Catherine Ringenberg

Other Events and Attributes:

• Residence: 1819, Hellocourt, Maizieres-les-Vic, Moselle, FR
• Residence: 1819, Azoudange, Moselle, FR
• Immigration: 1831, Baltimore, MD

Notes:

Birth:
LaForge mill. Birth year given as 1793 by source # 683.

Residence:
Farm of Baron Louis Grandjean, at time of her second marriage to Pierre Engel.

Residence:
Ferme de Boule

Immigration:
Catherine Angel, Passenger #41 with the Schrags and Salzmans

Catherine married Joseph Verkler, Sr. on 9 Feb 1806 in Hellocourt, Maizieres-les-Vic, Moselle, FR. Joseph (son of Joseph Verkler and Marie Abresol) was born on 6 Oct 1781 in Oberstinzel, Fenetrange, Moselle, FR; died on 19 Feb 1818 in Hellocourt, Maizieres-les-Vic, Moselle, FR. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Catherine married Peter Engel on 21 Dec 1819 in Hellocourt, Maizieres-les-Vic, Moselle, FR. Peter (son of Bishop Christian Engel and Katharina Nafziger) was born in 1794 in FR; died in 1875 in IL; was buried in Metamora, Woodford Co., IL. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• CLER: Y
• Religion: Amish, then Apostolic Christian

Notes:

THE LIFE OF JOSEPH VERKLER

JOSEPH VERKLER, WAS BORN NEAR STRASBOURG, GERMANY, IN 1807, THE SON OF
JOSEPH AND KATHARINA RINGENBERG VERKLER. WHEN 21 YEARS OF AGE HE WAS DRAFTED
FOR THE REGULAR ARMY AND AFTER 2-1/2 YEARS OF SERVICE, WENT HOME ON A
FURLOUGH OF TWO WEEKS.

HIS MOTHER AND HIS STEP-FATHER PETER ENGEL, WHOM SHE HAD REMARRIED AFTER THE
DEATH OF HER FIRST HUSBAND, JOSEPH, WERE PREPARING TO EMIGRATE TO AMERICA.
KATHARINA HATED TO LEAVE YOUNG JOSEPH BEHIND AND THROUGH THE AID OF A
FRIENDLY GENDARME ( A FRENCH POLICE OFFICER ), THE YOUTH'S ESCAPE WAS
PLANNED.

IN THE MENNONITE FAITH AT THAT TIME NO MAN WAS PERMITTED TO WEAR A MUSTACHE.
JOSEPH, HOWEVER, BEING A SOLDIER, WORE A MUSTACHE. HIS FIRST MOVE IN
PLANNING TO ESCAPE WAS TO SHAVE OFF HIS MUSTACHE; THEN, BY APPROPRIATING A
FRIEND'S PASSPORT AND USING HIS FRIEND'S NAME JOSEPH GINGERICH, HE WALKED
FROM STRASBOURG TO HAVRE. THERE HE MET SOME MENNONITE FRIENDS, NAUFSINGER BY
NAME, WHO WERE ALSO EMIGRATING TO AMERICA AND HAD IN SOME WAY LEARNED OF HIS
PLAN. WITH THEM HE SET SAIL AND HAD BEEN ON THE OCEAN SEVERAL DAYS BEFORE
HIS FURLOUGH EXPIRED. THIS WAS IN THE WINTER OF 1829. UPON HIS FAILURE TO
REPORT FOR SERVICE, THE GENDARME WHO HAD HELPED HIM TO ESCAPE, NOW
PRETENDING TO BE VERY ANGRY AT NOT FINDING THE YOUTH, SCOLDED HIS MOTHER
SOUNDLY. HAD HER SON JOSEPH BEEN FOUND HE WOULD HAVE BEEN COURT-MARTIALED
AND SHOT. SMALL WONDER THAT FOR A NUMBER OF YEARS HE OFTEN DREAMED THAT HE
HAD MET WITH SUCH PUNISHMENT.

JOSEPH LANDED IN NEW YORK CITY AND THEN WALKED TO LANCASTER COUNTY, PENN.,
WHERE HE WORKED FOR $7.00 A MONTH. EIGHTEEN MONTHS LATER HE CROSSED THE
ALLEGHENY MOUNTAINS AFOOT. ARRIVING IN BUTLER COUNTY, OHIO, HE SECURED A JOB
AT CUTTING WOOD FOR 25 CENTS A CORD. SIX MONTHS LATER HE STARTED FOR
ILLINOIS WITH HIS ENTIRE SAVINGS OF $100.00. HE MADE THE TRIP BY BOAT DOWN
THE OHIO RIVER THEN UP THE MISSISSIPPI AND ILLINOIS RIVERS TO PEORIA, THEN
CALLED FORT CLARK.

