Joseph Peter Staker has written an extensive and thoroughly documented history of 94 Amish Mennonite families that settled in Tazewell and Woodford Counties 1830-1856.
His four-volume, 1,454-page book has been placed on our website as Adobe Acrobat searchable PDF files that you can download for free!
Updated in September of 2020.
Part One of Three: Historical background. Eleven families: Ropp, Staker, King, Belsley, Schertz, Engel, Vercler, Roggy, Oyer, Mosiman, and Salzman. 292 pages, 385 footnotes, 4.95 MB.
Part Two of Three: Thirty-seven families: Schrock, Gingerich, Farny, Schweizer, Camp, Ruvenacht, Abersoll, Leman, Bachman/Baughman (Revised), Gerber/Garber, Beckler, Nafziger (Revised), Beck, Donner, Kistler, Kennel, Oswald, Unzicker, Zimmerman, Roth, Miller, Reeser/Risser, Maurer, Litwiller, Sommer, Rich, Ulrich, Brenneman, Eigsti, Birky/Birkey, Sutter, Heiser, Augspurger, Stalter, Steinman, Hauter, and Cender. 475 pages, 405 footnotes, 5.59 MB.
Part Three of Three: Forty-six families: Zehr, Yordy, Oesch/Esch, Ehresman, Hochstettler, Schwarzentraub, Smith, Petersmith, Neuhauser, Zook, Good, Plank, Goldsmith, Rediger (Revised), Kinsinger, Ringenberger, Springer, Dellenbach, Eiman, Schantz, Dettweiler, Gascho, Orendorff, Schlegel, Ernst, Roeschley, Wagler, Wagner, Steider, Klopfenstein, Ramseyer, Householder, Yoder, Lantz, Kauffman, Sharp, Grubb, Beller, Ackerman, Martin, Imhoff, Habecker, Jantzi, Egli, Stucky, and Schlabach. 498 pages, 448 footnotes, 5.67 MB.
Appendix: The Deep Snow of 1830; The Blackhawk War of 1832: The Battle of Stillman’s Run, Surrender, and Chief Shabbona of the Potowatomi; Lawyer Abraham Lincoln on the Eighth Circuit: Engel’s Place at Hanover, The Shields Challenge at Tremont, and The Goings Trial at Metamora; Owen Lovejoy and Abraham Lincoln; David Davis and Abraham Lincoln; Life in Prairie Land; Tazewell County Townships; Military Acquaintances: Reust, Brickler, De Guibert, and Chlopicki; Landes and Landes Mennonite Cemetery; Passenger Lists; The Lewis County, New York Settlement: The De Chaumonts and the Castorland Company, Joseph Bonaparte, Kiefer/Kieffer, and Hirschy/Hirschey; Helvetii; Names; von Diesbach; Laws of Canton Bern; The 1783 Anabaptist Census of Basel; Swiss Legends; Hans Reist; Freyenberger; Bürcki/Buerge; Steiger; Zwalter; The Puzzle of Barbara Eyer; Wolber of Königsbach; Albrecht of Bureau County; Boshart; Holi/Holli/Holly; Eicher; Kurtz; Fahsbender; Esch of Lancaster County; Stubhar; Pennsylvania Dellenbachs; Peter Stuky; Rŭbi/Roby/Ruby; Nebraska John Naffziger; Bender and Putnam County; Conrad (New); Bosiger (New); Paternity; An Anabaptist; and Acknowledgements. 189 pages, 159 footnotes, 3.22 MB.
