APOSTOLIC HERITAGE

NEWSLETTER

SERVING CISSNA PARK, FAIRBURY, FORREST, GRIDLEY AND GROWING

NUMBER 19 / JULY 2002

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AN ALPHABETICAL PART TWO OF A TWO PART SERIES

GRIDLEY PIONEER HEARS LAST CALL

REV. JACOB RINGGER EXPIRES SUNDAY OF HEART TROUBLE AT AGE OF EIGHTY

RESIDED HERE 55 YEARS

FUNERAL SERVICES HELD WEDNESDAY AT THE APOSTOLIC CHRISTIAN CHURCH; INTERMENT MADE HERE

REV. JACOB RINGGER, FOR FIFTY-FIVE YEARS A RESIDENT OF GRIDLEY AND VICINITY, DIED AT HIS HOME ON EAST FOURTH STREET AT 10:45 O’CLOCK ON SUNDAY NIGHT, IN HIS EIGHTIETH YEAR. DEATH WAS DUE TO HEART TROUBLE.

REV. RINGGER WAS BORN AT ZURICH, SWITZERLAND, ON AUGUST 17, 1850, THE SON OF HENRY AND AMELIA SELLER RINGGER. HE EMIGRATED TO THE UNITED STATES AT THE AGE OF TWENTY-ONE YEARS, FIRST LIVING AT FORREST AND THEN AT ROANOKE. IN 1874 HE CAME TO THE GRIDLEY VICINITY AND ENGAGED IN FARMING FOR MANY YEARS, WITH GREAT SUCCESS. SEVEN YEARS AGO HE TOOK UP HIS ABODE IN TOWN.

ON SEPTEMBER 21, 1884, HE WAS MARRIED TO MISS MARY E. GRAMM, WHO SURVIVES, WITH FOUR SONS AND TWO DAUGHTERS, NAMELY, EDWAED RINGGER, OF BERNE, INDIANA; GEORGE RINGGER, OF BLUFFTON, INDIANA; BERNHARDT AND HENRY RINGGER AND MRS. IDA KUERTH, WIFE OF HENRY KUERTH, ALL OF GRIDLEY, AND MISS LILLIE RINGGER, AT HOME. ONE SON, JACOB, DIED AT THE AGE OF THIRTEEN YEARS. THERE ARE THIRTY-ONE GRANDCHILDREN. TWO BROTHERS, FRED RINGGER, OF FAIRBURY, AND RUDOLPH RINGGER, OF PEORIA, ALSO SURVIVE.

REV. RINGGER WAS A MINISTER OF THE APOSTOLIC CHRISTIAN CHURCH FOR THE PAST FORTY YEARS. A MAN OF FINE CHARACTER, HE WAS MUCH ESTEEMED BY THE PEOPLE OF THE COMMUNITY.

FUNERAL SERVICES WERE HELD AT THE HOME AT 9 O’CLOCK AND AT THE APOSTOLIC CHRISTIAN CHURCH AT 10 O’CLOCK, ON WEDNESDAY MORNING. INTERMENT WAS MADE IN THE GRIDLEY CEMETERY.

THE FOLLOWING GENTLEMEN ACTED AS PALLBEARERS: CHRIS STOLLER, JOSEPH FUNK, JOSEPH KURETH, EMIL ZURLINDEN, PAUL HANY AND EMIL WITZIG.

THE SERVICES WERE CONDUCTED BY THE REV. SAM SLAGELL, OF FAIRBURY, WHOSE SERMON WAS IN THE GERMAN LANGUAGE, AND REV. DAN STOLLER, OF LATTY, OHIO, WHO PREACHED IN ENGLISH.

PEOPLE FROM NEAR AND FAR CAME TO ATTEND THE OBSEQUIES, AND NOT ALL COULD GET ONTO THE CHURCH, MANY STANDING ON THE OUTSIDE. IT WAS ONE OF THE LARGEST FUNERALS EVER HELD IN GRIDLEY. SEVERAL STATES WERE REPRESENTED.

