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John and Sarah Distler Writing about the first settlers in O’Fallon can be a complicated matter. There were many independent early settlements (some prehistoric) in what is now considered O’Fallon. The first recorded settlers of “old town” O’Fallon, however, were John and Sarah Distler who came here in 1852 and built a log house about 200 feet southwest of present day Oak and Second Street. John had recently emigrated from Germany and at first lived in the High Prairie Settlement south of Belleville. There he met Sarah Powell who, with her parents and siblings, had come from Montgomery County, Tennessee. They married on Jan. 1, 1851. John Distler and his father-in-law, Constance Powell, came to what is now O’Fallon to help with the preparation of the roadbed for the Ohio & Mississippi R.R. then under construction. They used an ox team owned by Powell to haul material and supplies for the 0. & M. When the track was laid, Sarah Distler was among the passengers on the first train from O’Fallon Station to Illinoistown (East St. Louis). John and Sarah’s son, James, was the first boy born in O’Fallon Station—Aug. 24, 1855. Including James, they had 8 other children who in turn provided numerous descendants.
John Distler died in 1888. The last surviving original settler of O’Fallon, Sarah Distler, received a tribute from the Progress on Nov. 6, 1908 on the occasion of her 83rd birthday. She was described as possessing a “disposition to think well of others and do them good. The hungry and weary human being was never turned from her door without a word of cheer and assistance as far as her ability would permit.” Having lived in what was by then the city of O’Fallon for 56 years, Sarah passed away on the 29th of the following month.
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