Evelynn J. Thode

Robert + Margaret Isabel (Belle) Schrock. Margaret (daughter of John Schrock and Barbara Rediger) was born on 1 Jul 1882 in IL; died on 10 Jan 1954 in Los Angeles, Los Angeles Co., CA. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Residence: 1937, Pasadena, Los Angeles Co., CA

Notes:

Margaret Elizabeth according to Source .

Other Events and Attributes:

• HIST: ILLINOIS RAILROADS IN 1901 (including Chicago-based) Source: "HISTORICAL ENCYCLOPEDIA OF ILLINOIS" © 1901 ©Transcribed by Kim Torp http://genealogytrails.com/ill/cook/railroads.html CHICAGO, PEORIA & ST. LOUIS RAILROAD COMPANY NY (of Illinois), a corporation operating two lines of railroad, one extending from Peoria to Jacksonville, and the other from Peoria to Springfield, with a connection from the latter place (in 1895), over a leased line, with St. Louis. The total mileage, as officially reported in 1895, was 208.66 miles, of which 166 were owned by the corporation. (1) The original of the Jacksonville Division of this line was the Illinois River Railroad, opened from Pekin to Virginia in 1859. In October, 1863, it was sold under foreclosure, and, early in 1864, was transferred by the purchasers to a new corporation called the Peoria, Pekin & Jacksonville Railroad Company, by whom it was extended the same year to Peoria, and, in 1869, to Jacksonville. Another fore closure, in 1879, resulted in its sale to the creditors, followed by consolidation, in 1881, with the Wabash, St. Louis & Pacific Railway. (2) The Springfield Division was incorporated in 1869 as the Springfield & Northwestern Railway; construction was begun in 1872, and road opened from Springfield to Havana (45.20 miles) in December, 1874, and from Havana to Pekin and Peoria over the track of the Peoria, Pekin & Jacksonville line. The same year the road was leased to the Indianapolis, Bloomington & Western Railroad Company, but the lease was forfeited, in 1875, and the road placed in the hands of a receiver. In 1881, together with the Jacksonville Division, it was transferred to the Wabash, St. Louis & Pacific Railway, and by that company operated as the Peoria & Springfield Railroad. The Wabash, St. Louis & Pacific having defaulted and gone into the hands of a receiver, both the Jacksonville and the Springfield Divisions were reorganized in February, 1887, under the name of the Chicago, Peoria & St. Louis Railroad, and placed under control of the Jacksonville Southeastern Railroad. A reorganization of the latter took place, in 1890, under the name of the Jacksonville, Louisville & St. Louis Railway, and, in 1893, it passed into the hands of receivers, and was severed from its allied lines. The Chicago, Peoria & St. Louis Railroad remained under the management of a separate receiver until January, 1896, when a reorganization was effected under its present name - "The Chicago, Peoria & St. Louis Railroad of Illinois." The lease of the Springfield & St. Louis Division having expired in December, 1895, it has also been reorganized as an independent corporation under the name of the St. Louis, Peoria & Northern Railway (which see). http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peoria,_Pekin_and_Jacksonville_Railroad#History
• Occupation: Farmer
• Religion: Mennonite
• USR1: Stroke
• Residence: 1903 / 20 Apr 1935, Pekin, Tazewell Co., IL

Notes:

