NEWSLETTER

SERVING THE FAIRBURY, FORREST AND NOW AVAILABLE TO

CISSNA PARK AND GRIDLEY

NUMBER 14 / FEBUARY 2002

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THE CISSNA PARK CHURCH

THE CHURCHES FIRST MINISTER

A FATHER LAID TO REST

HEINRICH ZIEGENHORN DIED AT HIS RESIDENCE IN CLAYTONVILLE, TUESDAY MORNING, DEC. 11, 1906, AT 2 O’CLOCK. BEFORE HIS DEATH MR. ZIEGENHORN DID NOT COMPLAIN OF ANY AILMENTS BUT SEEMED TO GROW WEAK, AND DEATH CAME AS A PEACEFUL SLEEP.

HEINRICH ZIEGENHORN WAS BORN IN PRUSSIA, OCT. 19, 1823. WHEN A YOUNG MAN HE BECAME A MECHANIC.

HE WAS MARRIED TO DOROTHA SCHMIDT IN PRUSSIA ABOUT THE YEAR 1850. SIX CHILDREN WERE BORN TO THEM IN PRUSSIA AND FRANCE WHERE THEY LIVED FOR SEVEN YEARS. IN 1865 MR. ZIEGENHORN EMIGRATED TO THE UNITED STATES WHERE THEY MADE THEIR HOME AT PEORIA, ILL. HERE HE FOLLOWED HIS TRADE FOR THREE YEARS. IN PEORIA THE YOUNGEST CHILD WAS BORN.

IN 1868 THE FAMILY MOVED TO FAIRBURY WHERE THEY COMMENCED FARMING. IN 1875 THE FAMILY AGAIN MOVED AND THIS TIME TO IROQUOIS COUNTY, LOCATING SOUTH OF CLAYTONVILLE. THE CHILDREN HAVING GROWN SO THEY COULD RUN THE FARM. MR. ZIEGENHORN MOVED TO CLAYTONVILLE IN 1888 WHERE HE LIVED UNTIL HIS DEATH. DOROTHA, HIS WIFE, HAVING DIED IN MAY, 1905.

THE SEVEN CHILDREN WHO MOURN HIS DEATH AND SURVIVE HIM ARE ALENA HEINEGER, NORTH OF CLAYTONVILLE, SAMUEL, OF FAIRBURY, ILLINOIS, HENRY, OF JOY, ILLINOIS; DOROTHA BAUMGARTNER, OF CISSNA PARK, HANNAH HARDY, OF BUCKLEY, THHEODORE, OF WEINER, ARKANSAS AND AUGUST, OF CLAYTONVILLE.

CLAYTONVILLE HISTORY BOOK

OF ALL THE BUSINESS THAT HAVE COME AND GONE IN CLAYTONVILLE, THE ONE THAT EVERYONE SEEMS TO RECALL MOST VIVIDLY IS ZIEGENHORN’S STORE.

IT ALL BEGAN WITH HENRY ZIEGENHORN, WHO WAS BORN IN PRUSSIA, 1823, AND DOROTHY SCHMIDT FROM BAVARIA. THEY WERE MARRIED IN PRUSSIA ABOUT 1850 AND MOVED TO ALSACE LORRAINE WHERE THEY LIVED ABOUT SEVEN YEARS. SIX OF THEIR SEVEN CHILDREN WERE BORN THERE BEFORE IMMIGRATING TO THE USA IN 1865. THEY SETTLED IN PEORIA, ILLINOIS, AND MR. ZIEGENHORN WORKED AS A LOCKSMITH FOR THE RAILROAD. HERE THEIR YOUNGEST SON, AUGUST, WAS BORN, 1866.

THEY LEFT THEIR JOB IN PEORIA AND BEGAN FARMING NEAR MORTON, ILLINOIS, AND THEN MOVED TO FAIRBURY, ILLINOIS. IN 1875, THEY SETTLED IN IROQUOIS COUNTY, SOUTH OF CLAYTONVILLE. IN THE FALL OF 1887, HENRY ZIEGENHORN TRADED HIS FARM FOR A HARDWARE, FARM IMPLEMENT, AND LUMBER BUSINESS IN CLAYTONVILLE, OPENING FOR BUSINESS IN THE SPRING OF 1888. THE FIRM WAS KNOWN AS H. ZIEGENHORN & SON. THEY RAN THIS BUSINESS UNTIL THE SPRING OF 1891, WHEN THEY SOLD OUT AND BOUGHT A DRUGSTORE. IN 1895, THEY BOUGHT BACK THE HARDWARE BUSINESS AND IN 1896 ADDED GROCERIES, SHOES AND MEN’S APPAREL. THIS BUSINESS WAS CONDUCTED IN THE BUILDING BUILT IN 1888 BY MR. ZIEGENHORN, AND IS THE ONE WE ALL REMEMBER AS "ZIEGENHORN’S STORE".