HE WAS MARRIED TO JACOBINA ENGEL ON DEC. 27, 1832 BY REV. CHRISTIAN ENGEL,
WHICH WAS HER FATHER. CHRISTIAN ENGEL WAS A MENNONITE MINISTER WHICH WOULD
BE THE SAME AS BENEDICT WEYENETH IN THE APOSTOLIC CHRISTIAN FAITH.

JACOBINA ENGEL, WAS BORN IN ALSACE-LORAINE, THE DAUGHTER OF CHRISTIAN AND
BARBARA BRUNNER ENGEL. SHE EMIGRATED TO AMERICA WITH HER PARENTS WHEN SHE
WAS QUITE YOUNG. THEY WERE ON THE OCEAN 65 DAYS, BEFORE LANDING IN NEW
ORLEANS AND SETTLED IN METAMORA, ILLINOIS. AT THE AGE OF 21 SHE MARRIED HER
HALF-BROTHER'S STEP-SON, JOSEPH VERKLER. THEIR FIRST HOME WAS A ONE-ROOM
LOG-CABIN ON KICKAPOO CREEK, WEST OF PEORIA.

IN 1834 JOSEPH AND JACOBINA VERKLER MOVED NEAR METAMORA, WHERE THEY CLEARED
SEVERAL TIMBER FARMS. IT WAS AT THIS TIME WHEN JOSEPH BECAME INVOLVED WITH
BENEDICT WEYENETH AND HIS NEW AMISH (NEU TAUFER) MOVEMENT AT THE PARTRIDGE
CREEK CHURCH. IN 1864-1865 JOSEPH BECAME A CITIZENS OF PLEASANT RIDGE
TOWNSHIP NEAR FORREST, ILLINOIS. WHERE HE BOUGHT 800 ACRES OF LAND. IT WAS
HERE THAT THE NORTH SIDE APOSTOLIC CHRISTIAN CHURCH WAS STARTED.


110 YEARS OF "NORTH SIDE"
APOSTOLIC CHRISTIAN CHURCH
BY BEN NUSSBAUM


"AS ADDITIONAL FAMILIES MIGRATED TO THE AREA AN OPPORTUNITY FOR GROUP
WORSHIP PRESENTED ITSELF AND, UNDER VERKLER'S LEADERSHIP, SERVICES WERE SOON
BEING HELD IN NEARBY HOMES. IF A HOUSE HAPPENED TO BE TOO SMALL THEY WOULD
CONGREGATE IN THE BARN.


ABOUT 1868 OR 1870 A SMALL TWO-ROOM CHURCH WAS BUILT ON VERKLER'S LAND AT
THE SOUTH EAST CORNER OF SECTION TWENTY-ONE.


BASICALLY THEN, THIS WAS THE BEGINNING OF THE NORTH SIDE. THOUGH THE GROUND
PROVED UNSATISFACTORY, THE BUILDING WAS ADEQUATE UNTIL ABOUT 1875 WHEN THEY
RELOCATED TO A HIGHER ELEVATION BEFORE CONSTRUCTING AN ADDITION.


JOSEPH WOULD SERVE AS THE FIRST MINISTER FOR NORTH SIDE CHURCH, AND LATER
WOULD BE ASSISTED BY RUDOLF LEUTHOLD AND THEN JACOB HONEGGER.


ON SEPT. 7, 1885 JACOBINA VERKLER DIED AND 16 DAYS LATER JOSEPH SEPT. 23,
1885, WOULD FOLLOW HER. THEY WERE BURIED IN THE VERKLER FAMILY LOTS. THE
VERKLER FAMILY NAME IS LONG GONE FROM THIS AREA AND THE FAMILY LOTS IS ALL
THAT WE HAVE LEFT TO REMEMBER THEM BY. WITH OUT JOSEPH VERKLER COMING TO
LIVINGSTON COUNTY, THE CHANCES ARE THE APOSTOLIC CHRISTIAN FAITH WOULDN‚T OF
EITHER.
———
JOSEPH VERKLER‚S OBIT

FAIRBURY BLADE
SEPT. 25 1885

MR. VERKLER, LIVING NORTH OF FORREST, DIED TUES. EVENING. HIS AGED COMPANION
PRECEEDED HIM SEVERAL WEEKS AGO. FUNERAL TODAY AT 2 P.M.


