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The HIRSCHY GATHERING for 1997 will be held on Saturday, July 12. The place reserved is the Riverside Center, 231 E. Monroe, Decatur. It is located just east of the River on Highway 224. Registration will begin at 11:00 a.m. and we will have a carry-in potluck dinner starting at 1:00 p.m. A tour of two historic homes, and the cemetery where a number of the early generation are buried, is planned for those interested. It will begin at the Center at 10:30. The homes to be visited are the Peter and Lydia (Horn) (9) Roth home (built in 1894) and the John (1) and Barbara (Stauffer) Hirschy home (likely built after 1870). For those in Berne, come to the Roth home, now the home of Ferris and Minnie (Steiner) Mertz at 3766 W 950 S by 10:50 a.m. The John Hirschy home is across the road from the West Missionary Church. The Cemetery is next to the Evangelical Mennonite Church which is north of highway 218 on road 450 W. The Ferris and Minnie Mertz (9.1.6.1) will be telling you about their Roth home. Kenneth Wanner (1.10.3.1) will be at the John and Barbara Hirschy home, and Dick Beitler (3.11.1.2) will be at the cemetery. There will be a display of the artifacts and items you would like to show from your family. Bring old photos and albums. After the noon meal we will meet as a group to enjoy music and a short review (25 minutes) of the Hirschy history. Then we will break up into three interest groups. Group I will look at the artifacts and items brought by families and have the owners tell any facts and stories about the items. Led by Robert L. Hirschy (3.8.3.2). Group II will be for those who have interest in genealogy and family history. You will be given an opportunity to tell about your research and/or stories that circulate in your extended family. Led by David L. Habegger (4.5.5.5). Group III will be for those who would |
just like to learn to know more of their relatives who are attending the Gathering, and about their current interests and activities, Led by Cletus Hirschy (4.8.1.6) There will be various activities for children led by Barry Humble (6.4.7.3.3). They will not want to miss out on this reunion. So bring them along. Some of you remember the neat T-shirts that Cletus and Janet Hirschy wore. They have agreed to have shirts for sale at The Gathering for $10.00. These will be in light blue or yellow in various sizes. The deer will be on the front and the word Hirschy on the back. Because all hard covered copies of The Hirschy Genealogy were sold out, another printing of 100 copies has been made. All will be hardbound and will be ready for sale by the middle of May. The cost of printing and binding has increased a little, so the books will now be priced at $35.50 plus postage. There are a half dozen copies of the soft cover still available for $30.00. Several persons have purchased copies for each of their children, and a couple have given copies to their grandchildren. Here is your opportunity to get the additional copies you have thought about giving as a gift. Esther A. Parker 6.5.8.1 of Prescott, AZ sent in a newsletter subscription following the recent mailing about the Hirschy Gathering in July. She added, "Wish I could be at the Hirschy Gathering, but I'll be on an HCJB tour to Ecuador." Paul Amstutz 3.6.11.1 of Flint, MI sent this message e-mail, "Sorry I will not be able to make it to the reunion as I will be with the men of my Church at Purdue University that weekend. I would delight in the happenings of that week-end but will be away. I really appreciate the Hirschy newsletters and knowing something about my ancestors and relatives. I would like to say hello to my many relatives |
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that will be able to meet on that great day." Berniece Klopfenstein of Brandon, FL, whose husband Clarence "Jimmy" (5.2.2.6) died last year, recently purchased a book. She wrote, "I'm spending a lot of time in the book and enjoying every minute of it." She has gone back to working for Sears where she had previously been employed for 32 years. Ora Lee Rea (4.6.2.6) of N. Little Rock, AR wrote, "I am hoping to attend the "Hirschy" Reunion on July 12 with my two children.... Etta was my father's sister, whom I never met. I am wondering if you have the name and addresses of any of her children. I would like to contact some one about the possibility of them being at the reunion. I