1879 HISTORY OF TAZEWELL COUNTY, ILLINOIS

APOSTOLIC CHRISTIAN CHURCH IS LOCATED IN THE VILLAGE. THE BUILDING IS A GOOD FRAME, ERECTED IN 1869, AND AN ADDITION PUT UP IN 1876. IT IS IN SIZE 58 BY 60, AND COST $3,500. THE CONGREGATION WAS ORGANIZED IN 1853 BY BENEDICT WEYENETH. THE PRESENT MEMBERSHIP IS 150. THIS CHURCH HAS NO SALARIED MINISTERS. GEO. WELK SERVES AS ELDER.

ELDER GEORGE WELK 1829 - 1895

BORN DECEMBER 29, 1829, GERMANY.

PARENTS DANIEL AND JULIANA (HERBOLT) WELK.

MARRIED JOHANNA GETZ.

CHILDREN: KATHERINE, JULIA, ELIZABETH, LYDIA, JOHN, GEORGE.

DIED MARCH 17, 1895, BURIED OLD MORTON CHURCH CEMETERY

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THE FUNERAL OF MRS. WELK

CHURCH IS CROWDED WITH FRIENDS MANY COMING FROM TOWNS AT A DISTANCE

THE FUNERAL HELD SUNDAY AFTERNOON OVER THE REMAINS OF MRS. JOHANNAH WELK AT THE APOSTOLIC CHURCH WAS SO LARGELY ATTENDED THAT EVERY SEAT IN THE SPACIOUS AUDITORIUM WAS FILLED AND THE HALLWAYS WERE CROWDED. IT WAS A TOUCHING AND PROPER MARK OF RESPECT TO HER LONG AND BEAUTIFUL LIFE, THE LAST TWO YEARS OF WHICH HAD BEEN SPENT IN ABSOLUTE HELPLESSNESS; YET ALTHOUGH UNABLE EITHER TO RECLINE OR RAISE HER HEAD, HER PATIENCE AND BEAUTIFUL SUBMISSION TO HER GREAT AFFLICTION WAS RARELY BEAUTIFUL AND A LESSEN TO THE MANY FRIENDS WHO WERE CONTINUALLY DRAWN TO HER CHAIR. THE DEVOTION OF HER CHILDREN , HER BROTHER AND THE SON-IN-LAW IN WHOSE HOME SHE LIVED WAS A SUBJECT OF GENERAL COMMENT, EVERY POSSIBLE ATTENTION HAVING BEEN GIVEN TO BRIGHTEN HER AFFLICTION.

AFTER A SHORT SERVICES AT THE HOME IN THE PRESENCE OF MANY RELATIVES THE REMAINS WERE TAKEN TO THE CHURCH WHERE THE FUNERAL DISCOURSE WAS BY REV. ALPHEUS VIRKLER, OF BREMEN, N. Y., WHO IS WELL KNOWN TO MANY OF OUR PEOPLE, WHO GREATLY ENJOY HIS DISCOURSES. THE TEXT WAS FROM 1ST CORINTHIANS 15:10. THE CLOSING PRAYER WAS BY REV. GOTTLIEB HOHULIN, OF GOODFIELD.

THE PROCESSION TO THE CEMETERY WAS FULLY A MILE IN LENGTH. A LARGE PROPORTION OF THOSE PRESENT CAME FROM OTHER PLACES, INCLUDING THE VICINITY OF TREMONT, PRINCEVILLE, GRIDLEY, DEER CREEK, EUREKA, GOODFIELD, ROANOKE, CISSNA PARK, ETC. REV. SCHOMBACH, OF ELGIN, HENRY SCHIFF, OF INDIANA, DANIEL ZEHR, OF WOLCOTT, IND., MR. AND MRS. CHAS. LAYMAN AND MRS. ADOLPH BRUNNER, OF MILFORD, IND., WERE AMONG THOSE PRESENT.

GEORGE WELK 1829 - 1895

(WIFE) JOHANNA (GETZ) WELK 1834 - 1910

(DAUGHTER) KATHERINE (WELK) RAPP 1858 - 1938

(DAUGHTER) JULIA (WELK) RAPP 1859 - 1940

(SON) JOHN WELK 1861 - 1960

(SON) LOUIS WELK 1863 - 1904

(SON) GEORGE WELK 1866 - 1955

(DAUGHTER) ELIZABETH (WELK) ACKERMAN 1871 - 1948

(SON) DANIEL WELK 1872 - 1895

(DAUGHTER) MARY (WELK) STRUNK 1874 - 1931

(DAUGHTER) LYDIA (WELK) KAUFMAN 1877 - 1962

MRS. KATIE RAPP CALLED AWAY TO ETERNITY

FUNERAL SERVICES HELD THIS AFTERNOON FROM APOSTOLIC CHRISTIAN CHURCH

ONCE AGAIN MORTON HAS BEEN SADDENED BY THE DEATH OF ONE OF ITS HONORED CITIZENS, MRS. KATHERINE RAPP, WIDOW OF THE LATE ANDREW RAPP, WHO PASSED AWAY ON MONDAY AFTERNOON AT FOUR O’CLOCK AT HER HOME HERE.

MRS. RAPP HAD BEEN ILL AT HER HOME FOR MORE THAN A YEAR, HAVING SUFFERED A PARALYTIC STROKE. HER CONDITION WAS CONSIDERED GRAVE AT THAT TIME BUT SHE RALLIED SUFFICIENTLY TO BE ABOUT THE HOUSE IN A WHEEL CHAIR. THE PAST SEVERAL MONTHS, HOWEVER, HER CONDITION BECAME GRADUALLY WORSE UNTIL SUNDAY WHEN SHE SUFFERED ANOTHER STROKE, FROM WHICH SHE DID NOT RECOVER. DESPITE THE LOVING CARE AND ATTENTION GIVEN HER BY EVERY MEMBER OF THE FAMILY THROUGHOUT THE MANY MONTHS OF HER ILLNESS, DEATH SEPARATED THEM FROM HER AND RELIEVED HER OF HER SUFFERING.

MRS. RAPP WAS ONE OF MORTON’S MOST HIGHLY RESPECTED HOME-LOVING MOTHERS. WIFE OF THE LATE ANDREW RAPP, FOUNDER OF THE POTTERY INDUSTRY IN MORTON, SHE WAS THE MOTHER OF FIFTEEN CHILDREN, THIRTEEN OF WHOM SURVIVE HER. MRS. RAPP WAS ALWAYS INTERESTED IN MATTERS PERTAINING TO THE SUCCESS AND WELFARE OF HER FAMILY AND ALSO WAS AN INTERESTED AND FAITHFUL MEMBER OF THE APOSTOLIC CHRISTIAN CHURCH THE GREATER PART OF HER LIFE.

KATHERINE WELK RAPP WAS BORN IN BONFIELD, WURTTENBURG, GERMANY, JULY 27, 1858, THE DAUGHTER OF GEORGE AND HANNAH GETZ WELK. SHE PASSED AWAY AT HER HOME IN MORTON ON MONDAY, FEBRUARY 7, AT 4 P. M. AT THE AGE OF 79 YEARS, 6 MONTHS AND 10 DAYS.