11. JOHN SCHIELER 1861 - 1927

JOHN SCHIELER IS CALLED BY DEATH

HIGHLY RESPECTED OF GRIDLEY DIED ON SUNDAY MORNING

FUNERAL SERVICES HELD FROM APOSTOLIC CHRISTIAN CHURCH; BURIAL IN GRIDLEY CEMETERY

JOHN SCHIELER PASSED AWAY AT 5:30 O'CLOCK ON SUNDAY MORNING, AT HIS HOME IN THE EAST PART OF GRIDLEY, AFTER A TWO WEEKS' ILLNESS. UNASSUMING IN HIS WAYS, AND A MAN OF STERLING HONESTY, HE WAS HIGHLY RESPECTED BY A LARGE CIRCLE OF FRIENDS. HE WAS ONE OF THE LEADING MEMBERS OF THE APOSTOLIC CHRISTIAN CHURCH.

MR. SCHIELER WAS BORN IN GERMANY ON AUGUST 7, 1861, COMING TO THE UNITED STATES WHEN A YOUNG MAN. WITH HIS PARENTS, HE SETTLED ON A FARM NEAR FAIRBURY. LATER HE MOVED TO A FARM NEAR REMINGTON, INDIANA. HE RETIRED IN 1914, TAKING UP HIS RESIDENCE IN GRIDLEY.

MR. SCHIELER LEAVES HIS WIFE, ONE SON, JOHN SCHIELER, OF REMINGTON, INDIANA, AND TWO DAUGHTERS, MRS. MARY SCHAMBAS, OF ELGIN, AND MRS. LENA HUBER, OF REMINGTON, INDIANA. THERE ARE TWENTY-ONE GRANDCHILDREN. THREE BROTHERS SURVIVE, JACOB SCHIELER, OF PONTIAC; WILLIAM SCHIELER, OF FAIRBURY, AND ANDREW SCHIELER, OF MISSOURI.

FUNERAL SERVICES WERE HELD AT THE APOSTOLIC CHRISTIAN CHURCH AT TEN O'CLOCK ON TUESDAY MORNING, REV. MARTIN STEIDINGER, OF FAIRBURY, PREACHING IN THE GERMAN LANGUAGE, AND REV. ELI WINZELER, OF TREMONT, DELIVERING A SERMON IN ENGLISH. REV. MICHAEL MANGOLD, OF ROANOKE, AND REV. ROBERT BAHLER, OF REMINGTON, INDIANA, ASSISTED IN THE SERVICES. INTERMENT WAS MADE IN THE GRIDLEY CEMETERY. THE FOLLOWING GENTLEMEN ACTED AS PALLBEARERS: LUKAS KIEFER, JOEL BOLLER, PAUL HANY, PETER MEISS, SAMUEL KUERTH AND DIEBOLD KIEFER.

SUCH A LARGE NUMBER OF PEOPLE CAME TO ATTEND THE SERVICES THAT FULLY TWO HUNDRED WERE UNABLE TO GET INSIDE THE CHURCH. THERE WERE CARS FROM MANY TOWNS IN ILLINOIS AND INDIANA.

BORN JULY 6, 1862

MARRIED REGINA MESSER, 1889

CHILDREN: JOHN, SAMUEL, SOPHIA, JOSEPH, EMIL AND SILAS

DIED DEC. 17, 1924. BURIED IN THE GRIDLEY CEMETERY

JOHN SPIESS, 82, ELGIN PIONEER, DIES AFTER ILLNESS OF WEEK

LOCAL MERCHANT’S FATHER PNEUMONIA VICTIM.

JOHN SPIESS, A RESIDENT OF ELGIN FOR THE PAST 24 YEARS AND ONE OF THE PIONEER BUSINESS MEN OF THIS CITY, WIDELY KNOWN THROUGHOUT ILLINOIS AND ADJACENT STATES, PARTICULARLY IN CHURCH CIRCLES, DIED AT 10:40 O’CLOCK LAST NIGHT, AT HE AGE OF 82 YEARS, AT HIS HOME, 639 PARK STREET. HE HAD BEEN ILL ABOUT, ONE WEEK, DEATH CAUSED PRIMARILY BY AN ATTACK OF PNEUMONIA, CHASTENED POSSIBLY BY COMPLICATIONS OF OLD AGE. THE END CAME PEACEFULLY AND QUIETLY, WITH MEMBERS OF THE FAMILY GATHERED ABOUT THE BEDSIDE.

