Schrock Immigrant Day is history and the event was successful according to many comments received. Here is a sampling of reactions:

A member of the planning group said, “I was surprised by the many positive comments on Saturday about the Day, and the thank you e-mails I received. I’m impressed when people take the time to send such messages. I heard people comment that the music alone, on Friday, was worth coming for the evening.  The popcorn event made for a family atmosphere.” Another planning group member commented, “The best outcome [of the event] was getting over 100 people together to remember each of the [five] immigrants.”

“The content of this reunion was just superior! Also, I must hand it to Frank [Kandel] especially for moving things along.  It takes a lot of energy and smarts to keep a large body of people happy and on schedule and he did it with elan. I loved it that we ate in the [farm museum] shed.  The popcorn and ice cream were such droll additions. I think we absolutely got our money’s worth. Thank you for a job well done and for the memory of this occasion that we will all value in the years ahead.”

“What a great reunion!  Thanks for all the effort and planning.  Your daughter-in-law’s [Debbie Birkey as Magdalena Schick] drama was a highlight.”

“All [the] years of research, [the] days and nights of planning for this weekend paid off in over 100 of near and far cousins enjoying a thoroughly delightful weekend.  [My husband] said this weekend should be the model for family reunions–guided information, lots of printouts, activities, a hospitable setting, perfectly coordinated timings for events like meals, ice-cold delicious ice cream.  So many times almost strangers gather and find they have lots of empty time and not much to say to each other.  This event was perfect!   Thank you so much for the gift of this weekend.”

“[Please] forward a big thank you to all the responsible people who made the Schrock Immigrant Day so enjoyable & successful (I’m not good with e-mail).  We certainly appreciated it all and had a wonderful & educational time with our many cousins.  Words simply can not repay all of you for all your hard work & efforts, but may God richly bless you all for what you have done on our behalf.”

” [We] really enjoyed our quick trip out to Illinois [from the east coast] this past weekend and want to thank [everyone] for all the hard work and attention to detail. It was a most memorable time! Thank you.”

“Thanks again for all the work [everyone] put into researching our family history and for the recent event.  I do not think any of the others of us could have done what [was done] but all our family has benefited from the greater knowledge of our past.  I sure wish I was confident this generation will pass on to future generations the blessings we have inherited.”

At the links you will find a map of Washington, Tazewell Co., IL, showing the location and  photo of Guth Cemetery. Buried there is Andrew Schrock, Sr., third son of Joseph and Maria Neuhauser Schrag. Andrew died August 5, 1855 of cholera. Andrew’s wife, Anna Oyer, was a sister to Peter Guth’s wife, Susanna Oyer.

Today the Family Tree section of The Schrock Birkey Connection has been updated. The tree now contains 11,543 names. Several corrections of information have been made as well.

Schrock Immigrant Day has a presence on FaceBook. Become a member of the Group and get to know your Schrock relatives even before the reunion June 18-21, 2010 in Metamora, IL. The Group is open to all descendants of Joseph and Maria Neuhauser Schrag/Schrock. It can be accessed at http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=184707186207&ref=mf

At the Schrock reunion/immigrant day event there will be time for descendants to share with others any family treasures they might have in their possession.

Please contact Donna Birkey if you have any family stories, genealogies, books, pictures, news clippings, letters, ship lists, titles, deeds, marriage licenses, obituaries, or other documents that provide information on the immigrants, their ancestors in Europe, or their children and descendants. (See document sample below left.) Also contact Donna if you have any family artifacts that you would be willing to bring and share as part of a “show and tell” presentation. Family artifacts might include furniture, dishes, recipes, clothing, tools, household utensils, special books (See Bible sample below right), etc. that belonged to the immigrants, their children, or their grandchildren.

You may reach Donna Birkey by e-mail at http://www.dbirkey@birkey.org, though the contact page of this website (http://birkey.org/contact/), or by postal mail at 1S710 Orchard Road, Wheaton, IL  60189.

Peter Schrock (1839-1922) Family Bible

Birth record of André Schrack, first son of Joseph and Maria, who evidently died as an infant since the third son was named André

Click on the chart: then again on the next chart to enlarge it.

This is the Schrock Family Ancestry Chart

The Personal Story of an Illinois Amish Mennonite Family

by Donna Schrock Birkey
Originally published in the Spring 2006 issue (Vol. XXXIII, No. 1)
Illinois Mennonite Heritage Quarterly (http://www.imhgs.org)

This story is based on remembrances of a grandchild who shared their lives and knew this John and Mary intimately. AHD lived next door, down the road, and eventually with her grandparents John and Mary Birky Schrock. She has eagerly shared her memories about my great grandparents. At 90, AHD is the last living grandchild and lives in the house that was built by John for his son Albert’s family. I clearly remember being the recipient of Mary’s handouts at church, and occasionally while visiting her home being on the receiving end of her “sermons”—given mostly in German!

How John and Mary met and married

John Schrock was born 28 May 1862 in Elm Grove Township, Tazewell County, where John’s parents, Peter Schrock and Anna “Nancy” Garber, lived as their children grew up. John was the oldest living child; little Katie had lived only a few months in 1861. Mary Birky, born 19 September 1862 in Morton, Tazewell County, was the first child of Andrew S. and Veronica “Fannie” Sutter Birky.

Both families had an Anabaptist and Amish Mennonite ancestry. The Schrock’s immigrated from France and the Sutter’s from Bavaria, but originally Switzerland was the homeland of both families. After settling in Illinois they were likely part of the same church community in Tazewell County, where Andrew Ropp was minister and bishop. When Andrew settled four miles southeast of Pekin on Old State Road in 1834, it was the beginning of the Dillon Creek Amish settlement. John’s grandparents arrived in Tazewell County in 1850 and purchased land near the Ropp’s, becoming their neighbors.

According to Steve Estes in Living Stones: A History of the Metamora Mennonite Church, Andrew Ropp “served as minister of the Dillon Creek congregation until about 1840 when he was ordained as bishop. He was described as a person made up of ‘a large measure of push and energy and prompt decision, driven by a wish to succeed in building up a home and accumulating property.’ Ropp was an agricultural innovator but a religious conservative. His sincerity inspired deep devotion among many, but others criticized him as a minister who did more scolding, faultfinding, and preaching on ‘dress,’ than preaching the Gospel. Ropp was assisted in the ministry by Peter Ropp (1815-1893) who became deacon about 1843 and Valentine Birky (1817-1856) who was ordained a minister of the word about 1847. Also known as the Pekin district, the Dillon Creek congregation became the Pleasant Grove Mennonite Church now part of the First Mennonite Church in Morton, Illinois.”

The Schrock, Sutter and Birky families were evidently loyal to Bishop Ropp, for he married at least three couples:Mary’s parents on 25 Mar 1858, John’s parents two years later on 8 Jan 1860, and finally John and Mary themselves. Surely the entire family was greatly influenced by the teaching and life of Andrew Ropp and the Dillon Creek church community.

Although John and Mary had the same backgrounds and no doubt had the same set of young friends, how was it that the gentle, quiet, reserved John Schrock managed to attract a dashing, daring, high-spirited woman like Mary Birky? Their marriage settled (but didn’t answer) the question on 19 Feb1885 in Morton. They were both 22 years old, and as mentioned above, the presiding minister was Andrew Ropp. While living in Morton their two children were born: Albert Elmer in 1886 and Fannie Ann in 1889, an unusually small family for an Amish Mennonite family of the time.

Early life of Mary Birky

It is very possible that the Andrew Birky family lived quite a few years with the Sutter grandparents (Johannes “John” Sutter and Barbara Oesch), because all the stories told later by Mary about her childhood seemed to take place in the Sutter home. And since Fannie was the youngest of the Sutter children, perhaps she cared for her parents until their death.Mary had great respect for her Sutter grandparents. She and her brothers were taught to treat them kindly, with love and respect. Her grandfather was an Amish Mennonite minister who helped with the preaching when church meetings were held in homes. He also compiled a book of prayers that was published in 1874 by John F. Funk of Elkhart, Indiana. In spite of his earlier history it took lots of patience to live with them, Mary related later.

When a small “Grossfatterhaus” was built for the grandparents very near to the back door of the Birky home, Mary was often given the task of carrying meals her mother had cooked to her “Grossfatter Sutter.” In his older years John must have grown quite belligerent, for many times if the food didn’t suit him, he would throw the food and plate back at her. After a time Mary developed the ability to dodge the plate quite well. Perhaps as he aged his mind remembered more clearly the early days on his beautiful estate near Neuburg in Bavaria, where he was able to order life to his liking.

The house in which Mary and her family lived was still standing in Morton in 1971, inhabited by a Kaiser family. At the time Mr. Kaiser told of old bricks turning up when he plowed the garden west of the house, probably remnants of the Grossfatterhaus. The homestead was a short distance east of the old Tremont road going south out of Morton.

Mary was a fun-loving child–the one and only girl in a family with four younger brothers. One of the children’s favorite games was hide and seek, and one time Mary ran into the basement through the outside cellar door and hid behind the vinegar barrels. She remained hidden for quite a long time before her brothers found her. In her 87th year she was taken to Morton where she pointed out the house and cellar door where she had played as a child.

Being the only girl and the oldest child, Mary helped to care for her younger brothers. When she was about seventeen years old her ten-month-old brother, Amos, wriggled out of her arms and fell down an open stairway, receiving a severe head injury from which he never recovered. Amos was mentally retarded the rest of his 33 years. Later in her life Mary would often warn her grandchildren to be very careful when handling little children, for her own experience had caused her much regret.

Mary spoke of her father with great respect. He was apparently quite a devout Christian, but too strict to suit Mary, who thought her social life rather dull and limited.  Especially bringing her joy was having a Hopedale uncle bring his children and their friends for the evening. At one of these visits the young folks were square dancing to the tune of “The Drunken Sailor.”  As they were singing, “What do you do with a drunken sailor,” father Andrew entered the room, the fun stopped abruptly, and the “Hopedale boys” were sent home.  Andrew, the stern disciplinarian, must have been more quiet and uninteresting than his wife Fannie, for there were always more stories about mother than father.

Mary’s mother had a real sense of humor and lots of spunk. She dressed chickens, ducks and geese, made noodles, butter, and cottage cheese among other things. On a weekly basis the family loaded them all into the spring wagon and drove across the Illinois River to the market in Peoria, arriving early morning in order to obtain a choice booth location. Mary stayed in the booth while her parents were purchasing supplies to take home. She watched as the wealthy ladies walked down the rows of booths, putting a finger in a pot of butter or can of cream to taste it, then moving on and doing the same in the next booth. Mary watched eagerly to see if the ladies would come back to buy her mother’s products.

