Joseph Peter Staker has written an extensive and thoroughly-documented history of ninety-five Amish Mennonite families that settled in Tazewell and Woodford Counties 1830-1856 – 1,410 pages with 1,076 footnotes. His four-volume book has been placed on our website as Adobe Acrobat searchable PDF files that you can download for free!
Completed in April of 2020.
Part One of Three: Historical background. Twelve families: Ropp, Staker, King, Belsley, Schertz, Engel, Vercler, Rocke, Roggy, Oyer, Mosiman, and Salzman. 286 pages, 383 footnotes, 3.59 MB.
Part Two of Three: Thirty-seven 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. 462 pages, 397 footnotes, 5.37 MB.
Part Three of Three: Forty-six families: Zehr, Yordy, Oesch/Esch, 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. 490 pages, 449 footnotes, 5.54 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; Nebraska John Naffziger; 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; Puzzle of Barbara Eyer; Swiss Legends; 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; Paternity; An Anabaptist; and Acknowledgements. 171 pages, 149 footnotes, 3.08 MB.