BORN IN GERMANY

BORN IN WEILINDORF, NEAR STUTTGART, THE CAPITAL OF WURTEMBURG, IN SOUTHERN GERMAN, ON OCTOBER 21, 1850. MR. SPIESS CAME TO THE UNITED STATES IN 1866, WHEN HE WAS 16 YEARS OLD. HE LOCATED AT PEORIA, ILL., WHERE HE WAS EMPLOYED AS AN APPRENTICE IN HARNESS-MAKING, A BUSINESS IN WHICH HE LATER WAS ENGAGED IN ELGIN. IN SEPTEMBER, 1871, WHILE STILL IN PEORIA, MR. SPIESS WAS MARRIED TO MISS ROSE RICHT, AND SHORTLY THEREAFTER THE COUPLE MOVED TO GRIDLEY, ILL., WHERE MR. SPIESS ENTERED IN THE HARNESS BUSINESS, OPENING AN ESTABLISHMENT OF HIS OWN.

AFTER A BRIEF TIME AT GRIDLEY, MR. SPIESS MOVED TO MORTON, ILL., AND IN 1882, TO CISSNA, ILL., THE LATTER CITY LOCATED EAST OF PEORIA. HE HAD ENGAGED IN THE BUSINESS OF HARNESS MANUFACTURE AND SALES AT MORTON UNTIL HE EXPERIENCED A DECLINE IN HEALTH. HE THEN PURCHASED A FARM AT CISSNA PARK, AND LIVED UPON IT FOUR YEARS, IN AN ATTEMPT TO REGAIN HIS HEALTH. HE WAS PARTLY SUCCESSFUL IN THIS ENDEAVOR, AND CAME TO ELGIN IN 1886, ENTERING THE EMPLOY, ABOUT A YEAR LATER OF THE THEN ELGIN SADLERY AND HARNESS COMPANY, WHICH WAS OWNED BY HENRY MUNTZ. AFTER ONE YEAR WITH THIS FIRM MR. SPIESS ESTABLISHED A HARNESS SHOP OF HIS OWN, IN A SMALL SHOP ON BROOK STREET, ADJACENT TO THE OLD WASHINGTON HOTEL.

ENTERS REALTY BUSINESS

AFTER SALE OF THE BUSINESS HERE TO MR. GROH, MR. SPIESS ENTERED THE REAL ESTATE BUSINESS AND ALSO IN THE SALE OF STEAMSHIP TICKETS, WITH OFFICES AT 21 RIVER STREET, A BUSINESS IN WHICH HE REMAINED UNTIL 1926. SINCE THAT TIME HE HAD BEEN RETIRED FROM ALL ACTIVE BUSINESS AFFAIRS. ABOUT THAT TIME HE WAS AFFLICTED WITH BLINDNESS, AN AILMENT WHICH CONTINUED FOR FOUR MONTHS, AND FROM WHICH HE WAS FINALLY RELIEVED BY AN OPERATION.

ALTHOUGH HE HAD GAINED CONSIDERABLE DISTINCTION AS A HARNESS MAKER, HE WAS MORE WIDELY KNOWN PERHAPS FOR HIS ACTIVITY AND WORK FOR HIS CHURCH, THE APOSTOLIC CHRISTIAN, OF WHICH HE HAD BEEN A MEMBER SINCE HE WAS 17 YEARS OLD, BECOMING AFFILIATED WITH IT SOON AFTER HIS ARRIVAL IN AMERICA.

