1940 Census: C-170 L. J. Kessler, age 56, well driller - private busines
Betty Kessler, age 54
David, age 28, well driller - own business
C-170A Rudolph Ebert, age 29, carpenter - construction
Corinne Ebert, age 30
Location: 693738 4284765 (C-158)
Acreage: 30.00 (C-158)
0.50 (C-170 and C-170A)
Contract price: $3,295 (C-158); $7,295 (C-170 and C-170A)
Property condemned April 8 (C-158) and June 24 (C-170 and C-170A), 1941
Condemnation price: $2,420 (C-158)
Cemetery: Dunlap (C-158)
Today: concrete cistern with pieces of cover on it; rubble; hundreds of iris along the fence to the west of the cistern (C-158); trash from this home located at 693844 4284770.
For the histories of these homes, click here.
In 2014, on a floor joist in the house located at 5033 Highway D, just east of New Melle, the following was found written in pencil: "This house was planned and built by L. J. Kessler in Oct/Nov 1932.
Helpers Ern Kuproupt (?) from St. Louis
Joe Roper from O'Fallon
Ed Orf from O'Fallon
Allen Burton from St. Louis
Rudie Ebert from Howell
David L. Kessler
Bray acted as helpe(?)"
C-170, pictured below, was sold as salvage in July, 1941, and moved from Howell to its current location. At least one area resident, recently deceased, remembered the basement being dug in the 1940's.
Helpers Ern Kuproupt (?) from St. Louis
Joe Roper from O'Fallon
Ed Orf from O'Fallon
Allen Burton from St. Louis
Rudie Ebert from Howell
David L. Kessler
Bray acted as helpe(?)"
C-170, pictured below, was sold as salvage in July, 1941, and moved from Howell to its current location. At least one area resident, recently deceased, remembered the basement being dug in the 1940's.
In The Rape of Hamburg and Howell, Donald Muschany relates the following: "Leonard Kessler, the well driller, lived just across the road from the blacksmith shop. He was a man of many talents. He bought a certain piece of property behind Howell on the Hollow Road that had a spring that never went dry; it came out of a small cave on a hillside. Mr. Kessler built a concrete dam just below the spring and there was always a refreshing drink for a thirsty traveler in a beautiful setting. The children were David, Corrine, Ruth, and Lillian. Just about any evening at dusk, you would find Mrs. Kessler and one or two of the girls taking a walk. Not because they lacked exercise, but because they enjoyed looking at nature." The property Muschany mentions is C-158. The spring he describes is still flowing out of the hillside along the road that went to Howell.
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| C-158 |
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| C-158 |
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| C-170A |
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| C-170 |
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| C-170A To view a Howell street scene which include these two buildings, click here. |
