Milton Lee Smith

Other Events and Attributes:

• Occupation: Farmer

Notes:

Obit:
Smith. - John J. Smith was born near Gridley, Ill., April 5, 1874, died at his home near Ashley, Mich., May 16, 1924; aged 50 y. 1 m. 11 d. On Dec. 28, 1899, he was married to Catherine E. Smith of Metamora, Ill., to which union were born three sons (Willard, Tilman, and Milton), and one daughter (Dorothy). His wife's health failing, he with the family, moved to La Junta, Colo., in the winter of 1914, where Sister Smith died March 19 of the same year. During the following two years he was manager of the Sanitarium Farm at La Junta. On Dec. 23, 1915, he was married to Elizabeth H. Bergey of Souderton, Pa. To this union was born one son, George. In the winter of 1916 the family again moved to their farm near Eureka, Ill., where they remained until moving to Ashley, Mich., four years ago. Converted when a young man, Bro. Smith was always faithful worker in the Mennonite Church. For nearly twenty years be served as superintendent of the different Sunday schools with which he worshipped. A devoted husband and loving father, he was known for his upright Christian character wherever he went. During his last illness from tuberculosis he bore his suffering patiently, talking frequently of that Home over yonder where sickness, pain, and partings, are unknown. Besides the companion and children he leaves three sisters (Mrs. J. P. 0yer, Mrs. S. B. King, Mrs. E. J. King), and two brothers (Chris H. and Peter J.). Funeral services were held at the home church near Ashley, May 18, in charge of the home minister, Bro. George Sommer, and Bro. Peter Ropp of Imlay City; and at the Mennonite Church near Roanoke, Ill., May 20, in charge of Bros. H. R. Schertz and Ezra Yordy. Interment in cemetery nearby.

Buried:
Roanoke Mennonite Cemetery

John married Catherine Ethel (Katie) Smith on 28 Dec 1899 in Metamora Twp., Woodford Co., IL. Catherine (daughter of Bishop John Smith and Magdalena Schertz) was born on 19 Jun 1879 in Metamora Twp., Woodford Co., IL; died on 19 Mar 1914 in La Junta, CO. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Religion: Joined Metamora AM Church In 1895
• USR1: Tuberculosis

Notes:

Died:
Mennonite Sanitarium

Other Events and Attributes:

• MILF: Y
• Religion: Amish Mennonite
• USR1: Complications Of Typhoid Fever
• Residence: Abt 1863, Waldo, Livingston Co., IL

Notes:

Peter was 6 weeks old when the family moved to Illinois from Butler Co., OH (this doesn’t match Woodford Co. History information) in a two-story house on 80 acres of land (the house was still standing in 1968 owned by the Schrock families who ran Schrock Apple Orchards).

The family settled near Congerville, IL. After his parents and several siblings died of cholera, Peter was left with one older sister, Mary, and four younger siblings. They were all put out to live with other people. Peter lived with a Garber family (probably his father’s sister). Mary, his daughter later told of her father, age 17 at time of the epidemic, working the field and wanting desperately to have companionship, but being rejected because of others fearing cholera. He went to a house and asked for a drink of water. The woman opened the door a crack in order to hand out a cup of water and then closed the door. It was very hard on him, with no conversation or sympathy.

“A few years after their marriage, Peter Smith purchased and moved to an 80 acre farm in Waldo Township, near Meadows. The land which was level had to be tiled as fast as possible, because after the corn crop would be destroyed by standing water. This they did as rapidly as they could finance it. A small apple orchard was planted, with Winesap, Sheepnose and other varieties.”

In later years, Peter lived in Roanoke, IL.

