APOSTOLIC HERITAGE HISTORY & GENEALOGY NEWSLETTER ________________________________ SERVING THE GREATER LIVINGSTON COUNTY AREA NUMBER 4 / APRIL 2001 ________________________________ THE CHURCH DURING WORLD WAR I
AMISH CHURCH IS DESECRATED
DURING THE FOUR WEEKS THAT THE CHURCHES HAVE BEEN CLOSED ON ACCOUNT OF THE "FLU" EPIDEMIC SOME VANDAL ENTERED THE GERMAN APOSTOLIC CHURCH NORTHWEST OF THIS CITY AND DESTROYED AND MARRED THE PROPERTY. JUST WHEN THE ACT WAS DONE CAN NOT BE DETERMINED AS THE CHURCH HAD NOT BEEN OPENED UNTIL TUESDAY OF LAST WEEK.
THERE WAS QUITE A LOT OF OIL, VARNISH AND PAINT STORED IN THE BASEMENT AND THIS WAS POURED ON EVERY SEAT, ON THE FLOOR AND ON THE SONG BOOKS; THAN A LOT OF GOLD DUST, A YELLOWISH PATENT CLEANER, WAS SPRINKLED THICKLY ON THE VARNISHED ARTICLES. BOOKS WERE DESTROYED. THE CLEAN LINEN TABLECLOTHS WERE TAKEN FROM THEIR PLACE AND VARNISH POURED OVER THEM, RUINING THEM.
NOT ONLY WAS THIS DONE, BUT AN ATTEMPT HAD BEEN MADE TO BURN THE CHURCH. ON THE EAST SIDE OF THE BUILDING AN ATTEMPT WAS MADE TO FIRE IT. SO BADLY IS THIS SIDE OF THE CHURCH CHARRED THAT IT CAN BE SEEN AT A DISTANCE.
THE GERMAN APOSTOLIC CHURCH MEMBERS DO NOT DESERVE SUCH TREATMENT. THEY HAVE BEEN PATRIOTIC AND HAVE DONE EVERYTHING THAT HAS BEEN ASKED OF THEM. IT IS TO BE REGRETTED THAT THERE ARE IN THE COMMUNITY PERSONS WHO WILL STOOP TO SUCH VANDALISM, AND AN EFFORT SHOULD BE MADE TO PUNISH THE GUILTY PARTIES.
THE DEADLY "SPANISH FLU" EPIDEMIC OF 1918 -1919
IN SEPTEMBER OF 1918, SOLDIERS AT AN ARMY BASE NEAR BOSTON
SUDDENLY BEGAN TO DIE. THE CAUSE OF DEATH WAS IDENTIFIED AS INFLUENZA, BUT IT
WAS UNLIKE ANY STRAIN EVER SEEN. AS THE KILLER VIRUS SPREAD ACROSS THE COUNTRY,
HOSPITALS OVERFILLED, DEATH CARTS ROAMED THE STREETS AND HELPLESS CITY OFFICIALS
DUG MASS GRAVES. IT WAS THE WORST EPIDEMIC IN AMERICAN HISTORY, KILLING OVER
600,000 -- UNTIL IT DISAPPEARED AS MYSTERIOUSLY AS IT HAD BEGUN. THE SOUTH SIDE
CHURCH WAS HIT THE HARDEST WITH THIS EPIDEMIC KILLING MANY IN THE
CONGREGATION.
SOME WHO SERVED IN WORLD WAR I FROM CHURCH
LIVINGSTON CO. IN THE WORLD WAR
EMIL BAHLER, FAIRBURY, ILLINOIS. BORN DECEMBER 24, 1892, FAIRBURY, ILLINOIS. FARMER. INDUCTED JUNE 24, 1918, PONTIAC, ILLINOIS. TO CAMP WHEELER, GEORGIA. PVT., 122 FIELD HOSP. TRANSFERRED TO VETERINARY CORPS, A. R. D. AUGUST 8, 1918. DISCHARGED APRIL 30, 1919, CENTAUR, GEORGIA.
ALVIE HONEGGER, FORREST, ILLINOIS. BORN FEBRUARY 24, 1894, FORREST, ILLINOIS. FARMER. INDUCTED JUNE 24, 1918, PONTIAC, ILLINOIS. TO CAMP WHEELER, GEORGIA. PVT., CO. E, 123 INF. TO CAMP MILLS, LONG ISLAND, SEPTEMBER 13, 1918; DIED AT CAMP MILLS BASE HOSP., OCTOBER 11, 1918, OF INFLUENZA AND PNEUMONIA.
WILLIAM IFFT, STRAWN, ILLINOIS. BORN APRIL 19, 1892, FORREST, ILLINOIS. FARMER. INDUCTED JUNE 24, 1918, PONTIAC, ILLINOIS. TO CAMP WHEELER, GEORGIA. PVT., 18 CO., 2 PROV. REG. TRANSFERRED TO VETERINARY CORPS, A. R. D. 311, CAMP MOGUL, CENTAUR, GEORGIA, AUGUST 10, 1918. DISCHARGED MARCH 20, 1919.
