ONCE RESERVED FOR VERKLER FAMILY MEMBERS ONLY

JOSEPH VERKLER D. 1885, 78 YRS. / JACOBINA VERKLER D. 1885, 72 YRS.

JOSEPH E. VERKLER 1835 - 1920

OSCAR VERKLER 2 YRS. / LYDIA VERKLER 9 MOS. / ALVIN VERKLER 1 DA.

SOLOMON VERKLER D. 1922

LILLIAN VERKLER CLARKE 1880 - 1973 / CHARLES CLARKE 1879 - 1964

MINNIE CLARK SCHWARZENTRAUB 1872 - 1958

JOSEPH SCHWARZENTRAUB D. 1876, 46 YRS.

BARBARA VERKLER SCHWARZENTRAUB 1834 - 1910

LOUESA SCHWARZENTRAUB D. 1872, 14 YRS.

LENA ROGGY D.1872, 28 YRS.

LENA ROGGY D. 1872, 1 YRS.

(WIFE) JACOBINA (ENGEL) VERKLER 1813 - 1885

(DAUGHTER) BARBARA (VERKLER) SCHWARENTRAUB 1834 - 1910

(SON-IN-LAW) JOSEPH SCHWARENTRAUB 1830 - 1885

(GRANDDAUGHTER) LOUISA SCHWARENTRAUB 1855 - 1872

(GRANDSON) EDMOND SCHWARENTRAUB 1865 -1917

(GRANDDAUGHTER-IN-LAW) MINNIE (CLARK) SCHWARENTRAUB 1872 - 1958

(GRANDDAUGHTER) MINNIE (SCHWARENTRAUB) HOFFMANN 1872 - 1900

(SON) JOSEPH E. VERKLER 1835 - 1920

(DAUGHTER-IN-LAW) LENA V. (SYDLER) VERKLER 1850 - 1898

(GRANDSON) SOLOMON VERKLER 1872 - 1922

(GRANDSON) OSCAR VERKLER 1874 - 1874

(GRANDSON) ALVIN VERKLER 1876 - 1878

(GRANDSON) ENOS VERKLER 1878 - 1965

(GRANDDAUGHTER) LILLIAN (VERKLER) CLARKE 1880 - 1973

(GRANDSON-IN-LAW) CHARLES CLARKE 1879 - 1964

(GRANDDAUGHTER) LYDIA VERKLER 1883 - 1884

(GRANDDAUGHTER) BERTHA (VERKLER) CATT 1886 - 1961

(GRANDSON) WALTER VERKLER 1888 - 1934

(GRANDSON) GUSTAVE VERKLER 1890 - ????

(GRANDSON) HARRY VERKLER 1892 - ????

(GRANDSON) BENJAMIN VERKLER 1894 - 1917

(DAUGHTER) CATHERINE (VERKLER) BALLY 1838 - 1902

(SON-IN-LAW) JACOB BALLY 1830 - 1923

(SON) CHRISTIAN VERKLER 1840 - 1922

(DAUGHTER) JACOBENA (VERKLER) VOIGHT

(SON-IN-LAW) CHARLES VOIGHT 1837 - 1924

(DAUGHTER) MAGDALENA "LENA" (VERKLER) ROGGY 1844 - 1872

(SON-IN-LAW) JOSEPH ROGGY 1843 - ????

(GRANDDAUGHTER) ADA (ROGGY) FISH 1869 - 1914

(GRANDDAUGHTER) MAGDALENA "LENA" ROGGY 1872 - 1872

(SON) PETER VERKLER 1847 - 1864

(SON) JOHN VERKLER 1849 - 1896

(DAUGHTER) MARY (VERKLER) ANDERSON 1852 - 1933

(SON-IN-LAW) JACOB ANDERSON ???? - ????

(DAUGHTER) ROSINA VERKLER 1854 - 1855

(SON) SAMUEL VERKLER 1856 - 1892

THE NORTH SIDE CHURCH FIRST CEMETERY

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.

_______________

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, BURBERG, 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

BESIDE 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.

During the early years of operation, the company used equipment that Barthol invented to meet the community’s demands. The business grew again a few years later when, in response to the requests of local farmers’ wives for mixing bowls and other utensils that were difficult to obtain in the area, the brothers opened another branch of their company, the Rapp Brothers Pottery Works, also known as Morton Pottery Works. As production increased, the brothers each adopted a specialty in order to divide the workload: Andrew ran the office, Barthol headed the brick and tile operations, John supervised the kilns, Christian served as a fireman and engineer, Samuel directed the glazing process for the pottery branch, and Matthew designed the plaster molds used to cast the diningware produced by the pottery. All of the businesses were located on one stretch of land on the south side of Morton along the Penn-Central railroad tracks.

As the businesses grew, the brothers and their companies endured many setbacks and hardships. In 1910 the tile works burned down after fire broke out in one of the kilns. The pottery was not destroyed, but electrical lines were cut, costing the business only one day of lost production. After the fire, the Rapps rebuilt their tile works using steel dummy cars, but these efforts did not save the business from a second fire in 1922, which damaged the roof between the kilns beyond repair but again did not harm the pottery. During the ‘20s, the tile works suffered financial hardship and was forced to sell its buildings to A.E. Gerber, who demolished them soon after their acquisition. The pottery moved its location across town, housing some of the equipment from the tile works to allow it to continue its drastically slowed production. The tile works was finally destroyed by fire in 1936 and was not rebuilt again.

The pottery continued to thrive, however, surviving the Great Depression and the loss of its sister company. After Andrew’s death in 1911, John retired due to poor health, Matthew left the business to design machinery for a local farm equipment manufacturer, and Barthol broke from the family and moved to East Peoria, where he built the Rapp Clay Products Company on Cole Street. Samuel and Christian took up the responsibility of running the family business, renaming it the Morton Brick and Tile Company. Four of Andrew’s sons assumed operation of the pottery portion of the business, renaming it the Morton Earthenware Company, which only survived for two years (1915 – 1916) due to the loss of workers to World War I. Three of John’s sons used one of the buildings during the war to develop experimental art pottery, but soon abandoned the business in favor of moving to Oregon to pan for gold.

The Rapp Brothers Pottery never opened again after the war, and Samuel and Christian barely managed to keep the Morton Tile Works alive. In 1920 Matthew returned to the family business to reopen the pottery with his four sons, renaming the company Cliftwood Art Potteries. The legacy of the Rapps and the industry they founded in Morton lives on still in the Morton Pottery Shop, which still provides central Illinois with earthenware and other goods today.