Herman Schwanderman has his farm home in section 17 of Harwood Township, with postoffice at the village of Ludlow. He has contributed to the development and farm improvement of that locality for a number of years and he represents that sterling and industrious stock of people that came out of Germany.
Mr. Schwanderman was born at Dewey, Illinois, a son of Leopold and Rebecca Margaret (Behrens) Schwanderman. The parents were both born in Germany, came to America in early life and married in this country. They had only two sons, twins, Herman and Henry, the latter died at the age of seven months.
On December 25, Christmas Day, 1902, Herman Schwanderman married Ruth Mary Dodson of Monticello, Wayne County, Kentucky. She was the oldest of the thirteen children of James R. and Harriet (Simpson) Dodson. Among her family Mrs. Schwanderman was always called “Mollie.”
Mr. and Mrs. Schwanderman married in Kentucky, and their wedding trip was the journey north to Champaign County, where Mr. and Mrs. Schwanderman located in the home of his parents. They took charge of the farm of eighty acres and gave the tenderest care to Mr. and Mrs. Schwanderman during the rest of their lives. This farm is the result of the accumulations and the hard work of Father and Mother Schwanderman after they came to America. The elder Schwanderman, who was born at Strassburg, Germany, died July 17, 1910, at the age of seventy-two, while his widow passed away December 12, 1911. They were people of splendid character, industrious, good home makers, supporters of church and morality, and endeared themselves to their community in Champaign County by numerous acts of kindliness and neighborliness.
Mr. and Mrs. Herman Schwanderman have five children: George Leopold, James Clarence, Oliver Herman, Eliza Ray and Leland Glenn. They are a happy family of five boys, the oldest being thirteen years and now in the seventh grade of the public schools. Mr. and Mrs. Schwanderman are taking great pains to give them the best of advantages and the older ones are in the Griswold school.
Mr. Schwanderman’s ability as a farmer needs no comment. His well kept fields and his sleek stock show the care and enterprise of the thrifty agriculturist. In politics he is independent, voting for the best man. He was reared and has always retained his membership with the German Lutheran Church at Dewey, while Mrs. Schwanderman is a Baptist, the faith in which she was reared. Mr. Schwanderman believes in keeping up good schools and in giving the best of instruction to his children and is now filling a place on the local school board.