“The closing days of Grandfather’s life were memorable. His mind was remarkable clear, especially his last day on earth. He seemed to realize or expect that today he was going to leave them. He thanked Dr. Monroe saying, ‘I know you’ve done everything you could to restore me to health, but my time has come to go.’ (The doctor went to a window, to hide his tears.) during that day he admonished the family to shun evil and follow godly convictions. (He spoke to them in German.) He would often fall asleep perhaps in a semi-conscious state. Each time upon awakening, he would have further words of advice or instruction, and often asked, ‘Is it not yet five o’clock?’ The last time he awoke he was in a gloriously triumphant state. ‘I see into Heaven! Oh, what a glorious sight! If only I could show it to you! I wish I could take all of you with me.’ Then followed more admonitions especially to his three little boys. He placed his hand on ‘Johnnie’s’ head and said, ‘If only I could take you along, before you grow up to cope with the evil and the temptations you have to meet.’ At 5:00 p.m. he drew his last breath.” ,

Peter was a friend of Valentine Maninger and they joined the Union Army together in 1861.

Peter’s brother, Joseph, was named administrator of Peter and Barbara’s children after they died at a fairly early age.

Birth:
Some sources give 20 June 1837

Residence:
80 acre farm near Meadows

Buried:
Waldo Cemetery

Peter married Barbara Neuhauser on 3 Feb 1861 in Tazewell Co., IL. Barbara (daughter of Peter Neuhauser and Anna Maria (Mary P.) Schmidt (Peterschmidt)) was born on 21 Feb 1840 in Butler Co., OH; died on 24 Mar 1881 in Livingston Co., IL; was buried in Flanagan, Livingston Co., IL. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Birth:
24 Feb according to grvestone

Buried:
Waldo Cemetery

Notes:

Married:
by Michael Mosiman

Other Events and Attributes:

• CLER: Y
• Religion: Amish Mennonite

Notes:

Obit:
John Smith of Metamora, Ill., was born Nov. 27, 1843; died July 6, 1906, aged 62 Y., 7 M., 9 D. In the spring of 1865 he was married to Sister Magdalena Schertz. To this union were born ten children, of whom three, with their mother, preceded Bro. Smith into eternity. Nov. 16, 1899, he was married to Sister Lydia Albrecht, who, with her daughter, Agnes Albrecht, and seven of his children remain to mourn the loss of an affectionate husband and father. Bro. Smith was ordained to the ministry in the year 1887, and a few years later was called as bishop, which office he faithfully filled to the time of his death. He was also appointed by the Western District A. M. Conference to care for the A. M. congregations in his State who were without a bishop. Funeral services were conducted at the house by Bro. A. H. Leaman, of the Chicago Mission, from James 4:14, and at the M. H. by Bro. S. Gerig of Wayland, Iowa, in German, and Bro. Samuel Garber of Groveland, Ill., in English, both taking for their text, 2 Tim. 4:7, 8. Bro. Smith was in as good health as ever, apparently. On Friday, July 6, he drove to Roanoke, and while there was taken with a severe pain in his chest. When he came home he made mention of it to his family and seemed to pay no more attention to it. He ate his supper as usual and during the evening he made several appointments with different brethren, to be filled on the following day, and was in the best of spirits during the evening. At about 9 o'clock he retired for the night and at 9:40 that grim reaper, Death, called and took him, and we have the assurance that he has entered a nobler work than he could ever have attained to in this life. Just a moment before he passed away he told his wife that he believed that pain was coming back again, and then he passed away. The family, the church and the community at large have suffered a great loss, but we have the promise of One who will never die, that he will be our comforter and that he will never forsake nor leave us, and with such a promise it is possible for us to bear up under so heavy a burden. Many times in his sermons did he refer to Matt. 24:44, "Therefore be ye also ready; for in such an hour as ye think not, the Son of man cometh." Also 1 John 3:1, "Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God." It gives us much comfort to look back at the many good examples he has set for us and the good advice he has given us. Those who knew him best knew one whose desire it was to exemplify the teachings of our Lord and Savior. We leave it all with the Lord and give him the praise for all that he has done, trusting that some time we shall understand why it was to be so. We ask that all who know the power of prayer will not cease praying for us, that God may comfort the sorrowing ones and give his people here grace and strength to be steadfast unto the end.