MRS. RAPP CAME TO THIS COUNTRY AND LOCATED AT MORTON WHEN SIX MONTHS OLD. SHE LIVED HERE WITH HER PARENTS, ATTENDED THE LOCAL SCHOOLS AND ON DECEMBER 8, 1878, WAS MARRIED TO ANDREW RAPP, WHO PRECEDED HER IN DEATH ON MAY 2, 1911.

TO THIS HAPPY UNION FIFTEEN CHILDREN WERE BORN. SURVIVING ARE MRS. LYDIA PFLEDERER, MRS. KATHERINE PFLEDERER, MRS. LENA ACKERMAN, MISS ANNA, SAMUEL W., WILLIAM, MISS EMMA, HENRY, ANDREW, MISS SALOME, SOLOMON, NATHAN RAPP, ALL MORTON AND DANIEL RAPP, OF MICHIGAN CITY, INDIANA. GEORGE, A SON PRECEDED HER IN DEATH IN NOVEMBER, 1936, AND MARIA, A DAUGHTER PASSED AWAY IN INFANCY. SHE IS ALSO SURVIVED BY TWENTY-FIVE GRANDCHILDREN AND THREE GREAT GRANDCHILDREN. THREE SISTERS AND TWO BROTHERS ALSO SURVIVE. THEY ARE MRS. JULIA RAPP, MRS. ELIZABETH ACKERMAN AND MRS. LYDIA KAUFMAN, ALL OF MORTON; JOHN WELK AND GEORGE WELK, OF MORTON.

THE FUNERAL SERVICES WERE CONDUCTED THIS, THURSDAY, AFTERNOON FROM THE APOSTOLIC CHRISTIAN CHURCH OF MORTON AT 1:30 O’CLOCK. BURIAL WAS IN THE CHURCH CEMETERY. THE CHURCH WAS FILLED TO CAPACITY WITH PERSONS WHO CAME TO PAY LAST RESPECTS TO THIS BELOVED WOMAN. MANY FROM A DISTANCE ALSO ATTENDED THE SERVICES.

LAID TO REST PEACEFULLY IN ETERNAL SLEEP, THE MORTAL REMAINS OF THIS GOOD WOMAN GE BACK TO THE EARTH FROM WHENCE THEY SPRUNG; BUT HER MEMORY AND THE GOOD WORKS OF HER TENDER HANDS WILL LINGER FOREVER IN THE HEARTS OF ALL WHO KNEW HER.

FUNERAL OF MRS. JULIA RAPP HELD TUES. AFTERNOON

DIED AT HER HOME, SAT., AFTER BRIEF ILLNESS

ONCE AGAIN THE COMMUNITY HAS BEEN SADDENED BY THE DEATH OF ONE OF ITS PROMINENT RESIDENTS, MRS. JULIA RAPP, WIDOW OF BARTHOL RAPP, WHO PASSED AWAY AT HER HOME, SATURDAY, MARCH 2, AT FIVE P. M. AT THE AGE OF 80 YEARS AND 6 MONTHS.

SHE HAD BEEN IN EXCELLENT HEALTH UNTIL TUESDAY OF LAST WEEK WHEN SHE BECAME SUDDENLY ILL WITH AN ACUTE KIDNEY AILMENT WHICH WAS ONLY OF A TWO DAY DURATION. DEATH RELIEVED HER OF HER SUFFERING.

JULIA WELK RAPP WAS BORN IN DILLON TOWNSHIP, TAZEWELL COUNTY AUGUST 29, 1859, THE DAUGHTER OF GEORGE AND HANNAH GETZ WELK.

HER MARRIAGE TO BARTHOL RAPP TOOK PLACE IN MORTON, DECEMBER 3, 1882, WHO PRECEDED HER IN DEATH ON JANUARY 22, 1924.

MRS. RAPP IS SURVIVED BY THE FOLLOWING CHILDREN: MISSES HANNAH AND NAOMI, BEN AND CHRIS, ALL OF MORTON; MRS. MARY JONES, PEORIA; ALBERT, SPRINGFIELD AND JOSEPH, HOMEWOOD, ILLINOIS. ONE GRANDDAUGHTER, MARILYN JEAN RAPP, AND THE FOLLOWING SISTERS AND BROTHERS ALSO SURVIVE, MRS. ELIZABETH ACKERMAN, MRS. LYDIA KAUFMAN, AND JOHN WELK, MORTON, GEORGE WELK, OF PEORIA.

THE FUNERAL SERVICES WERE CONDUCTED ON TUESDAY AFTERNOON FROM THE APOSTOLIC CHURCH OF MORTON AT 1:30 O’ CLOCK. BURIAL WAS IN THE CHURCH CEMETERY. THE CHURCH WAS FILLED TO CAPACITY WITH FRIENDS FROM MANY MILES WHO CAME TO PAY LAST RESPECTS TO THIS BELOVED WOMAN WHOSE CHRISTIAN LIFE WAS AN INSPIRATION TO ALL WHO HAD THE PLEASURE OF HER ACQUAINTANCE. HER MEMORY AND THE GOOD WORKS OF HER TENDER HANDS WILL LINGER FOREVER IN THE HEARTS OF ALL WHO KNEW HER.

HER BODY WAS BORNE TO ITS FINAL RESTING PLACE BY SIX OF HER NEPHEWS, INCLUDING, SOLOMON RAPP, JOHN WELK, JR., HENRY WELK, SAMUEL ACKERMAN, GEORGE STRUNK AND ELMER KAUFMAN.

THE REV. GEORGE YERGLER, OF LACROSSE, INDIANA, REV. NOAH SCHROCK, OF OAKVILLE, IOWA AND REV. HENRY BEER, OF MILFORD, INDIANA, WERE THE OFFICIATING MINISTERS.

SERVICES HELD FOR JOHN WELK; OLDEST RESIDENT

FUNERAL SERVICES WERE HELD TUESDAY FOR MORTON’S OLDEST RESIDENT, MR. JOHN WELK, 99, WHO DIED AT HIS HOME, 512 N. MAIN AT 4:40 A. M. SUNDAY, FEB. 28.

1:00 P. M. SERVICES WERE HELD AT LUDWIG MORTUARY AND 1:30 SERVICES WERE HELD AT MORTON APOSTOLIC CHRISTIAN CHURCH. BURIAL WAS IN THE APOSTOLIC CHRISTIAN CHURCH CEMETERY IN MORTON.

MRS. JOHN MITCHELL WAS ORGANIST FOR THE FUNERAL SERVICES AND PALL BEARERS WERE JOHN W. BELSLEY, GENE MILLER, JOHN WELK, WILLIAM G. WELK, CLIFFORD WELK AND JOHN RIGGENBACH.

MR. WELK WAS A LIFE-LONG RESIDENT OF THE MORTON AREA, HAVING RETIRED FROM FARMING IN 1927.

