. Margaret and Christopher would live in a home built on lot 3 in Section 14.