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- OBIT:
MICHAEL ZIMMERMAN, DIED AT HIS HOME IN CONGERVILLE, WOODFORD COUNTY, FRIDAY EVENING, FEBRUARY 7, AT 7:00 O'CLOCK, AGED 92 YEARS, 4 MONTHS AND 10 DAYS. HE WAS BORN IN BADEN, GERMANY, SEPT. 19, 1820, COMING TO THIS COUNTRY IN 1839 WITH HIS PARENTS. THEY WERE ON A SAILING VESSEL AND WERE 31 DAYS COMING OVER. THEY SETTLED IN BUTLER COUNTY, OHIO. HERE HIS FATHER DIED IN 1841.
HE WAS UNITED IN MARRIAGE TO MISS CATHERINA NAFFSINGER IN 1845, SHE WAS BORN ON THE OCEAN. IN 1848 HE CAME TO ILLINOIS, SETTLING IN TAZEWELL COUNTY, WHERE THEY LIVED ONE YEAR. FROM THERE THEY MOVED TO CONGERVILLE, WHERE HE HAD LIVED UP TO THE TIME OF HIS DEATH. TWELVE CHILDREN WERE BORN TO THIS UNION, THREE DYING IN INFANCY. NINE ARE NOW LIVING - MRS. ANNA WITZIG, OF GOODFIELD, ILL.; MRS. BARBARA RAMSEYER, KAMKAMLIN, MICH.; JOHN ZIMMERMAN, CARLOCK, ILL.; MISS LYDIA RINKERBERGER, STEVENS, MINN.; CHRIS ZIMMERMAN, OF THIS CITY; MISS HANNAH HOHULIN, OF GOODFIELD; JOSHUA ZIMMERMAN, MILFORD, IND.; CALEB ZIMMERMAN, CONGERVILLE, ILL.; MRS. LOUIS HOLLIGER, OF EUREKA. HE LEAVES SEVENTY GRANDCHILDREN AND THIRTY-SIX GREAT GRANDCHILDREN, AND HIS WIFE WHO IS 87 YEARS OLD.
THE FUNERAL WAS HELD FROM THE GERMAN APOSTOLIC CHURCH IN CONGERVILLE, AT 10:00 O'CLOCK WEDNESDAY MORNING.
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Michael was a minister of the German Apostolic Church and a prosperous farmer at Congerville,IL.
Lantz Cemetery was established on Michael’s land when his mother was buried there in 1850.
http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~barrone/babbs/mincongo.htm
ELDER MICHAEL ZIMMERMAN 1820 - 1913
1889 PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL ALBUM OF WOODFORD CO. IL.
REV. MICHAEL ZIMMERMANN, ONE OF THE MOST PROSPEROUS AND BEST KNOWN GERMAN FARMERS OF MONTGOMERY TOWNSHIP HAS BEEN A CITIZEN OF THIS COUNTY SINCE JANUARY, 1849. HIS PRESENT ESTATE CONSISTS OF 490 ACRES OF LAND, WHICH IS DIVIDED INTO THREE DIFFERENT FARMS, EACH ONE BEING WELL SUPPLIED WITH WATER, A GOOD RESIDENCE AND OTHER FARM BUILDINGS, AND NEARLY ALL OF THE LAND IS UNDER A GOOD STATE OF CULTIVATION. HIS FIRST PURCHASE CONSISTED OF 100 ACRES, WHICH WAS ONLY SLIGHTLY IMPROVED, AND ITS PRESENT FINE CONDITION IS OWING TO HIS INDUSTRY, ENERGY, AND BUSINESS MANAGEMENT. BESIDES ABUNDANCE OF GOOD WATER AND GRASS LAND, FITTED TO SUPPORT FINE STOCK, HE HAS ALSO AN ABUNDANCE OF TIMBER, WHICH SUPPLIES SHADE AND LUMBER FOR ALL NECESSARY BUILDINGS. MR. ZIMMERMANN CAME TO ILLINOIS IN FEBRUARY, 1848, AND RENTED A SMALL PLACE SOUTH OF WASHINGTON, IN TAZEWELL COUNTY, FOR ONE YEAR. BUT IN THE SUCCEEDING AUTUMN OF THE SAME YEAR HE GAVE IT UP, AND REMOVED TO MONTGOMERY TOWNSHIP, THIS COUNTY, TO THE PLACE WHERE HE NOW RESIDES. BEFORE COMING TO THIS STATE, HAD RESIDED IN OHIO, SPENDING NINE YEARS OF HIS LIFE IN BUTLER COUNTY, THAT STATE.
