Fred J. Holl, who has lived in Champaign County for half a century, having grown to manhood here, has made his career chiefly that of merchant, and is proprietor of one of the oldest and most completely stocked mercantile establishments in the village of Sadorus.
Mr. Holl in his career has exemplified the sturdy virtues of the German fatherland, where he was born December 16, 1861, a son of Fred and Christina (Kreager) Holl. His parents immigrated from the fatherland in the spring of 1867, bringing their little family to Champaign County and locating on a farm in Pesotum Township. Here the farmer industriously pursued his career as an agriculturist until his death in 1897, being survived by his widow until 1903. Fred Holl, ST., was honored with several minor township offices and was a splendid citizen. There were five children in the family: Fred J., William, of Pesotum; Augusta, wife of A. J. Nofftz of Champaign; Henry W., of Sadorus; and Benjamin C., of Pesotum Township. By a previous marriage the mother had a son Charles, now deceased.
Fred Holl grew up on his father’s farm in this county and was twenty-eight years old when he started out to make his own way in the world as a farmer. He did farming two years and then engaged in the general mercantile business at Sadorus with George Luhrsen. They were partners three years and then Henry Holl, brother of Fred, bought the interests of Mr. Luhrsen and the business grew and prospered under the joint enterprise of the Holl brothers for eighteen years. At the end of that time Fred Holl bought out his brother and has since been sole proprietor of the fine two-story modern brick store that is a center of trade for a large district in the southwest corner of Champaign County.
Mr. Holl married, August 19, 1894, Emma Rahn, a native of Pesotum Township. They are the parents of a family of four children: Clarence A., Edna, Everett and Alfred.
Besides his very busy career Mr. Holl has found time to serve as tax collector of Pesotum Township and as a member of the town board. He is interested in Democratic party affairs, and is a regular worshiper in the Lutheran Church.