Valentine Bürcky (Birky)^[1]

1817 - 1856  (39 years)

• Name	Valentine Bürcky (Birky)  [2]
  Birth	1817	GR   [3]
  Gender	Male
  Immigration	Abt 1840
  Ordained	1847	Tazewell Co., IL   [4]
  	Ordained a minister of the Dillon Creek meeting.
  Census	1850	Tazewell Co., IL   [4]
  	Valentine “Burker,” 29, Germany; Madeline, 24 Germany; Phoebe 2, IL; and Barbara, 1, IL
  CLER	Y
  Occupation	Farmer
  Reference Number	200
  Religion	Amish Mennonite
  USR1	Pneumonia
  Death	30 Nov 1856	Tazewell Co., IL   [5]
  Burial	Morton Twp., Tazewell Co., IL
  	Landes Cemetery
  Person ID	I200	Schrock-Birkey Connection
  Last Modified	13 Apr 2018

  
  

  Father	Christian Bürcky (Birki),   b. 1781, Bitche, Moselle, FR d. 26 Apr 1840, Siebenbrunn, Bavaria, GR (Age 59 years)
  Mother	Katharina Nafziger,   b. 1776/1777   d. 3 Apr 1861, Ehingen, Bavaria, GR (Age 84 years)
  Family ID	F50	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

  Family	Magdalena Naffziger,   b. 24 Aug 1827, GR d. 2 Apr 1908, Eureka, Woodford Co., IL (Age 80 years)
  Marriage	19 Mar 1847	Woodford Co., IL   [6]
  Children	1. Jacobena (Phoebe) Birky   2. Barbara Birky   3. Elizabeth Birky   4. Magdalena B. Birky,   b. 29 Nov 1850   d. 26 Jan 1923 (Age 72 years)   5. Katherine Birky,   b. 5 Aug 1853   d. 27 Jun 1941 (Age 87 years)   6. Valentine Birky,   b. 22 Feb 1857, Morton Twp., Tazewell Co., IL d. 2 Sep 1939, Hudson, McLean Co., IL (Age 82 years)
  Family ID	F94	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart
  Last Modified	13 Oct 2018

  
  

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  Ordained - 1847 - Tazewell Co., IL Marriage - 19 Mar 1847 - Woodford Co., IL Census - 1850 - Tazewell Co., IL Death - 30 Nov 1856 - Tazewell Co., IL Burial - - Morton Twp., Tazewell Co., IL  = Link to Google Earth

  
  

• Notes

  Ordained a minister 1840 and a bishop in 1846, according to Source , and he attended the Amish Diener-Versammlungen as a delegate nine times, in 1864, 1866, 1870, 1871, 1872, 1873, 1874, 1875, and 1878. Assisted Andrew Ropp in the Dillon Creek Congregation. Lived north of Tremont after marriage, but after a few years moved to a farm three miles southeast of Morton, IL. The 1850 census of Tazewell County shows his household as Valentine Burker, 29, Germany; Madeline, 24, Germany [she was born in 1827, and would have been 22]; Phoebe Burkie, 2, Illinois; and Barbara, 1, Illinois. “In 1856 father had a spell of rheumatism but had recovered as he thought and went to the woods for a load of poles to build a cattle shed. He caught cold, pneumonia set in, and he died at the age of 39. That was in November 1856. Mother was left with five children, the oldest nine years old. I was born four months later....But they had good neighbors. They prepared father for burial, made his coffin and hauled him in a wagon to the Landes Cemetery, three and one-half miles northwest of Tremont where he is buried. This was done with very little outlay of money. The rank and file of the farming people in those days had no money and I do not think that there were any banks in that part of the country then.” [7, 8]

  
  

• Sources

  [S2] Ruth Berkey Reichly, The Berkey Book, (Arlington, VA). [S137] Valentine Birky Remembers--1935, P. 35. [S293] Norman Kauffmann, A Biography of Bishop John C. Birky, Hopedale, Illinois, 1849-1920 - Phase III, Year could be 1821. [S293] Norman Kauffmann, A Biography of Bishop John C. Birky, Hopedale, Illinois, 1849-1920 - Phase III. [S227] Steven R. Estes, Living Stones: a History of the Metamora Mennonite Church. [S293] Norman Kauffmann, A Biography of Bishop John C. Birky, Hopedale, Illinois, 1849-1920 - Phase III, 14 Mar 1847. [S103] Steven R. Estes, Illinois Ministers Attending Amish Ministers’ Meetings of 1862-1878. [S137] Valentine Birky Remembers--1935.