Early life of John Schrock

John’s family lived in several homes in Tazewell County, all near the Mackinaw River where the men hunted, fished and cut wood. He obviously enjoyed those days for John spoke about them until the end of his life. His father Peter and his wife moved to Fisher about 1900, and it was there Anna died in 1902.  Peter was known for helping family members who came upon misfortune, and it seems that quality was passed on to son John. When John was 19 his little brother Moses died at age nine.  As a man in his eighties, John still talked about the family’s sadness at giving up little “Mosey.”

Young John Schrock in a tin plate photo. About age 18.

John received a better education than most pioneer boys, in both German and English schools. He no doubt went to school only a month or two each year since he was still studying German and English readers in 1884 at the age of 22 years. He loved to read and was interested in world events. Many years later his brother Joe, who lived in Ohio, sent a gift subscription to the Toledo Blade, which John read through each week and read or quoted parts to his grandchildren.

About the time of his marriage, and probably before moving to Champaign County, John took an exciting excursion to Harper, Kansas. The railroad was giving special rates in order to get people interested in settling the West. Again, John told and retold the events of that trip. He was evidently a very thoughtful young man who continually savored both the sorrowful and joyful events of his life through the years.

The move to Champaign County

For the first few years following their marriage, Mary and John lived in a little house just east and a quarter mile north of the Sutter house in Morton. What were those years like? Mary was vivacious, fun loving, artistic and very much an extrovert, while John was reserved, gentle and steady. There was less than a year to adjust to one another before the first child, Albert, was born. Three years later Fannie arrived.

About that time several of Mary’s Sutter aunts and their families purchased farmland and moved to Champaign County. In 1891, when children Albert and Fannie were five and two, John and Mary also made the move from Morton to Champaign County. They lived in a small house on the farm they bought in present-day Brown Township near Fisher while a larger house was being built.

John and Mary's house--built by John.

John was very precise in all he did and built the house and barn well. When his son-in-law, Joseph A. Heiser, later tried to take apart anything that John had built, it was difficult because he had used three to five nails where other builders used only one. Mary’s father, Andrew, knew that a new church had been started to serve the growing Amish Mennonite community, so in the spring of 1892 Mary’s parents followed their children and bought acreage in the same Section 24 as John and Mary. He also purchased land in Section 20 of present-day East Bend Township.

John and Mary Schrock's house in 2009

In 1895 a meetinghouse was built for the church and Andrew wished to donate an acre of his Section 20 land for a cemetery. Later that year he died, becoming the first person buried there, and then it was left to Fannie and the children to sign the deed giving the land to the church. After Andrew’s death, Fannie and her son Amos lived in a little house across the road near John and Mary, on land owned by her son, Andrew, Jr. The house was most certainly built for them by John. Fannie cared for Amos until he died in 1914 at the age of 33, but John was legal conservator, making sure the physical and financial matters of both were cared for properly. When Fannie visited her daughter Mary she kept busy sweeping porches, sidewalks, and even the bare ground. She remained active until her death in 1927.  Mary was very much like her mother.

Farm life and family activities

John farmed his land with the help of his only son. But when Albert was 15 years old he contracted the measles and as was so common in those days the sickness caused lasting physical consequences. Albert was left with weakened lungs and later developed tuberculosis. Perhaps this disability gave Albert the chance to learn his father’s love of reading and study, for he became a student of the Bible. He taught Sunday school and was considered a possible candidate for becoming a minister of the East Bend Church. He married Josephine Yordy and they had three children, but Albert died at age 30 of tuberculosis. Before he died John built a house for Albert and his family just down the road from his own house. After Albert’s death, John took on responsibility for the well being of his daughter-in-law and her children, making sure they were cared for until they were able to care for themselves.

John was not an ambitious man, so was content and happy to farm the soil, milk his cow and occasionally build a barn or crib for a neighbor. He also painted houses and barns for neighbors. For about 18 years John tended his farmland, but when daughter Fannie married Joseph A. Heiser in 1909, he turned the land and farmhouse over to them. J.A. farmed the land and received half the income, while the other half went to Albert’s family. John built a small house for himself and Mary just down the sidewalk. From that time they lived on funds from the farm rent and what he earned from his painting and carpentry work. John would leave in the morning with his buckets and brushes lined up in the front of his buggy, Prince pulling. They went plodding down the road, both horse and man, enjoying the fresh morning air and watching the crops along the way. After the day was over and they’d had another relaxing ride home, John would clean his brushes and pails and prepare for the next day’s work. After supper he was ready to sit in his rocker and read the newspaper, the Bible and the Gospel Herald before going to bed. Some time later his family persuaded him to buy a car and drive to work. He tried it a few days, but soon sold it. The car was too fast for him and it spoiled the enjoyment of his buggy ride to and from work.

In the book “Just Pete,” author Jenny Schrock tells of a visit to Illinois with John and Mary Schrock:

“After dinner with Pete’s aunts, we drove out to Joe Heiser’s farm.  They told us that Uncle John Schrock was painting a farmhouse a short distance away, so we drove our car there.  I remember John Schrock as a small man physically, with kindness wrinkles all over his face, and very soft spoken.  He was on a very tall ladder painting the south side of a three-story house when we drove up.  He got down and went to his home with us, and it was a wonderful time of visiting. Aunt Mary was very tiny and very vocal.  She kept things buzzing.  You couldn’t help but love her and laugh at some of the funny things she said.  I’m sure no one who saw Aunt Mary ever forgot her.  Pete brought Aunt Mary some Tootsie Rolls when we were there, and she really liked them.  She said, “They never hurt my stomach.” Uncle John and Aunt Mary lived in their house, and their daughter, Fannie, and husband Joe Heiser, with their five children…lived in a larger house in the same yard.  They showed us the large, beautiful garden after supper that night, and although Aunt Mary was quite elderly at the time, she wasn’t about to be ignored.  “I pull the weeds after the rain when the ground is wet,” she said.  And I’ll bet she did.”

John, far left, joins his family and neighbors for a day of butchering.

A neighbor, Bertha Zehr now 98 years old, remembers the extended families of Samuel S. Zehr and John Schrock getting together to butcher. “Usually a cold, clear day was chosen, the children stayed home from school and the day was begun very early. At dinner we had fresh liver, and sausage was sent home with the Schrocks. John and Sam were very particular about boiling the lard to make soap, and trusting no one else to the job, they did it themselves to be sure it was right. Boil it too little and it would not hold together. Boil it too much and it would get grainy. In the spring, from time to time the Zehr families would be treated to asparagus from John’s well-kept garden patch.”

Bertha continues, “Albert (Bert) and I were married in 1927 and lived with Bert’s folks for nine years. It was at that time that I learned to know John and Mary, as we only lived one fourth mile from each other. When Mary and Lena (Bert’s mother) were together they would converse in German. Mary liked to keep a quilt in her quilting frame and would invite me to come and help even though I did not consider myself a good quilter. Surprisingly, she never wanted her daughter to help as Mary thought Fannie didn’t make nice stitches.

“One day in the early 1930s John came to the house and asked if Bert and I would loan him $3oo for a note coming due. I suppose he thought since I taught school we would have some cash. We really didn’t have much but Bert and I decided to make the loan to him.  He was such a kind and gentle person. We did not wish to charge him interest but when he paid us back he insisted on adding six percent. I am sure that John and Mary’s family was affected by the depression as were the rest of us. Fisher had two banks at the time; The Fisher State Bank closed its doors April 14, 1930. [Although John would normally never have considered asking a neighbor or friend for a loan, he was willing to do so to help his family in those depressed times. As it turned out, God provided the $300 from a different source and the money was paid back very quickly. DB] Mary enjoyed playing Parcheesi with us on a board that Sam had made–she was a very competitive player. If it didn’t suit John to bring her in the buggy, she would walk over and I would take her home in our coupe. Mary was boss, and John went along, but in many respects they went their own ways.

“My son, Carl, was born on Mary’s birthday so she always gave him a gift. The first was a child’s knife, fork and spoon.  Not long after she gave me some pink and white gingham so I could make him a romper. Sometimes it was a child’s hankie or a card, but Mary didn’t send a card or gift to any of my other children—only to Carl because he had the same birthday.”

John was immensely helpful to his daughter Fannie, who had five children and a pastor husband often unable to help much with home duties. So besides his painting, John helped Fannie’s family with their work; milking every morning and evening, making sure the animals got an extra pan of feed, or an extra forkful of hay; butchering and threshing; he rode the binder at wheat and oat harvest while the rest of the family shocked the grain bundles. John stacked the straw on threshing day and protected the stack from five lively children who would otherwise scatter it.

Each Monday morning he carried water into his kitchen, put it into the boiler and heated it for the week’s laundry. Gardening was a favorite activity and John took good care of the asparagus, rhubarb and horseradish. For a canning day, John was there for his daughter, quietly hulling peas, stemming beans, cutting cabbage, shucking sweet corn, cutting tomatoes, seeding cherries, peeling apples–anything to help his family. It was during these times that stories were told by John and Mary about the “olden days,” remembering their earlier lives at Morton with aunts, uncles and cousins.

John dearly loved his grandchildren. He spent a part of every day talking and playing with them; and if any were sick he would go next door and talk to them before he left for work. He had heavy bushy hair until his death and many times the grandchildren would comb it as he sat relaxing on the bench under the tree by his house. Even though they might have been rough, he always pretended to enjoy the brushing. Mary was impetuous, plucky, self-willed and bossy, and often gave John a hard time. Most men with less patience and kindness would have quarreled with her, but John was patient, forgiving and peace loving and therefore kept life calm and pleasant.

After all his grandchildren were married, he made the rounds of visiting each one and kept each garden free of weeds with a three-cornered hoe that was always as sharp as a knife blade. (I thought of my great grandfather recently as I worked in my parents’ yard fertilizing the grapevines and hoeing out the pesky weeds growing in the flower beds. I could have used his help!) He also had a deep love and concern for his three sisters: Lydia, who was separated from her husband, and the other two, Ella and Lena, who had never married. In his quiet way he was an inspiration to his family.

John's horse and buggy transportation

Once or twice a week John and Mary hitched Prince to a buggy and went visiting, sometimes with a grandchild or two in tow to relieve Fannie for the afternoon. On their “to visit” list were Preacher Daniel Grieser; Pete and Adina Heiser; Dave Springer family; John and Mary Springer Naffziger; the John Young family–all acquaintances from their earlier lives in Tazewell County; Peter, Ella and Lena Schrock (John’s family); John Garber family (first cousin to John); Valentine B. Birky and Andrew Birky families (Mary’s relatives); and Mary’s mother Fannie Birky. Many of these would return the visit, and sometimes Mary’s brothers from Morton, Peter and John Birky, would visit.

John and Mary were good neighbors. John and several of the neighbor men looked after the affairs of the Brown School district where both Fannie and Albert attended, keeping the school in repair and hiring teachers. They organized the threshing ring and cared for the machinery. These neighbors helped each other, worked together and shared good and bad times. Mary was the first to offer assistance when there was sickness in a neighboring family, while John did their chores and whatever other work needed to be done. Mary helped Dr. Sale deliver many of the babies in the community while, in the early years, leaving her own children in the care of their father.