FAIRBURY BLADE
OCT. 2 1885

JOSEPH VERKLER, AFTER A LINGERING ILLNESS OF MANY WEEKS, QUIETLY AND
PEACEFULLY PASSED AWAY AT HIS HOME NEAR FORREST, ON THE MORNING OF SEPTEMBER
23 1885, AGED 78.

HE CAME TO PLEASANT RIDGE NINETEEN YEARS AGO, AND EVER SINCE LIVED IN THE
NEIGHBORHOOD WHERE HE DIED. ON DECEMBER 27 1832, HE WAS MARRIED, AND LIVED
HAPPILY WITH HIS WIFE UNTIL HER DEATH, SOME TWO WEEKS AGO. NINE CHILDREN, WE
BELIEVE, WERE THE FRUIT OF THIS UNION, OF WHOM EIGHT SURVIVE THEIR PARENTS.
HIS REMAINS WERE INTERRED IN THE FAMILY CEMETERY ON THURSDAY. THE LARGE
ATTENDANCE OF FRIENDS ATTENDED THE UNIVERSAL ESTEEM HE HAD WON, AND
EXPRESSED THE GENERAL SYMPATHY WITH HIS BEREAVED FAMILY. HE DIED AS HE HAD
LIVED, A PURE AND UPRIGHT MAN.

Buried:
Engel Family Cemetery

Family/Spouse: Jacobina Engel. Jacobina (daughter of Bishop Christian Engel and Barbe Brunner) was born on 28 Aug 1813; died in 1885. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Buried:
Pleasant Grove Mennonite Cemetery

Jacobina married Bishop Andrew Ropp on 10 Apr 1834. Andrew (son of Andréas Ropp and Elizabeth Eymann) was born on 6 Sep 1807; died on 11 Jun 1890 in Bureau Co., IL; was buried on 13 Jun 1890 in Tazewell Co., IL. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

John married Catherine Dettweiler on 23 Apr 1839. Catherine (daughter of Jacob Dettweiler and Magdalena Sommer) was born on 8 Sep 1815 in Diemeringen, Drulingen, Bas-Rhin, FR. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

After her first husband’s death she lived with her brother Joseph in Woodford County, IL.

Birth:
Chateau de Romecourt estate

Died:
Gravestone gives year as 1853

Buried:
Dillon Cemetery, as Mary Verrkler Gingrich

Mary married Joseph Sommer in 1833 in OH. Joseph (son of Joseph Sommer and Anne Marie Goerig) was born on 13 Feb 1807 in Neuviller-la-Roche, Bas-Rhin, FR; died on 25 Aug 1847 in Springfield, OH. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Mary married Joseph Gingerich on 3 Feb 1852. Joseph (son of Jean Gingerich and Ann Marie /Muller Miller) was born on 15 Dec 1804 in Albestroff, Moselle, FR; died on 6 Mar 1875 in Danvers, McLean Co., IL; was buried in Carlock, McLean Co., IL. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Residence: Woodford Co., IL

Notes:

Buried:
Oak Wood Cemetery

Family/Spouse: Barbara Naffsinger. Barbara was born in 1823; died in 1909; was buried in Metamora, Woodford Co., IL. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Catherine Ropp (1835 - 1885) and Daniel Roth (1833 - 1922)
Their Children

Jacobina Roth (1856 - 1924) and Nicholas Staker (1853 - 1941)
Veronica (Fannie) Roth (1856 - 1946) and Joseph Heiser (1854 - 1932)
Joseph Roth (1858 - 1949) & Amelia Ropp (1857 - 1894) & Elizabeth Ropp (1859 - 1940)
Amos Roth (1860 - 1945) and Barbara Augsburger (1861 - 1917)
Jacob Roth (1863 - 1939) and Rosina Ringenberger (1872 - 1938)
Louisa Roth (1866 - 1940) and Joseph Rich (1861 - 1933)
Katie Roth (1869 - 1942) and Edward Rediger (1870 - 1945)
Daniel K. Roth (1872 - 1968) and Leanna Mosiman (1873 - 1958)
Mary Roth (1875 - 1959) and John Teuscher (1875 - 1935)


Catherine Ropp lent truth to the old adage that the first child usually resembles his or her father. Her stature and general appearance together with her personality and mannerisms gave her a right to say that she was Andrew Ropp's daughter. She was born in a two-room log cabin on December 27, 1835. She was given her Grandmother Catherine Ringenberger Werkler Engel's name. Her childhood home was a very busy place. Her father's farm quickly grew to a size that required them to hire farm laborers to help in the fields and young women to help with the cooking and cleaning. They had frequent company. Grandpa Andréas Ropp and her six Ropp uncles lived nearby and her mother's family close enough to visit occasionally. Because father was the bishop of their church, brethren frequently met in their home.