OUR SUBJECT WAS BORN IN GERMANY, SEPT. 27, 1820, IN THE STATE OF BADEN. HIS FATHER, Andrew ZIMMERMANN, WAS ALSO A NATIVE OF BADEN, WHERE HE WAS BORN IN 1793, AND TWO YEARS AFTER COMING TO AMERICA, HE DEPARTED THIS LIFE AT HIS HOME IN BUTLER COUNTY, OHIO, JAN. 13, 1811. Andrew ZIMMERMANN WAS LEFT AN ORPHAN IN HIS EARLY YOUTH, BUT FRIENDS TOOK CARE OF THE CHILD, AND REARED HIM CAREFULLY, TEACHING HIM SCIENTIFIC FARMING, AS FOLLOWED BY THE GERMAN OF THOSE DAYS. WHEN ABLE TO PROVIDE FOR A FAMILY HE MARRIED MISS FANNIE MILLER, A NATIVE OF BADEN, AND MEMBER OF A GOOD GERMAN FAMILY. THE FRUIT OF THIS UNION WAS FIVE CHILDREN, FOUR SONS AND ONE DAUGHTER. BEING CONSTANTLY IN RECEIPT OF NEWS FROM AMERICA, AND LEARNING FROM FRIENDS HOW MUCH MORE PROFITABLY FARMING COULD BE CARRIED ON IN THE UNTIED STATES THAN IN THEIR NATIVE COUNTRY, THEY MADE UP THEIR MINDS TO EMIGRATE. SO WITH THEIR FIVE CHILDREN THEY SET OUT ON THEIR JOURNEY TO THE NEW WORLD. AT HAVRE THEY EMBARKED IN A SAILING-VESSEL BOUND FOR NEW YORK CITY, WHERE THEY LANDED AFTER A FAIRLY PROSPEROUS VOYAGE OF THIRTY-ONE DAYS ON THE GOOD SHIP "RONLY." IN ORDER TO SECURE MEANS TO PAY THEIR PASSAGE AND INCIDENTAL EXPENSES, THEY WERE OBLIGED TO BORROW MONEY, WHICH AMOUNTED TO SOME $365, AND TO PAY THIS DEBT, IT WAS NECESSARY FOR THEM ALL TO WORK, AS SOON AS LOCATED WHERE WORK BECAME POSSIBLE AND PROFITABLE. BEING HONEST, INDUSTRIOUS AND ECONOMICAL, AND PROVIDENTIALLY BLESSED WITH HEALTH AND STRENGTH, ALTHOUGH THE TIMES WERE VERY HARD, THEY SUCCEEDED TO THEIR GREAT GRATIFICATION, IN PAYING OFF EVERY CENT OF THIS, TO THEM. LARGE DEBT. THE DEATH OF MR. ZIMMERMANN TWO YEARS AFTER LOCATING IN BUTLER COUNTY, OHIO, LEFT THE MOTHER AND FIVE CHILDREN STILL POOR, BUT OUT OF DEBT AND WITH SOME COMFORTS AND CONVENIENCES GATHERED AROUND THEM, AND ABLE TO FACE THE WOULD WITH CHEERFUL COURAGE,
OUR SUBJECT, WHO WAS THE ELDEST OF THE FAMILY, WAS AT THE TIME OF HIS FATHER'S DECEASE, TWENTY-ONE YEARS OF AGE, AND, BEING WELL SECONDED BY THE YOUNGER CHILDREN, WAS OF GREAT HELP TO HIS MOTHER, WHO WAS A WOMAN FULLY CAPABLE OF MANAGING THE BUSINESS AFFAIRS CONNECTED WITH THE FARM. BETWEEN THEM THEY SECURED ENOUGH MONEY TO EMIGRATE TO THE LAND OF PROMISE, WHICH WAS IN THOSE DAYS SYNONYMOUS WITH THE STATE OF ILLINOIS. OUR SUBJECT ALSO TOOK WITH HIM TO THE NEW HOME A WIFE, WHO WAS A LADY WELL-FITTED FOR THE DUTIES AND TRAILS OF PIONEER DAYS. THEIR JOURNEY WAS NOT MADE IN THE USUAL STYLE OF WAGONS AND HORSES, BUT WAS PERFORMED BY TAKING THE LONGER BUT MORE COMFORTABLE WATER ROUTE, WHICH EMBRACED A TRIP TO CINCINNATI, THENCE ON THE OHIO TO ST. LOUIS, THEN UP THE ILLINOIS RIVER TO PEORIA, WHERE THEY LEFT THE WATER, AND MADE THE REST OF THE JOURNEY WITH TEAMS.