Obit: Newspaper article

”The founder of a great family died in Pekin today: John Schrock, of 714 South Ninth Street. He was the father of twelve children, eleven of whom survive along with 25 other descendants; but only one of the 36 is left to carry on the good name of Schrock.
“Religion brought this grand old man to Pekin. Back in the Vaterland a man named Menno Simon founded a religion which has brought honor upon him and to this day they call his followers “Mennonites.” A century ago there was a group of them around Pekin among them the Ropp families.
“Johannes Schrock was eight years old in 1851 when the family came to Pekin, for he had been born March 26, 1843. That trip was often recalled by Mr. Schrock; and the older he became the better he remembered those days of children; and the less he recalled the fleeting things of yesterday. 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.
“As John grew older he worked out in saw mills, grist mills, and brick yards. 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 saw mill 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.
“On December 3, 1865, he married Barbara Rediger and the two established one of the most respected homes in the county. Twelve children were born to them, and all but the last (who died in infancy) live today to mourn the passing of the father. They are: Peter Schrock, Pekin; Mrs. Katherine Ropp, Pasadena, Calif.; Daniel Schrock, Pekin; Bina Schrock, Pekin; Mrs. Sarah Ringwald, Pekin; Mrs. Ida Gueber, Pekin; Frances Schrock, Pekin; Edward Schrock, Pekin; John W. Schrock, Pekin; Mrs. Belle Thode, Pasadena; Mrs. Barbara Heisel, Pekin; and Aaron Lester, deceased.
"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.
“Memorial services will be held Monday at 2 p.m. at Noel’s. Friends may call at the residence till 11 a.m. It is asked that no flowers be sent. Burial will be at Lakeside cemetery.,

“The Pekin centenary 1849-1949: a souvenir book commemorating 100 years of community progress in the city of Pekin, Illinois”
http://www.archive.org/stream/pekincentenary1800peki/pekincentenary1800peki_djvu.txt

“Meanwhile, Pekin's growth became faster and faster. In 1858, Bitzer' s lake was drained to make right-of-way for the new Peoria, Pekin and Jacksonville railroad (later the Chicago, Peoria and St. Louis, and today the Chicago and Illinois Midland). The depot was built up on piling where Bitzer' s lake had been, and much of the track there was tresteled. The 16-foot ravine cutting across the river front area was filled, and the bridge over it destroyed. The city had subscribed $100,000 to get the railroad and other improvements.”

Residence:
714 So. 9th. St.

Died:
7:15 a.m.

Buried:
Lakeside Cemetery, ministers Rev. Geo Gundy of Meadows and E.V. Young, pastor of the First M.E. church, Pekin. Mrs. A. B. Shacklette presided at the organ and Dick Groen, soloist sang “Lead Kindly Light,”, “Crossing the Bar,” “Old Rugged Cross,” and “Safe in the Arms of Jesus.” Pallbearers were Edward Schrock, Herbert Ropp, Lawrence Gueber, Roland Heisel, Maurice Ringwald, Ernest Saal and Clyde McQueen.

John married Barbara Rediger on 3 Dec 1865 in Pekin Twp., Tazewell Co., IL. Barbara (daughter of Joseph Rediger and Anna Schmidt) was born on 29 May 1844 in Washburn, Woodford Co., IL; died on 3 Aug 1911 in Pekin, Tazewell Co., IL; was buried on 5 Aug 1911 in Pekin, Tazewell Co., IL. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Religion: Mennonite
• USR1: Diffuse Chronic Nephritis (dropsy?)

Notes:

Died:
4:00 a.m. at 714 S. 9th St., Pekin, IL

Buried:
Lakeside Cemetery, 2 p.m.

Notes:

Married:
Noel Funeral Home Document gives date and place.

Other Events and Attributes:

• Education: In French
• Occupation: Farmer In Elm Grove Twp., Tazewell Co., IL 1850-1875
• Occupation: Miller At Cheppe Near Dompcevrin In 1829
• Occupation: Miller In Butler Co., OH (And Perhaps Farmer?) 1832-1850 (Possibly worked with the Flenner mill, since his brother Peter lived at one time near the Flenner family.)
• Religion: Amish, Amish Mennonite
• Residence: 1826, Blâmont, Moselle, FR
• Residence: 1829, Dompcevrin, Meuse, FR
• Residence: 1829, Cheppe, Dompcevrin, Meuse, FR
• Immigration: Spring 1831, Le Havre to Baltimore
• Residence: 1831, Lancaster Co., PA
• Census: 1840, Butler Co., Lemon Twp., OH
• Naturalization: Sep 1844, Butler Co., OH
• Census: 1850, Morton, Tazewell Co., IL
• Residence: 1832-1850, Butler Co., Lemon Twp., OH
• Census: Oct 1850, Butler Co., Lemon Twp., OH
• Residence: Oct 1850, Butler Co., Lemon Twp., OH
• Residence: Nov 1850, Elm Grove Twp., Tazewell Co., IL
• Census: 1860, Elm Grove Twp., Tazewell Co., IL
• Census: 11 Aug 1870, Elm Grove Twp., Tazewell Co., IL