IN THE WINTER OF 1891-92 AND 1893-93, AUGUST ATTENDED VETERINARY SCHOOL AT THE CHICAGO VETERINARY COLLEGE, GRADUATING IN 1893. THIS SCHOOLING PROVED VALUABLE AS HE LATER BECAME A PHARMACIST UNDER THE TUTORING OF DR. BUNDY. AUGUST ZIEGENHORN WAS ACTIVE AS A VETERINARIAN, PHARMACIST, MERCHANT, AND POSTMASTER. HE LATER DROPPED THE VETERINARY PRACTICE, BUT CONTINUED WITH THE GENERAL STORE, DRUG BUSINESS, AND POST OFFICE. HE SERVED AS POSTMASTER FOR SOME FORTY YEARS. IN THE EARLIER YEARS, HE MANAGED IT FOR ED R. BEEBE, ANDY HELMAN, JOHN KAUFMAN, AND LOUIS WOLFF.

ONE OF THE MORE UNUSUAL THINGS IN THE STORE AT THIS EARLY TIME WAS A TELEPHONE. THEY HAD ONE OF THE FIRST TELEPHONE INSTALLED IN THE AREA, AND THE RECORDS SHOW THAT PEOPLE CAME FROM MILES AROUND TO SEE IT AND HEAR IT TALK.

ZIEGENHORN’S STORE WAS ALMOST ENTIRELY A FAMILY OPERATION. THERE WERE TIMES THOUGH WHEN THEY DID HAVE OTHERS HELP. THERE WERE ALSO BOYS IN TOWN WHO CARRIED COAL TO EARN A LITTLE EXTRA MONEY. SOME OF THOSE HELPERS WERE: RALPH AND TOM BAUER, CLAYTON BARKER, LEONARD BERG, WILLARD BERGDALL, MILTON COYER, RAY DYER, EZRA FELLER, DAVID GEIKEN, VIOLA EGOLF GREINER, MABEL EISENMANN, ALBERT HOFER, PAUL HONEGGER, LUCILLE KAUFMAN, KEITH KOGLER, WM. KOGLER, LEVI RECKHEMMER, ANNE WUSTHOLZ, OPAL JUDY, ELSIE JUDY, AND CAROLYN BOYCE. EARL MCCRAY DELIEVERED BOTTLE GAS TO THEIR CUSTOMERS.

ON NOV. 14, 1970, THERE WAS AN AUCTION AT THE STORE, AND ZIEGENHORN’S STORE, AS WE ALL KNEW IT, PASSED INTO HISTORY.

A. F. ZIEGENHORN PIONEER MERCHANT OF CLAYTONVILLE

FUNERAL SERVICES WILL BE FRIDAY

FUNERAL SERVICES WILL BE CONDUCTED FROM THE HOME FRIDAY AT 2 P. M. FOR AUGUST F. ZIEGENHORN, 77, FORMER POSTMASTER AND DRUGGIST OF CLAYTONVILLE, WHO DIED TUESDAY, OCT. 26, AT 9:15 P. M. THE REV. P. C. DERMOND OF THE METHODIST CHURCH WILL CONDUCT THE RITES.

MR. ZIEGENHORN WAS BORN IN PEORIA, ILL., JULY 19, 1866. HIS PARENTS CAME TO THIS COUNTRY THE YEAR BEFORE HE WAS BORN. HIS FATHER WHOSE NAME WAS HENRY, WAS A PRUSSIAN WHILE HIS MOTHER, DOROTHY SCHMIDT, WAS FROM BAVARIA. THEY RESIDED AFTER THEIR MARRIAGE AND UNTIL THEIR IMMIGRATION IN ALSACE LORRAINE, WHICH WAS THEN FRENCH.

AFTER ARRIVING IN THIS COUNTRY, THE FAMILY LIVED IN PEORIA, WHERE MR. ZIEGENHORN WAS BORN. LATER THEY MOVED TO MORTON AND STILL LATER TO FAIRBURY. IN 1875 THEY CAME TO THEIR FIRST HOME IN FOUNTAIN CREEK TOWNSHIP, SOUTH OF CLAYTONVILLE.

