Blattner, John

Born: 1827-01-04 Switzerland

Died: 1901-05-02 Highland, Illinois

Alternate name: Blatner

Born in Küttigen, Switzerland, John Blattner immigrated to the United States in 1834. He settled in Highland, Illinois, and became a naturalized U.S. citizen sometime between 1840 and 1849. He was a farmer, public servant, attorney, and Republican. In November 1847, he married Marie S. C. Kohlmeyer and they eventually had several children together. In 1850, he owned $250 in real estate. He was a member of the Highland Republican Club at least as early as 1858. He studied law, and, although never admitted to the bar, practiced from sometime in the 1850s until his death. In 1860, he attended the Madison County Republican Convention and was appointed a delegate to the 1860 Illinois Republican Convention. During the Civil War, he served as a U.S. internal revenue collector, notary public, probate expert, and civil engineer. He helped establish public work projects in Highland that graded streets and improved drainage.

U.S., Family History Books (Lehi, UT: Ancestry.com Operations, 2025); History of Madison County, Illinois (Edwardsville, IL: W. R. Brink, 1882), 111; Illinois Statewide Marriage Index, Washington County, 16 November 1847, Illinois State Archives, Springfield, IL; U.S. Census Office, Seventh Census of the United States (1850), Washington County, IL, 150; John Blattner and Others to Abraham Lincoln and Lyman Trumbull; Illinois Daily State Journal (Springfield), 30 April 1860, 2:2; W. T. Norton, ed., Centennial History of Madison County, Illinois and Its People 1812 to 1912 (Chicago: Lewis, 1912), 1:540; Edwardsville Intelligencer (IL), 7 May 1901, 4:6; Gravestone, Highland Cemetery, Highland, IL.