Christian Reeser

Other Events and Attributes:

• Religion: Mennonite
• USR1: Old age
• Immigration: 1839, New Orleans, LA
• Residence: 1847, Muncie, Delaware Co., IN
• Residence: 1857, Woodford Co., IL

Notes:

A bit more about Christian Reeser, from Mennonites in Illinois by Willard H. Smith:

“Christian Reeser was an unusual person. He was born in Alsace in 1819 while Napoleon was still living and James Monroe was president of the United States; in 1923, at Eureka, Illinois, at age 103, he died when Warren G Harding was president. He arrived in the United States in 1839 by way of New Orleans, and located first in Butler County, Ohio. About 1847 he joined his brother John near Muncie, Indiana, and in 1852 he married Barbara Zimmerman. The wife had a good education for her day and complemented her husband well, for he had wide experience and much common sense but very little formal training. In 1857, at that time with three children, the couple moved to Woodford County, Illinois and settled on the Mackinaw River a few miles north of Congerville. The decision to locate in this area came largely because Reeser’s friend Nicholas Maurer was there and gave the new arrivals a hearty welcome. The Reeser farm on the Mackinaw remained the home of the family for many decades and became a historic landmark. For the fifty-six years of his ministry Christian Reeser served in the Roanoke congregation and community except for 1903-07 when he lived with a daughter in Missouri.” (pp 73-74)
Smith also notes that Christian Reeser voted for Lincoln in 1860 and 1864 but otherwise voted for every democratic ticket from James K. Polk in 1844 to and including James M. Cox in 1920. He was over 100 years old when he cast his vote for Cox. (p 417)
Christian Reeser’s great-granddaughter Ethel Reeser Cosco wrote a biography: Christian Reeser: The Story of a Centenarian. Smith used her work as a source.

At his death, he had 82 grandchildren and 101 great grandchildren.

Immigration:
to Butler Co., OH

Residence:
North of Congerville on the Mackinaw River

Christian married Barbara Zimmerman in 1852 in Muncie, Delaware Co., IN. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

1. Anna Reeser was born on 17 Dec 1854 in Muncie, Delaware Co., IN; died in 1941 in Eureka, Woodford Co., IL.