| Notes |
- “Sarah was the daughter of Dave and Magdalena Kinsinger Garber. Dave Garber loved to hunt and fish. As forest and marshland was transformed into farmland in Elm Grove Township, wildlife became depleted. He moved his family to southwestern Missouri where the land was still relatively untamed and deer and other game were still plentiful. Sarah grew to adulthood in this frontier environment.
“Other Elm Grove Amish had earlier moved to southwest Missouri where land was still relatively cheap. Dan's cousin Jake (Peter's Jake) had farmed near Golden City in the early 1870s. At that time Dan's father Joseph and his Uncle Peter had gone to Missouri for a visit and to inspect the farmland there. When Dan and Sarah married, Joseph helped them Sarah Garber purchase land near her parents.
“Sarah and Dan Ropp had seven daughters - Olga was born in 1882, Erma in 1884, Iris in 1886, Fern in 1888, Elma in 1890, Fara in 1893, and Lois in 1901. Dan farmed until 1895 and then moved his family to Kansas City. He worked for the Union Pacific Railroad until advancing age compelled him to retire. In the early 1900s, Sarah's father homesteaded in Montana. Sarah decided that she and Dan should have a farm in Montana too. It was necessary that someone live on the land six months each year and improve and farm the land. She bought a team of mules, a wagon, tools and other materials necessary to farm - and made the eight hundred mile trip alone. She worked the six months and then returned to Kansas City for the winter. She did this for five years and then sold the land. With the proceeds, they bought a home near Grandview, Missouri and lived there until 1943 - town folks with chickens, a cow and a Ford. In 1936, Walter and Maggie Ropp visited Sara. Dan had become blind and somewhat mentally unstable and was living in a home for the elderly. Sara drove them to a daughter's home in this Model T Ford - Walter noted that it seemed to have the right of way through stop signs.
“Both Dan and Sarah were blessed with vigor and good physical health. They remained active into old age. Dan died in 1947 at the age of ninety- two. He was blind the last few years of his life. Sara broke a hip in the early 1930s. At that time most women did not survive or became bedridden by this injury, but Sara managed to recover and was soon getting around well. She died in 1954 at the age of ninety-two.
Daniel Ropp (1855 - 1947) and Sarah Garber (1862 - 1954)
Their Children
Olga Ropp (1882 - 1976) and Stanley A. Crotinger (1882 - 1971)
Erma Ropp (1884 - 1969) and Henry W. McFeely (1886 - 1986)
Iris Ropp (1886 - 1988) and Roy Farris
Fern Ropp (1888 - 1974) and Charles L. Underhill (1886 -1984)
Elma Ropp (1890 - ) and David A. Funk (1885 - )
Fara Ropp (1893 - 1990) and ? Dittman
Lois Ropp (1901 - 1983) and G.L. Peterson (1897 - 1988)
Daniel Ropp was Joseph and Catherine Ropp's second son and their fifth child. He was born August 20, 1855 in Elm Grove Township, Tazewell County, Illinois. His parent's farm was his childhood home. Here he acquired the skills to be a successful farmer in the last quarter of the nineteenth century. He helped his father care for their animals - the horses, cows, pigs, sheep, and chickens. He learned how to care for the leather tack needed to harness the horses to the buggies, wagons, and farm implements. Dan soon knew how to care for the orchard and garden. As he matured, he helped with the heavy work - plowing and harvesting. In the winter he chopped and split wood for the fires. There was work for all seasons.
Dan attended Railroad School - by his accounts and those of others, he was a mischievous boy, but certainly not the only one. School and work on the farm occupied most of his time - but there was time for play and other social activities. He learned to hunt and fish. Once or twice a year, several families would meet at the Mackinaw River Dells and spend the day socializing and fishing. Butchering was sometimes a joint venture with several families sharing the work. Dan and the other children enjoyed these gatherings - there was always a good meal and time to play corner ball or some other game.
In 1866, his mother decorated eggs for Easter. She wrote “D Ropp 1866” on one of the eggs. His cousin Mary (Uncle Peter's daughter) saw the egg and commented on how pretty it was. Dan gave it to her. She kept it her entire life. Dan was born into a close-knit Amish community. Uncles, aunts, cousins, and grandparents lived nearby. It was a good place to grow up.
When Dan was nineteen, the family moved to the Amish community northeast of Washington, Illinois. For the next five or six years, he worked there. In 1880 Sarah Garber, a former schoolmate who had moved with her family to Missouri in 1870, returned to Illinois for a visit. Sara had driven a mule-pulled wagon loaded with household furnishings from southeastern Missouri to Illinois for her cousins Lydia and Fred Metz. When she had moved to Missouri, Sarah was eight years old and of little interest to Dan. Now she was eighteen and she attracted his attention. Soon they were making wedding plans. On January 6, 1882, Dan and Sarah were married.
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Dan and Sara's eldest daughter Olga worked as an inspector of dry goods prior to her marriage to Stanley A. Crotinger. Stanley and Olga had a large farm/ranch in Rush County, Kansas near the town of Bison. They had four children - Stanley, Jr., Sarah, Laurence, and Mary. Stanley died in 1971 at the age of eighty-six. Olga died in 1976 at the age of ninety-four.
Erma Ropp lived with her parents for many years. She was employed as a stenographer. When Walter and Maggie Ropp visited in 1936, Erma was fifty-two. Sara told Walter that Erma's beau was Henry McFeely, a Kansas City attorney who visited regularly. A few years later Walter received word that Erma had married her attorney. They enjoyed their retirements together. Erma died in 1969 at the age of eighty-two. Henry died in 1986 not long after his one hundredth birthday.
Iris Ropp married Roy Farris. They had two children Kirk and Winifred. They lived near Dan and Sara, but we do not know what Roy did for a living. Iris died in Independence, Missouri in 1988 at the age of one hundred and two.
Fern Ropp married Charles L. Underhill. They had a son Charles, Jr. who was born while they lived in Missouri. After a few years near home, Charles and Fern settled in Long View, Washington. Charles worked as a collector in a lumber mill there. Fern died in Long View in 1974. She was eighty-five. Charles died in 1984 at the age of ninety-seven.
Elma Ropp married David A. Funk. They lived in Kansas City where he was employed as a fur salesman. They had one son Richard. We do not have dates of death for Elma and David.
Fara Ropp married a man with the surname Dittman. We do not know where they lived or if they had any children. Death records indicate that she died at Lees Summit, Jackson County, Missouri in 1990 at the age of ninety-seven. Since this is near Dan and Sara's last home, it is likely that Fara and her husband lived and worked there.
Lois Ropp worked as a stenographer before her marriage to G. Lester Peterson. They lived in Kansas City, Missouri where he worked as an insurance agent. We have no record of any children. Lois died in 1983 in Lees Summit at the age of eighty-two. Lester died in 1988 at the age of ninety-one. [1]
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1862 - 1952 (90 years)
[1, 2] 