HE MOVED AT THE AGE OF 12 WITH HIS PARENTS TO A FARM TWO MILES EAST OF MORTON, AND FARMED IT HIMSELF AFTER GROWING TO MANHOOD. FOR A PERIOD OF YEARS HE FARMED ON THE FAMILY PLACE NOW OWNED BY JOHN BELSLEY, BUT LATER PURCHASED AND RE-MOVED TO THE "HOME PLACE". HE FARMED THERE UNTIL MOVING INTO TOWN UPON HIS RETIREMENT.

BORN IN DILLON TOWNSHIP ON JAN. 9, 1861, MR. WELK WAS THE SON OF GEORGE AND HANNAH GETZ WELK. HE MARRIED LENA HIRSTEIN IN MORTON ON JAN. 14, 1883. SHE DIED IN 1942.

MR. WELK HAS BEEN A TRUSTEE OF THE MORTON GRADE SCHOOL BOARD. HE WAS A MEMBER OF THE MORTON APOSTOLIC CHRISTIAN CHURCH.

SURVIVING ARE FOUR DAUGHTERS AND ONE SON: MISS HANNA WELK, MISS LYDIA WELK, MRS. JACK STIEGLITZ, MRS. CHRIS BELSLEY AND WILLIAM WELK, ALL OF MORTON. ONE SISTER, MRS. MRS. LYDIA KAUFMAN, ALSO SURVIVES. TWO SONS, ONE DAUGHTER, THREE BROTHERS AND FOUR SISTERS PRECEDED MR. WELK IN DEATH.

SERVICES HELD SUN. FOR GEORGE WELK FORMER MORTONITE

FUNERAL SERVICES WERE HELD SUNDAY, SEPT. 18 FOR GEORGE WELK, 89, 408 PEORIA AVE., PEORIA, WHO FORMERLY RESIDED IN MORTON. SERVICES WERE HELD AT 11:30 AT HIS RESIDENCE IN PEORIA AND AT 12:30 AT THE MORTON APOSTOLIC CHURCH.

THE APOSTOLIC MINISTERS FROM PEORIA AND MORTON OFFICIATED AT THE SERVICES. PALLBEARERS WERE ROY SCHROCK, MELVIN SCHRICK, EDWIN RINGGER, RAYMOND RINGGER, DAN, ELMER, WILBUR AND ROY WELK.

MR. WELK WAS BORN IN DILLON TOWNSHIP SEPT. 28, 1866, THE SON OF GEORGE AND HANNAH GETZ WELK. HE WAS MARRIED TO BENA KAUFMAN IN MORTON MARCH 11, 1888.

SURVIVING ARE HIS WIFE AT HOME; SIX DAUGHTERS, MISS SARAH WELK, MRS. VIOLA TRIPLETT, MISS ESTHER WELK AND MISS CLARA WELK, ALL AT THE HOME ADDRESS; MRS. BERNARD RINGGER, GRIDLEY; MRS. JESSE SCHROCK , CONGERVILLE; TWO SONS, ALPHA, WASHINGTON; DAN, PEORIA; A BROTHER, JOHN AND A SISTER, MRS. JOHN KAUFMAN, BOTH OF MORTON. HE IS ALSO SURVIVED BY 20 GRANDCHILDREN AND 28 GREAT GRANDCHILDREN.

HE WAS THE OWNER OF THE UNITED FEED AND POULTRY CO. IN PEORIA, RETIRING FROM THE BUSINESS YEARS AGO.

FUNERAL SERVICES WILL BE HELD AT APOSTOLIC CHRISTIAN CHURCH FRIDAY

MRS. J. C. ACKERMAN PASSED AWAY AT HER HOME, 524 N. MAIN STREET ON TUESDAY AFTERNOON AT 2:50 O’CLOCK AT THE AGE OF 77 YEARS, SIX MONTHS AND 25 DAYS.

SHE WAS BORN IN DILLON TOWNSHIP ON JANUARY 29, 1871, A DAUGHTER OF GEORGE AND HANNAH GETZ WELK. SHE WAS UNITED IN MARRIAGE WITH J. C. ACKERMAN ON JANUARY 21, 1894 AT MORTON.

SURVIVING HER ARE THE HUSBAND; THREE SONS, DR. JOS. ACKERMAN, OF ELMHURST; GEORGE AND SAM W., OF MORTON; FIVE DAUGHTERS, MRS. MARY JACOBS, MISSES HANNAH, LYDIA, ANN AND ELIZA, ALL OF MORTON; 11 GRANDCHILDREN; TWO BROTHERS, GEORGE WELK, OF PEORIA; JOHN WELK. OF MORTON, AND ONE SISTER, MRS. JOHN KAUFMAN, OF MORTON. ONE GRANDSON PRECEDED HER IN DEATH.

MRS. ACKERMAN LIVED IN ILLINOIS ALL HER LIFE. SHE WAS A MEMBER OF THE MORTON APOSTOLIC CHRISTIAN CHURCH.

FRIENDS MAY CALL AT THE RESIDENCE AFTER 3 P. M. WEDNESDAY.

FUNERAL SERVICES WILL BE HELD AT 12:45 P. M. FRIDAY AT THE RESIDENCE AND AT 1:30 P. M. AT MORTON APOSTOLIC CHRISTIAN CHURCH. BURIAL WILL BE IN THE MORTON CEMETERY.

LIFELONG RESIDENT HERE DIES

MRS. JOHN STRUNK DIED LAST SATURDAY AFTERNOON

MRS. JOHN STRUNK, A RESIDENT OF MORTON TOWNSHIP FOR ALL HER LIFE, PASSED AWAY SATURDAY AFTERNOON AT 1:00 O’ CLOCK AT HER HOME NEAR MORTON. SHE HAD BEEN FAILING IN HEALTH FOR OVER A YEAR, AND HAD BEEN SERIOUSLY ILL FOR TWO WEEKS.

MARY WELK WAS BORN IN MORTON TOWNSHIP SEPT. 23, 1874, THE DAUGHTER OF MR. AND MRS. GEORGE WELK. ON OCTOBER 6, 1901, SHE WAS UNITED IN MARRIAGE WITH JOHN STRUNK.

SHE IS SURVIVED BY HER HUSBAND, AND THE FOLLOWING CHILDREN: GEORGE, HANNAH, MRS. KATHRYN OEKEL, FLORENCE, WILLIAM, HILDA, RUTH AND ALVIN, ALL OF MORTON; ONE GRANDCHILDREN; TWO BROTHERS, JOHN WELK, OF MORTON AND GEORGE WELK, OF PEORIA; FOUR SISTERS, MRS. KATE RAPP, MRS. JULIA RAPP, MRS. J. C. ACKERMAN AND MRS. J. J. KAUFMAN, ALL OF MORTON.

FUNERAL SERVICES WHICH WERE VERY LARGELY ATTENDED, WERE HELD FROM THE HOUSE NEAR MORTON MONDAY AFTERNOON AT 1:00, AND AT 1:30 AT THE APOSTOLIC CHRISTIAN CHURCH, WITH REV. NOAH SCHROCK, OF OAKVILLE, OFFICIATING. BURIAL WAS IN THE CHURCH CEMETERY.

