Joseph Peter Staker has written an extensive and thoroughly documented history of 102 Amish Mennonite families that settled in Tazewell and Woodford Counties 1830-1856.
His five-volume, 1,520-page book has been placed on our website as Adobe Acrobat searchable PDF files that you can download for free!
Updated in April of 2021.
Part One of Five: Historical background. Belsley, Engel, Mosiman, Oyer, Roggy/Rocke, Ropp, Salzman, Schertz, Staker, and Vercler. 257 pages, 334 footnotes, 4.44 MB.
Part Two of Five: Abersoll, Bachman/Baughman, Beck, Beckler, Camp, Donner, Farny, Gerber/Garber, Gingerich, Kennel, Kistler, Leman, Nafziger, Oswald, Ruvenacht, Schrock, and Schweizer. 233 pages, 184 footnotes, 2.92 MB.
Part Three of Five: Ackerman, Augspurger, Birky/Birkey, Brenneman, Cender, Eigsti, Hauter, Heiser, Ingold (New), Kettner (New), Litwiller, Maurer, Miller, Raeuber (New), Rich, Risser/Reeser, Ritthaler (New), Roth, Schick (Revised), Sommer, Stalter, Steinman, Sutter, Ulrich, Unzicker, and Zimmerman. 264 pages, 4.3MB.
Part Four of Five: Ehresman, Goldsmith, Good, Hochstettler, Kauffman, King, Kinsinger, Lantz, Neuhauser, Oesch/Esch, Petersmith, Plank, Rediger, Ringenberger, Schwarzentraub, Smith, Stutzman, Yordy (Revised), Zehr, and Zook. 272 pages, 275 footnotes, 3.35 MB.
Part Five of Five: Beller, Dellenbach, Dettweiler (Revised), Egli, Eichelberger, Eiman, Ernst, Gascho, Grubb, Habecker, Householder, Imhoff, Jantzi, Klopfenstein, Martin, Moser (New), Orendorff, Ramseyer, Roeschley, Schantz (Revised), Schlabach, Schlegel, Sharp, Springer, Steider, Strubhar (Revised), Stucky, Wagler, Wagner (Revised), and Yoder. 312 pages, 264 footnotes, 3.71 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; Pennsylvania Dellenbachs; Peter Stuky; Rŭbi/Roby/Ruby; Christian Berger (New); Nebraska John Naffziger; Bender and Putnam County; Conrad; Bosiger; Paternity; and An Anabaptist. Acknowledgements. 182 pages, 155 footnotes, 2.99 MB.