John’s house was his haven. It was always thought of by the grandchildren as “Grandpa’s house,” since Mary spent much of her time across the yard at Fannie’s. John cleaned and cared for his house and prepared his own breakfasts and suppers. He ate the noon meal with the rest of the family next door. Most of the time he made his coffee in a blue and white pot, cooked his oatmeal and ate bread and molasses alone at his kitchen table. His Bible and eyeglasses, sugar bowl and spoon holder, and vinegar and oil cruets were always on the table.  He saved every piece of string he found, rolled it on a cob and kept it in one of the drawers of the sink.

In mid-life Mary impressed her grandchildren as being a little old woman, wearing dark clothes, a little black cap and laced-up shoes, size 4 or 5. Granddaughter AHD describes her grandmother: “She never in her life weighed 100 pounds. Under the black cap that she wore on her head with ties under her chin, she had balls of cotton in her ears–most likely to keep from getting an earache rather than because she had an earache. She wore a chamois skin vest and heavy knitted slip under her dress, summer and winter, to protect her lungs. She combed her hair back, parted in the middle and rolled into a tight knot. Although she was lively and always busy doing something, she had convinced herself she was an invalid. She made regular trips to Fisher with the horse and buggy to see Dr. Sale, who kept her supplied with many different tonics and liniments.“

In her later years, when she was no longer able to maneuver events to her own liking, Mary got herself ready for church early on Sunday’s and sat in the car waiting for the rest of the family. She wore her black or navy blue dress, the little cap on her head, a big black purse with small snap pocket purse inside for small change, and some peppermint candies to pass out to special children she had in mind. She carried a large man’s handkerchief with a crushed geranium leaf in the corner that made her smell like an herb garden. Some of her grandchildren were embarrassed as Mary carried her special cushion up the aisle to her seat at the front of the church.”

Bertha Zehr remembered that Mary would voice her thoughts in church occasionally, and made sure the children sitting near her were quiet, but she never heard John pray publicly. John and Mary were very different types of persons, but both loved the Lord and praised him for their salvation.  Both loved to read the Scriptures and spent many hours with their Bibles. John seldom revealed his faith in words, but his every act was an example of a godly life. He went to church faithfully, sitting on the second bench from the front on the right hand side of the East Bend Mennonite Church.  John seemed to feel that his service to God consisted in helping on the farm and around the house so that his son-in-law, J. A., could be free for church work and evangelistic meetings away from home. (J.A. was the one chosen as minister by the church after Albert died.)

Mary's Bible. Note the design on the paper used as a bookmark.

Mary read her German Bible regularly and memorized many portions. Often she would begin lecturing on some biblical subject, basically preaching a sermon, while her grandchildren tried not to listen. One of her instructions was taken from Luke 17:2 about not offending. She stressed the frightful results of offending another. When Mary was a young girl, one of the ministers convinced her and others that it was a sin to have a picture taken, so she burned all her pictures and promised her parents she would never again have her picture taken. This promise turned out to be a burden to her in later years when family pictures were being taken. It is interesting to see so many photos with Mary just off to one side or pretending to be unaware that a photo was being taken.

In spite of her drab outward presentation, Mary loved beauty and bright colors. She just didn’t wear them! She was artistic and made more than one hundred quilts of brightly colored pieces, many also embroidered. One of the more memorable was a friendship quilt made for daughter Fannie. The badly worn quilt was found under Mary’s mattress being used as a cover for the bedsprings. A rescued block was embroidered by Katie Frances Zehr, daughter of Bishop Peter Zehr, who later married John Cender.

Mary purchased yard goods for quilts, embroidery thread, notions of all kinds and groceries at Koyen’s Variety Store in Fisher. She always bought products that had a glass dish included, or a piece of silverware. Many of these she would then give away as gifts to others. Mary painted freehand on felt for sofa pillows and drew all her own patterns for embroidering pillowslips and dresser scarves. She used her Minnesota Model sewing machine to make clothes for Fannie and the granddaughters, never using a pattern.

Hair art made by Mary

Her talents also included footstools made with tin cans, hair receivers, and paper flowers. More than once Mary would work far into the night all week long to make a hundred or more paper roses for someone’s wedding arbor. She would choose brightly colored crepe paper and without a pattern or instruction her flowers looked very real. Her garden and house plants always flourished under her green thumb, often becoming part of a beautiful bouquet. Evidently she also mastered the Victorian craft of hair work, as she made designs of hair; one containing hair from John and Mary and their two children.

When any of the family was sick or had a cold, Mary took charge. In keeping with her Amish tradition, she mixed herbs and teas, poultices of kerosene and goose grease, or a hot toddy. When her son-in-law, J.A. almost died from 27 bee stings, Mary arrived just in time with the whiskey bottle. It was usually hidden from the children on the upper shelf of her closet. She didn’t want them to know about it or they many have become alcoholics. During a bout with scarlet fever, several of the grandchildren were “quarantined” to “Grandpa’s house.” Every evening they would play Parcheesi and John and Mary proved to be good sports. When caring for her family, Mary had gentleness in her hands that everyone noticed when she bathed the children, washed their faces or combed their hair. They could feel her gentle touch. At other times she vigorously directed both households.

Mary was a cat person. All the farm cats were “Grandma’s cats” and she personally supervised their feeding and care. She gave her husband orders about how much milk to give them in the barn. All table scraps were hand sorted and divided among the cats according to their particular needs. She always knew when each litter of kittens was due and would find the right place in the coalhouse for them to be born. She would climb into the top of the coalhouse with only rafters and a few boards across for a floor, and arrange homes with the right amount of straw for each cat. Then, as she did for neighbor babies, she personally supervised all the kitten births. Those births were kept a secret until the kittens were old enough to be handled by the children. But the Heiser family dog, Dottie, learned how to impress Mary, and was privileged to sleep in the box behind the kitchen stove with her special cat, Beauty Belle. Mary used a fly swatter or a cup of cold water to keep Dottie in line.

In about 1942 J. A. and Fannie remodeled the little “grandfather” house and moved into it with John and Mary, while one of the grandsons took over the larger house and the farming work. Fannie began cooking all the meals and letting her parents eat in their own little kitchen. Mary’s progressing arteriosclerosis complicated life, and during the ten years they were together in this house, she became quite a problem to her daughter. But John was patient with his wife and kept things as peaceable as possible–much of the time by following her wishes. Mary seemed to enjoy and appreciate the care and concern shown by her family. In 1945 there was a 60th wedding anniversary celebration. Both John and Mary enjoyed the day, but it proved too exciting for Mary, so there was no 65th celebration in 1950.

During the last year of John’s life, his sister Lena became ill with cancer and died in June 1950. John was about 25 years older than Lena and he always had a special place in his heart for her. He felt the loss keenly when she passed away. Lena was much like her older brother John, with a sweet, gentle disposition, and showed much patience with her older neurotic sister, Ella. Ella became so disturbed after Lena’s death that she was taken to a mental hospital for a time, then to a nursing home where she died in February of 1951. About a month before Lena’s death, John and Mary’s daughter Fannie became ill and was in and out of the hospital until her death in December. Fannie’s death was extremely difficult for this kind, gentle father to bear. She was the third of his immediate family to die in less than a year.

The deaths of John and Mary

Granddaughter AHD, whose husband had died in March of 1951, decided she would take on the care of John and Mary after the death of Fannie. They moved into her home and John once again demonstrated his thanks by peeling potatoes, hulling peas, snapping beans, and even at age 89 occasionally hoeing in the garden.

Then one day in early July of 1951 AHD found John sitting in his chair, crying. She asked why, and he answered by thanking her for helping himself and Mary. But he had one more favor to ask if she was willing to promise. He requested that if he should die before his Mary, AHD would continue to care for her and not take her to a nursing home. He was afraid that since she was so difficult to get along with, anyone outside the family might mistreat her. Of course, she promised.

Later in the month, on the 28th, John’s son-in-law J.A. found him dead, lying on his cot. He had only lived with his granddaughter four months. It was difficult for her to give up this kind grandfather with the smiling face and honest blue eyes–his death left a tremendous void in her life. What a tough year it had been for the couple and their extended families—the death of Lena, Ella, Fannie, AHD’s husband, and John. John’s parents, three brothers and four sisters, and both children preceded him in death.

While living with AHD, Mary seemed not to be aware that her daughter Fannie had died earlier in the year. For the first few months she helped around the house, but after John died, she could never be trusted alone. She did enjoy talking with her visitors even though many times she wasn’t aware of their identity. Mary continued exhibiting her generous spirit by giving small gifts to people, but the downside was that when she had given away all of her own treasures she began to give away items belonging to AHD as well.

Her strong personality carried through to her old age, for when she didn’t want her body washed or her hair combed she fought like a child. Her eating habits depended largely on what kind of snack she liked at any particular time–tootsie roll candy, instant vanilla pudding, buttered bread and jelly–and she would eat nothing but that snack.

Soon after John died Mary decided to be bedfast and she remained in bed until her death in 1954. On the morning of her death she commented she couldn’t see the sunshine–she had become blind. At noon she could only eat a few bites of her favorite vanilla pudding. In the afternoon she took a few sips of water and one of the last things Mary said before becoming comatose was, “Maybe today I’ll see my Jesus.” That evening about 7 o’clock, with granddaughter AHD and a great grandson by her bedside, Mary took her last breath. She had outlived all her children and her siblings. Her life was now history. She was a simple, yet complicated, person–one-of-a-kind for sure–talented, giving, and helpful. She had at the same time a spellbinding character and an unpleasant one. Living with her was an interesting and trying experience, yet her family loved her very much.

John and Mary, and their children Albert and Fannie, all died and went to be with the Lord in the house John had built for Albert—the one where granddaughter AHD still lives. The parents of both John and Mary, and their children and spouses, are all buried in the East Bend Mennonite Cemetery donated by Andrew Birky. John and Mary left 8 grandchildren, 24 great grandchildren and one great-great grandchild. Both were original members of East Bend Mennonite Church.  Ezra Yordy preached Mary’s funeral. Noah Roeschley preached John’s.

This unlikely couple lived together for 66 years, raised a lively extended family, were active in their church and neighborhood community, and provide a quiet, but important behind-the-scenes legacy of Illinois’ Amish Mennonite community life.