Catherine was the eldest of seven children. Her sister Elizabeth was born about two months before Catherine's second birthday and her youngest sibling Andrew was born when she was fifteen years old. She began doing chores at an early age - there was always work that needed doing. She attended both a private German school - German was the language in her home and church - and a public school where she learned English. When she married, she had the skills to manage a farm home, cook for family and company, and care for children. She was a capable young woman.

Catherine's first pregnancy ended with a surprise - twin daughters Jacobena and Veronica, who soon responded to the names Bena and Fannie, were born February 14, 1856. They were Andréas and Elizabeth Ropp's first great-grandchildren. Catherine and Daniel had three more daughters - Louisa was born in 1866, Katie in 1869, and Mary in 1875. They also had four sons - Joseph was born in 1858, Amos in 1860, Jacob in 1863, and Daniel in 1872. Catherine died February 27, 1885 at the age of forty-nine. Her four older children were married and living nearby. Her five younger children were still at home - her youngest daughter Mary was ten years old.

From Walter Ropp’s writings:
“At one time this area of the county was called “Roppland” because of the many Ropp families who owned approximately 2000 acres of land in this section. The home of Catherine’s parents was located on the Allentown-Pekin Road, approximately one and one-half miles east of Pekin. The house, a brick structure built in 1832, is still standing with many old-fashioned flowers and an old pine tree surrounding it.

“Grandmother Catharine received her education in a nearby school called “The Railroad School.” It was so named because the railroad ran along beside it. It is also interesting that this building was used for Sunday school and that a cemetery dotted with many pine trees, was located at the rear of the school. for many years this was an important landmark until one day the little school burned to the ground. It was thought that a spark from the train perhaps caused the fire. However, the old pine trees still remain, keeping vigil over those loved ones resting in the cemetery.”

Buried:
Pleasant Grove Mennonite Cemetery

Catherine married Daniel K. Roth on 27 Feb 1855 in Tazewell Co., IL. Daniel (son of Niklaus Roth and Verena (Veronica) Zimmermann) was born on 5 Feb 1833 in GR; died on 10 Feb 1922 in Morton, Tazewell Co., IL; was buried in Tremont, Tazewell Co., IL. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Buried:
Railroad Cemetery

Family/Spouse: Jacob Hochstettler. Jacob was born in 1829; died in 1884. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Ropp. - Joseph W. Ropp was born near Pekin, Ill., Jan 30, 1840; died July 10, 1920, at the old home near Tremont, Ill.; aged 80 y. 5 m. 10 d. 

He united in marriage with Catharine (Ropp) Gerber March 11, 1866. This union was blessed with five sons, four of whom survive him. His beloved companion and the youngest son preceded him to eternity. 

He united with the Mennonite Church in his youth and remained a faithful member until death. 

Funeral at the Pleasant Grove Church July 12 conducted by A. A. Schrock and Simon Litwiller from Matt. 25:34 and 11 Cor. 5:1-15. 

He leaves besides his children, 10 grandchildren, one brother, one sister, and many relatives and friends to mourn his departure.

Buried:
Pleasant Grove Mennonite Cemetery

Joseph married Catharine (Kate) Ropp on 11 Mar 1866. Catharine (daughter of Jacob Ropp and Elizabeth Schlegal) was born on 6 Apr 1843 in Pekin, Tazewell Co., IL; died on 21 May 1907 in Tremont, Tazewell Co., IL; was buried in Tremont, Tazewell Co., IL. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Birth:
FAG gives date as 6 Jul 1842

Died:
FAG gives date as8 Feb 1921

Mary married Joseph Litwiller on 8 May 1862 in Tazewell Co., IL. Joseph (son of Peter Litwiller and Marie Mosiman) was born on 24 Dec 1837 in Hamilton, Butler Co., OH; died on 1 Jun 1902 in Tremont, Tazewell Co., IL. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Buried:
Mount Olivet Memorial Park

Family/Spouse: Anna Staker. Anna (daughter of Nicholas Staker (Steker) and Magdalena Eimer) was born on 16 May 1848 in Butler Co., OH; died on 10 Feb 1919 in Zion, Lake Co., IL; was buried on 13 Feb 1919 in Zion, Lake Co., IL. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Family/Spouse: Mary Albrecht. Mary (daughter of John Albrecht and Marie Ackermann) was born on 10 Apr 1853; died on 31 Jul 1904. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Family/Spouse: Ingeborn Johnson. Ingeborn was born in 1860. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Joseph was a farmer and stock raiser in Tremont Township. He owned 800 acres in Nebraska and 85 acres in Hancock Co., IL. On 10 July 1860, Joseph and Anne were living in Dillon Twp, Woodford Co., next door to Anne’s father and Joseph’s mother.