MR. ZIMMERMANN WITH TRUE FILIAL REGARD TOOK ESPECIAL CARE OF HIS MOTHER FROM THE TIME OF HIS MARRIAGE, AND WHEN HE HAD SECURED A HOME OF HIS OWN IN ILLINOIS, HE AND HIS EXCELLENT WIFE APPORTIONED THE MOST COMFORTABLE PLACE FOR HER USE, WHICH SHE RETAINED UNTIL CALLED UPON TO LEAVE THE SCENE OF LIFE'S CHANGES, AND MEET HER HUSBAND IN THE OTHER WORLD. HER DEATH IN 1850, AT THE AGE OF FIFTY-FIVE YEARS, LIFE A CHAIR VACANT IN MICHAEL ZIMMERMANN'S HOME, BUT THE MEMORY OF GRANDMA WILL EVER BE CHERISHED BY HER LOVING CHILDREN AND THEIR LITTLE ONES. MR. AND MRS. Andrew ZIMMERMANN WERE BOTH CAREFULLY EDUCATED IN THE MENNONITE CHURCH, AND WERE FAITHFUL TO THEIR EARLY TRAINING IN LIFE AND DEATH. MR. Andrew ZIMMERMANN HAD OCCUPIED THE PLACE OF PASTOR IN THAT CHURCH, AND WAS WIDELY KNOWN AMONG THE MEMBERS OF THAT DENOMINATION AS AN INTELLIGENT, UPRIGHT MAN, AND A KIND, AFFECTIONATE HUSBAND AND FATHER.
OUR SUBJECT WAS WELL EDUCATED IN GERMANY, BEING ESPECIALLY FLUENT IN HIS NATIVE LANGUAGE, AND THE MENTAL DISCIPLINE BE ACQUIRED IN HIS THOROUGH, SEVERE COURSE OF STUDIES DURING HIS ATTENDANCE IN THE GERMAN SCHOOL, MADE HIM AS APT SCHOLAR, WHEN IT BECAME NECESSARY FOR HIM TO ACQUIRE KNOWLEDGE OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE. MRS. ZIMMERMANN, WHOSE MAIDEN NAME WAS CATHERINE NAFFZINGER, OPENED HER INFANT EYES ON BOARD A VESSEL BOUND FOR AMERICA. THE PARENTS, PETER AND BARBARA (BECK) NAFFZINGER, HAD LEFT THEIR HOME IN THE RHINE PROVINCE OF BYRON, AND EMBARKED IN 1826 ON A SAILING-VESSEL AND AFTER ESCAPING ALL THE DANGERS OF THE MIGHTY DEEP, WERE SAFELY LANDED AT THEIR DESTINATION, PHILADELPHIA, PA. ALTHOUGH THE ORIGINAL INTENTION OF MR. AND MRS. NAFFZINGER HAD BEEN TO GO TO CANADA, THEY WERE SO MUCH PLEASED WITH THE CITY OF PHILADELPHIA, THAT THEY CONCLUDED TO REMAIN THERE, BUT AFTER RESIDING THERE SOMETIME, THEY WERE INDUCED TO GO TO BUTLER COUNTY, OHIO, IN WHICH PLACE THEY LOCATED AND REMAINED SEVERAL YEARS, PROSPERING FAIRLY WELL. BUT IN 1844, BEARING GLOWING ACCOUNTS OF THE FORTUNES TO BE MADE IN ILLINOIS, THEY CONCLUDED TO SELL OUT, AND REMOVE TO THE NEWER COUNTRY. THEY FIRST LOCATED AT SPRING