Ordained minister of Roanoke Mennonite church in 1887 by Christian Ropp and a few years later was ordained to Bishop--until his death. At the time he was the leading Amish Mennonite bishop in Illinois.

Bishop Smith became an advocate of Prohibition and this stance led his son C. Henry to be attracted to progressive reform and to borrow ideas from American progressivism, according to Perry Bush, Bluffton University historian, and author of a biography of C. Henry. (http://www.mennoweekly.org/2010/10/11/research-sheds-light-historian/?page=1)

Buried:
Roanoke Mennonite Cemetery

John married Magdalena Schertz on 12 Feb 1865 in Woodford Co., IL. Magdalena (daughter of David (Born Daniel) Schertz and Catherine Bachman) was born on 1 Dec 1843; died on 24 Jan 1898; was buried on 27 Jan 1898 in Roanoke, Woodford Co., IL. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• USR1: Consumption

Notes:

Obit:
SMITH.-On Tuesday morning, Jan. 25th, 1898, the spirit of Magdelena Smith, wife of Bish. John Smith, passed quietly away. Magdelena Schertz was born Dec. 1, 1843, and died at the age of 54 years, 1 month and 24 days. She had been a long and patient sufferer with consumption until death finally released her. She leaves her husband and eight children, four boys and four girls, to mourn their loss, but what is their loss can be reckoned as her gain, as for her it was only a stepping out from a world of pain and sorrow, to one of everlasting bliss. The end came peacefully, conscious that a bright home was prepared for her in the new Jerusalem. Short funeral services were held at the house and at the Roanoke church, Jan. 27th, where a large concourse of friends and relatives assembled to pay their last respects to the dear departed. Services were conducted by Samuel Gerber and Peter Summer.

Other children:
Joseph D. b 1868
Christian
John D. b 1877
Three more girls

Buried:
Roanoke Mennonite Cemetery

Other Events and Attributes:

• Occupation: Farmer
• Religion: Amish
• USR1: Cholera
• Immigration: 1828, NYC
• Residence: Abt 1829, Butler Co., OH
• Residence: Aug 1837, McLean Co., IL
• Census: 1850, Woodford Co., IL

Notes:

Immigration:
Mainly based on unpublished Oyer family history, my findings indicate that Christian immigrated to America in 1828, arriving in New York City on the ship Sully, then traveling via the Erie Canal to Butler Co.  To my knowledge, he was unaccompanied by any family members.  I've seen copies of the ship immigration records via Ancestory.com. and these records of a Christian Schmidt match up in age and with the Oyer history. (Don Bishop Smith)

Residence:
Via the Erie Canal

Residence:
Purchased an 80-acre farm near Congerville with an existing house. “House still standing in 1968, part of Schrock Apple Orchards.”

Census:
Farmer Christian Smith, 40, France; Malind, 38, France; Mary, 17 OH; Barbary, 15 Ohio; Peter 13 Ohio; Mancy, 10, Illinois; Malinda, 9, Illinois; Joseph, 7, Illinois; Christian, 5, Illinois; and John 2, Illinois. They are listed on the same page as brothers Christian and Jacob Zehr, and on the page after brothers Christian and Peter Farny.

Died:
Aug 1854 according to source 347

Buried:
Slabtown Cemetery, also known as Cholera Cemetery, or in unnamed cemetery on his land, now Congerville. There is no stone in Slabtown Cemetery.

Christian married Magdalena Schrock (Schrack) about 1833 in Wayne, Ashtabula Co., OH. Magdalena (daughter of Joseph Schrag (Schrack) and Maria Neuhauser) was born on 10 Apr 1811 in Sarrebourg, Moselle, FR; died on 4 Aug 1855 in Congerville, Montgomery Twp., Woodford Co., IL; was buried in Woodford Co., IL. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Religion: Amish Mennonite
• USR1: Cholera
• Immigration: 1831, Baltimore, MD
• Residence: Abt 1832, Wayne, Ashtabula Co., OH
• Residence: Aft 1832, Butler Co., OH
• Residence: 1838, Congerville, Montgomery Twp., Woodford Co., IL

Notes:

Magdalena and Christian lived in the country near what became Congerville, Woodford Co., IL. They had eight children.The parents and three children died of cholera, five survived. (One source includes a daughter Nancy, b. 1840 in Congerville, who died of cholera.)