Buried:
Mt. Hope Cemetery

Joseph married Anna Gingerich on 15 May 1859 in Woodford Co., IL. Anna (daughter of Joseph Gingerich and Magdalena Guerber) was born in 1836 in Butler Co., OH; died in 1926; was buried in Tremont, Tazewell Co., IL. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Jacobina married John Getz on 22 Aug 1863. John was born on 31 Oct 1841; died on 10 Aug 1911. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Family/Spouse: Basile Justin Claudin. Basile was born in 1834; died in 1883. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Founder of Keystone Steel and Wire Company, first begun in Tremont and later moved to Peoria.
http://www.tcghs.org/photo0800.htm--See history and photos
“Keystone Steel & Wire (1889) developed the world's first woven wire fence and has been the nation's leading independent wire manufacturer for over 100 years.” History of Peoria website.

http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~barrone/babbs/nl11.htm
THE SOUTH SIDE CHURCH FOUNDER PETER SOMMER -- FAIRBURY BLADE -- FEB. 20 1920

PETER SOMMER DEAD, FORMERLY RESIDED HERE

THE PEORIA STAR OF TUESDAY CONTAINED A NOTICE OF THE DEATH OF PETER SOMMER, OF THAT CITY, WHO PASSED AWAY AT ST. PETERSBURG, FLA., MONDAY, WHERE HE HAD GONE TO SPEND THE WINTER. HE WAS 75 YEARS OLD. MR. SOMMER RESIDED HERE IN HIS YOUNGER DAYS AND OWNED THE FARM WHERE THE SOUTH CHRISTIAN APOSTOLIC CHURCH NOW STANDS.

THE STAR IN SPEAKING OF HIS DEATH SAYS:

PETER SOMMER, FATHER OF PRESIDENT P. W. SOMMER OF KEYSTONE STEEL AND WIRE CO., WHO, IN A LITTLE WOODEN SHED IN TREMONT, TAZEWELL COUNTY, WOVE THE FIRST WIRE FENCE, NEUCLEUS OF THE GIANT PEORIA INDUSTRY OF TODAY, DIED AT 11 O’CLOCK MONDAY MORNING IN ST. PETERSBURG, FLA., WHERE HE HAD BEEN SPENDING THE COLDER MONTHS AT THE WINTER HOME OF HIS SON. HIS AILMENT WAS ANGINA PECTORIS. HIS AGE WAS 76 YEARS.

PETER SOMMER WAS THE INVENTOR OF THE WIRE FENCE. THIRTY-ONE YEARS AGO HE CONCEIVED THE IDEA OF WEAVING WIRE INTO A "NEW" KING OF FENCE. WITH HIS SONS JOHN AND P. W. HE DESIGNED AND BUILT HIS FIRST WEAVING MACHINE IN A LITTLE FRAME BUILDING STILL STANDING IN THAT VILLAGE. HIS FIRST STRING OF FENCE CREATED A SENSATION AMONG THE FARMERS. THEY SAW IT WAS CHEAP, PRACTICAL AND A GREAT SAVING OF LABOR. THE LITTLE PLANT WAS SOON OUTGROWN AND A LARGER ONE WAS BUILT. THAT WAS __ TURN OUTGROWN AND BESIDES HIS SONS THE INVENTOR WAS EMPLOYING SEVERAL MEN.

IN 1895 WHEN IT BECAME EVIDENT THAT TREMONT COULD NOT SUPPLY FACILITIES FOR MAKING AND SHIPPING FENCING, THE ______ CAME WHEN THE CONSERVATIVE INVENTOR DECIDED TO MOVE TO PEORIA, WHICH HE DID IN 1895, LOCATING ON SOUTH ADAMS STREET. ALTHOUGH THIS PLANT WAS MUCH LARGER, IT, TOO WAS SOON OUTGROWN AND THAN FOLLOWED THE REMOVAL TO THE MANUFACTURING SUBURB OF SOUTH BARTONVILLE.

