The Kring Family of Fairbury, Illinois

By Dale C. Maley

In 1856, one year before the city of Fairbury was founded, John Kring Senior and his wife Rachel Smith moved their family from Ohio to the Fairbury area. Four of their seven children and their families also moved to the Fairbury area. John Kring Sr. obtained 320 acres of land just north of Fairbury by purchasing government land warrants issued to two military veterans. He also bought 40 acres from the government for cash. John Kring Sr. and his wife Rachel became founding members of the Methodist church in Fairbury. John Kring Sr. missed an opportunity to trade his $600 carriage for 160 acres of Chicago farm land that eventually became worth millions of dollars. The original Kring farm house still stands just west of the High School.Son George Washington Kring became a blacksmith and builder of farm equipment. He received two U.S. patens for farm equipment.Son Henry Kring farmed a few years in the Fairbury area, before moving his family to Nebraska.Son John Kring Jr. enlisted with the 3rd Cavalry Company K in the Civil War. He came back to Fairbury after the Civil War ended. Two of his sons ran the Kring Greenhouse complex for 40 years until it closed in 1942. One of his sons received a U.S. patent for a planting device. The greenhouse boiler heated three houses, including the Thomas A. Beach home on Hickory Street.Son Lafayette Miller Kring (1848-1924) ran the Kring Foundry from about 1876 until 1903. Four buildings on Main Street in Fairbury still have their cast iron vertical door columns made at the Kring Foundry. It is hoped this book will help people understand the critical role the Kring family played in Fairbury history.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1730742270
• ISBN13: 9781730742279
• Release Date: November 2018
• Publisher: Independently published
• Length: 128 Pages
• Weight: 0.55 lbs.
• Dimensions: 9.0" x 0.3" x 6.0"