Nussbaum family key part of Fairbury history
The Nussbaum family has had a huge impact on the history of Fairbury, including one of the homes that is easily recognizable as one drives through town along Route 24. That's the one Betty Nussbaum saved from the wrecking ball nearly 35 years ago.
The story of the Nussbaum family began with Nicklaus Nussbaum and Anna Barbara Fluckiger. They were both born in Switzerland and eventually they married and started their family.
In 1856, Nicklaus and Anna Nussbaum decided to take the ocean voyage from Switzerland to New Orleans. The trip was rough, and all their belongings were washed overboard during the journey. They first settled in the Metamora area. In the fall of 1868, they moved from Metamora to the Fairbury area where they bought a farm located 3½ miles southeast of Fairbury.
One of Nicklaus Nussbaum's many children was Samuel Nussbaum. He was born in Switzerland in 1849 and traveled with his parent's family to the Fairbury farm in 1868. In 1877, when he was 27 years old, he married Christina Ursula Stortz. She was born in 1855 in Baden, Germany. Samuel Nussbaum farmed in the Fairbury area, and he died in 1931.
Benjamin "Ben" Nussbaum was one of Samuel and Christina's children. He was born in 1892 in Forrest. On Good Friday in 1898, when Ben was just six years old, he found his first Native American artifact in a Fairbury farm field. The discovery of this artifact started a life-long interest in searching and finding Native American relics.
Ben also became interested in local Apostolic Christian genealogical history. Ben also researched and wrote two North Side and South Side Apostolic Christian Church history pamphlets.
Another of Nicklaus Nussbaum's children was Johannes or John Nussbaum (1845-1935). John Nussbaum was 11 years old when he came to America with his parents on that rough ocean voyage. John Nussbaum married Margaretta Verkler and they had a large family in the Fairbury area.
One of the sons of John and Margaretta Nussbaum was Oscar Deverne Nussbaum. Oscar was born in 1894 and attended Fairbury schools. In 1917, Oscar went to Toledo, Ohio, and enrolled in a training course in sheet metal work. In April of 1918, Oscar enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps. After basic training, he was shipped overseas to France and immediately went into battle. Oscar was injured by shrapnel near Thiercourt, St. Mihiel, France. Oscar recovered from the injuries and was discharged in June 1919.
Nine months after Oscar was discharged from the military, in March of 1920, he partnered with his brother, Walter Nussbaum. They bought a plumbing business from J.E. Eddy and named their new company Nussbaum Bros.
Another son of John and Margaretta Nussbaum was Walter Charles Nussbaum. Walter was born in 1893 and attended Fairbury schools. In 1907, when Walter was 15 years old, he took a position with C.B. Day, one of Fairbury's early plumbers. After Walter had gained 13 years of experience with C.B. Day, he formed a partnership with his brother, Oscar Nussbaum. Today, plumbers are licensed at the state level. Walter Nussbaum had one of the few federal plumbing licenses ever issued to a plumber. That license allowed Walter to operate in any state or U.S. possession.
Walter C. Nussbaum married Marguerite Simpson in Fairbury. They had one daughter and two sons. Daughter Helen Elizabeth "Betty" Nussbaum was born in 1918. Son John Simpson Nussbaum was born in 1920. The youngest child was Robert Clark Nussbaum.
John S. Nussbaum attended Fairbury schools and then pursued a degree in journalism at the University of Illinois. After serving in World War II, John S. Nussbaum became an advertising executive with Young & Rubicam. At one point, John managed that company's Frankfurt, Germany, office. John S. Nussbaum eventually settled and died in Darien, Connecticut, in 1998.
Robert C. Nussbaum attended Fairbury schools and then attended college at the University of Illinois. Robert C. Nussbaum served in the U.S. Navy during World War II. In 1954, he married Phyllis J. Kilgus in Fairbury. In 1955, Robert C. Nussbaum bought the plumbing business from his father, Walter Nussbaum, and his uncle, Oscar Nussbaum. He renamed the company Bob Nussbaum Plumbing & Heating. Robert and Phyllis Nussbaum had three children. Robert C. Nussbaum was very active in community affairs before passing away in 1996.
Betty Nussbaum grew up in Fairbury and attended Fairbury Township High School. Betty was very active in high school and was a member of the Pep Club, Science Club, Junior Play, Glee Club, Contest Chorus, and was the Crier Literary Editor. During her senior year, she gave a speech to the Rotary Club comparing the traits of Abraham Lincoln to the ideals of the Rotary Organization. After graduation from high school in 1936, it would be 52 more years until Betty Nussbaum again resided in Fairbury.
After high school, Betty Nussbaum first attended Wesleyan University. Then she transferred to Purdue University. Betty then began to work for the U.S. State Department Foreign Service. She worked in U.S. Embassies in Oslo, Libya, Korea, Vienna, Rome, London, Berlin and Toronto during her career. After she retired from the State Department, she moved back to Fairbury in 1988. At that point, Betty Nussbaum had not lived in Fairbury for 52 years.
When Betty returned to Fairbury, she decided to buy the historic 1885 L.B. Dominy home at the northwest corner of Third Street and Route 24. She had to bid against a man who wanted to gut the house and use some of the interior items to decorate a restaurant in California. It took Betty about two years to completely refurbish the old mansion. Betty lived in the restored home for 11 years until she died in late 2001.
In 1990, when Betty was 72 years ago and finished the massive remodeling of the Dominy home, a Pantagraph reporter asked how she got the energy to tackle such a big project. She recounted that her great-grandfather, Nicklaus Nussbaum, a native of Switzerland, attributed the family strength "to eating lots of pie cherries, the sour kind, not the sweet ones."
The Nussbaum family definitely made their mark on the development of Fairbury. Ben Nussbaum preserved Native American artifacts and documented early Apostolic Christian Church history. Their family plumbing firm served Fairbury customers for over 80 years. Betty Nussbaum saved the historic L.B. Dominy 1885 stately mansion from the wrecking ball. This home, now the Hoffman House, is one of the most elegant older homes in the Fairbury area.
This article originally appeared on Pontiac Daily Leader: Dale C. Maley column on Fairbury history Nussbaum family