would like to meet them even though I never knew their mother. I did know uncle Sollie (Solomon Hirschy 4.6.10). He was in Arkansas a couple of times. I also knew Joe and uncle Simon. most of the family I never knew. Hope to see you in July." death of her father, Arthur Woodrow Hirschy (3.2.2.5) Dec. 11, 1996. He was a medical doctor in the Veterans Administration's Outpatient Clinic in Indianapolis. hymn that is still used today in every service of worship of the Amish. The Amish of today use the same hymn book that was used in the 16th century by the Swiss Brethren (now called Mennonites). The nucleus of the book consists of 51 hymns written by a number of Anabaptists in the dungeons of the castle of Passau on the Danube (Bavaria) where they were imprisoned between 1535 and 1540. Many of them were later martyred. The oldest copy of this hymnbook was printed in 1564 in Switzerland. An enlarged edition was printed for the Swiss Brethren in 1583 and given the name Ausbund, the name that is still used. Various editions were printed in Strasbourg and Basel, the last in 1838. In America the first edition was printed in Germantown, Pa. in 1742. The Swiss |
Mennonites in Pennsylvania used this book throughout the 18th century. This hymn book is undoubtedly the oldest hymnbook in continuous use in any Christian church anywhere in the world. Mennonite congregations in America began using other hymnbooks before most of them switched to the English language. The Amish, however, have continued to use this book, or a smaller book containing selections from the larger edition. The larger book is referred to as "Das dicke Buch" - the thick or big book. One of the hymns is used every Sunday as the second hymn. It is number 131, page 770, and commonly called "Das Loblied" or The Hymn of Praise. This hymn was written by Leenaert Clock of Holland and it appeared in the very first edition. The words of this hymn in German are O Gott Vater, wir loben dich, Und deine GUte preisen: Die du, o Herr, so gnhdiglich, An uns neu hast bewiesen Und hast uns, Herr, zusammen g'fdrt Uns zu ermahnen durch dein Wort, Gib uns Genad zu diesem. Ernest A. Payne made a translation of this hymn in 1956 which appeared in the British Baptist Hymnbook of 1962. The first verse of his hymn is: Our Father, God, thy name we praise, to thee our hymns addressing, and joyfully our voices raise, thy faithfulness confessing ' Assembled by thy grace, 0 Lord, we seek fresh guidance from thy word. Now grant anew thy blessing. This song appears in the current "Hymnal, A Worship Book" number 32 published by Churches in the Believers Church Tradition, 1992. The German version as used by Amish today is number 33 in this book. The German version, sung by the Amish uses the tune "Aus tiefer Not Schrei icb zu Dir." The English version is sung to the tune "Nun Freut Euch". It has been reported that a group of Amish men from Holmes County, Ohio have been translating the German hymns in this hymnal. into English. They are concentrat- ing on the songs actually sung in the Amish church services, and may publish these in a separate publication within a year. Later the entire volume may also be |
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translated and published. Information on this hymnbook is from the article "Ausbund" in the five volume Mennonite Encyclopedia. Part I My Family Heritage by Barbara Hirschy Habegger (4.5.5) Written in 1973 When I was a child I asked my mother, "Who are we? From which country did we come?" She answered, "We are Emmenthalers." That is all she said. Later I learned that my ancestors came from the Emme valley east of Bern, Switzerland. All my great-grandparents fled from the Emmenthal to the Jura and to Alsace Lorraine because of religious persecution. Often the land in which they settled was ruled either by France or Germany. Here they lived for more than 100 years. They kept their Swiss citizenship by sending family records to the place from which they originated. They spoke both French and Swiss. My great-grandparents Luginbuhl were born in Florimont (Blumenbergewald), France, and emigrated to the United States in 1824. The only memento I have of my grandmother, Barbara Steiner Luginbill, is an enlarged framed photograph taken without her knowledge. She did not believe it Biblical to have pictures taken. My Burkhalter ancestors came from the Jura region while the Hirschy ancestors came from Canton Neuchatel