THE FENCE AND THE MACHINE FOR ITS WEAVING WERE PERFECTED AND THE BRAND WAS MADE "SQUARE DEAL." ADDITION AFTER ADDITION CAME RAPIDLY AND THEN THE STEEL MILLS WITH THEIR THREE OPEN-HEART FURNACES EACH REPRESENTING A MILLION DOLLAR INVESTMENT, THE VAST STRUCTURES OF ROD MILLS, BLOOMING MILLS, SOAKING PITS, ETC., CONNECTED WITH FIVE MILES OF PRIVATE SWITCH TRACKS AND A CANAL A MILE OR MORE LONG FROM THE RIVER. IT IS A FAR CALL FROM THE WOODEN SHED IN TREMONT TO THE STEELDALE OF TODAY, THE CULMINATIONS OF PETER SOMMER’S DREAM. THE KEYSTONE STORY IS AN INDUSTRIAL ROMANCE.

MR. SOMMER HELD THE POSITION OF VICE-PRESIDENT IN THE VAST ENTERPRISE HE FOUNDED, BUT HAD RETIRED FROM ACTIVE MANAGEMENT OF ITS AFFAIRS AND WITH HIS WIFE, DIVIDED HIS TIME BETWEEN THEIR HOME IN COLORADO, IN PEORIA AND IN FLORIDA. MRS. SOMMER WAS WITH HIM AT THE TIME OF HIS DEATH, AS WAS HIS SON, P. W. SOMMER. B. L. SOMMER LEFT FOR FLORIDA YESTERDAY AND JOHN SOMMER TODAY. THE BODY WILL BE BROUGHT TO PEORIA FOR COMMITMENT IN SPRINGDALE CEMETERY.

PETER SOMMER WAS A MAN OF SIMPLE AND KINDLY LIFE. HE WAS A MEMBER OF THE APOSTOLIC CHURCH, A MAN WHOSE SIMPLE WORD WAS HIS BOND, HONORED AND RESPECTED OF ALL. HE WAS BORN IN TAZEWELL COUNTY, NEAR PEKIN, IN 1844, AND WHEN 21 YEARS OF AGE WAS MARRIED HIS BRIDE MISS. MARY BREISACHER. HE FOLLOWED HIS TRADE AS WAGON MAKER IN THE VILLAGE OF MORTON. LATER HE MOVED TO FAIRBURY WHERE HE LIVED ON A FARM UNTIL HE MOVED TO TREMONT.

THE SOMMER FAMILY IN PEORIA, IL.


THE ORIGINAL APOSTOLIC CHURCH HAD A GROWING MEMBERSHIP IN THE LATE 1800'S IN PEORIA, AND THE MEMBERSHIP WAS ENHANCED IN 1900 WHEN PETER SOMMER RELOCATED THE KEYSTONE WIRE COMPANY TO PEORIA. SOMMER AND HIS SONS AND THEIR FAMILIES JOINED THE APOSTOLIC CHURCH ON GREEN STREET AND THE NEWLY CONSTRUCTED FACILITY. CONTINUED GROWTH IN MEMBERSHIP COMBINED WITH SOME INTERNAL DISAGREEMENTS LED THE SOMMER GROUP TO FORM ANOTHER CHURCH INITIALLY CALLED THE SECOND GERMAN APOSTOLIC CHRISTIAN CHURCH. BACKED, IN LARGE PART, BY THE SOMMER MONEY THE NEW CHURCH CONSTRUCTED A FINE NEW CHURCH AT 817 HAMILTON BLVD. A YEAR LATER THE NAME WAS CHANGED TO HAMILTON STREET APOSTOLIC, AND IN 1957 WAS RENAMED SIMPLY THE APOSTOLIC CHRISTIAN CHURCH. THE SITE IS NOW A PARKING LOT FOR THE METHODIST MEDICAL CENTER. THE CHURCH SERVED THE CONGREGATION UNTIL 1874 WHEN THEY BUILT A NEW FACILITY AT THE CURRENT LOCATION. WHILE THERE ARE SEVERAL OTHER APOSTOLIC GROUPS IN PEORIA, THIS AND THE CHURCH ON SHERIDAN ARE THE TWO OLDEST AND LARGEST APOSTOLIC CHRISTIAN CHURCHES IN PEORIA.

THE INTERNAL DISAGREEMENTS MENTIONED ABOVE WAS THE "FIRST SPLIT" OF THE APOSTOLIC CHRISTIAN CHURCH WHICH HAPPENED AROUND 1900 TO 1911.


SOMMER FAMILY GENEALOGY

ANOTHER INTERESTING FACT ABOUT PETER SOMMER IS THAT HIS MOTHER MARY (VERKLER) SOMMER, WAS A SISTER TO THE NORTH SIDE CHURCHES FOUNDING MINISTER JOSEPH VERKLER. THIS IS WHAT POSSIBLY BROUGHT PETER TO THIS AREA, WHERE HE FOLLOWED IN HIS UNCLE JOSEPH’S FOOTSTEP BY STARTING THE SOUTH SIDE CHURCH.