MRS. LYDIA KAUFMAN

MRS. LYDIA KAUFMAN, 85, OF 107 MOSIMAN, DIED AT 6:45 P. M. SUNDAY, AT HER HOME.

HER FUNERAL WAS AT 9:30 A. M. WEDNESDAY AT LUDWIG MORTUARY AND 10 A. M. AT THE MORTON APOSTOLIC CHRISTIAN CHURCH. BURIAL WAS IN THE CHURCH CEMETERY.

SHE WAS THE LAST LIVING MEMBER OF HER FAMILY, HAVING BEEN IN FAILING HEALTH THE PAST THREE YEARS.

SHE WAS BORN AT MORTON, MAR. 14, 1877, A DAUGHTER OF GEORGE AND ANNA GETZ WELK. SHE WAS MARRIED TO JOHN KAUFMAN IN MORTON, MAR. 24, 1901.

SURVIVING ARE HER HUSBAND; FOUR SONS, ELMER W., SAN DIEGO, CAL., PHILIP G., EAST PEORIA; EDWARD W., AND BENJAMIN W., BOTH OF MORTON; TWO DAUGHTERS, MRS. JOHN FRANK, MORTON, MRS. VERNON KAISER, MORTON; 19 GRANDCHILDREN; 11 GREAT GRANDCHILDREN. A SON, SIX BROTHERS AND FIVE SISTERS PRECEDED HER IN DEATH.

PALLBEARERS WERE: DONALD, GERALD AND JACK KAUFMAN AND GARY KAISER, WILLIAM DALLINGER, AND KENNETH STREEB. THE CHURCH CHORUS SANG AND MRS. A. J. RASSI WAS ORGANIST.

1880 PLEASANT RIDGE TWP. CENSUS

91/91 CHRISTIAN RAPP, HEAD, (AGE) 58, (BORN) BADEN, (JOB) FARMER

MARY RAPP, WIFE, (AGE) 59, (BORN) BADEN

CHRISTIAN RAPP, SON, (AGE) 23, (BORN) BADEN

JOHN RAPP, SON, (AGE) 20, (BORN) BADEN

CARRY RAPP, DAUGHTER, (AGE) 18, (BORN) BADEN

CHRIST RAPP 1823 - 1891

(WIFE) MARIA (WEISSER) RAPP 1821 - 1881

(DAUGHTER) KATHARINA (RAPP) VOELPEL 1850 - 1910

(SON) ANDREW RAPP 1852 - 1911

(SON) BARTHOL RAPP 1855 - 1924

(SON) CHRIS RAPP 1858 - 1928

(DAUGHTER) MARY (RAPP) HAAB 1858 - 1933

(SON) JOHN RAPP 1859 - 1918

(SON) SAMUEL RAPP 1860 - 1942

(DAUGHTER) CAROLINE "CARRIE" (RAPP) METZ 1862 - 1942

(SON) MATHEW RAPP 1863 - 1938

DEATH OF MRS. VOELPEL

WAS ILL FOR ABOUT THREE WEEKS AT THE HOME IN MORTON.

THE NUMEROUS FRIENDS OF MRS. WILLIAM VOELPEL WERE GRIEVED THIS WEEK TO LEARN OF HER DEATH WHICH OCCURRED ON SUNDAY AFTERNOON AT THE HOME IN THIS VILLAGE. MRS. VOELPEL HAD BEEN ILL WITH DROPSY FOR ABOUT THREE WEEKS, BUT IT WAS NOT UNTIL A WEEK AGO THAT HER CONDITION WAS THOUGH TO BE DANGEROUS.

CATHARINE RAPP, THE DAUGHTER OF CHRISTIAN AND MARY RAPP WAS BORN IN AUGUST, 1850, IN THE VILLAGE OF BURGBERG, BADEN, GERMANY, AND CAME TO AMERICA WITH HER PARENTS IN 1875, THEY LANDING AT NEW YORK AND COMING OUT TO FORREST, ILL.

AT FORREST, SHE WAS MARRIED TO JACOB SCHLEGEL. OF THEIR FOUR CHILDREN TWO BOYS DIED WHEN QUITE YOUNG. THE TWO CHILDREN WHO SURVIVE ARE MISS MARY SCHLEGEL AND MRS. CARRIE STEINER, WIFE OF JOHN STEINER, THE FORMER OF MORTON AND THE LATTER LIVING NEAR TOWN. MR. SCHLEGEL DIED SEPTEMBER 15, 1884.

SHE WAS MARRIED TO WILLIAM VOELPEL OF MORTON IN 1894, WHO LIVES TO MOURN THE LOSS OF AN EXCELLENT HELPMATE AND COMPANION.

MRS. VOELPEL LEAVES ALSO TWO SISTERS AND SIX BROTHERS TO CHERISH HER MEMORY: MRS. MARY HAAB, WIFE OF HENRY HAAB, OF FORREST; MRS. CARRIE METZ, WIFE OF SAMUEL METZ, OF FORREST. THE SIX BROTHERS ALL LIVE HERE AND ARE WELL KNOWN AND PROMINENT IN BUSINESS: ANDREW, BARTHOL, CHRISTIAN, JOHN, SAMUEL AND MATTHEW RAPP.

MRS. VOELPEL WAS HIGHLY RESPECTED AND WARMLY LOVED BY A WIDE CIRCLE OF FRIENDS WHO ARE DEEPLY PAINED AT PARTING FROM HER. SHE WILL BE MISSED IN HER CHURCH WHERE SHE WAS A CONSCIENTIOUS AND EARNEST WORKER FOR THE MASTER, AND WHERE HER MEMORY WILL BE CHERISHED BY ALL WHO KNEW HER.

THE CHURCH WAS FILLED WITH FRIENDS FROM THE TOWN AND TOWNSHIP, FROM PEORIA, TREMONT, ROANOKE, EUREKA, FORREST AND OTHER TOWNS HEREABOUTS.

REV. SAUDER, OF INDIANA, DELIVERED THE SERMON.

DEATH OF ANDREW RAPP

ONE OF THE PROPRIETORS OF THE MORTON POTTERY DIES LAST NIGHT

AT HIS HOME IN MORTON ANDREW RAPP DIED AT 10:15 O’CLOCK LAST NIGHT AFTER AN ILLNESS OF THREE MONTHS.

HE WAS A NATIVE OF GERMANY AND COMING TO THE UNITED STATES WHEN A YOUTH SETTLED IN MORTON AND FOR THE PAST TWENTY-FIVE YEARS HAD BEEN ENGAGED WITH HIS BROTHERS IN THE POTTERY BUSINESS THERE UNDER THE FIRM NAME AND STYLE OF RAPP BROS., AND HAD ALSO FOR A NUMBER OF YEARS BEEN AN ELDER IN THE CHRISTIAN APOSTOLIC, OR AMISH CHURCH. HE WAS WIDELY KNOWN AND HIGHLY RESPECTED THROUGHOUT THIS SECTION OF THE STATE AND HIS MANY FRIENDS WILL REGRET TO LEARN OF HIS DEATH.