156 year-old Sampler Surfaces and Escapes Auction Oblivion

Co-authored by Donna Schrock Birkey and Donald D. Kauffman
Originally published in the Fall 2003 issue (Vol. XXX, No. 3)
Illinois Mennonite Heritage Quarterly (http://www.imhgs.org)
(Used with permission of original publisher)

Barbara Birki Sampler

1. Introduction, description, present owner

A 10″ x 10″ unframed piece of embroidered linen fabric almost disappeared into “auction oblivion” recently in Pennsylvania. After being taken from Illinois to Pennsylvania sometime during the last six or seven years and languishing in a drawer until the end of 2002, this unique piece of cloth was prepared for auction by Priscilla and Katie, daughters of Ronald and Martha Stalter. Attending the auction was Cindy Grill, whose son, Josh, was to be married to Jessica Mendez, granddaughter of Ronald and Martha. Cindy is a collector of textiles and the cloth immediately caught her attention. It was a sampler with the name Barbara Birki and the year 1847 embroidered in colorful threads. She asked the Stalter family about the sampler and was told they didn’t know anything, except there were Birkys on Ron’s side of the family, so it must have come from them. It was in his lot when the belongings of his parents, Lee and Ruth Stalter, were divided among their children. Lee and Ruth had lived in Illinois, Cindy was told.

Once the sampler was rescued from the auction block, and since it was customary for needle workers to embroider their own name and the date on their samplers, Cindy naturally wanted to know more about Barbara Birki. She found no such name in Pennsylvania, but eventually came across the name on Canadian Don Kauffman’s Stalter website, and found it did have an Illinois connection. Don referred Cindy to Donna Birkey in Illinois, who had supplied him with information about his great-great grandmother, Barbara Birki. Barbara is a sister to two of Donna’s direct ancestors. Now there were two more people excited about the “found and rescued” sampler.

Barbara’s story begins with her father Christian Birki (Birky) of Kirshstackach, Bavaria, born in 1788, and buried in Tazewell Co., IL, with his second wife. He was of the ‘Big’ Birky family (in Illinois called the Sutter Birkys), and lived first in Odenstockah, then moved to Neukirchstock, near Munich, Germany. Barbara’s mother, Christian’s first wife, died leaving him with nine children. Since he had been thinking about immigrating, Christian advertised for a wife willing to be a mother to nine children and go with them to America. Elizabeth Stalter, daughter of Heinrich and Jacobine Stalter, accepted the challenge.

According to Hermann Guth’s research, at 62 years of age Christian applied to immigrate to Illinois on 13 Mar 1851, with his second wife Elizabeth Stalter, age 37. He had 10,000 fl of assets and his wife had an additional 2,225 fl. This was much more than most immigrants had. Traveling with them were Andreas 29, Anna 28, Elizabeth 23, Katharina 17, Veronika 15, born to his first wife, and, Jakobine 5, Heinrich 4, Jakob 3, and Helena 6 mo. born to his second wife. Christian noted to authorities that several older children were already in America.

At the time of his immigration Christian’s daughter, Barbara, was already in America. In 1849 Christian had given approval for Barbara to travel with his brother, Valentine. Guth tells us the immigration document reveals the following information: Barbara Birki, from Kirchstockach (unmarried, but with a child, Jacob, whose father was named as Thomas Luiderer from Putzbrunn) applied on 29 Feb 1849 for permission to immigrate to Illinois. Her father had given approval because she was to travel with his brother, Valentine Birki from Gern, who was the child’s guardian. The document indicated that three brothers/sisters were already in America. Barbara and her Uncle Valentine planned to travel via Mannheim-Le Havre-New York with ship agent Karl Dick from Augsburg. However, it was the ship list of the Minnesota, sailing from Liverpool, England to New York in 1849 that included Valentine Birki (b.1794), niece Barbara and her illegitimate son (we suppose the sampler she had stitched in 1847 was tucked into her trunk), Valentine’s daughter, Mary Burkey Birky (b.1833); and Daniel Zehr.

Since Barbara came to America with her Uncle Valentine and was listed as unmarried, it could be assumed that her marriage to Jacob Stalter took place after arriving in America and that her son Jacob took the Stalter name. However, this conflicts with Stalter information given to Don Kauffman, which claims they were married in Germany before coming to America. Jacob’s obituary gives their marriage date as 30 April 1849, as does a notation in his family Bible. However, Jacob is not listed as a passenger on the Minnesota arriving 21 June 1849. No doubt these incongruities will remain until the marriage document is found, either in Germany or the U.S. Sometime after their arrival in America Barbara and Jacob settled and lived in Livingston Co., IL. Jacob is buried in Waldo Cemetery and Barbara in Hopedale Cemetery. They had twelve children, one being Christian (1868-1953), the father of Levi (Lee) and grandfather of Ronald, who took the sampler to his home in Pennsylvania. This offers fairly substantial proof that the sampler was indeed stitched by Barbara Birki who married Jacob Stalter.

After 156 years, from Bavaria to Illinois to Pennsylvania, Barbara’s sampler will find a new home with Jessica and Josh Grill. Others of us (and there are many in Illinois, and in Alberta, Canada) who have a connection to the sampler will enjoy knowing that it is safe in family hands after evading “auction oblivion.”

2. Authentication of Sampler–Three Stalter Families

a. The Jacob and Barbara (Birki) Stalter Family – Ownership of the sampler must have passed from Barbara to her youngest son Christian – in Illinois:
Jacob N. Stalter b. 12 Sep 1823, born in Germany, oldest child of Jacob and Katherine Stalter–perhaps at Hemerton in Bavaria since his next sibling, Catherine, was born there; d. 8 Jun 1898 Livingston Co., IL. of palsey; buried Waldo Cemetery, Flanagan, IL.; He was a member of the Amish Church and stood in high esteem. Those speaking at his funeral were Christian Zimmerman, Stephen Stahly, Chr. Zimmerman, John P. Schmitt and Joseph Kinsinger. Father: Jakob Stalter (1798-1864); Mother: Katherine (1800-1847) Marriage: 30 Apr 1849, Germany; m. Barbara Birky b. 1824 Germany d. 31 Mar 1885, IL. Buried, Hopedale Cemetery, Hopedale, IL. Father: Christian Birki (1788-1866) Mother: Unknown.

Children
1 M: Jacob b. Germany; m. Minnie Gingerich
2 F: Mary b. 22 Jul 1850, Tazewell Co., IL.; d. 11 Dec 1917 Gridley, IL; m. Joseph Stalter, m.5 Mar 1871
3 F: Elizabeth b. 13 Aug 1853, Tazewell Co., IL., d. 9 Jun 1916;m. Valentine Augstin, m. 24 Feb 1874
4 F: Kathrine b. 20 Mar 1855 Tazewell Co., IL.; d. 20 Dec 1918 Pontiac, IL.; m. Daniel Stalter, m. 2 Mar 1873 Nebraska Twsp., Livingston Co., IL.
5 F: Barbara b. 2 Feb 1857 Tremont, IL., d. 12 Mar 1947 Toluca, IL.; m. Christian Roggy, m. 23 Feb 1880
6 F: Fannie b. 17 Apr 1858, Morton, IL. d. 25 Mar 1943, Hopedale, IL.;m. Christian N Sutter, m. 28 Feb 1876
7 M: Joseph b. 7 Feb 1861, d. bef 1885; m. Ethyl Fosdick
8 M: Andrew b. 17 Dec 1865, d. bef 1885; m. Martha
9 M: Christian B. b. 14 Aug 1868, Tazewell Co., IL, d. 8 Feb 1953, Meadows, IL., m. Magdalena Birky, m. 20 Feb 1896, Pekin, IL.

b. The Christian B. Stalter Family – Ownership of the sampler must have passed from Christian B. to his youngest son Levi (Lee) – in Illinois:
Christian B Stalter; Father: Jacob N. Stalter (1823-1898) Mother: Barbara Birky (1824-1885); Marriage: 20 Feb 1896 Pekin, IL. Magdalena Birky b: 29 Nov 1871; d. 12 Jun 1948, Pontiac, IL.
Children
1 M: Arthur J. Stalter
2 M: Ray Stalter
3 M: Lee Stalter b. 11 Dec 1902, Flanagan, IL; d. 24 Feb 1990 Eureka, IL; m. Ruth Neuhauser

c. The Levi (Lee) Stalter Family- Ownership of the sampler passed from Levi (Lee) to his oldest son Ronald – in Pennsylvania:
Levi Stalter; Father: Christian B. Stalter (1868-1953) Mother: Magdalena Birky (1871-1948) m. 29 Feb 1928, Ruth Neuhauser b. 17 Jan 1907 Eureka, IL. d. 7 May 1996 Eureka, IL.
Children
1 M: Ronald Stalter, b. Illinois; spouse, Martha
2 M: James Stalter; spouse, Alta
3 M: John Stalter, b. 17 January 1943, Eureka, IL, d. 5 September 1987, Eureka, IL; spouse, Francis

The sampler sold at the auction of Ronald’s household effects in Pennsylvania in November 2002.

3. The Alberta, Canada Stalter Connection (Don Kauffman)

The Stalters of Alberta, Canada, descend from John Stalter (1812-1897) and Jacob Stalter (1823-1898). Family tradition said, in the past, that these two family heads were not related. But we now know that both John (1812) and Jacob (1823) were descendants of Johannes Stalter (c.1690) from the Zweibrücken region of western Germany.

a. About John Stalter (1812):
John Stalter immigrated to America in the mid-1850s and settled finally in Livingston Co., IL. He was b. 15 Sep 1812 Bavaria, Germany; d. 18 May 1897 Gridley, IL. m. Elizabeth Reidiger (she probably died before the family immigrated)
Children: (all born in Europe)
1 M: John b.1 Mar 1836
2 M: Jacob b.19 Jan 1838
3 M: Joseph b. 31 Mar 1840, m. Mary Stalter (daughter of Jacob Stalter)
4 F: Elizabeth b.15 Nov 1841
5 M: Daniel b. 14 Jul 1843, m. Kathrine Stalter (daughter of Jacob Stalter)
6 M: Christian
7 M: Jacob
8 F: Magdalena b. 31 Jul 1847
John outlived two other spouses: Jacobina Rediger, then Katherina Scherz.