Notes:

“John Schrock, a native of Lorraine, was of German ancestry, but was educated in French, which he spoke like a native. He was wedded to a lady of Lorraine, Miss Catherine Saltsman, and when the couple were the parents of two children, Joseph and his sister Catherine, they came to America in 1831 leaving the port of Havre in the spring. The passage across the boisterous Atlantic consumed forty-four days. They at length disembarked in Baltimore, Md., very much fatigued from the hardships they had endured during the long journey. From there they went to Lancaster, Pa., and a year later, in 1832 removed to Ohio, and located on a farm which the father operated, and in connection with it rented a mill, which he managed very successfully, it being the business in which he was most proficient. While living in Butler County, Ohio, the family was increased by the addition of three children, namely: John, Peter and Magdalena, who were bright and intelligent, and their mature years have not disappointed the fond expectations, which their parents conceived of the little French-Americans. In the autumn of 1850, Mr. Schrock and his family removed to Tazewell County, Ill., and located near Pekin, taking up wild land, but subduing it by patient industry until at their 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."

(Although the newspaper article said Johannas rented a mill, I’m wondering if in fact he might have managed a mill owned by the Flenner family. Daniel Flenner bought a mill site in 1812 and sold it in 1853, according to the book “Woodsdale’s Story” by Doris Page. Johannas and his family lived in that area during that time. Amishmen Iutzi and Augspurger are mentioned also in connection with the mill. (DB)
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Newspaper article 20 Apr 1935 (at event of son John’s death)
“...Back in Ohio lived Johannes Schrock, German born and also a follower of Menno. Schrock found Ohio pretty well settled, but from the Mennonites in mid-Illinois he heard of a growing new land where acres were cheap and crops were abundant. So Johannes Schrock with three horses, pushed through from Trenton, Ohio, to Pekin and looked at this new west. He liked it. He left one horse here and drove the other two back to the Buckeye state. Arriving, he told the anxious wife, who had been Katharina Salzman in her girlhood days in Germany, that they were moving to Illinois. To Joe, the oldest youth, was given the task of driving through with the horses and cattle and what goods they had. The father and mother took the rest of the family to Cincinnati where they took a boat down the Ohio to Cairo and up the Mississippi and Illinois to Pekin.

Joseph’s son, Jonathan, was later able to point out to his family an American elm tree along the road west of Bloomington where Joseph had camped under his wagon the last night of his trip from Ohio. He had the reputation of being an excellent marksman.
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“The [Johannes Schrock] 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.” ,
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Johannes and his family were counted in the 1850 Butler Co. census and were still there in October. They turn up in Tazewell in November. Land records seem to indicate John made a trip to Illinois prior to taking the family in November, since he had made arrangements to purchase land from the Niewkirk family before arriving. The sale was completed in December 1850. He likely stayed with the Christian Ackerman family and happened to be there when the census taker knocked and was counted again—twice in 1850!
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From John Garber information, Walter Ropp records:
“Danny Garber, whose death by blood poisoning followed a threshing accident, should come in about here. My old Uncle Christ Ropp, who remembered everything that ever happened around there, said that his grave was the first one in the Railroad Cemetery. John Schrock, six months older and much like him said, "I know your Uncle 'Crysthel' had an awful good memory but there's one time when he was mistaken. It was the third one." And now that they are both gone these twenty years, who is going to settle it!”

Bishop Samuel Gerber many times officiated at weddings and funerals of East Bend Mennonite Church members in the early 1900s. While living in Tazewell County, the Schrocks were surrounded by Gerbers and Ropps, including Bishop Samuel Gerber and Bishop Andrew Ropp. The families were obviously close neighbors and friends, and attended church together. So it was natural for both Bishops to be involved in the marrying and burying of these people, even after they had moved to Champaign County.