AT THE TIME OF HIS DEATH MR. RAPP WAS 58 YEARS OF AGE. HE IS SURVIVED BY HIS WIFE AND THIRTEEN CHILDREN. FUNERAL SERVICES WILL BE HELD FRIDAY AFTERNOON AT THE CHRISTIAN APOSTOLIC CHURCH AT MORTON BEGINNING AT 1 O’CLOCK.

BARTHOL RAPP IS DEAD; BURIAL TO BE HELD SUNDAY

IN THE PASSING OF BARTHOL RAPP, WHICH OCCURRED AT 4:00 O'CLOCK WEDNESDAY MORNING, MORTON LOSES A MAN WHO HAS BEEN ONE OF ITS LEADING CITIZENS FOR A LONG PERIOD OF YEARS, AND WHO HAS DONE A GREAT DEAL IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE INDUSTRIAL AND RELIGIOUS LIFE OF THE COMMUNITY.

A MATTER OF A YEAR AND A HALF AGO HIS HEALTH BEGAN TO FAIL HIM AND AN OPERATION WAS FOUND NECESSARY AND IT WAS PERFORMED. IT DID NOT, HOWEVER, MATERIALLY IMPROVE HIS CONDITION AND FOR THE PAST YEAR HE HAS BEEN BEDFAST MUCH OF THE TIME. HIS VITALITY WAS WONDERFUL AND HE CONTINUED TO HANG ON TO THE TINY STRAND OF LIFE WHEN IF SEEMED HE COULD NOT POSSIBLY LIVE ANOTHER HOUR AND LIFE WAS PROLONGED SEVERAL WEEKS.

HE WAS BORN AUGUST 15, 1855, AT BURGBERG, BADEN, GERMANY. HE CAME TO AMERICA WITH HIS BROTHER CHRISTIAN. ON THEIR WAY OVER THE ATLANTIC THEY NEARLY LOST THEIR LIVES FOR THE VESSEL ON WHICH THEY CAME OVER BECAME DISABLED AND FINALLY SANK IN MID-OCEAN. THE PASSENGERS, HOWEVER, WERE SAVED BY ANOTHER SHIP WHICH TOOK THEM TO THEIR DESTINATION.

MR. RAPP WENT TO FORREST, ILL., ON HIS ARRIVAL IN THIS COUNTY AND REMAINED THERE THREE YEARS WHEN HE AND HIS BROTHER ANDREW, NOW DECEASED, CAME TO MORTON WHERE THEY ESTABLISHED A BRICK MAKING BUSINESS WHICH LATER BECAME THE GREAT INDUSTRY KNOWN THROUGHOUT THE COUNTRY AS RAPP BROTHERS. THIS WAS THE FIRST INDUSTRY OF IMPORTANCE TO OPERATE IN MORTON AND IS AN INDUSTRY WHICH MAY ALWAYS HE ASSOCIATED WITH THE BUSINESS LIFE OF OUR CITY, A FACT FOR WHICH THE COMMUNITY SHOULD FEEL A CERTAIN AMOUNT OF APPRECIATION TO THE RAPP FAMILY.

IT WAS ON DECEMBER 3, 1883, THAT MR. RAPP WAS MARRIED TO MISS JULIA WELK AND TO THIS UNION SEVEN CHILDREN WERE BORN, ALL OF WHOM SURVIVE, AS FOLLOWS: MISSES HANNAH, MARY AND NAOMI AND MESSRS. CHRISTIAN, JOSEPH AND BENJAMIN, OF MORTON AND ALBERT OF PEORIA. ONE GRANDCHILD ALSO SURVIVES AND THREE BROTHERS, SAMUEL, CHRISTIAN AND MATHEW AND TWO SISTERS, MRS. MARY HAAB AND MRS. CAROLINE METZ OF FORREST, ILL.

EARLY IN LIFE HE BECAME A FAITHFUL AND DEVOTED MEMBER OF THE APOSTOLIC CHRISTIAN CHURCH AND SPENT MANY YEARS IN EXPOUNDING THE GOSPEL, THROUGHOUT THIS TIME MAKING FRIENDS AND ACQUAINTANCES OVER THE WHOLE COUNTRY AND EUROPE. FOLLOWING THE DEATH OF HID BROTHER ANDREW, 12 YEARS AGO, HE BECAME ELDER OF THE CHURCH.

WORD OF HIS DEATH HAS BEEN SENT AROUND THE COUNTRY AND IT IS PROPROBABLE THAT THE FUNERAL WILL BE ONE OF THE LARGEST EVER HELD IN MORTON. THE SERVICES WILL BE HELD FROM THE APOSTOLIC CHRISTIAN NEXT SUNDAY AT 12 O'CLOCK NOON AND INTERMENT WILL BE IN THE CEMETERY SOUTH OF TOWN.

THE SYMPATHY FOR THE COMMUNITY GOES OUT TO MRS. RAPP AND THE FAMILY IN THIS THEIR HOUR OF TRAIL.

_______________

FUNERAL RITES FOR TWO, APOSTOLIC CHURCH

THE APOSTOLIC CHURCH FROM WHICH THE FUNERAL SERVICES WERE HELD FOR THE REV. BARTHOL RAPP AND MISS ANNA STAKER ON SUNDAY AFTERNOON, WAS PACKED TO CAPACITY, EVEN THE STANDING ROOM TO THE DOORS HAVING BEEN TAKEN. IT WAS PERHAPS THE LARGEST CROWD WHICH HAD ASSEMBLED AT THAT CHURCH AT ONE TIME FOR MANY YEARS AND IS CONSIDERED THE LARGEST ASSEMBLED TO PAY TRIBUTE TO DECEASED ONES HELD IN THIS SECTION OF THE COUNTY.

NUMEROUS OUT-OF-TOWN MINISTERS WERE IN ATTENDANCE UPON THE FUNERALS. THE REV .PLATTNER OF KANSAS DELIVERED THE SERMON IN GERMAN. REV. ERNEST GRAF OF AKRON, OHIO, DELIVERED A VERY ABLE DISCOURSE IN ENGLISH, CHOOSING AS HIS TEXT, THE 23ND PSALM.

TRIBUTE TO RAPP

REV. BARTHOL RAPP HAS BEEN THE LEADER OF THE APOSTOLIC FOLLOWERS FOR MANY YEARS AND ENJOYED AN UNUSUALLY LARGE ACQUAINTANCE OF BOTH HIS CHURCH PEOPLE AND PEOPLE OF OTHER FAITHS. WITH HIS PASSING THE CHURCH LOSES ONE OF THE MOST ABLE OF LEADERS. FOR 12 YEARS HE HAS BEEN A TIRELESS WORKER FOR THE CHURCH AND HIS PEOPLE, GIVING THE BEST THAT WAS IN HIM AT ALL TIMES TO THE PERPETUATION OF ITS IDEALS.