ALVIE KILGUS, FORREST, ILLINOIS. BORN NOVEMBER 30, 1893, FAIRBURY, ILLINOIS. FARMER. INDUCTED MAY 26, 1918, PONTIAC, ILLINOIS. TO CAMP GORDON, GEORGIA. PVT. 44 CO., 4 REP. INF. TRANFERRED TO Q. M. C. DET., CAMP FARM, CAMP GORDON, JUNE 28, 1918. DISCHARGED MARCH 15, 1919, CAMP GORDON.
WALTER KOEHL, FAIRBURY, ILLINOIS. (RECORD NOT RETURNED)
IRA NUSSBAUM, FAIRBURY, ILLINOIS. BORN APRIL 25, 1888, FAIRBURY, ILLINOIS. FARMER. INDUCTED MAY 26, 1918, PONTIAC, ILLINOIS. TO CAMP GORDON, GEORGIA. PVT., 44 CO., 4 REP. INF. TRANSFERRED TO Q. M. C., CAMP GORDON, JUNE 27, 1918. DISCHARGED MARCH 15, 1919, CAMP GORDON.
ELMER STEFFEN, CROPSEY, ILLINOIS. FARMER. BORN JANUARY 1, 1896, BELLE PRAIRIE TWP., LIVINGSTON CO., ILLINOIS. INDUCTED JUNE 24, 1918, PONTIAC, ILLINOIS. TO CAMP WHEELER, GEORGIA. PVT. VETERINARY CORP. GRANTED A TEN-DAY FURLOUGH ON FEBRUARY 6, 1919, AND WHILE ON FURLOUGH DIED FROM INFLUENZA FOLLOWED BY PNEUMONIA, ON FEBRUARY 21, 1919.
WALTER J. STEFFEN, CROPSEY, ILLINOIS. BORN FEBRUARY 1, 1896; CROPSEY, ILLINOIS. FARMER. INDUCTED JUNE 24, 1918, PONTIAC, ILLINOIS. TO CAMP WHEELER, GEORGIA. PVT., 18 CO., 2 PROV. REG. TRANSFERRED TO AMB. CO. 122, 106 SAN. TR., AUGUST 12, 1918; TO CAMP MILLS, NEW YORK, SEPTEMBER 21, 1918. SAILED FROM HOBOKEN, NEW JERSEY, OCTOBER 28, 1918, ON RIJNDAM. LANDED AT BREST, FRANCE, NOVEMBER 9, 1918. TO BASE HOSP. NO. 33, NOVEMBER 13, 1918, INFLUENZA. TRANSFERRED TO CO. F, 8 INF., DECEMBER 1, 1918; TO HOSP., DECEMBER 25, 1918. SAILED FROM BREST, FRANCE, JANUARY 13, 1919, ON ORIZABA. LANDED AT HOBOKEN, NEW JERSEY, JANUARY 22, 1919; TO ELLIS ISLAND, NEW YORK, JANUARY 23, 1919; TO CAMP GRANT, ILLINOIS, FEBRUARY 2, 1919. DISCHARGED FEBRUARY 14, 1919.
SAMUEL P. ZIMMERMAN, FAIRBURY, ILLINOIS. BORN MARCH 15, 1895, FAIRBURY, ILLINOIS. INDUCTED JUNE 24, 1918, PONTIAC, ILLINOIS. TO CAMP WHEELER, GEORGIA. PVT., 123 INF. TRANSFERRED TO VETERINARY CORPS, CAMP MOGAL, GEORGIA, AUGUST 15, 1918. DISCHARGED MAY 12, 1919.
TWO WHO LOST THEIR LIVES WHILE SERVING
ALVIE HONEGGER 1894 - 1918
ALVIE HONNEGER
ALVIE HONNEGER, SON OF MR. AND MRS. ED HONNEGER, OF SOUTH OF FORREST, DIED MONDAY, OCTOBER 14, AT THE HOSPITAL AT CAMP M
ILLS, L. I., OF PNEUMONIA, FOLLOWING AN ATTACK OF SPANISH INFLUENZA.
HE ENTERED THE SERVICE JUNE 24, GOING INTO TRAINING AT CAMP WHEELER, WHERE HE WAS ASSIGNED TO CO. E, 124 INFANTRY. ABOUT THREE WEEKS AGO HE WAS TRANSFERRED TO CAMP MILLS.
BESIDES HIS PARENTS HE IS SURVIVED BY FOUR BROTHERS AND EIGHT SISTERS, VIZ HAROLD, FRANK, BEN, JULIA, ANNA, IDA, ELLA, PERCEDA, SADIE, NATHALIA, WALTER AND MRS. LENA KYBURZ.
THE FUNERAL SERVICES WERE CONDUCTED FROM THE GERMAN APOSTOLIC CHURCH SOUTH OF TOWN WEDNESDAY.
ELMER STEFFEN 1896 - 1919
ELMER A. STEFFEN NEVER HAD AN OBIT. THAT I COULD FIND. I HAVE LOOKED SEVERAL TIMES, IN THE HOPES OF FINDING ONE.