ANDREW WITASCHEK was born in Prussia, Nov. 16, 1815, and is a son of Peter and Anna (Tonnebaum) Witaschek. His father died in 1843. Andrew was reared in his native country, and on arriving at a suitable age, he learned the trade of stocking making. After an apprenticeship of three years, he worked as a journeyman for some time at Neustadt, Prussia. In 1838 he worked in Saxony one year, and in 1839 went to the Rhine, and to Coblentz and Koln. In 1840 went to Bremen, Hamburg, Lubec and Berlin, then returned to Saxony, not far from Leipsic, in Delitz, and from there in 1841, went to Prague in Bohemia, and Wien in Austria, and from there to Trieste, Ungarn and Hamburg. From there in 1842, he went to Ofen and Pesth, and from there to Wien, where he received from the Prussian consul new passports. From there he went to Venice and Milan, and in February 1843, left Milan and went to Rome, where he stayed until July of the same year, when he went to Venice and Trieste, through Ungarn, Hermanstadt and Kronstadt, through Turkish Wallacia, to Bucharest. From there he proceeded to Zchurgug, Rutschuk, and Varna, on the Black sea, and thence to Constantiople. In March, 1844, went to Jerusalem; then to Jordan and the Dead sea, and thence to Nazareth, on the sea of Galilee, then to Mt. Carmel and Beirut, crossed Mt. Lebanon to Damascus and thence back to Jerusalem. From there traveled to Damietta and Cairo, in Egypt; from Cairo to Suez, and from there sailed on the Red sea to Tor, and thence traveled on foot to Mt. Sinai, Mt. Horeb and Mt. Catherine, and back again to Cairo. From Cairo, in 1845, he went to Alexandria and to Malta, to Naples, to Civita Vecchia and to Rome, and in July, 1846, gain returned home. They visited altogether 463 cities. Andrew having been accompanied in his travels by his brother Anthony. In 1850 Andrew bade farewell to his mother and friends in the fatherland, and went to Bremen, where he took passage on a vessel bound for New York. His brother came to America a year before that. After a voyage of five weeks, Andrew arrived at the port of New York, and from there went to New Orleans, going by the way of the Ohio and Mississippi rivers. He remained in New Orleans that winter, and in March, 1851, he went to Central America, going to Chagres, and after remaining a few days, to San Juan. His brother Anthony was with him; but from there he went back to New York, while Andrew went to new Orleans, and from there to St. Louis, where he stayed about one year. He then took a trip to new York to see his brother, and after remaining a short time in the vicinity of that city, he returned by way of Detroit and Chicago to St. Louis. He stayed there about a year, but being sick all the time, he went to St. Paul, and thence to Lyons, Ia., for his health. He then came to Greene county, Illinois, and went to work for James Eldred, an old settler residing under the bluff. He next put in a wheat crop for himself, but it failed. In 1857 he came to Woodville township and located under the bluff. In 1860 he bought 80 acres of land on sections 14 and 15, on which he located. By thrift and industry, he has added to this until he now has 200 acres, and he divides his time between stock and grain raising. He was married January 1, 1857, to Christina Gralmes, a native of Germany, and to them one child was born - John, living at home. Mrs. Witaschek had two children by a former marriage - Joseph, and Ann, who married Joseph Lessman, now living in Montgomery County. Mr. Witaschek has probably been the greatest traveler among the citizens of Greene County, he having spent about eight years traveling through Europe, Asia, North and Central America, making his own way all the time.