IT WILL BE REMEMBERED THAT WHEN THE YOUNGER MEN OF THAT FAITH WERE CALLED TO SERVE IN THE ARMY, THAT REV. RAPP VISITED ALMOST EVERY TRAINING CAMP AND HELD SERVICES WITH THE MEMBERS AND FRIENDS OF THE CHURCH.

PEOPLE CAME GREAT DISTANCES TO PAY TRIBUTE TO THE DECEASED LEADER, REALIZING THAT THE PLACE LEFT VACANT BY HIS PASSING IS ONE WHICH CANNOT SOON BE FILLED.

CHRIS RAPP, SR. PASSES AWAY AT AGE OF 71 YEARS

CHRIS RAPP, WELL KNOWN AND HIGHLY RESPECTED CITIZEN OF MORTON, DIED AT HIS HOME ON LAST FRIDAY AFTERNOON.

MR. RAPP WAS BORN IN BADEN, GERMANY ON MARCH 10, 1857. HE CAME TO THIS COUNTRY WHEN HE WAS ABOUT 16 YEARS OF AGE AND WORKED AROUND FAIRBURY FOR TWO YEARS, WHEN HE CAME TO MORTON WHERE HE HAS RESIDED THE REMAINING YEARS OF HIS LIFE.

IN 1891 HE WAS UNITED IN MARRIAGE TO MARY HUETTE WHO PRECEDED HIM IN DEATH SOME THREE AND ONE HALF YEARS AGO. A DAUGHTER, BERTHA, ALSO PRECEDED HIM IN DEATH NINE YEARS AGO.

MR. RAPP, WITH HIS BROTHER SAMUEL, WAS IN BUSINESS AT THE MORTON BRICK AND TILE CO. FOR ABOUT 55 YEARS AND UNTIL ABOUT 5 WEEKS AGO WAS AT HIS WORK EVERY DAY. ALSO FOR THE LAST 38 YEARS HE HAS BEEN THE JANITOR OF THE APOSTOLIC CHRISTIAN CHURCH OF WHICH HE WAS A FAITHFUL MEMBER.

MR. RAPP WILL BE GREATLY MISSED BY HIS INNUMERABLE FRIENDS NOT ONLY IN ILLINOIS BUT IN NEIGHBORING STATES AS WELL.

THE FOLLOWING DAUGHTERS SURVIVE: IDA, SARA, LAH, DELLA AND MRS. MINNIE WALDBESER. TWO GRANDCHILDREN, ELMORE AND EVELYN MAE WALDBESER; TWO BROTHERS, SAMUEL AND MATHEW, OF MORTON AND TWO SISTERS, MRS. HENRY HAAB AND MRS. SAM METZ, OF FORREST.

FUNERAL SERVICES WERE HELD AT THE APOSTOLIC CHRISTIAN CHURCH ON MONDAY AND BURIAL WAS MADE IN THE CHURCH CEMETERY. REV, STAVANAC, OF MANSFIELD, OHIO DELIVERED THE SERMON IN GERMAN AND REV. DOMNICK, OF OKLAHOMA, IN ENGLISH.

MRS. MARY HAAB DIES NEAR FORREST

MRS. MARY HAAB, MOTHER OF SAM HAAB AND E. B. SPENCER, OF THIS CITY AND WIDOW OF THE LATE HENRY HAAB, PASSED AWAY AT THE FAMILY HOME THREE MILES NORTH AND A MILE AND A QUARTER WEST OF FORREST, SHORLY BEFORE MIDNIGHT ON SUNDAY. MRS. HAAB, WHO WAS AGED 75 YEARS, 7 MONTHS AND 23 DAYS, HAD BEEN ILL FOR THE PAST FIVE YEARS.

MARY RAPP, DAUGHTER OF CHRISTIAN AND MARY WEISSER RAPP, WAS BORN AT SCHWARTZWALD, GERMANY, APRIL 3, 1858. THE FIRST 17 YEARS OF HER LIFE WERE SPENT IN HER NATIVE LAND. HER FAMILY THEN CAME TO AMERICA, AND SINCE THAT TIME SHE HAD RESIDED IN THE VICINITY OF FORREST. HERE SHE WAS UNITED IN MARRIAGE TO HENRY HAAB, WHO PRECEDED HER IN DEATH APRIL 7.

THE FOLLOWING CHILDREN SURVIVE: LYDIA H. ARMBRUSTER, OF SYRACUSE, IND.; MRS. MARY EBACH, WILL, CHRIS, MRS. MARTHA METZ, MRS. CARRIE MOSER AND EDWARD HAAB, OF FORREST; MRS. KATE SPENCER AND SAM HAAB, OF THIS CITY. THERE ALSO SURVIVE 31 GRANDCHILDREN AND TWO GREAT-GRANDCHILDREN, AND THE FOLLOWING BROTHERS AND SISTERS: SAM AND MATTHEW RAPP, OF MORTON, AND MRS. CARRIE METZ, OF FORREST.

MRS. RAPP WAS A MEMBER OF THE APOSTOLIC CHRISTIAN CHURCH, AND THE FUNERAL SERVICES WERE HELD THERE WEDNESDAY MORNING THE REV. EDWARD YODER, OF MORTON, OFFICIATING, ASSISTED BY THE REV. SCHUMAKER, OF EUREKA. INTERMENT WAS IN THE NORTH CEMETERY.

JOHN RAPP PASSED ON TO HIS REWARD

GOES TO ETERNAL HOME ON WEDNESDAY EVENING

SATURDAY EVENING AT 9:15 THE ANGEL OF DEATH ENTERED OUR MIDST AND CLAIMED AS ITS VICTIM, JOHN RAPP, A HIGHLY ESTEEMED RESIDENT OF MORTON. HE HAD BEEN FAILING IN HEALTH FOR THE PAST THREE MONTHS AND HAS BEEN CONFINED TO HIS BED FOR FIVE WEEKS, SUFFERING WITH DROPSEY AND HEART TROUBLE.

HE WAS THE SON OF CHRIS AND MARY RAPP AND WAS BORN IN GERMANY JULY 14, 1859. HE CAME TO AMERICA AT THE AGE OF 14 YEARS AND SETTLED WITH HIS PARENTS NEAR FAIRBURY, ILL., ON A FARM. IN 1876 HE CAME TO MORTON AND WITH HIS BROTHERS CONDUCTED THE RAPP BROS. POTTERY AND TILE WORKS. SEVERAL YEARS AGO HE BOUGHT THE TILE WORKS, WHICH HE OPERATED UNTIL HIS FAILING HEALTH COMPELLED HIM TO GIVE UP ACTIVE WORK.