b. About Daniel and Katie Stalter:
Daniel Stalter, s/o John (1812) Stalter (Don’s paternal Stalter line)
m. Katherine, d/o Jacob and Barbara (Birki) Stalter (Don’s maternal Stalter line). Daniel Stalter was instrumental in the beginning of Meadows Home, which was built on land he owned.
Daniel Stalter, b.14 Jul 1843, d. 2 Apr 1930 Flanagan, IL; m. Kathrine Stalter, b.20 Mar 1855, Tazewell Co., IL, d. 20 Dec 1918, Pontiac, IL.
Children:
1 M: Daniel D. b.17 Apr 1877; d. 12 Jan 1945; m. Lilly Alice Miller
2 M: Fannie (Twin)
3 F: Boy Infant (Twin)
4 M: John D. b. 7 Mar 1882; d. 6 Aug 1917 m. Ida Yoder
5 M: Simon D. b. 23 Apr 1884; d. 22 Nov 1970, Didsbury, Alberta, Canada, m (1) Emma Eda Stauffer, 5 Feb 1907, Milford, Nebraska; m (2) Lillian Hannah Sayer, 1 Nov 1960, Carstairs, Alberta, Canada
6 F: Mary b. 13 Aug 1886 d. 24 Mar 1908
7 F: Lydia b. 19 Jun 1889, d. 3 Nov 1919, IL. m. Debolt Reesor, 7 Dec 1910
8 F: Sarah b Feb 1891, d.5 Aug 1962 Lebanon, Oregon, m. Amos Roth
9 F: Lizzie
10__: infant

c. Daniel’s son Simon, of Chenoa, Illinois, married Emma Stauffer of Milford, Nebraska. They lived three years in Illinois and then moved to Alberta, Canada in November 1910. Simon and Emma returned to Illinois in 1923 and again lived near Chenoa for ten years, moving back to Alberta to stay in 1933.
Simon and Emma had nine children
1 F: Barbara Katie Stalter b. 7 Dec 1907 in Illinois, m. Menno Wideman
2 M: Chester Victor Stalter b. 2 Oct 1909 in Illinois, d. 11 Apr 1921 Tofield, Alberta, Canada, of diabetes (same year as insulin became available, but too late)
3 F: Lily Ellen Stalter b. 24 May 1911 in Alberta, d. 9 Oct 1975 in Alberta, m. Loyal Kauffman
4 M: Daniel Helmer Stalter b. 31 Mar 1913 in Alberta, d. 24 Apr 1994, in Ohio
5 M: Sterling Samuel Stalter b. 25 Feb 1915 in Alberta d. 2 Sep 1936 in Alberta of diphtheria
6 F: Viola Marie Stalter b. 28 Sep 1919 in Alberta, m.Harold Boettger
7 F: Clista Irene Stalter b. 2 May 1921 in Alberta, m. Norman L Weber
8 F: Alma Marcella Stalter b. 11 Feb 1925 in Illinois, m. Willard Burkholder
9 F: Doris Wilma Stalter b. 8 Dec 1926 in Illinois, m. Paul Burkholder
Their daughter Lily (Stalter) Kauffman is the mother of Don Kauffman. The
Stalter name “daughtered out” in Alberta with the death of Simon. (Five of Simon’s six daughters still live in Alberta.) Lily, if living, would also be very interested in the sampler so recently “discovered.”

4. The Illinois Connection (Donna Birkey)

Christian’s (1788) daughter Mary and son Andrew, siblings of Barbara, are both direct line ancestors of Donna Schrock Birkey.

a. About Mary Birky (1816)
Mary, Barbara’s sister, became the wife of Peter Yordy. She is the Maria Birky Yordy, of whom Myrna Slagell Park reports, “During pioneer days in Tazewell County, IL, Maria Birkey Yordy (1816-1903) cooked a mixture she called ‘pap’ given to sickly infants with feeding problems. This remedy supposedly saved some babies not expected to survive. The recipe was handed down within the family.”
Mary had a child, John, (by a first marriage) who came to America with his mother when he was seven years old. Peter Yordy evidently adopted John, as he used the Yordy name.
Children:
1M: John, b. 1838 France, d. 1906 Nebraska; m. Magdalena King
2M: Christian, b. 1848; m. Salome Slagel
3F: Mary, b. 1849, d. 1923; m. Daniel Orendorff
4F: Magdalene, b. 1851, d. 1854
5M: Jacob, b. 1853 Tazewell Co., IL, d. 1930 Flanagan, IL; m. Kathryn King
6F: Elizabeth, b. 1854, m. Christian Bachman
7M: Peter, b. 1856 Tazewell Co., IL, d. 1909 Woodford Co., IL
8F: Barbara, d. after 1930
9M: Joseph, b. 1857 Pekin, IL, d. 1925 Eureka, IL; m. Elizabeth Roeschley. Parents of Josephine Yordy who married Albert Schrock.

b. About Andrew Birkey (1830)
Andrew, Barbara’s brother, married Veronica Sutter, daughter of Johannes Sutter. Andrew and Veronica bought 80 acres of the Sutter land in Tazewell County in 1882 for $50 an acre. In 1891 they sold the land for $95 an acre and moved to Fisher. Andrew bought land in the same section where daughter Mary and her husband had purchased land and built a house. He donated one acre for cemetery purposes (the present East Bend Mennonite Cemetery) and it happened that he was the first to be buried there. Andrew was a devout Christian and a great disciplinarian according to his daughter Mary.
Children:
1F: Mary, b.1862 Morton, IL, d. 1954 Fisher, IL; m. John Schrock
2M: Andrew, b. 1864 IL, d. 1928 IL; m. Elisa Studer
3M: Peter, b. 1867, d. 1946; m. Sopia Knapp
4M: John, b. 1871; m. Stella May Covert
5M: Amos, b. 1880, d. 1914

b. About Mary Birky (1862)
Mary, a high spirited young lady, became the wife of quiet and reserved John Schrock. As an adult she never weighed 100 pounds at any time in her life, but she was a bundle of dynamite in her personality (see photo IMH Vol. XXIX, No. 4, Winter 2002). In many ways Mary was a very artistic and talented person, and had either a potion or a poultice for every ailment her grandchildren had. Mary and John had two children, Albert and Fannie, and were actively involved with the families of both, since Albert died young and Fannie was a busy pastor’s wife and mother of five children.
Children:
1M: Albert, b. 1886 Morton, IL, d. 1917 Fisher, IL; m. Josephine Yordy
2F: Fannie, b. 1889 Morton, IL, d. 1950 Fisher, IL; m. Joseph Heiser

The descending lines of Barbara’s siblings, Andrew and Mary, came together in Albert Schrock and Josephine Yordy, whose son, Orval, is the father of Donna Birkey.

5. Christian Birki’s immediate family

Barbara Birki’s father Christian was one of six children of Christian Birchi (born ca. 1760). (His brothers John and Andrew used the spelling Burkey in America.)
John, (b.1777) who once lived at Buscherhof, near to Lutterbacherhof in Alsace, emigrated in 1835. In America he lived with his wife in Putnam Co., IL, for some period of time with their five children. His wife is unknown, except that her first name was probably Solphonia. John died in Bureau Co., IL.
Children:
1M: Andrew, b. 1802 Wurthemberg, Germany, d. 1886 Milford, NE; m.
Magdalene Albrecht
2M: Christian (Jacob?)
3M: John, Jr., b 1812 Germany, d. 1890 Bureau Co., IL
4M: Joseph, b. 1816 Germany; d. 1887 Flanagan, IL; m. Anna
Ringenberg
5F: Catherine, b. 1819 Germany, d. 1895; m. Peter Albrecht

Andrew, (b.1780) married an Ackerman, lived at one time at Lutterbacherhof, near Oermingen and Saar-Union in Alsace, France. The farm is secluded in the countryside. At many times Mennonite families lived on this farm–sometimes many families at once when persecution was heavy, according to Hermann Guth. Andrew and his family left Strasburg in 1837, boarded a sailing ship, and were on the ocean 51 days. The food and water were nearly exhausted when they finally landed in New York. They went overland to Butler Co., OH, and stayed for a while, then by covered wagon to Germantown, Woodford Co., IL, where they settled.
Children:
1M: John, b. 1804 France, d. 1863 Illinois; m. Magdalena Roggy
2F: Barbara, b. 1805
3F: Catherine, b. 1807 France
4M: Andrew, b. 1809, d. 1881; m. Barbara Oyer
5M: Joseph, b. 1811
6F: Marie b. 1813

Valentine, (b.1794), of the “Little Red” Birkys, married Elizabeth Unzicker. He lived in Gern, near Munich where his thirteen children were born. All of the children eventually immigrated to America. The year after his wife died, Valentine, with some of his family came to America. He died in Tazewell Co., IL, and is buried in Landis Cemetery.
Children:
1M: Jacob, b. 1813, d. 1887 Tazewell Co., IL; m. Veronica Gingerich
2M: Joseph, b. 1816, d. 1902 Milford, NE; m. Barbara Eigsti
3M: Christian, b. 1819, d. 1890 Milford, NE; m. Mary Stalter
4M: Valentine, b. 1821, d. 1901 Tiskilwa, IL; m. Elizabeth Springer
5M: Andrew, b. 1822, d.1892 Tazewell Co., IL; m. Catherine Litwiller
6F: Magdalena, b. 1824, d. 1897; m. Sinemaker
7F: Elisabeth, b. 1826, d. 1866 IL; m. Johannes Birky
8F: Catherine, b. 1829, d. 1870; m. Joseph Ropp
9M: Henry, b. 1831, d. 1918; m. Magdalena Eigsti
10F: Mary, b. 1833, d. 1908 Shickley, NE; m. Joseph Birky
11M: John, b. 1835, d. 1925; m. Jacobina Hochstettler
12F: Jacobene, b. 1838, d. 1914; m. Daniel Unzicker
13F: Barbara, b. 1840, d. 1934 US; m. Peter Hochstettler

Katherine, (b.1805) m. Jacob Roggy.
Mary, (nothing known about her).

Sources

U. S. Census records
Mennobits – http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~mennobit/
Hostetler, Eldon, “A Good Place to be From – the Milford (Nebraska) Mennonite Story” home published, 1997
Guth, Herman, “Amish Mennonites in Germany”, Masthof Press 1995
Guth, Herman, “The Kirschbacherhof Estate and the Stalters”, Mennonite Family History, Vol. 7, No. 3, July, 1988
Simon and Emma Stalter Family Bible, in possession of Doris Burkholder, Bluesky, Alberta
Kauffman, Donald, “Stalter Stories from Z to A (Zwiebrücken to Alberta)”, home published, 2002
“The Tofield Standard”, “The Tofield Mercury” – Tofield, Alberta, weekly newspapers 1907-1930
Taped Interview “Wilbert Stalter” in Meadows Nursing Home, Meadows, IL, 1978
Cemetery Records, Jeff Maurer, Sextant, Waldo Cemetery, IL, 1999
The Berkey Book, Rev. William Albert Berkey/Ruth Berkey Reichley, (Arlington, VA) 1984
Illinois Mennonite Heritage, Vol. XVII, No. 4, December 1990
The Past and Present of Woodford Co., Illinois (Chicago: W. LeBaron) 1878
Jacob Stalter Family Bible, in possession of Frances Stalter, Eureka, IL
Stalter family records kept by Remi Stalter, Germany
Schrock/Birky records in possession of Alta Heiser Detweiler
Schrock/Birky/Birkey/Yordy records in possession of Donna Schrock Birkey
__________________________________________________________

Bio for Don Kauffman

Donald Kauffman, retired public school teacher and micro-computer consultant. Grew up near Tofield, Alberta, Canada; now lives in Edmonton, Alberta. Retirement projects include gardening and computers:
Webmaster and Manager of Mennobits Obituary Project (http://www.goshen.edu/mcarchives/MennObits/),
Webmaster for the Yoder Newsletter Archives Online (http://www.yodernewsletter.org/)
Kauffman family history online (“One Family/ Forefathers” – Kauffman, Yoder, Stalter, Stauffer)
http://homepages.rootsweb.com/~kauffman/ ). Stalter website – www.stalter.org
Family history email welcome – grandpad@telus.net.
___________________________________________________________

Credits

Sampler Photo- Priscilla Stalter Mendes

by Donna Schrock Birkey
Originally published in the Winter 2002 issue (Vol. XXIX, No. 4)
Illinois Mennonite Heritage Quarterly (http://www.imhgs.org)
(Used with permission of original publisher)

(Additional information has been found about the Johannes Schrock family since this 2002 article and that information is reflected in other sections of the website.)

