Genealogists love to get into old courthouses and ramble through the records for historical documents, I'm no different. But the trip to Joliet's Courthouse was not in that flavor. It was very new and modern compared to the structures in the smaller towns I visited. After figuring out how to locate the old land deeds, here is the first deed for the property George and Michael purchased in July, 1866. This is just the top half of the deed, but all the essential data is there. Sold to Michael and George Kestel for the price of $2560.00, 160 acres more or less. This quarter section is located in the southeast quarter of Section 33 in Township 35, which is New Lenox. This is the northwest corner of the Delaney and Cedar intersection.
Their second purchase, again jointly, happens on October 1st, 1872, with the purchase of 80 acres on the southeast corner of Delaney and Cedar. This time the price is $3000.
So, the first parcel averages out to $16/acre and the second, bought just six years later, goes for more than twice the rate at $37.50/acre. One would recognize that the post war economy was good as the North regained the markets in the South lost during the War. For some discussion about the southern markets and the Civil War, you can read an article I put together concerning Illinois farmers and copperheadism.