HE WAS MARRIED IN 1888 TO MISS SOPHIA SLAGEL AT FAIRBURY, ILL., WHO WITH THE FOLLOWING CHILDREN SURVIVE HIM: E. B. RAPP, OF SPRING LAKE, MRS. PAUL RUDD, OF DECATUR; WILLIAM AND JOHN WITH THE AMERICAN ARMY IN FRANCE, MARTHA, ANNA, PHILLIP, AARON, GEORGE AND LEONA AY HOME. HE ALSO LEAVES THE FOLLOWING BROTHERS AND SISTERS: BARTHOL, CHRIS, SAMUEL AND MATTHEW, OF MORTON AND MRS. CARRIE METZ AND MRS. MARY HAAB, OF FAIRBURY AND MRS. KATHERINE VOELPEL AND ANDREW RAPP, WHO PRECEDED HIM IN DEATH SEVERAL YEARS AGO.

HE WAS WELL LIKED BY ALL AND WAS A DEVOTED MEMBER OF THE CHRISTIAN APOSTOLIC CHURCH. HE HAD ALWAYS BEEN A KIND HUSBAND AND A LOVING FATHER. HE REALIZED THAT DEATH WAS NEAR AND WAS READY TO ANSWER THE FINAL CALL.

THE FUNERAL WHICH WAS HELD TUESDAY AFTERNOON, WAS VERY LARGELY ATTENDED BY RELATIVES FROM FAIRBURY, ROANOKE, INDIANA AND OTHER PLACES. INTERMENT WAS AT THE CEMETERY IN TOWN.

REV. SAMUEL RAPP, MORTON, HEAD OF POTTERY FIRM, DIES

THE REV. SAMUEL RAPP, 81, LAST OF SIX BROTHERS WHO FOUNDED ONE OF THE LARGEST BUSINESSES IN MORTON, THE MANUFACTURE OF POTTERY AND TILE, DIED AT HIS HOME, 213 S. THIRD STREET, AT 5:35 A. M. TODAY FOLLOWING AN EXTENDED ILLNESS CAUSED BY HEART DISEASE.

REV. RAPP, ONE OF MORTON’S MOST PROMINENT BUSINESS AND CHURCHMEN, WAS BORN IN BLACK FOREST, VURBERG, GERMANY, DEC. 7, 1860, A SON OF CHRISTIAN AND MARY WEISSER RAPP.

COMING TO THE UNITED STATES IN 1875, HE SETTLED NEAR FORREST, ILL., WHERE HE TOOK UP FARMING, LATER MOVING TO MORTON WHERE HE JOINED IN THE POTTERY ENTERPRISE FOUNDED IN 1877 BY TWO OF HIS BROTHERS, ANDREW AND BARTHOL, AS HEAD OF THE GLAZING AND FIRING DEPARTMENTS.

BLEND CLAY AND COAL

THE TILE WORKS, WHICH REV. RAPP HAS HEADED FOR MANY YEARS SINCE THE DEATH OF HIS BROTHERS, WAS BEGUN IN A CRUDE WAY DURING MORTON’S BUILDING BOOM WHEN BRICK AND TILE WERE NEEDED FOR CHIMNEYS, HORSE-OPERATED MACHINERY WAS USED IN THE FIRST YEARS OF THE BUSINESS, AND THE MANUFACTURE OF DECORATIVE POTTERY AND ART WARES WAS DEVELOPED SOME TIME AFTER THE ENTERPRISE WAS STARTED, CLAY, BLENDED WITH COAL FROM THE SURROUNDING MINES, FORMED THE FIRST BRICKS KILNED AT THE POTTERY, AND 40 EMPLOYEES ASSISTED IN THE WORK.

ALL BROTHERS IN BUSINESS

THE RAPP BROTHERS, ALL OF WHOM TOOK PART IN THE GROWING POTTERY, WERE THE SONS OF A GERMAN STONE MASON. ANDREW WAS IN CHARGE OF THE OFFICE AND SALES, WHILE BARTHOL WAS HEAD OF THE TILE AND BRICK DIVISION, JOHN CONDUCTED WORK IN THE KILN AND SETTING DIVISIONS, CHRISTIAN SERVED AS FIREMAN AND ENGINEER AND MATTHEW DEVELOPED THE ART AND DESIGN DEPARTMENTS.

DEVELOP COLOR PROCESS

DURING SAMUEL’S YEARS OF WORK WITH HIS BROTHERS, HE DEVELOPED PROCESS FOR COLOR-GLAZING THE ART POTTERY.

HIS MARRIAGE WAS TI MISS RIKA BECHTEL AT MORTON ON MAY 3, 1891, AND SEVEN DAUGHTERS WERE BORN TO THE COUPLE.

ALSO MINISTER

SESIDE OPERATING THE POTTERY, REV. RAPP FOUND TIME TO SERVE AS MINISTER AND DEACON OF THE APOSTOLIC CHRISTIAN CHURCH OF MORTON, AND HE WAS ACTIVE IN HIS PULPIT AND BUSINESS UNTIL APRIL, WHEN HIS HEALTH BEGAN TO FALL.

SURVIVING BESIDE THE WIFE ARE HIS DAUGHTERS, MRS. WILLIAM MAIBACH, PEORIA, MISSES KATHERINE AND LUCY RAPP, BOTH OF WHOM LIVE AT HOME, MRS. EZRA BIRKEY, MRS. DAN GRIMM, AND MRS. ELTON HEISER, ALL OF MORTON, AND MRS. BEN SCHUMACHER, EUREKA; 16 GRANDCHILDREN AND THREE GREAT-GRANDCHILDREN.

FUNERAL SERVICES WILL BE CONDUCTED WEDNESDAY AT 1:30 P. M. AT THE APOSTOLIC CHRISTIAN CHURCH AND BURIAL WILL BE IN MORTON CEMETERY. THE BODY HAS BEEN REMOVED FROM THE NOEL FUNERAL HOME AT MORTON TO THE RESIDENCE, WHERE FRIENDS MAY CALL.

MRS. CARRIE METZ DIED WEDNESDAY EVENING

MRS. CARRIE RAPP METZ, RESIDING FIVE MILES NORTHWEST OF FORREST, THE WIDOW THE LATE SAMUEL METZ AND MOTHER OF CARL METZ AND MRS. ELI MEISS, OF FAIRBURY, PASSED AWAY AT HER HOME WEDNESDAY EVENING AT 8:45 O’CLOCK. SHE WAS AGED 79 YEARS, 11 MONTHS AND 13 DAYS.

MRS. METZ HAD BEEN CONFINED TO HER BED FOR SEVEN WEEKS WITH A BROKEN HIP AND SHOULDER, AND HER CONDITION WAS CONSIDERED IMPROVED UNTIL THE EVENING OF HER DEATH SHE SUFFERED A HEART ATTACK AND PASSED AWAY.

SHE WAS BORN FEBRUARY 28, 1862, AT SCHWARTZWALD, GERMANY, DAUGHTER OF CHRIST AND MARY WEISSER RAPP, AND CAME TO THIS COUNTRY WHEN 13 YEARS OLD. ON JANUARY 8, 1891, SHE WAS UNITED IN MARRIAGE TO SAMUEL METZ, WHO PRECEDED HER IN DEATH SEVEN YEARS AGO.