As I became interested in genealogy twenty-some years ago I realized that both of my parents’ histories were waiting to be found. My mother’s Park family came from England. However, the little information I had ended in Missouri and was sketchy at best. My father’s Schrock ancestors were all Swiss German Anabaptists, but I was not aware that my immigrant third great grandfather Johannes had ever been traced beyond his 1801 birth somewhere in France. Now, after some serious searching, help from many “cousins”, the Internet, and LDS films, I ‘ve become acquainted with my Park relatives back to Sir John Park who was married in Frith, England and died in 1606; and the Schrock connections (with a few specific gaps) go back to Nicklaus in Wynigen, Switzerland in the 1600s.¹ How far I have come and how interesting it has been!

My research for Schrock/Schrack/Schrag family members took a great leap forward several years ago after making several contacts that provided new clues. Thus, using all my present (admittedly incomplete) information, this article will focus on Johannes, his immediate birth family, his own children, and my direct line to him. In addition to the genealogical connections I have included stories highlighting the character and lives of my Schrock ancestors as they effected, and were affected by the Mennonite community in Illinois.

French Beginnings

Johannes Schrock (Jean Schrack) grew up during the Napoleonic War and was educated in French.² He was the son of Joseph Schrack,³ a miller by trade. Joseph married Marie Engel 13 August 1798 at Gosselming, France.⁴ Their son Joseph, who had been born 8 June 1799 in Gondrexange, died there at the age of five and one half on 9 Feb 1805.⁵ Before 1801 Marie Engel died (perhaps as a result of child birth) and Joseph had married a second time to Marie’s half sister, Marie Neuhauser.⁶

The first born of Joseph’s second wife was John (Johannes) in 1801. In 1802 Joseph is still living in Gondrexange, reporting the birth of a third son Peter (Pierre) on 15 June.⁷ A fourth son Andrew (André) was born in the same village on 8 Jan 1804.⁸ Later, in a location yet unknown to me, two daughters were born: Magdalena⁹ and Barbara.¹⁰

In Blamont on 4 Aug 1826,¹¹ Johannes married Catherine Elizabeth Salzman, born 28 Oct 1804 in Sarralbe, died March 1858 in Illinois.¹²

1831 Immigration

Shortly after the death of his father Joseph, Johannes and Catherine and their two small children Joseph and Catherine, came to America in 1831. They sailed in the spring from the port of Le Havre, France, and after forty-four days disembarked in Baltimore, Maryland.¹³ One account passed down from generation to generation reports that as they neared the end of their boisterous trip across the Atlantic Ocean their food supply was completely exhausted. In order to keep up their strength to complete the voyage they boiled leather straps from the rigging of the ship to make broth.

Along with the unsettling and sometimes unwelcome cultural changes the families experienced while moving from one country to another, there was a number of resulting name revisions. The Schrags of Switzerland and Germany became the Schracks/Gerarrds¹⁴ of France, and eventually the Schrocks of America.

Butler County, Ohio (1832-1850)

From Baltimore Johannes took his family to Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Later, in 1832 they joined Johannes’ brother Peter in Butler County, Ohio,¹⁵ and lived among the settlement of Amish Mennonite immigrants. After settling on land in Section 29 of Lemon Township,¹⁶ the same section in which his father-in-law Michael Salzman and his brother Peter lived, Johannes rented a mill and managed it successfully. Milling was his profession in Lorraine, following in his father Joseph’s occupation. While in Butler County Johannes applied for and received citizenship.¹⁷

Brother Peter, fully settled on his Fairview Farm, was satisfied to stay in Ohio where he married and raised seven children, served as minister in the Augspurger congregation and died in 1887. But the Amish Mennonites in mid-Illinois sent back to Butler County stories of a growing new West where acres were cheap and crops abundant. Curious, Johannes took three horses and traveled from Trenton, Ohio, to Pekin, Illinois, to have a look. He liked what he saw. Leaving one horse there, Johannes drove the other two back to the Buckeye State and told his anxious wife Catherine that they were going to Illinois. So, late in 1850 he prepared to move his wife and five children to a farm in Tazewell County near Pekin. They left behind two small graves.¹⁸

Putting Down Roots in Illinois

In the fall of 1850 Johannes and Catherine took the family, except for Joseph, to Cincinnati. From there they traveled by boat down the Ohio River to Cairo, Illinois, and then up the Mississippi and Illinois Rivers to Pekin.¹⁹ This was the same route taken in 1831 by a group of Amish from Alsace Lorraine when they settled in Wesley City just a few miles south of the present East Peoria–the first Amish community west of Ohio. Joseph, the oldest child at age 22, drove through with the horses, cattle and what goods they had. Perhaps Johannes had worked out a land deal with Benjamin Newkirk on his exploratory journey, for on December 26, 1850 a deed was recorded for the purchase of three tracts totaling 161 acres in Sections 9, 16, and 20 of Elm Grove Township. For these acres Johannes paid $2000.

Comments about Johannes, his wife Catherine and family appeared in a Pekin-area newspaper at the time of their son John’s death in 1935, describing how they “…farmed, subduing wild land with patent industry until at his decease they were surrounded by numbers of broad acres well cultivated and supporting numerous fine domestic animals. During life they were members of the old Amish Church, and died in that communion. The father entered into his rest in his seventy-fourth year and the mother in her fifty-seventh. The family located in a log house on what is now the Allen Miller farm five miles east of Pekin. They were made at home by the Mennonites here and kindly neighbors; and because they were honorable and thrifty, they prospered.” Johannes died near Pekin, Illinois, 21 Jan 1875, at the age of 74 and is no doubt buried in Railroad Cemetery near Pekin, although no stone is visible. One would assume that Catherine is buried there as well. In 1876 the heirs of Johannes sold two parcels of land, and included as an heir was widow Jacobina Schrock.²⁰

At least three of his siblings also migrated to Tazewell County: Johannes’ sister Magdalena and her husband Christian Smith, his brother Andrew who married Anna Oyer, and sister Barbara who married Joseph “Red Joe” Belsley.

Each of Johannes’ and Catherine’s living children found their unique place in the New World: Joseph, b. 1828; ²¹ Catherine, b. 1829; ²² Johannes, b. 1834, died in infancy; Jacobina, b.1836, died in infancy; Peter, b.1839; John, b.1843; ²³ and Magdalena, b.1845. ²⁴

Peter Schrock (1839-1922) A Kind and Compassionate Man

Johannes’ son Peter was my great great grandfather. Pete and Jennie Schrock write in their book, Just Pete: “The fifth child, Peter, was a very kind, compassionate man. Peter seemingly wasn’t able to establish himself as a prosperous farmer like his brother Joseph, or a successful business man like his brother John, but Peter left a legacy of compassion and kindness to his descendants.

“Peter had long, white whiskers and told one of his grandsons, ‘You’d be a fine feller if you’d let your whiskers grow.’ Of course Pete (the grandson) decided as a little boy that he didn’t like whiskers, and especially if the one who wore whiskers chewed tobacco. Little Pete remembers his grandpa, after he got older, sitting in his big chair in the sitting room with his spittoon by his chair. Peter had a jack knife with the words: ‘Peter Schrock, Fisher, Illinois,’ made in the handle. He used this to cut his chewing tobacco. He also whittled a great deal. Peter raised pigs and kept bees–from 10 to 15 hives.”

Peter was vaguely remembered by his then five-year-old great granddaughter, Eunice Schrock Kandel, “There he sat in his beautiful big leather chair, spitting tobacco juice into an ornate spittoon nearby. And I remember being in the room as he breathed his last breath.”²⁵

Peter’s wife was Anna (Nancy) Garber, youngest of eleven children of John Garber and Eva Caroline Paithe. Nancy died 20 years before her husband and after her death Peter made his home with his daughters in Fisher. The family was part of the East Bend Mennonite Church and Peter’s daughter Ella was baptized there in 1895 and Lena in 1903, both by Peter Zehr.

At the time of Peter’s death from chronic interstitial nephritis in 1922 he was nearly penniless. There was no distribution of funds to his heirs, as it took all the assets to pay remaining debts.²⁶ But he did leave his Bible with records of his family written in German script (see inset).²⁷

Children of Peter and Anna were: Catharina, b. 30 Sep 1860, d. 2 Aug 1861; John, b. 28 May 1862,²⁸ Samuel, b. 16 Jul 1864,²⁹ Joseph, b. 18 Aug 1866,³⁰ Lydia Anna, b. 26 Apr 1868,³¹ Moses, b. 16 Apr 1870, d. Dec 1879, a child nine years of age; Ella, b.17 Nov 1876,32 Lena, b. 20 Aug 1885.³³

John Schrock (1862-1951) Continuing the Legacy–Helping Those in Need

My great grandfather John was the oldest son of Peter and Anna Schrock. He married Mary Birky³⁴ and they had two children, Albert and Fannie.³⁵ John continued the kind, compassionate legacy of his father Peter. He was gentle and soft-spoken, and was a skilled painter of farm buildings in addition to farming. One of John’s granddaughters writes of him:

“John Schrock, my grandfather, was one of the dearest men I ever knew. He was the oldest living child in his family. He had two brothers and three sisters. He had a little brother Moses, who died at about age nine, when Grandpa was about 19. When Grandpa was an old man in his eighties, he still talked about the family’s sadness at giving up little “Mosey.” He had a deep love and concern for his three sisters, one who was separated from her husband, and the other two who had never married. He was so helpful to my mother who had five children and a pastor husband who wasn’t able to help very much with home duties. He was also very much concerned about the wife and children of his only son Albert, who died a premature death. In his quiet way he was an inspiration to his family, and when he died at age 87, it was hard for me to give up this kind man with the smiling face and honest blue eyes.”

Another example of John’s caring spirit was his appointment as conservator of his wife’s brother Amos Birky, who had been judged insane by a Champaign County court. John was appointed in 1898 when Amos was eighteen and served until his death in 1914. Although Amos’ mother cared for him, John was legally responsible for his well being for sixteen years. Later in his life Great Grandpa John Schrock regularly came to our home to prune the grapevines in the garden–just another way of helping his family. And his helpfulness extended to granddaughter Eunice, when he would hoe her large farm garden near Fisher.