When Johannes and his family first lived in Tazewell Co., they probably worshipped in the old Railroad School just across the road from Johannes’ land. W. A. Ropp writes about the school: “This school was begun about 1840 and continued to operate until 1872 or 1873 ... about the year 1835, a company was organized to build a railway eastward from Pekin--the grade was finished nearly to Tremont when the panic of 1837 stopped the work. A primitive log school house was built near the newly-graded roadway and was named the Railroad school, altho there was no railroad within a hundred miles.

“Most of the land already had been taken up by settlers, for it consisted of some small, rich, open glades just lying round to let the sunshine in, and a good grade of timberland covered by a magnificent growth of hardwoods and elms--tall, straight and clean-trunked--that gave the township the name Elm Grove.

“The first settlers were families from a number of eastern states and several German families, immigrants from the Upper Rhine country... they said they were Amish. These folks came rapidly and bought out the earlier eastern settlers, so that by 1845 the neighborhood was predominantly German. Some of the early families were the Youngs, the Hodgsons, the Griggs, several Nieukirk families, three Garber families, six Ropp families, and the Unsickers, Sommers, Schrocks, Heisers, Kings, Yordys, Litwillers, Hochstettlers, Birkeys and a few others.“
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The only known photo of Johannes has sometimes been purported as his passport photo. However, according to Wikipedia: “In Europe, general peace between the end of the Napoleonic Wars (1815) and the beginning of WWI (1914), and development of railroads, gave rise to international travel by large numbers of people. Passports were not usually required; there were limited wars which caused some exceptions.” And, photos would not have been used in 1831--photography in its infant form came later--about 1839.
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Joseph Staker, in his discussion of the Schrock family, describes the land on which they settled: “The Schrocks (and Salzmans) lived on ‘ministerial’ land they had purchased from the State of Ohio. On Jan. 7, 1796, the Ohio Company set aside Section 29 in each of the ten townships of its second purchase for the support of religion. This set a precedent. When John Cleves Symmes made the Miami Purchase on Oct. 15, 1788, it included parts of Hamilton, Butler, and Warren counties. Congress approved his purchase but followed the earlier model by reserving Section 29 in each of the three counties for religious purposes. The State of Ohio was authorized by Congress in 1833 to sell or rent unused parts of each Section 29. The money from sales was invested, and churches within the boundaries of the original township received the interest and rent income until 1968.”
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In Ohio, the family worshipped with the Augspurger congregation, where Johannes’ brother, Peter, was a minister. This group was the more conservative of the two congregations near Trenton (the other being made up mostly of Hessian Christians who were more “liberal,” using buttons on their clothes rather than hooks and eyes). No doubt the Augspurger group followed the customs of kneeling for prayer and foot washing with communion, since the East Bend Mennonite Church in Champaign Co., Illinois, continued these customs well into the 1940s.
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John and his brother Peter, and Catherine’s father, Michael Salzman, purchased adjoining land in Section 29 of Lemon Township. In 1855 John sold 81+ acres to John Shertz.










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With regard to John Schrock in their household, John and his family were counted in the 1850 Butler Co. census and were still there in October. They turn up in Tazewell in November. Land records seem to indicate John made a trip to IL prior to taking the family in November, since he had made arrangements to purchase land from the Niewkirk family before arriving. The sale was completed in December 1850. He likely stayed with the Ackermans and happened to be there when the census taker knocked, and was counted twice in 1850.
Donna }

Birth:
Date is according to marriage record. Aug 17, 1801 has been used by Willard Smith.

His father Joseph was the miller at Gondrexange during the birth years of his first children, so Johannes was likely born at the mill in the village. No birth document has been found. Nearby Ketzing estate housed many Anabaptist farm workers, so there were probably connections between the Schrag family and other Anabaptists living at the estate, and perhaps products from the farm were processed at the Gondrexange mill.

Residence:
At time of his marriage was living in Blâmont

Residence:
Miller at Cheppe, Commune of Dompcevrin. The mill was destroyed in 1914 during the war, only ruins remain. More than likely lived at the farm Chanteraine.