PETER SOMMER 1843 - 1920

(WIFE) MARY (BREISACHER) SOMMER 1846 - 1928

(SON) JOHN SOMMER 1865 - 1928

(SON) PETER W. SOMMER 1869 - 1924

(SON) JOSEPH SOMMER 1877 - 1907

(SON) BENJAMIN L. SOMMER 1880 - 1929

(SON) WILLIAM H. SOMMER ???? - ????

Peter married Anna Mary Margaret Briesacher on 1 Sep 1864. Anna was born on 24 Dec 1846; died on 5 Apr 1928. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Elizabeth married Henry Stamm on 22 Sep 1864. Henry died on 5 Feb 1918. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Joseph married Mary Garber in 1875. Mary (daughter of Emanuel Garber and Frances (Veronica) Sweitzer) was born in 1854; died in 1935. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Jacobine married Nicholas Staker on 7 Mar 1880. Nicholas (son of Nicholas Staker (Steker) and Magdalena Eimer) was born on 24 Nov 1853 in Butler Co., OH; died on 22 Jan 1941 in Tremont, Tazewell Co., IL. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Obit: Gospel Herald Vol XXXIX, No 41 7 Jan 1947

Hieser - Fannie, daughter of the late Daniel and Catherine (Ropp) Roth, was born north of Morton, Ill., Feb. 14, 1856; passed away Dec. 17, 1946; aged 90 y. 10 m. 3 d. On Jan. 28, 1877, she was united in marriage to Joseph S. Hieser. They lived on a farm in Elm Grove Township and later retired and moved to Tremont, Ill. Her husband, 2 daughters (Bena and Ella), 2 granddaughters, one great-granddaughter, 3 sisters (Bena Staker, Louisa Rich, and Kate Rediger), and 2 brothers (Jacob and Amos) preceded her in death. Surviving are 3 children (Albert, Pekin, Ill.; Louisa, of Tremont; and Edward, also of Pekin), 3 brothers (Joseph, of Morton; Daniel, Gibson City, Ill.; and Samuel, also of Morton), 2 sisters (Mary Teuscher, Fisher, Ill.; and Amelia, of Morton), 8 grandchildren, and 10 great-grandchildren. In early youth she accepted Christ as her personal Saviour and united with the Mennonite Church, remaining faithful until death. She was active in church work, being the president of the first organized sewing circle in the Pleasant Grove community. Funeral services were held at the home and at the Morton Mennonite Church, Dec. 20, in charge of J. W. Davis and Leland Bachman. Texts: II Cor. 5:1, Heb. 13:14. Interment was made in the Pleasant Grove Cemetery.

Buried:
Pleasant Grove Mennonite Cemetery

Veronica married Joseph S. Hieser on 28 Jan 1877 in Tazewell Co., IL. Joseph (son of Joseph Hieser and Barbara Schrag) was born on 4 Jan 1854 in Tremont, Tazewell Co., IL; died on 18 Aug 1932 in Tremont, Tazewell Co., IL; was buried in Tremont, Tazewell Co., IL. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Of Morton, IL.

Other Events and Attributes:

• Occupation: Housewife

Notes:

Buried:
Glendale Cemetery

Louisa married Joseph Rich on 26 Apr 1887. Joseph (son of Joseph Rich, Sr. and Catherine E. Zimmerman) was born in 1861; died on 10 Dec 1933. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Buried:
Bluff City Cemetery

Catherine married Edward W. Rediger on 22 Dec 1898 in Fisher, Champaign Co., IL. Edward (son of Christian Rediger and Elizabeth Eigsti) was born on 10 Sep 1877 in Roanoke, Woodford Co., IL; died on 23 Aug 1945 in Elgin, Cook Co., IL; was buried on 27 Aug 1945 in Elgin, Cook Co., IL. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Of Gibson City, IL.

Notes:

Obit:
Teuscher, Mary, daughter of Daniel and Catherine Roth; born Sept. 29, 1875, Morton, Ill.; died of complications due to age on March 28, 1959, at Gibson City, Ill.; aged 83 y. 5 m. 27 d. Married to John Teuscher, who died April 30, 1935. Surviving are 2 sons and 3 daughters (Daniel, Melvin, Mrs. Esther Zehr, Mrs. Fred Oyer, and Mrs. Clara Heiser), 2 brothers and one sister (D. K. Roth, Gibson City, Samuel and Amelia Roth, Morton, Ill.). She was a member of the East Bend Church. Funeral services on April 1 at the Gibson City Bible Church were in charge of J. A. Heiser and Leslie Gamble; interment in the East Bend Cemetery.