IN THE FALL OF 1887 HENRY ZIEGENHORN TRADED HIS FARM AND STARTED THE FARM IMPLEMENT AND LUMBER BUSINESS IN CLAYTONVILLE WITH HIS SON, AUGUST, AS PARTNER. THE BUSINESS WAS KNOWN AS THE H. ZIEGENHORN AND SON FARM IMPLEMENTS. IN 1893 THEY STARTED A DRUG BUSINESS. THEN IN 1896 THEY ADDED GROCERIES, SHOES, MEN’S FURNISHINGS AND ALSO ADDED A HARDWARE DEPARTMENT.

MR. ZIEGENHORN, KNOWN TO HIS FRIENDS AS "GUS," HAD BEEN IN BUSINESS IN THIS STORE, WHICH HIS FATHER BUILT IN 1888.

THE DECEASED HAD BEEN A REGISTERED PHARMACIST FOR OVER HALF A CENTURY, AS WELL AS A VETERINARIAN. HE FILLED MANY PRESCRIPTIONS IN HIS EARLIER DAYS AND HAD AN EXTENSIVE PRACTICE AS A VETERINARIAN, BUT FINALLY GAVE UP THE LATTER. HE TOOK HIS VETERINARIAN WORK AT THE CHICAGO VETERINARY COLLEGE IN 1891 TO 1893 AND GRADUATED THERE. HE STUDIED DRUGGIST WORK UNDER BUNDY AND LATER PASSED THE STATE PHARMACIST EXAMINATION AND WAS GIVEN A LICENSE TO FILL PRESCRIPTIONS.

HE HAS ALSO BEEN POSTMASTER OF CLAYTONVILLE FOR MORE THAN 40 YEARS.

HE WAS MARRIED TO SADE GUINGERICH IN JAN. 1893. THE DAUGHTER, MISS EDITH AND MISS VERA, ARE LIVING AT HOME, MORRIS, THE ONLY SON, HAS CHARGE OF THE POST OFFICE AND STORE AT THIS TIME. HE ALSO LIVES IN CLAYTONVILLE.

MR. ZIEGENHORN ALSO LEAVES A GRANDDAUGHTER, MRS. ALDINE ZIEGENHORN ENZ OF KANKAKEE AND A GREAT GRANDSON, LARRY JOE ENZ. HE HAS ONE LIVING BROTHER, THEO. ZIEGENHORN OF WIENER, ARK. THE OTHER BROTHERS AND SISTERS WHO PRECEDED HIM IN DEATH ARE SAM OF MUSCATINE, IOWA, MRS. OLIVE HEINEGER OF LACROSSE, IND., MRS. DOROTHY BAUMGARDER OF MILFORD, IND. AND MRS. HANNAH GARDY OF NILES, MICH.

MR. ZIEGENHORN HAD BEEN IN POOR HEALTH FOR THE PAST YEAR. TWO WEEKS AGO HE SUFFERED A STROKE AND DEVELOPED PNEUMONIA. SINCE THEN HIS CONDITION HAD GRADUALLY BECOME WORSE UNTIL HIS DEATH TUESDAY NIGHT.

THE MINISTRY HISTORY OF HEINRICH "HENRY" ZIEGENHORN

AFTER LIVING IN PEORIA AND MORTON HE MOVED FROM THERE TO A FARM IN LIVINGSTON COUNTY, SETTLING ON THE SOUTHEAST QUARTER OF SECTION TWENTY-FOUR IN INDIAN GROVE TOWNSHIP. THIS FARM IS ABOUT FIVE MILES SOUTHEAST OF FAIRBURY. WHILE LIVING HERE HENRY SERVED AS ONE OF THE SOUTH CHURCH’S EARLIEST MINISTERS. HE LIVED HERE SIX OR MORE YEARS BEFORE MOVING TO A FARM IN THE CLAYTONVILLE-CISSNA PARK AREA.

IN 1875 HENRY ZIEGENHORN SETTLED IN CISSNA PARK AREA. CHURCH SERVICES WERE HELD IN HOMES WITH ZIEGENHORN SERVING AS THE MINISTER, BEING THE FIRST LOCAL MINISTER TO SERVE AT THE CISSNA PARK CHURCH.