Residence:
48°56'11.53'' N / 5° 29' 35.00'' E A small village next to Dompcevrin that included Cheppe mill.

Immigration:
On ship list name recorded as Jno. Gerrard. Family lore says the trip lasted 44 days.

Residence:
No information found about the family’s time in Lancaster Co., PA

Census:
#155 (Brother Peter was listed also at #155)

Naturalization:
Two men vouched for John Schrock: Michael Saltzmann and Jacob Taylor.


Census:
Counted again, John Shrock, age 50, being in the household of Christian Ackerman

Census:
House #1175, Family #1316

Residence:
Living with wife Catherine, Joseph, Catharine, Peter, John; next to the Michael Saltzman family

Residence:
Left Ohio to settle in Illinois

Census:
Page 176: John Shrock, age 60, farmer, b. France; John age 17, farmer, b. OH; Magdalene age 16, b. OH.

Census:
Page 18: John Schrack, age 70, farmer; Jacobine, age 53, keeping house, born in Baden.

The information below doesn’t belong to Johannes. Does it belong to his son John?
Real Estate valued at $8000, Personal Estate at $2000. Living in the same dwelling were John, Jr., age 30, farmer; Phoebe, age 24, keeping house; Peter 3; Catharine 2, and Daniel 5/12. This family was living next to Peter Unzicker family in dwelling 119.

Buried:
Railroad Cemetery (not documented, but the most likely)

Johannes married Catherine (Elisabeth) Salzman on 8 Apr 1826 in Blâmont, Moselle, FR. Catherine (daughter of Michael Salzman and Catherine Hirschy (Hergi Hirschine)) was born on 27 Oct 1804 in Sarralbe, Moselle, FR; died in Mar 1858 in Tazewell Co., IL; was buried in Pekin, Tazewell Co., IL. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Occupation: Servant
• Religion: Amish
• Residence: 1826, Bistroff, Moselle, FR
• Immigration: 30 Apr 1831, Baltimore, MD

Notes:

Birth:
6 brumaire an 13 according to (Film #1981660; n/m/d 1792) Her parents were age 25 and 24 at her birth. Witnesses to Catherine’s birth: Jacob Stabe(?), age 46 and Louis Heyacker, age 23, justitier.?

Residence:
At time of marriage

Immigration:
On the April 30, 1831 ship list of Baltimore arrivals ,with her two children, Joseph and Catherine, and husband Johannes; also her father Michael Salzman and step-mother. Manifest has not been found, but they are on the quarterly summary.

Buried:
Likely Railroad Cemetery

Notes:

Johannes was living at Blâmont at the time of the marriage and Catherine was at Bistroff.
A publication of the marriage was made at commune of Rhodes at Bistroff.

Witnesses:
Father of the groom, Joseph Schrack, living at the mill at Bachats, age 52, and Marie Nayhouser, age 53, mother of the groom
Nicolas Cherrier, age 50 years; Augustin Demontzey b. 1763.
Michael Salzman, age 44, miller at Xirange, father of the bride
André Chertz, age 33 years (born 1793), an uncle “par alliance” (by marriage) of the bride.

Married:
The French marriage index says Catherine Hergi was no longer living at the time of Catherine's marriage in 1826.

Other Events and Attributes:

• Occupation: Was a farmer at Black Partridge in Washburn, Illinois.
• Immigration: 1832

Notes:

Birth:
Grand Duchy of Baden. The only son of Joseph Reidiger, miller and his wife Catharina Unziger.

Buried:
Rediger-Clarke Cemetery - a small family graveyard

Joseph married Anna Schmidt in 1834. Anna (daughter of Joseph Schmitt and Freni (Veronique) Gerber) was born on 2 Aug 1808 in Bisping, Moselle, Lorraine, FR; died on 30 Aug 1876 in Tazewell Co., IL; was buried in Tazewell Co., IL. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Buried:
Railroad Cemetery

Notes:

This couple had nine children.