German Settlement

History of Carol Stream,IL according to Wikipedia

A veteran of the War of 1812, Anning S. Ransom, came to farm the area around 1840. He was followed in 1844 by Vermonter Daniel Kelley, who purchased 1,400 acres (6 km²) and settled at "Tall Trees" with his wife to raise Spanish Merino sheep. The Kelleys and their 11 children all became actively involved in Wheaton's political and business life. Daniel Kelley donated land for the Chicago Great Western Railway, and the area around the railroad stop became known as Gretna after 1887. Gretna was settled by German farm families, largely Roman Catholics from Southern Germany.

In 1853, St. Stephen Catholic Church was built in Gretna. The church was closed in 1867. When St. Michael Church was opened in Wheaton in 1872, the St. Stephen parishioners were transferred to that parish. The church building was dismantled sometime in the late 19th century. St. Stephen Cemetery was located adjacent to the church building. It was last used for burial in 1910. The St. Stephen Cemetery (located north of the Great Western Trail behind Meyer Material Company on St. Charles Road) was rededicated 100 years later on September 12, 2010.