Jean George Dolder was born July 8, 1822 in Hohwald, Alsace, France. He married Adele Virginia Loux. She bore eleven children before her death March 6, 1867.

Early in 1868, George bundled eight of his younger children, and with the assistance of his sister and her husband, Josephine and Leonard Dolder, made the overland trek to the port of le Havre, France. There they booked passage on the ship Cella enroute New York City. The party arrived in NewYork harbor on May 23, 1868, took passage via the St. Lawrence seaway to the Great Lakes and on to Chicago, then overland to LaSalle County, Illinois where they settled in Northville township near Sheridan.

George, being in ill health, farmed out most of his children to relatives, who helped raise his family. George Dolder died December 22, 1880 and is buried in Elerding cemetery just north of Sheridan, Illinois.