Bishop Daniel Zehr b. 8 Jun 1803 Struth, Bas-Rhin, FR d. 11 Aug 1855 Goodfield, Tazewell Co., IL: The Schrock-Birkey Connection
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Bishop Daniel Zehr

Male 1803 - 1855  (52 years)


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  • Name Daniel Zehr  [1, 2, 3, 4, 5] 
    Prefix Bishop 
    Residence Fall 1803  Abstried, near Diessen, Bavaria, GR Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Birth 8 Jun 1803  Struth, Bas-Rhin, FR Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Gender Male 
    Residence 26 Apr 1831  Arzbach, Bavaria, GR Find all individuals with events at this location  [6] 
    • Purchased Valentin Birki’s half portion of the Arzbach farm
    Residence 1832  Pettenbrunn, Bavaria, GR Find all individuals with events at this location 
    • near Freising
    Residence late 1853  Mackinaw, Tazewell Co., IL Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Immigration 19 Nov 1853  Bremen to New York Find all individuals with events at this location  [7] 
    • Ship Germainia (1 Sept?) Passenger list:Daniel Zehr, 50, farmer; Mary, 45; Christian, 22, farmer; Magdalena, 18; James [Jacob], 16; and Mary, 14, and their place of origin as Pettenbrunn.
    Occupation Farmer 
    PURC 15 Dec 1854  Montgomery Twp., Woodford Co., IL Find all individuals with events at this location 
    • The Illinois Public Domain Land Tract Sales Database shows that Daniel Zehr of Woodford County purchased 45.6 acres at Congerville for 25 cents per acre (total $11.41) Dec. 15, 1854
    Religion Mennonite  [4] 
    USR1 Cholera 
    Death 11 Aug 1855  Goodfield, Tazewell Co., IL Find all individuals with events at this location  [8] 
    Burial Montgomery Twp., Woodford Co., IL Find all individuals with events at this location 
    • Slabtown Cemetery (Section 17)
    Person ID I328  Schrock-Birkey Connection
    Last Modified 1 Jul 2021 

    Father Daniel Zehr,   b. Struth, Bas-Rhin, FR Find all individuals with events at this locationd. 1856, Farnisville, Woodford Co., IL Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Mother Magdalena Unzicker,   b. 8 May 1785, Windstein, Wissembourg, Alsace, FR Find all individuals with events at this locationd. 16 Dec 1838, Hanfeld, Bavaria, GR Find all individuals with events at this location (Age 53 years) 
    Marriage 6 Jun 1802  Windstein, Wissembourg, Alsace, FR Find all individuals with events at this location  [9, 10, 11, 12] 
    • Marriage records of Windstein, Bas-Rhin, France, 1793-1862:
      On 17 Prairial 10th year of the Republic (6 Jun 1802), at Windstein, District of Wissembourg, France, Daniel Zohr, age 19, son of Daniel Zehr and Catherina Zohr, married Magdalena Hunzicker, age 17, daughter of Johannes Unzicker and Barbara Uhlmann of Windstein. The following persons were witnesses and signed the marriage record: Joseph Zohr, farmer, age 47 years; Jacob Stepp, farmer, age 54 years, both residing at Windstein; Christian Bock, farmer, age 35 of Windstein; Christian Zohr, farmer, age 45 of Stultzthal.
    Notes 
    • On 17 Parairial 10th year of the Republic (6 Jun 1802), at Windstein, District of Wissembourg, France, Daniel Zohr, age19, sone of Daniel Zehr and Catherina Zohr, married Magdalena Hunzicker, age 17, daughter of Johannes Unzicker and Barbara Uhlmann of Windstein. The following persons were witnesses and signed the marriage record: Joseph Zohr, farmer, age 47 years; Jacob Stepp, farmer, age 54 years, both residing at Windstein; Christian Bock, farmer, age 35 of Windstein; Christian Zohr, farmer, age 45 of Stultzthal.
    Family ID F141  Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

    Family 1 Barbara Ingold,   b. 8 Jun 1804, Nassau-Weilburg, Palatinate, GR Find all individuals with events at this locationd. 5 Aug 1831, Pellheim, Bavaria, GR Find all individuals with events at this location (Age 27 years) 
    Marriage 12 May 1827  Hilgertshausen-Tandern, GR Find all individuals with events at this location  [13, 14] 
    • Adjacent to Mannried
    Children 
     1. Daniel Zehr,   b. 3 May 1828, Manried, Bavaria, GR Find all individuals with events at this locationd. 18 May 1915, Wolcott, White Co., IN Find all individuals with events at this location (Age 87 years)
     2. Magdalena Zehr,   b. 2 Dec 1829, Söcking, Bavaria, GR Find all individuals with events at this locationd. Apr 1830, Söcking, Bavaria, GR Find all individuals with events at this location (Age 0 years)
     3. Christian Zehr,   b. 27 Jul 1831, Pellheim, Bavaria, GR Find all individuals with events at this locationd. 4 Oct 1891, Providence, Bureau Co., IL Find all individuals with events at this location (Age 60 years)
    Family ID F147  Group Sheet  |  Family Chart
    Last Modified 23 Mar 2019 