Albert Schrock (1886-1917) An Untimely Death

My grandfather Albert Elmer Schrock, was the only son of John and Mary Schrock. In 1907 he married Josephine Yordy.³⁶ The couple moved that year to a farm near Fisher, Illinois, and lived there until Albert became too ill to carry on with farming. There was a sale of farm goods in about 1911, after which the family moved to Colorado with the hope that the climate there would give better health. But after returning to Illinois and spending time at a sanitarium in Ottawa, Albert succumbed to pulmonary tuberculosis, or consumption as it was often called.

His son Orval, seven years old at the time, remembers “on Christmas morning 1916, there on the dining room table were a lot of presents, including some toys. There was no Christmas tree. I think my parents had a feeling that it would be our last Christmas together as a family and, sure enough, fifteen days later on January 9, my father died of tuberculosis. The day of the funeral was very cold and snowy and I remember the horse-drawn hearse with the driver sitting out in the open.”

A newspaper account of Albert’s death reads as follows:
Fisher, Jan. 9–(Special.)–Albert Schrock, well known resident of this community, died this morning at his home, two miles north of the village, after an illness of four years, due to tuberculosis. He had been unusually well of late and arose this morning and kindled a fire and shortly afterward was seized with a hemorrhage and died a short time afterwards. The deceased was a son of John and Mary Schrock and was born on January 13, 1886. He was married about eight years ago to Miss Josephine Yordy, who, with two sons, Elmer and Oliver (sic, Orval), survive, as do also his parents. A sister also survives. He was a prominent member of the Amish church. The funeral will be held on Thursday from the Amish church, Rev. Samuel Gerber, of Morton, conducting the services. Burial will be made in the family lot in the Amish cemetery.

Albert was baptized by Peter Zehr in 1903 and became part of the East Bend Mennonite Church. He had been a good student of the Bible, served as superintendent of the Sunday school, and before his death was considered a candidate for minister, along with Levi Birky and Joseph A. Heiser. In the early Amish Mennonite tradition the pastors of churches were chosen through “the lot,” and that is how Joseph Heiser became minister. Albert’s only sibling was a sister Fannie who had married Joseph and was to become a minister’s wife whether she liked it or not.

Wife Josephine prepared food baskets for the needy. She was instrumental in beginning a women’s “sewing circle” and managed food service when East Bend hosted Illinois Mennonite conferences. Albert and Josephine had three children: Elmer Raymond,³⁷ Orval Leo, and Eunice Lois.³⁸ After her husband’s death Josephine raised the three children with the help of her husband’s family. Later, after the boys were married she worked as housemother at Goshen College and as a practical nurse at Maple Lawn Home in Eureka where she lived her last years.

Orval Leo Schrock (1910-2002) A Long, Honorable Life

My father, born 9 Sep 1910, is the middle child of Albert and Josephine. After his father’s death the family was kept together and financed by the proceeds of a forty-acre farm and the help of neighbors and friends. When sister Eunice was still very young, probably one and one half years old, the family harvested the twenty-acre corn crop by using a large baby buggy equipped to be pulled behind the wagon. Eunice was dressed warmly and put into the buggy. Josephine, Elmer and Orval would husk three rows up and back. Then the boys left for school and Josephine would husk two rows up and back, take the wagon to the crib and put the horses in the barn. In the evening after school the boys finished by scooping the corn into the crib. After completing eight grades in a country school Orval helped his Uncle Joseph Heiser farm his land, and in return his uncle provided the equipment and helped Albert’s family farm their forty acres.

On Dec. 24, 1931, Orval was married to Mae Park³⁹ at the home of her parents. The couple’s first home was on the farm where he had grown up. Those first years were very lean economically; one of Orval’s first jobs paid one dollar a day. In September 1935, Orval and Mae moved to a home that was purchased for $1,100, the home in which they lived 66 years and in which Orval died. He owned and operated Schrock Soil Service for many years.

Rev. C. F. Derstine’s evangelistic meetings held at the East Bend Mennonite Church were influential in Orval’s early spiritual life. Later, in the early 1940’s, evangelist John Kasteline ministered in the community, and the effect was that Orval and his family became more active in Christian service. An organization of laymen that conducted evangelistic tent meetings resulted in the formation of what is now the Gibson City Bible Church. Orval contributed many hours and took a very active part in the leadership of the church. He also developed a keen interest in foreign evangelism and gave liberally to mission work over the years.

In his 91st year and just nine months before his death, Orval and his wife Mae celebrated their 70th wedding anniversary in December of 2001. At his funeral the following August, his wisdom, honesty, unique humor, and most importantly his faithfulness to the Lord were celebrated by relatives and friends who honored his long life.

In Retrospect

At various points along the way during the past 150 years, the family of immigrant Johannes and Catherine Saltzman Schrock directly influenced the forming of the Illinois Mennonite community. Quite a number of descendants of John and Mary Birky Schrock have been and still are involved in Christian ministry of one kind or another within Illinois and far beyond. With my children and grandchildren, I have a heritage to appreciate and a responsibility to continue, both of which have been so well exampled by our ancestors before us. That heritage and responsibility is a commitment to Christ and his church, the building of character in our families, and the use of resources for others and God’s kingdom. Our ancestors were not perfect, but priorities and goals were kept in line with what they believed God’s Word taught. They understood and practiced the Sermon on the Mount, and because of them our lives have been enriched and blessed.
“…I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, punishing children for the iniquity of parents, to the third and the fourth generation of those who reject me. But I lavish my love on those who love me and obey my commands, even for a thousand generations.” (Exodus 20:5,6)

ENDNOTES

¹ Schrag families were identified as “Anabaptists” in several villages of the Emmental as early as 1700. Their civil records go back to the tumultuous 1600s. Near the village of Wynigen, the family nicknamed Schrag probably worked as carpenters or cabinetmakers in addition to being farmers. Two hofs have been identified as Schrag homes: Loumberg and Mistelhof. The Schrags were one of only three prominent Amish names that originate in the Emmental area of Switzerland (along with Troyer and Schwarzentruber). The surname appears in the 1798 listing of “Men of Bern.”

A number of Schrag families moved from their homeland of Switzerland into the Palatine area around Zweibrucken, Germany, where there were relative peace and opportunities for work, perhaps going there by way of the Jura region. They lived on various hofs in the Palatinate, including Heckenaschbacherhof and Kaplaneyhof. The royal family of Zweibrucken owned several estates surrounding the city, and this is where the Mennonites and Amish are known to have lived. The Zweibrucken Schrag families emigrated to America at various times and by a number of routes: before 1840, via the Palatinate, northern Alsace and Lorraine, and after 1870, via Volhynia, Russia.

Caspar Schrag, son of Niklaus, was born in Wynigen, Switzerland, in 1685. He must have left for Germany early 1700s, for he lived on Ingweilerhof near Zweibrucken in 1761. He had two brothers, Ulrich and Hans. The second Caspar was born after the Anabaptist Schrag families left Switzerland and while they lived in Zweibrucken, Germany, on the Ingweilerhof. He married Elisabeth Weiss, and had at least two brothers, Ulrich and Johannes. In his book, Amish Mennonites in Germany, Hermann Guth writes, “In a list of Anabaptists in the Staatsarchiv in Bern, Switzerland, two brothers, Christian (b.1729) and Bendicht Schrag (b.1731), sons of Ulrich Schrag (b. 1687), are named in 1765. They move from Wynigen-Leumberg in Switzerland to the Munstertal. About this time Schrags of Zweibrucken were already living here. Ulrich Schrag (b. 1710), who is leaseholder (Bestander) on the Ernstweilerhof in 1735, was a son of Caspar Schrag (b. 1685). A Caspar Schrag is on the Ingeweilerhof in 1761. It is not clear whether these two individuals were father and son or brothers; the author assumes the latter. In that case, they would both be sons of Caspar Schrag (b.1685), the father of Ulrich Schrag (b.1710), who does not otherwise appear in the Palatinate. The…arrangement of descendants of the two brothers has not been proven and is based in part on assumptions.”

The third Caspar is found at Ernstweilerhof near Zweibrucken, with a sister, Elizabeth. Not much is known about his family. The fourth Casper married Barbe Ruvennach (secondly Marie Blaiser) and was the father of Joseph Schrag, grandfather of Johannes the immigrant.

² Johannes (Jean) Schrack was born in Gondrexange according to his marriage document. However, LDS Film #01896605 does not contain his birth record. Even though his father Joseph and Marie Engel’s son Joseph was born and died in Gondrexange, and his brothers Peter and Andrew were born there (all these records are on the film), the death of Marie Engel, the marriage of Joseph to Marie Neuhauser (Nayhauser), and the birth document of Johannes I have not found. The birth date used by other Schrock family researchers heretofore has been 17 Aug 1801, but the marriage document states otherwise.

³ Joseph was born in about 1772/4 at Bellegrade, and died in Rhodes, France, in 1830. The farm “la Bellegrade” is near Bistroff and the lake Bischwald. The “moulin (mill) de Bischwald” existed from 1682 to 1857 and was situated between the lake and the farm. His family spent at least several years there, since we know Joseph’s brother Jean was living at the mill in 1798. At the time of Jean’s marriage Joseph was a miller at the “moulin” de Bachats near Rhodes. At the time of his son Jean’s marriage Joseph was a miller at the “moulin de Bachats” near Rhodes.

⁴ According to her marriage record Marie was born at Alking, a farm near Gosselming, the daughter of Christian Engel and Catherine Rothzeeker. Marie was 26 years of age when she married 25-year-old Joseph. Witnesses to the marriage were Jean Schrag (brother of Joseph), Jean Kamp, Jean Neuhauser (stepbrother of Marie), and Sebastian Ohmer. After the death of her husband Christian Engel, Catheirne Rothzeeker married Nicolas Neuhauser. Their daughter Marie became Joseph’s second wife.

⁵ LDS Film 01896605, Civil Records of Gondrexange, Moselle, France. Birth was recorded 20 prairial an 7.

⁶ After the death of her husband Christian Engel, Catherine Rothzeeker married Nicolas Neuhauser. It seems likely that it was their daughter Marie who became Joseph’s second wife. This relationship between Marie Engel and Marie Neuhauser has not been proven, but is very likely.

⁷ Pierre Schrack birth record (16 floreal an 10) LDS Film 01896605, Civil records of Gondrexange, Moselle, France. Peter settled and remained in Butler Co., Ohio. He married first Magdalena Zimmerman, and second Magdalena Rediger. His son Peter married Elizabeth Augspurger,
granddaughter of well-known Butler Co., Ohio pioneer, Christian Augspurger. The Augspurger family opened their home to many migrating Amish who used Butler County as a stopping place before moving further west. They were known for their hospitality.

