Gurler Family Papers (DeKalb)

H.B. Gurler was born in Chesterfield, New Hampshire, in 1840 to Benjamin and Harriet (Hopkins) Gurler. The Gurler family moved to DeKalb, Illinois, in 1856 and settled in Section 32 of DeKalb Township. In 1868, H.B. Gurler was able to purchase the Clover Dairy Farm and, in 1870, Gurler began dairying and carrying on the experiments that would later make him famous. In 1881 under the firm name of Gurler Brothers, Henry B. and George H. Gurler built creameries in DeKalb, Malta, Five Corners, Shabbona, Shabbona Grove, and Hinckley. In 1896 the creamery possessions of the Gurler Brothers were divided and George H. became owner of his brother's interest in the creameries of Malta, Hinckley, Shabbona and Shabbona Grove. During the years 1895-1905, H.B. Gurler turned his attention to the development of an entirely new concept in the dairy industry, certified milk. In 1900, the Department of Agriculture in Washington, D.C. asked H.B. Gurler to provide samples of the milk for the Paris Exposition. Gurler was awarded a gold medal at the Exposition. His milk was purified through certification not pasteurization. Prominent and respected in the dairy business, the Gurlers pioneered a milk processing and storage method. Their intimate knowledge of and work with farm and dairy problems contributed to agricultural and dairy industry improvement and paved the way for our more modern methods of today.

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