BAY, THIS COUNTY, MAKING THEIR HOME WITH AN ELDER SON WHO HAD PROCEDED THEM. THE MOTHER OF MRS. ZIMMERMANN BADE FAREWELL TO THE SCENES OF LIFE, AT THE HOME OF A YOUNGER SON IN TAZEWELL COUNTY, ILL., HAVING LIVED FIVE YEARS OVER THE ALLOTTED THREE-SCORE YEARS AND TEN. MR. NAFFZINGER SURVIVED FOR A NUMBER OF YEARS, AND AT LENGTH DEPARTED FROM HIS EARTHLY TENEMENT, AT THE HOME OF HIS SON, PETER, IN MONTGOMERY TOWNSHIP, BEING NEARLY NINETY-SEVEN YEARS OLD. THEY WERE WORTHY MEMBERS OF THE MENNONITE CHURCH DURING LIFE. MR. NAFFZINGER HOLDING THE OFFICE OF AN ELDER.
MRS. CATHERINE ZIMMERMANN CAME TO BUTLER COUNTY, OHIO, WHEN A MERE CHILD, AND WAS REARED AND EDUCATED IN THAT PLACE, LEARNING NOT ONLY WHAT BOOKS COULD TEACH, BUT ALSO RECEIVING A GOOD PRACTICAL TRAINING IN DOMESTIC LIFE AND FARM WORK. SHE HAS BEEN OF GREAT ASSISTANCE TO HER HUSBAND IN MAKING AND IMPROVING THEIR HOME, AND HAS BECOME THE MOTHER OF TWELVE CHILDREN, THREE OF WHOM ARE DECEASED, NAMELY: CATHERINE, WHO DIED WHEN THREE YEARS OLD; ELIZABETH DIED WHEN ABOUT TWO YEARS OLD; AND JACOB, WHO LIVED TO BE A FINE LAD OF THIRTEEN YEARS. THOSE SURVIVING ARE: ANNA, WIFE OF JOHN WITZIG, A FARMER RESIDING ON THE LINE BETWEEN LIVINGSTON AND MCLEAN COUNTIES; BARBARA IS THE WIFE OF JOHN RAMSEYER, A FARMER LIVING IN MONTGOMERY TOWNSHIP; JOHN MARRIED A LADY NAMED MISS CATHERINE SCHROCK, AND MAKES HIS HOME ON A FARM IN KANSAS TOWNSHIP; LYDIA IS THE WIFE OF ABRAHAM RICGERBERGER, AND LIVES ON A FARM IN MONTGOMERY TOWNSHIP; CHRISTIAN MARRIED MISS MARTHA MINKOSIWITZ, AND LIVES ON A FARM IN MONTGOMERY TOWNSHIP; HANNAH, JOSHUA, CALEB, AND LILLIE, ARE STILL UNDER THE PARENTAL ROOF. ALL THE FAMILY OF MR. AND MRS. ZIMMERMANN ARE INTELLIGENT, ENERGETIC AND SELF-SUPPORTING; IDLENESS BEING CONSIDERED A VICE, AND INDUSTRY A VIRTUE. MR. AND MRS. ZIMMERMANN ARE AMONG THE MOST PROMINENT MEMBERS AND LIBERAL SUPPORTERS OF THE NEW MENNONITE CHURCH, TO THE SPIRITUAL NEEDS OF WHICH MR. ZIMMERMANN MINISTERS, HOLDING THE OFFICE OF AN ELDER, AND BEING WELL QUALIFIED FOR THE POSITION BY HIS GENERAL INTELLIGENCE AND SCRIPTURAL KNOWLEDGE.
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