Joseph Peter Staker has written an extensive and thoroughly documented history of 94 Amish Mennonite families who immigrated to Tazewell (and surrounding) Counties from 1830-1856—over 1300 pages with around 1350 source citations. Joe has graciously placed his four-volume book on our website as Adobe Acrobat searchable PDF files which you can download for free!
Last updated November 2019.
Part One of Three: Historical background. 11 families: Ropp, Staker, King, Belsley, Schertz, Engel, Vercler, Roggy, Oyer, Mosiman, and Salzman. 383 footnotes, 280 pages, 3.92 MB.
Part Two of Three: 37 families: Schrock, Gingerich, Farny, Schweizer, Camp, Ruvenacht, Abersoll, Leman, Bachman/Baughman, Gerber/Garber, Beckler, Nafziger, 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. 427 pages, 383 footnotes, 5.55 MB.
Part Three of Three: 46 families: Zehr, Yordy, Esch/Oesch, Ehresman, Hochstettler, Schwarzentraub, Smith, Petersmith, Neuhauser, Zook, Good, Plank, Goldsmith, Rediger, 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. 488 pages, 448 footnotes, 6.25 MB.
Appendix: The Deep Snow of 1830; The Blackhawk War of 1832: The Battle of Stillman’s Run, Surrender, and Chief Shabbona of the Pottowatomi; 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; Freyenberger; Bürcki/Buerge; Steiger; Zwalter; Puzzle of Barbara Eyer; Swiss Legends; Wolber of Königsbach; Albrecht of Bureau County; Rocke; Boshart; Holi/Holli/Holly; Eicher; Kurtz; Fahsbender; Esch of Lancaster County; Stubhar; Pennsylvania Dellenbachs; Peter Stuky; An Anabaptist; and Acknowledgements. 162 pages, 147 footnotes, 3.23 MB.
