Maria (Mary) Birky b. 18 Apr 1816 Bavaria, GR d. 13 May 1903 Roanoke Twp., Woodford Co., IL: The Schrock-Birkey Connection
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Maria (Mary) Birky

Female 1816 - 1903  (87 years)


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  • Name Maria (Mary) Birky  [1, 2] 
    Birth 18 Apr 1816  Bavaria, GR Find all individuals with events at this location  [3] 
    Gender Female 
    Immigration 17 Jun 1844  Le Havre to New York Find all individuals with events at this location  [3, 4] 
    • Mary “Burge” with son Johann Horn on the ship Baltimore (New York Passenger Lists, 1820-1957, 1844, June 17, Baltimore, p.4)
      Also on the ship were Peter Zerr 25; Jospeh Burger 26; Catharina Kunder 27.
    Religion Amish Mennonite   [5] 
    Death 13 May 1903  Roanoke Twp., Woodford Co., IL Find all individuals with events at this location  [3] 
    Burial Roanoke, Woodford Co., IL Find all individuals with events at this location  [2] 
    • Roanoke Mennonite Cemetery
    Person ID I512  Schrock-Birkey Connection
    Last Modified 8 Jan 2022 

    Father Christian Birki,   b. 14 Mar 1788-1789, Rimsdorf, Lower Alsace, FR Find all individuals with events at this locationd. 14 Feb 1866, Groveland, Tazewell Co., IL Find all individuals with events at this location (Age 76 years) 
    Mother Maria Anna Gascho,   b. 1798, Nancy, Meurthe-et-Moselle, FR Find all individuals with events at this locationd. Between 1840-1841, Bavaria, GR Find all individuals with events at this location (Age 43 years) 
    Marriage Abt 1815  Pellheim, Bavaria, GR Find all individuals with events at this location  [6] 
    • Arzbach was the name of an estate outlying the village of Pellheim (about 1.7 miles north of the center of Pellheim. It was the site of Schloss Pellheim, the house or palace of a count. The house is now a restaurant. Pellheim was administratively incorporated into Dachau in 1972.
    Family ID F219  Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

    Family 1 Horn 
    Children 
     1. John Birkey Yordy,   b. 23 Oct 1838, Bavaria, GR Find all individuals with events at this locationd. 31 Dec 1906, Milford, Seward Co., NE Find all individuals with events at this location (Age 68 years)
    Family ID F434  Group Sheet  |  Family Chart
    Last Modified 27 May 2001 

    Family 2 Peter Yordy,   b. 26 Jul 1815, Jaegerthal, Niederbronn-Les-Bains, FR Find all individuals with events at this locationd. 2 Jul 1897, Roanoke Twp., Woodford Co., IL Find all individuals with events at this location (Age 81 years) 
    Marriage 9 Feb 1847  Tazewell Co., IL Find all individuals with events at this location  [3, 7] 
    • In the Amish Dillon Creek congregation.
    Children 
     1. Christian Yordy,   b. 29 Jul 1848, Pekin, Tazewell Co., IL Find all individuals with events at this locationd. 10 Jul 1922, Roanoke, Woodford Co., IL Find all individuals with events at this location (Age 73 years)
     2. Mary Yordy,   b. 19 Oct 1849, Elm Grove Twp., Tazewell Co., IL Find all individuals with events at this locationd. 8 Feb 1923, Flanagan, Livingston Co., IL Find all individuals with events at this location (Age 73 years)
     3. Magdalena Yordy,   b. Jun 1851, Pekin, Tazewell Co., IL Find all individuals with events at this locationd. 1854, Pekin, Tazewell Co., IL Find all individuals with events at this location (Age ~ 2 years)
     4. Jacob K. Yordy,   b. 8 Mar 1853, Elm Grove Twp., Tazewell Co., IL Find all individuals with events at this locationd. 29 Nov 1930, Flanagan, Livingston Co., IL Find all individuals with events at this location (Age 77 years)
     5. Elizabeth Yordy,   b. 6 Dec 1854, Pekin, Groveland Twp., Tazewell Co., IL Find all individuals with events at this locationd. 28 Jan 1928, Cazenovia Twp., Woodford Co., IL Find all individuals with events at this location (Age 73 years)
     6. Peter Philip Yordy,   b. 29 Feb 1856, Tazewell Co., IL Find all individuals with events at this locationd. 4 Jun 1909, Woodford Co., IL Find all individuals with events at this location (Age 53 years)
     7. Joseph P. Yordy,   b. 7 Nov 1857, Pekin, Tazewell Co., IL Find all individuals with events at this locationd. 19 Feb 1925, Eureka, Woodford Co., IL Find all individuals with events at this location (Age 67 years)
     8. Barbara Yordy,   b. 18 Dec 1860, Elm Grove Twp., Tazewell Co., IL Find all individuals with events at this locationd. 20 Sep 1943, Eureka, Woodford Co., IL Find all individuals with events at this location (Age 82 years)
    Family ID F225  Group Sheet  |  Family Chart
    Last Modified 10 Dec 2020 