Mary Roth married John Teuscher. They farmed on land that Mary's father had purchased near the East Bend Mennonite Church north of Fisher, Illinois. Members of this church included several families that were descendants of Elizabeth Eiman's sisters. (Elizabeth Eiman was Mary's great-grandmother.) Good land and hard work gave them a very successful farming operation. They had seven children: Alma, Lester, Esther, Daniel, Freda, Clara, and Melvin. Alma died in infancy and Lester at the age of seventeen years. After John's death in an accident at the grain elevator in Fisher, Mary and Clara [Freda] moved to Fisher. John died in 1935 at the age of fifty-nine. Mary died in 1959--age eighty-three.

Buried:
East Bend Mennonite Cemetery

Mary married John S. Teuscher on 9 Mar 1897. John (son of Johannes Teuscher and Magdalena Rediger) was born on 4 Dec 1875 in Eureka, Woodford Co., IL; died on 30 Apr 1935 in Fisher, Champaign Co., IL; was buried in Fisher, Champaign Co., IL. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Daniel married Magdalena Birky on 28 Dec 1884. Magdalena (daughter of Andréas Bircky (Birky) and Catherine Litwiller) was born on 2 Apr 1862 in Morton Twp., Tazewell Co., IL; died on 21 Oct 1943 in Fort Wayne, IN. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Notes:

Mary E. Hochstettler married Daniel Birky - her brother Dan's wife's brother. Together Dan and Mary farmed for forty-five years on good land two miles southwest of Morton. They had three children, Clara, Ida and Edwin. After Dan's death in 1927, Mary stayed on the farm. Her son Edwin and his wife lived near Mary. Mary died in 1946 at the age of eighty-two.

Family/Spouse: Daniel Birky. Daniel (son of Andréas Bircky (Birky) and Catherine Litwiller) was born on 16 Dec 1859; died on 21 Mar 1927; was buried in Groveland, Tazewell Co., IL. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Died:
Age 3 y. 6 mo. 28 d.

Buried:
Railroad Cemetery

Notes:

Buried:
Railroad Cemetery

Notes:

Buried:
Railroad Cemetery

Notes:

Obit: Herald of Truth
Ropp, Asa, son of Joseph and Catherine Ropp, was born near Tremont, Ill., April 15, 1870; died at the home of his daughter in Fisher, Ill., June 30, 1959; aged 89 y. 2 m. 15 d. He was married to Mary Sears in Tiskilwa, Ill., on Dec. 27, 1894; she died Feb. 19, 1959. Surviving are one son and one daughter (Reuben, Tremont; and Mrs. Lovina Zehr, Fisher), 3 grandchildren, 3 great-grandchildren, and 2 brothers (Ithiel, Payette, Idaho; and Alvin, Selma, N. C. ). Three brothers preceded him in death. Funeral services at the First Mennonite Church, Morton, Ill. (of which he was a member), were in charge of Kenneth Good and Alton Horst; burial in Pleasant Grove Cemetery.

Notes:

Buried:
Pleasant Grove Mennonite Cemetery

Andrew married Katie R. Schertz on 8 Feb 1887. Katie (daughter of Christian Schertz and Anna Zehr) was born on 14 May 1862 in Metamora, Woodford Co., IL; died on 11 Mar 1931; was buried in Tremont, Tazewell Co., IL. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• USR1: Tuberculosis
• Residence: 24 Feb 1894, Fisher, Champaign Co., IL

Notes:

Recipent of an embroidered coverlet given by freinds and relatives at the time of her marriage. Lived in Fisher from her marriage in 1894 until her death.

Birth:
from Edith Nafziger, her granddaughter

Residence:
Moved to Fisher after her marriage

Died:
from Edith Nafziger, her granddaughter

Buried:
Pleasant Grove Mennonite Cemetery

Elizabeth married John Augsburger on 13 Dec 1893. John (son of Noah Augsburger and Magdalena Schrock) was born on 1 Jan 1868 in Hopedale, Tazewell Co., IL; died on 25 Mar 1917 in Hopedale, Tazewell Co., IL; was buried in Hopedale, Tazewell Co., IL. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Family/Spouse: Daniel Stauffer. Daniel was born in 1884; died in 1951. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Family/Spouse: Daniel Stauffer. Daniel was born in 1884; died in 1951. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Family/Spouse: Allen Miller. Allen was born on 29 Nov 1870; died on 9 Jul 1950. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Buried:
East Bend Mennonite Cemetery