SHE IS SURVIVED BY ONE BROTHER, SAMUEL RAPP, OF MORTON; AND THE FOLLOWING CHILDREN: MRS. ANNA HARMS, OF FORREST; CARL AND MRS. ELI MEISS, OF FAIRBURY; WALTER, OF DEARBORN, MICH. AND JOE, WITH WHOM SHE MADE HER HOME. BY A FORMER MARRIAGE OF HER HUSBAND ALSO SURVIVE CLYDE, OF BAINBRIDGE, IND., MRS. CHRIST HIRSTEIN, OF BREMEN, IND. AND EDWARD, OF FORREST. SHE IS ALSO SURVIVED BY 27 GRANDCHILDREN AND EIGHT GREAT-GRANDCHILDREN.

THE FUNERAL WILL BE HELD SUNDAY AT THE NORTH APOSTOLIC CHRISTIAN CHURCH.

ESTEEMED OLD RESIDENT DIED SATURDAY

MATTHEW RAPP, CLIFTWOOD ART POTTERY HEAD, DIES AFTER AN ILLNESS OF SEVERAL WEEKS

THE COMMUNITY OF MORTON WAS SADDENED EARLY SATURDAY MORNING TO LEARN OF THE DEATH OF ONE OF ITS LEADING CITIZENS, MATTHEW RAPP, WHO PASSED AWAY QUIETLY AT HIS HOME HERE AT ABOUT 7 O’CLOCK. MR. RAPP HAD BEEN AILING FOR THE PAST SEVERAL MONTHS, BUT HIS WILL TO LIVE AND SERVE GAVE HIM ENOUGH RESISTENCE TO ATTEND TO HIS DUTIES AT THE CLIFTWOOD POTTERIES UNTIL ABOUT A MONTH AGO WHEN HE WAS TAKEN VERY ILL AND HAD BEEN CONFINED TO HIS HOME SINCE THAT TIME. IN HIS WEAKENED CONDITION, THE FAMILY FEARED THE END WAS AT HAND SEVERAL TIMES. EACH TIME HE RALLIED, UNTIL HIS RELAPSE OF LAST WEEK FROM WHICH HE DID NOT RECOVER.

MR. RAPP HAS BEEN A LEADING CITIZEN OF MORTON FOR MORE THAN SIXTY YEARS. AT THE TIME OF HIS DEATH HE WAS PRESIDENT OF THE CLIFTWOOD ART POTTERIES, AND HAD BEEN A VITAL PART OF THAT COMPANY EVER SINCE ITS FOUNDATION HERE. A DAUNTLESS CHRISTIAN CHARACTER, HE WAS AN ARTIST TO THE TRUE MEANING OF THE WORD. HIS WORK, NOT ONLY AS A MAKER OF MOLDS FOR THE ART POTTERY WARE, BUT NUMEROUS FINE PAINTINGS, WAS THE SUBJECT OF MUCH ADMIRATION BY THOSE WHO WERE FORTUNATE ENOUGH TO HAVE VIEWED HIS WORK. ALTHOUGH HIS SKILL AS AN ARTIST WAS VALUABLE IN HIS WORK, HIS PAINTINGS AND OTHER WORKS OF ART WERE MERELY A HOBBY AND HE DID NOT MAKE ANY EFFORT TO CAPITALIZE ON HIS GENIUS ALONG THIS LINE.

MR. RAPP CAME TO THIS COUNTRY FROM GERMANY IN 1875 AND AT THAT TIME BECAME ASSOCIATED IN THE TILE BUSINESS WITH HIS BROTHERS, ANDREW AND BARTHOL RAPP, BOTH OF WHOM HAVE PRECEDED HIM IN DEATH. HAVING DISCOVERED THAT THE MOLDING OF FORMS WITH CLAY WAS PROFITABLE THEY FOUND THEIR WAY INTO A NEW INDUSTRY THAT OF MAKING POTTERY WARE ON A COMMERCIAL BASIS. THEY MOVED TO THE PRESENT LOCATION AND HAVE OPERATED THE POTTERY THERE SINCE THAT TIME. MR. RAPP AND HIS SONS ASSUMED THE BUSINESS UPON THE DEATH OF ANDREW AND BARTHOL RAPP.

MR. RAPP COULD BE FOUND AT HIS WORK FROM EARLY MORNING UNTIL LATE AT NIGHT, CREATING NEW DESIGNS IN ART POTTERY. ALTHOUGH MOST OF HIS TIME WAS OCCUPIED BY HIS WORK, HE STILL FOUND TIME FOR HIS CHURCH AND CHURCH WORK. TWO YEARS AGO MEMBERS OF HIS SUNDAY SCHOOL CLASS, AND FORMER MEMBERS, HONORED HIM AFTER HAVING SERVED FIFTY YEARS AS A SUNDAY SCHOOL TEACHER, IT CAN BE TRUTHFULLY SAID THAT HIS LIFE WAS ONE FULL OF SERVICE TO OTHERS.

MATTHEW RAPP, AGED 74 YEARS, 9 MONTHS AND 17 DAYS, WAS BORN MARCH 21, 1863 AT BADEN, GERMANY, THE SON OF CHRISTIAN AND MARIA WEISSER RAPP. HE DIED ON SATURDAY JANUARY 8, AT 7 A. M. AT HIS HOME HERE AFTER SEVERAL WEEKS OF ILLNESS. ON DECEMBER 17, 1893 HE WAS MARRIED TO MARY GETZ, WHO WITH FOUR SONS SURVIVES. ONE DAUGHTER, BENA, PRECEDED HER FATHER IN DEATH.

BESIDES HIS BEREAVED WIDOW HE LEAVES FOUR SONS, CARL, JOHN, LAWRENCE AND THEO. HE ALSO LEAVES ONE SISTER, MRS. CARRIE METZ, OF FAIRBURY, AND ONE BROTHER, SAMUEL, OF MORTON. FOUR BROTHERS AND TWO SISTERS PRECEDED HIM IN DEATH.

SEVEN GRANDCHILDREN ALSO SURVIVE.

MR. RAPP WAS A KIND AND GENEROUS HUSBAND, A LOVING FATHER AND A FAITHFUL NEIGHBOR AND FRIEND. HIS MANY YEARS OF CHRISTIAN SERVICE ON THIS WORLD HAS WON HIM HIS PLACE IN THE GREAT BEYOND. THE DEEPEST SYMPATHY IS EXTENDED TO MEMBERS OF THE FAMILY IN THEIR BEREAVEMENT.

FUNERAL SERVICES WERE HELD MONDAY AFTERNOON AT TWO O’CLOCK AT THE MORTON APOSTOLIC CHRISTIAN CHURCH AND INTERMENT WAS IN THE CHURCH CEMETERY. THE PALLBEARERS WERE SOLOMON RAPP, BENJAMIN RAPP, EZRA BIRKEY, SAM HAAB, JOE METZ AND WILLIAM GETZ.

HISTORICAL AND GENEALOGICAL NEWSLETTER CREATOR