    Family 2 Magdalena Müller (Miller),   b. 1806   d. 27 Feb 1899, IL Find all individuals with events at this location (Age 93 years) 
    Marriage 6 Nov 1832  Pellheim, Bavaria, GR Find all individuals with events at this location  [15, 16, 17, 18] 
    • Pettenbrunn?
      The entry created at Pellheim described the groom as Daniel Zehr, a resident of Arzbach House No. 10, born in June 1804, a son of Daniel Zehr and widower of Barbara Ingold. The bride was described as Magdalena Mu?ller, a resident of Wellenburg bei Augsburg, born in 1806, a daughter of Christian Mu?ller and Anna Schönbeck.
    Children 
     1. Magdalena Zehr,   b. 27 Jul 1834, Arzbach, Bavaria, GR Find all individuals with events at this locationd. 19 May 1919, Woodford Co., IL Find all individuals with events at this location (Age 84 years)
     2. Jacob Zehr,   b. 25 Jul 1836, Arzbach, Bavaria, GR Find all individuals with events at this locationd. 12 May 1922, Indian Grove, Livingston Co., IL Find all individuals with events at this location (Age 85 years)
     3. Marie Zehr,   b. 15 Feb 1839   d. 3 May 1903 (Age 64 years)
    Family ID F403  Group Sheet  |  Family Chart
    Last Modified 1 Feb 2020 

  • Event Map
    Link to Google MapsResidence - Fall 1803 - Abstried, near Diessen, Bavaria, GR Link to Google Earth
    Link to Google MapsBirth - 8 Jun 1803 - Struth, Bas-Rhin, FR Link to Google Earth
    Link to Google MapsMarriage - 12 May 1827 - Hilgertshausen-Tandern, GR Link to Google Earth
    Link to Google MapsResidence - 26 Apr 1831 - Arzbach, Bavaria, GR Link to Google Earth
    Link to Google MapsResidence - 1832 - Pettenbrunn, Bavaria, GR Link to Google Earth
    Link to Google MapsMarriage - 6 Nov 1832 - Pellheim, Bavaria, GR Link to Google Earth
    Link to Google MapsResidence - late 1853 - Mackinaw, Tazewell Co., IL Link to Google Earth
    Link to Google MapsPURC - 15 Dec 1854 - Montgomery Twp., Woodford Co., IL Link to Google Earth
    Link to Google MapsDeath - 11 Aug 1855 - Goodfield, Tazewell Co., IL Link to Google Earth
    Link to Google MapsBurial - - Montgomery Twp., Woodford Co., IL Link to Google Earth
     = Link to Google Earth 

  • Photos
    Gravesite and stone of Daniel Zehr b.1804    		Gravesite and stone of Daniel Zehr b.1804
    Burial site in Slabtown Cemetery, Woodford Co., IL

  • Notes 
    • Daniel was born in Struth, but in the fall of 1803 his father and mother moved with him to Abtsried, Bavaria. In 1832, Daniel moved to Pettenbrunn near Freising, Bavaria. Here he remarried to Magdalena Rocke. On Aug 8 1853, Daniel sold his property and departed for America on 1 Sep 1853. They arrived sometime before Jan 1854 when Daniel Zehr bought land in Montgomery Township, Woodford County, Illinois.

      Daniel was appointed bishop while in Europe.

      In August 1855, Daniel was called to the bedside of Peter Smith, a neighbor dying of cholera. Daniel stayed until Peter died and later preached at his funeral. On the evening of 11 Aug 1855, Daniel died of the disease as well. His wife, Magdalena, died on 27 Feb 1899. The graves of both are preserved in a small, woven-fence enclosure in the Slabtown Cemetery.

      "Bishop Daniel Zehr (1803-1855) died August 11, 24 hours after preaching at the funeral of another unnamed [the person was Peter Smith, son of Christian and Magdalean Schrock Smith, who both died of cholera as well] cholera victim. Many of these victims were buried in the now abandoned Slabtown Cemetery, eventually known as the 'Cholera Cemetery.'" [1, 6, 7, 14, 19]

  • Sources 
    1. [S87] Ardys Serpette, Zehrs From Europe to Illinois.

    2. [S502] Descendants of Daniel Zehr III.

    3. [S142] Myrna Slagell Park, Illinois Mennonite Women: A Legacy of Caring.

    4. [S1007] Family records of Earl Spreti.

    5. [S1285] Herbert Holly, Preacher Heinrich Stalter---Head of the Amish Mennonite Congregation of Munich.

    6. [S601] Birkey-Zehr land transaction.

    7. [S103] Steven R. Estes, Illinois Ministers Attending Amish Ministers’ Meetings of 1862-1878.

    8. [S1060] Find-A-Grave, Congerville? - https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/40432278/daniel-zehr.

    9. [S40] Hermann Guth, Amish Mennonites in Germany: Their Congregations, The Estates Where They Lived, Their Families (English edition), (Masthof Press, Morgantown, PA), 1802.

    10. [S398] Joseph Staker, Amish Mennonites in Tazewell Co., 3 Jun 1802.

    11. [S589] Gern2.doc, Year.

    12. [S14] Marriage records of Windstein, Bas-Rhin, France, 1793-1862 (LDS film #1069483), Gives year as 1803.

    13. [S154] Rudolf Ingold and Hermann Guth, Ingolds and Their Estates.

    14. [S398] Joseph Staker, Amish Mennonites in Tazewell Co.

    15. [S398] Joseph Staker, Amish Mennonites in Tazewell Co., 6 Nov 1832, and place.

    16. [S1126] Pellheim Mennonite records, Gives year as 1831.

    17. [S1008] Our Ancestors - Bishop Daniel Zehr & Magdalena Muller (Miller), 12 May 1827-22 Aug 1831.

    18. [S1007] Family records of Earl Spreti, Gives year as 1833.

    19. [S667] Myrna Slagall Park, The Other Side of “The Lot”.


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