“Early medical works and other accounts unite in stating that its (cholera) characteristic symptoms were first, extreme and greatly offensive purging, soon followed by vomiting and severe muscular cramping, rapidly terminating in a complete physical collapse, which very few of its victims ever survived. It was said if the patient could survive the collapse stage, his chances for recovery were very good, but only an extremely small number withstood this terrible physical strain. the pioneer physicians applied the name ‘rice-water evacuations’ to the first stage.”

Journal of the Illinois State Historical Society, April 1930: “…Then came next the worst and most extensive of all the local cholera outbreaks, that of July and August, 1855. The total number of deaths of this period will never be known, and can only be approximated.”
——————————————————
"Husband, Christian, died 2 Aug 1855 of cholera, in his log cabin home. Three days later Magdalena died, 5 Aug, followed by the death of her nineteen year old daughter Barbara, and a few hours later by her six year old son John. These deaths left four orphaned children, who were placed in separate homes. What trauma the surviving children must have suffered.

“Grandfather’s brother, Joseph, was made administrator over the family and at various times the children related the good care they received from their Uncle Joe...Uncle Joe Smith looked after the needs of the family often supplying them with choice meats which commanded very little price on the market. Their Uncle Valentine Maninger, being a cobbler, provided boots for the family and their clothing was largely home-spun.”

"The Lydia Oyer material says that Magdalena Schrock Smith died on the Saturday following her husband's death. The perpetual calendar shows that to be August 4. There has been much discrepancy about these dates of death. This family is listed on p. 124 of Milo Custer's Asiatic Cholera in Central Illinois, 1834-1873". Journal of Illinois State Historical Society 23 (April 1930): 113-162. Others who died in the same community were John Lantz (August 5), Jonas Kaufman (August 6) and Bishop Daniel Zehr (August 11).


From the Magdalena Schrock presentation June 2010 at Schrock Immigrant Day in Metamora, IL: Great Great Grandma Mary Oyer's account:

“…all four [died] of cholera in a short space of time, from Wednesday afternoon when Grandpa [died.] [He] contracted it in Bloomington the day before. There was a funeral for him on Thurs. - the rest all well yet, but by Sat. night Grandmother went at 12 o'clock and Barbara a half hour later and John, 6 yrs. old Monday morning at 3 o'clock. No funeral held for them. The rest all sick with cholera. Those who took sick at Grandpa's funeral were Andrew Schrock, Grandma's brother and Mrs. Ulrich. …This is the way my father gave it more than once and said how sad it was for them.”

Birth:
Father, Joseph Schrag, living at the mill Remeling, between Saarebourg and Imling. Mother’s name given as Marie Rixsiker (surname of her stepmother, Catherine Marie Rugsegger.) Jean-Claude Koppel in his 2017/18 book says Magdalena was born at the Rotmhule in Sarrebourg, but birth record says the family was living at the mill Remeling. Perhaps they are one and the same.

Immigration:
The ship list with Johannes and Peter and families lists Madeleine Gerrard, 19, within the Schrag families that arrived in Baltimore in 1831.


Residence:
Lived on the acreage of her brother Peter

Buried:
Probably on unnamed cemetery on their land. (Congerville, McLean Co?)