  • Event Map
    Link to Google MapsBirth - 18 Apr 1816 - Bavaria, GR Link to Google Earth
    Link to Google MapsMarriage - 9 Feb 1847 - Tazewell Co., IL Link to Google Earth
    Link to Google MapsDeath - 13 May 1903 - Roanoke Twp., Woodford Co., IL Link to Google Earth
    Link to Google MapsBurial - - Roanoke, Woodford Co., IL Link to Google Earth
     = Link to Google Earth 

  • Notes 
    • The book 'The Past and Present of Woodford County' spells Mary's name Burkey. Mary is the Maria Birkey Yordy, of whom Myrna Slagell Park says , "During pioneer days in Tazewell County, Illinois, Maria Birkey Yordy (1816-1903) cooked a mixture she called 'pap,’ given to sickly infants with feeding problems. This remedy supposedly saved some babies not expected to survive. The recipe was handed down within the family."

      Mary Birky had a son before she married Peter Yordy--named John. (John b. Oct 23, 1838. He married Magdalena King (b. 1842) in 1862. They had 13 children.) She arrived in New York on the ship Baltimore on June 14,1844 with her son from a previous relationship, Johann Horn (who would later be known as John Birkey Yordy)." 

      Peter and Mary can be found on the 1880 census of Roanoke as 'Peter Yordie,' a 65- year-old farmer born in France, of parents born in France; and Mary, 64, born in Bavaria, of parents born in France; and four children. Mary can be found as an 84-year-old widow on the 1900 census of Roanoke, living with children Peter, 44, and Barbara, 39. Mary stated that she was born in Germany of French parents, and that she came to America in 1847 [actually it was 1844].

      “On February 9, 1847, two and one-half years after arriving in America, Mary married Peter Yordy. That marriage occurred within the Dillon Creek Amish Congregation in Tazewell County, Illinois. A recently identified 1845 Tazewell County Census sheds light on her life between her arrival in Illinois and her marriage to Peter.

      In 1845, thirty-year-old Mary “Burgie” resided with a male under 10 years of age (John Horn Birkey) as the head of the household in Tazewell County. Also in the household are a female aged 10-20 and a female under 10 years of age.24 The identity of these two females is unknown. It is probable that the two women were boarders. The listing of Mary as the “Head of Household” suggests that Mary emigrated with significant funds consistent with the relative wealth of her father, Christian Birki. Triangulation of neighbors suggests that after their marriage, Peter and Mary lived in the home where Mary was living in 1845.

      Peter Yordy’s wife, Maria Birki (Mary Birkey), and her six-year-old son, John Horn, emigrated in 1844. They traveled with Mary’s brother, Joseph, their cousin, Catherine Kettner, and Peter Zehr on the ship, Baltimore, which arrived in New York from Le Havre on June 14, 1844.23 [8, 9, 10]

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

    2. [S1060] Find-A-Grave, https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/32191002/mary-yordy.

    3. [S607] Gary L. Yordy and Carol Yotty Heilman, The Yordy Siblings of Central Illinois: Peter Yordy, Christian Yotty, and Jacobina (Philabena) Yordy.

    4. [S377] Merrill E. Balser, Christian Wagler Sutter, (New York Passenger Lists, 1820-1957, 1844, June 17, Baltimore, p. 4).

    5. [S448] Gary L. Yordy, The Yordy Siblings in Illinois.

    6. [S68] Pellheim 21 House Chronicle: “Castle Builders”.

    7. [S102] Interview with Alta Heiser Detweiler.

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

    9. [S621] Gary L. Yordy, Yordy Addendum: French Birth Records and Ancestry of Peter Yordy.

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


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