New Berlin, Illinois

The village of Berlin is located on the State road, from Springfield to Jacksonville, and was laid out and platted by Henry and Thomas Yates, on " part of the east half of the northwest quarter of section seventeen, township fifteen, range seven west," the plat being recorded December 12, 1836.

Passage source: History of Sangamon County, Illinois; Together with Sketches of Its Cities, Villages and Townships ... Portraits of Prominent Persons, and Biographies of Representative Citizens. History of Illinois, published 1881.

A post office was established at the lower end of the grove, two and a half miles east of the present village, in 1828, and Henry Ellis was ap- pointed postmaster, and discharged the duties of the office. The office was continued at this point until the village was laid out, under the name of Island Grove post office. When it was changed to the village, its name was changed to Berlin. Mr. Ellis was succeeded by William Underwood. Since his term the following named have held the office: S. Wood, H. M. Havenon, S. Wood (second time), A. Yates, O. H. Rush, R. Ballay, G. W. Havenon, T. Kerlin, T. Pollock^ P. Price, James Ward, W. Whelehand, Scott Price, and W. B. Price; the last named being the present postmaster.

Passage source: History of Sangamon County, Illinois; Together with Sketches of Its Cities, Villages and Townships ... Portraits of Prominent Persons, and Biographies of Representative Citizens. History of Illinois, published 1881.

Jacob Ade, farmer, Berlin, Island Grove township, was born in Kingdom of Werttenberg, Germany, on the 31st day of December, 1817. He came to the United States in 1853, coming by steam, being seventeen days on the water; landed in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where he remained four weeks, then went to Cincinnati, Ohio, where he worked on a farm, and through the winter he worked at his trade as baker, remaining there one and one-half years. From there he came to Island Grove township, where he worked on a farm by the month for three years, then bought property in town and started a bakery, which he followed up to 1864, when he embarked in the grocery business, which he followed up to 1870, when he purchased a farm of fifty-six acres, ?11 of which is under a high state of cultivation, and valued at !j!65 per acre. Mr. Ade married Elizabeth Scholl, in Island Grove, December, 1857, born also in Germany. They had three children, two are living, viz: Frederick, who is in partnership with his father in a store of groceries and general merchandise at Berlin; they carry a stock of $2,000, and Charles, who resides on the farm with his father. Jacob Ade and wife are both members of the German Lutheran Church at Berlin. In politics, he is a Republican.

Passage source: History of Sangamon County, Illinois; Together with Sketches of Its Cities, Villages and Townships ... Portraits of Prominent Persons, and Biographies of Representative Citizens. History of Illinois, published 1881.

Machine-read from a century-old scan, so expect the errors a machine makes: misspelled names, dropped words, stray characters.

Read the whole chapter on New Berlin Township - it names this place 24 more 24 times.