Notes:

Married:
Joe Staker - Calculated from birth of children

Other Events and Attributes:

• Religion: Amish Mennonite
• Immigration: 1831, Bavaria, GR
• Residence: 1831, Lancaster Co., PA
• Residence: 1835, Butler Co., OH
• Naturalization: 1847, Butler Co., OH
• Residence: 1852, Tazewell Co., IL

Notes:

Obit: Herald of Truth, May 1, 1890, pages 141 and 142
NEUHAUSER.-On the 23d of July 1889, in Tazewell county, Ill., of the infirmities of old age, Bro. Peter Neuhauser, aged 93 years, 5 months and 3 days. He was born on the 20th of Feb. 1796 in Upper Alsace, near the city of Basle, Switzerland. In the spring of 1831 he emigrated to America, settling in Lancaster Co., Pa. Here he was married on the 23d of Jan. 1835 to Mary P. Schmidt. In the fall of the same year they moved to Butler county, Ohio, and in the spring of 1852 to Illinois, settling in Tazewell county, where he spent the remainder of his life. Sister Neuhauser died several years ago. Their union was blessed with 7 children, of whom two sons survive the parents. Bro. Neuhauser leaves many grandchildren and great-grand children. He retained his mental faculties to the last. He was a faithful, peace-loving member of the old Amish Mennonite church. Funeral services by Daniel Roth and Peter Ropp.

Sources and say Peter’s father (Jacob?) was born near Basel and died in Lorraine. His mother, Catherine (Sommers?), was born in Alsace Lorraine and died in Ohio.

Parents are possibly Jacob Neuhauser b. and d. Upper Alsace near the Swiss border, and Catherine Sommers (b. Lorraine and d. Butler Co., OH)

Birth:
near Basel SW

Buried:
Buckeye Cemetery

Peter married Anna Maria (Mary P.) Schmidt (Peterschmidt) on 23 Jan 1835 in Lancaster Co., PA. Anna (daughter of Jacob Peterschmidt and Barbara Lauber) was born on 22 Jul 1804 in Altkirch, Haut-Rhin, Alsace, FR; died on 21 Feb 1884 in Livingston Co., IL; was buried in Flanagan, Livingston Co., IL. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Religion: Amish Mennonite
• USR1: Bronchial infection
• Immigration: 1832

Notes:

Obit: Herald of Truth, March 1, 1884, Page 76, 77
NEWHAUSER - On the 2d of February, in Waldo Twp., Livingston Co., Ill., Sister Mary Newhauser, (maiden name Schmidt), and wife of Peter Newhauser of bronchial affection, aged 76 years, 6 months and 10 days. On the 4th she was buried in the Waldo twp grave-yard, followed by a large concourse of friends. Services by Daniel Steinman and Joseph P. Schmidt and Chr. Schlegel. She was a faithful member of the Amish Church. She leaves a husband 88 years of age, and two sons to mourn their loss, but they need not mourn as those who have no hope. She had a desire to go and be with Jesus, she remarked a few days before her death, "For me to live is Christ, for me to die is gain." Oh let us all be in earnest to work for the glory that awaits us beyond.

Birth:
(Altkeneck)

Buried:
Waldo Cemetery

Other Events and Attributes:

• Immigration: 1829, Lancaster Co., PA
• Residence: 1833, Partridge Creek Settlement In Illinois

Notes:

Born seven months after his father’s death in an accident at the age of 33. Changed name from Schmitt/Schmidt to Smith while in Lancaster Co., PA. At one time traded some pigs for a stove that “aroused the wonder and amazement of everyone in the community and for several days people came from miles around to see it.”

Birth:
Gravestone gives year as 1800

Buried:
Hickory Point Cemetery

Christian married Catharina Baechler on 26 May 1838 in IL. Catharina (daughter of Jacob Baechler and Anne Marie Gerber) was born on 8 Apr 1805 in St. Jean Kourtzerode, Moselle, FR; died in 1860 in Eureka, Woodford Co., IL; was buried in Metamora, Woodford Co., IL. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Buried:
Hickory Point Cemetery

Notes:

Married:
By Christian Engel

Other Events and Attributes:

• Emigration: 1837

David married Catherine Bachman on 21 Jun 1840 in Tazewell Co., IL. Catherine (daughter of Henry Bachman) was born in 1810 in Alsace, FR; died in Jan 1855 in Metamora Twp., Woodford Co., IL. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Married:
by Andrew Bachman