HE HAD BEEN A MINISTER OF THAT CHURCH SINCE HE WAS 19 YEARS OLD AND IN THAT CAPACITY HAD GAINED WIDE DISTINCTION AND POPULARITY IN THIS STATE AS WELL AS IN NEIGHBORING STATES. HE WAS CONSIDERABLY MORE THAN A LAY MINISTER TO THE MEN AND WOMEN COMPOSING HIS CONGREGATION. REPEATEDLY HIS ADVICE HAD BEEN SOUGHT ON RELIGIOUS BUSINESS AND SOCIAL AFFAIRS. HE WAS, IN EFFECT, A FATHER AND A PATRIARCH TO THE MEMBERS OF HIS FLOCK, WHO WERE ATTRACTED TO HIM BY HIS HONESTY, HIS BENEVOLENCE, HIS CHEERFUL DISPOSITION.

FUNERAL SATURDAY AFTERNOON

MR. SPIESS FIRST WIFE, ROSE RICHT SPIESS, THE MOTHER OF HIS CHILDREN, DIED IN ELGIN IN 1903. IN 1908 HE MARRIED MISS ELIZABETH REUTER, OF CISSNA PARK, WHO DIED IN 1912. SEVEN YEARS LATER HE WAS MARRIED AGAIN. MRS. PAULINE SPIESS SURVIVING HIM. TO JOHN AND ROSE RICHT SPIESS WERE BORN MRS. JACOB STETTNER, WHO DIED AT HANCOCK, MINN., IN 1926; MRS. CHARLES SCHAMBACH, MRS. WILLIAM STETTNER AND JOSEPH C. SPIESS, ALL RESIDING IN ELGIN, AND JOHN F. SPIESS OF DECATUR, ILL. THIRTEEN GRANDCHILDREN AND THREE GREAT GRANDCHILDREN ALSO SURVIVE HIM.

FUNERAL SERVICES WILL BE CONDUCTED SATURDAY AFTERNOON AT 2 O’CLOCK AT THE APOSOTLIC CHRISTIAN CHURCH WITH BURIAL AT BLUFF CITY CEMETERY. FRIENDS MAY VIEW THE REMAINS AT THE NORRIS CHAPEL THIS EVENING. IT IS REQUESTED THAT FLOWERS BE OMITTED.

14. ELDER RUDOLPH WITZIG 1833 - 1912

REV. WITZIG DEAD

REV. R. WITZIG , ONE OF THE MOST WIDELY KNOWN MINISTERS IN CENTRAL ILLINOIS, DIED AT 7 O’CLOCK MONDAY MORNING AT HIS HOME IN GRIDLEY. HE HAD BEEN ILL FOR SEVERAL MONTHS WITH KIDNEY TROUBLE AND FOR SEVERAL WEEKS HIS CONDITION HAD BEEN CRITICAL.

THE DECEASED WAS BORN IN UHRZIESEN, ZURICH, SWITZERLAND, SEPTEMBER 13, 1833. HE WAS MARRIED IN GERMANY TO MARY HUBER AND TO THEM SEVEN CHILDREN WERE BORN, SIX OF WHOM, WITH THE WIDOW, SURVIVE. THEY ARE: RUDOLPH, EMIL, JOHN, FRED AND MISSES LIZZIE AND SOPHIA, AT HOME. MR. WITZIG FOR MANY YEARS HAS BEEN PASTOR OF THE GERMAN APOSTOLIC CHURCH AT GRIDLEY, AND ONE OF THE PROMINENT ELDERS OF THE CHURCH IN THIS COUNTRY.

THE FUNERAL WAS HELD FROM THE CHURCH THURSDAY AT 10 A. M. AND INTERMENT WAS MADE IN THE GRIDLEY CEMETERY. THE SERVICES WERE ATTENDED BY A LARGE CONCOURSE OF PEOPLE, FOR THE DECEASED WAS LOVED AND RESPECTED. A LARGE NUMBER WENT TO GRIDLEY FROM THIS CITY AND OVER 300 CAME FROM EUREKA, MORTON, ROANOKE AND OTHER WESTERN POINTS.

EDWARD HAAB 1855 - 1932