⁸ Andre Schrack birth record (14 nivose an 12) LDS film 01896605, civil records of Gondrexange, Moselle, France. Andrew married Anna Oyer and lived in Tazewell Co., Illinois. One night during 3857 Andrew stayed wtih a neighbor who had cholera. The same night he became sick with the disease and died before morning, leaving a family of small children, the oldest sixteen and the youngest born after his death. In August of 1857 Johannes and son Joseph, along with Peter Guth, signed a $10,000 bond at the appointment of Anna Schrock as guardian of the minor children.

⁹ Magdalena Schrack, and Christian Schmidt her husband, moved to Illinois from Butler Co., Ohio. In 1848 they sold their five acres in Lemon Township (situated within an 80-acre plot Peter had purchased in 1845) to Magdalena’s brother Peter. In Illinois they lived near Congerville with seven children. During the cholera epidemic of 1855, Christian died in his log cabin home. Three days later Magdalena died, followed by the death of her nineteen-year-old daughter Barbara and a few hours later by her six-year-old son John, leaving four orphaned children.

¹⁰ Barbara Schrack married Joseph Belsley, and although I have not yet documented the marriage, the most likely husband is “Red Joe” born 28 Mar 1802 in Rhodes, France. It is not known whether Barbara and Joseph married in France or in America. They had one child, Christian, and Barbara died while he was very young. Red Joe later married Barbara Engel, daughter of Bishop Christian Engel.

¹¹ 6 brumaire an 13, LDS Film #1981660. Daughter of Michael Saltzmann and Catherine Hirgi, granddaughter of Michael Saltzman and Catherine Weiss.

¹² At the time of their marriage Jean was living in Blamont and Catherine in Bistroff. Andre Chertz, age 33, uncle of the bride by marriage, was a witness.

¹³ To my knowledge, the record of the ship passage to Baltimore has not been found. I have searched several films of Baltimore arrivals to no avail. However, there is a ship that arrived in Baltimore on June 30, 1831, carrying Johannes’ father-in-law and his family. It would seem that Johannes and Catherine might have come on the same ship, but I have not found their names. There is oral tradition in the family about a brother Joseph who immigrated to America with family members in 1831, but during the confusion in the days after arrival in port became separated from them and was not heard from again. We will probably never know whether this was a deliberate act of someone who desired to be independent and self-sufficient, or, more likely, became prey to the many unscrupulous predators of unsuspecting immigrants. Either way, it must have been a devastating blow to the family, and imagine their pain in having to leave Baltimore without Joseph. (More research is needed to document this brother Joseph. Joseph, son of his father’s first marriage, died at age five, so he cannot be the one who disappeared. But there is the possibility that another son, named Joseph, was born in the second marriage to Marie Neuhauser. However, that has not been determined at this date. )

¹⁴ At least one line of the Schrag family in France became known as Gerard. Andreas (1777/80-1848), son of Andreas Schrag, took the surname Gerard, kept by his descendants in France. His son, Andreas, who came to America was known here as Andrew Schrock.

¹⁵ Butler Co., Ohio, 1840 census record.
¹⁶ A Butler Co., Ohio, land deed shows Johannes’ 81 acres in Section 29 was sold to John Shirtz (Shertz) in 1855 for $569.24.

¹⁷ In 1842 Johannes recorded his (and one son 15 years of age) intention to become an American citizen. On this document his name was given as John Schrock. Then, in September 1844, he renounced his allegiance to the King of France at Hamilton, Ohio, with Michael Salzmann, his father-in-law, and Jacob Taylor acting as character witnesses.

¹⁸ Johannes (b. 11 Jul 1834 – d. 12 Oct 1835); Jacobina (b.23 Aug 1836 – d. 12 Sep 1837) Are these the two infants buried in the Butler Co., Ohio, Mennonite Cemetery, Lot 48, listed as “Two unknown children died migrating West?” Or, do they rest in the earlier Mennonite burial ground established on Jacob Augspurger’s farm near Trenton in 1817?

¹⁹ The family was still in Butler Co., Ohio, at the end of October 1850, as they were listed as family number 1316, dwelling 1175 on the census schedule. Catherine’s father, stepmother and siblings were family number 1317, dwelling 1176.

²⁰ I had never seen mention of a second marriage by Johannes, so the fact that he had a widow listed as an heir was a complete surprise when I found the record last October at the Tazewell County Recorder’s office. How long would it take to find out who this Jacobina was? After a day in the Pekin area I kept an appointment with Steve Estes the next morning in Metamora. I told Steve about my discovery and with a bit of collaboration it turned out that my Johannes was the answer to one of Steve’s mysteries—the “who-is-this-John Schrock” husband of Jacobina “Phebe” King! They were married in 1861 in McLean County.

²¹ “Joseph Schrock, a well-to-do and successful farmer and stock-raiser of Montgomery Township…village of Congerville, which was begun in the spring of 1888, is situated on a portion of his farm…when a child in Ohio in the summer assisted on the farm and in the mill, thus acquiring a practical knowledge of agricultural matters, and getting a good insight into business transactions while an employee in his father’s mill. He was of legal age, but unmarried, when he came to this state. While a resident of Tazewell County, he was united in marriage with the lady of his choice, Miss Magdalena Guingrich…Mr. and Mrs. Schrock are good, intelligent German people, industrious, thrifty, and provident, and although not mingling in political matters, yet make excellent citizens, and are worthy members of the New Amish Church.” Joseph’s land first became a small village named Schrock, but later it was changed to Congerville, according to the booklet “Along the Line.” For information on Joseph’s family see Joseph Gingerich (1804-1875) of Woodford County, by Ardys Serpette, Illinois Mennonite Heritage,Winter 2001, page 62.

²² Catherine married Joseph Oyer.
²³ John married Barbara Rediger. At his death a Pekin, IL newspaper wrote of him: “As John grew older he worked out in saw mills, gristmills, and brickyards. He could do a tremendous day’s work, even in the days when a big day’s work was expected of all men. He himself carried from the sawmill every tie and plank for the first bridge over the river here–the Peoria, Pekin & Jacksonville R.R. bridge. Three men would be assigned to such a job nowadays and work only half as many hours. They told of him that he could cut with an axe and rack five cords of wood in a day. Four men wouldn’t want to do that today.
“In 1876, Mr. Schrock bought the home east of Pekin in which the first child born in that home still lives. He is Edward Schrock, president of the Farm Bureau. The family looks to it as the old family home.

“In 1903, the sons built a nice home at 714 South Ninth Street for the parents and they moved to town. There they lived in comfort. Mrs. Schrock died on Aug. 3, 1911. Although Mr. Schrock was near 70 then, he has clung to life for 24 years more. He was a man of excellent character, good habits, and moral strength, and to this is attributed his long years. Three years ago on his 89th birthday, he spaded in his garden. On his 90th birthday the family gathered for a great reunion and celebration, but he took pneumonia that day. None expected him to survive; but he lived; and he even weathered another attack of pneumonia this winter. Even till yesterday he was up; but two strokes had weakened him and death came to him quietly at 7:15 this morning in his 93rd year.
“Death of Mr. Schrock removes one of the links with Pekin’s pioneer past. He lived in the day when pigeons came in flocks that shut out the sun; when wild turkey were in abundance; and deer were to be shot in the woods. The turn of his life has seen the coming of the modern age; but thru it all there has been no change in the fact that a man of honor and honest and clean living thrives best. His children today rise up to bless his memory.

²⁴ Magdalena married Joseph Yoder.
²⁵ Early Memories. Unpublished manuscript by Eunice Schrock Kandel.
²⁶ Probate records, Champaign Co., Illinois.
²⁷ The Bible is presently in the possession of great great grandchild, Al Schrock.
²⁸ Died 28 July 1951.

²⁹ Samuel married Ellen Zendner and his story can be found the the book, “Just Pete.” Samuel lived in Fisher until 1907 when his family moved to Colorado. He died in 1943 in Thurman.

³⁰ Joseph married Anna Salomi King. He died in 1947 in Bryan, Ohio.
³¹ Lydia Anna married Christian Eicher. Chris developed a drinking problem and after the birth of two girls he disappeared and was never heard from again. Lydia then lived with her sisters in Fisher and was cared for by her family. At her death on 6 Feb 1938 she had been an invalid for nearly seven years, following a stroke of paralysis.

³² Ella never married. She died in 1951 in Gibson City, IL.
³³ Lena never married. She died in 1950 in Fisher, IL. She and Ella owned and operated a boarding house in Fisher and worked as the village telephone operators.

³⁴ Daughter of Andrew and Veronica Sutter Birky, who were among the first families to move from Tazewell County to Champaign County. Andrew purchased land and donated a small tract to be used as a cemetery, which became the present East Bend Mennonite Cemetery. It happened that Andrew was the first to be buried there and all following descendents mentioned in this article are buried in that same cemetery.

³⁵ Fannie was born 18 Jul 1889, died 17 Dec 1950.
³⁶ Daughter of Joseph and Elizabeth Roeschley Yordy, born 14 Aug 1886, died 3 Jan 1977.

³⁷ Elmer taught school for some time, then owned and operated a feed mill business in Fisher. He married Mabel Zehr. In 1936, Elmer and Samuel M. Zehr started the annual Bible School at East Bend Mennonite Church. Elmer was also on the first publication committee for the East Bend Trumpet in 1945. After the death of Mabel he married Eileen Bruehl Heiser. He died 11 Dec 1989 in Montgomery, AL.

³⁸ Born five months after the death of her father, on 25 June 1917. As a young girl Eunice lived at the “old people’s home” in Eureka where her mother worked. Since she really never had a “home” she always took along a plaque that Grandmother Mary Schrock had given her: “Home is Where the Heart is.” After graduating from Goshen College and while teaching in Ohio, Eunice met and married Olen Kandel. She taught school in Fisher for many years. On March 15 of this year Eunice died following an accident on the way to Illinois from Florida.

³⁹ Daughter of Grover and Effie Park. The Park family from Missouri was integrated into the Mennonite community as a direct result of kindly neighbors, including the Schrock family, and the wonderful singing they heard on Sunday mornings as they fished from the Sangamon River bridge near the church. Another daughter, Mamie, married Roy Cender.

Sources

Johannes Schrock, his Children and Grandchildren. Unpublished manuscript received from Willard Smith
The Schrag-Schrock Family. Unpublished manuscript edited by Eugene C. Schrock, 1996
Early Memories. Unpublished manuscript by Eunice Schrock Kandel
Just Pete, c.1980 by Pete and Jennie Schrock
Amish Mennonites in Germany, by Hermann Guth, c.1995 Masthof Press
Both Sides of the Ocean, by Virgil Miller, c.2002 Masthof Press
Correspondence with and articles by Virgil Miller
Mennonite Family History
Illinois Mennonite Heritage