from a farm located next to the Doub River. These families first settled in Ohio. my grandparents, Louis and Magdalena (Burkhalter) Hirschy, were married in near Archbold, Ohio. After their marriage they moved to Indiana. I have a copy of the inscription my great-grandmother, Julianna (Frey) Hirschy, wrote in her New Testament. My grandfather, Louis Hirschy, purchased land in Hartford Township, near Berne, Indiana, and had a family of 10 children (six others died in infancy). My father, Samuel, was born at that place. When my grandmother died in 1869, my father at age 15 went to live with his uncle John Hirschy. My grandfather later sold his land and moved to northern Indiana and remarried. His next move was |
to Edna Mills, Indiana where he purchased land and reared another family of 8 children (five more died in infancy). He died at this place in 1898 near Lafayette, Ind. My father settled his estate. At the sale, a copy of The Martyrs Mirror was sold with other books. (Likely grandfather purchased this copy in Fort Wayne, Ind.) The buyer, a Catholic, handed it back to my father saying he had no use for this book. This grandfather never came to visit us, neither did we go to LaFayette, so I never saw him. Except for grandma Luginbill, who died when I was five, and Grandpa Hirschy, all the other grandparents died before I was born. I regret it very much that I did not know my grandparents. My Luginbuhl and Steiner great-grand- parents came to the United States in 1824 and settled near Orville, Ohio. Later they moved to Chippewa and Putnam counties. Still later they moved to Berne, Indiana. My grandfather's brother, John Luginbuhl (His name is spelled Lukibill in the land records) purchased government land, 160 acres in 1837. Then years later he sold 80 acres to his brother Peter, consideration, $250.00! This farm was located on the south edge of Berne. This was a wooded area with hard wood trees of walnut and oak. These trees were cut down and rolled into piles and burned. There were no saw mills near by to cut lumber, and since they needed the soil to plant crops the trees were destroyed. My grandfather, Peter Luginbill (as the name came to be spelled) built a log barn and a frame house. He was a good carpenter. The house built around 1855 was insulated by using straw and mud between the logs. Some of the original window panes, the walnut lumber, doors, and finishing are still in this house. This house is the birthplace of mother, several of my sisters, two brothers, and myself. [This house is now located in the Swiss Heritage Park on the north side of Berne.] The nearest trading places (since Berne was not yet established) were Ft. Wayne, 33 miles north, and a small village, Buena Vista, 10 miles to the west. The Luginbill young people walked to this village to purchase staples, carrying eggs to pay for their purchases. Grandfather took produce - grain and meat - for sale |
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to Ft. Wayne by wagon. On one trip he purchased a fancy woolen shawl with a fringe for grandmother. When she wore it to church she was reprimanded and told she should not wear such fancy clothing as it was evidence of pride (stoltz). Not wanting to give offense to anyone she tacked the fringe inside of the shawl. My father, Samuel Hirschy, was born and raised near Berne, Indiana. As an Amish boy, he had long hair and wore plain clothes. Gradually his changed his mode of dress and hair cut, learned to speak English, and joined the First Mennonite Church in Berne. He decided to become a teacher so attended school at Portland, Indiana for his Normal School training. For fourteen terms he taught school - some three months and some six months terms. By farming and teaching school he earned money to buy a farm before he married at the age of 28. This farm was located in Hartford Township in Adams County, Indiana and became my parent's first home. Here Lucinda, Helena and William were born. My mother's education was limited to about the fourth grade. In spite of this, she knew how to manage a large household. purchased by my parents in 1889, after grandfather Luginbill died in 1886. They remodeled the house, made two big gardens and planted two orchards. We were always well supplied with fruits and many kinds of berries. With milk cows, chickens, and hogs, we never lacked food. Supplementary food was purchased. In the summer kitchen there was often a barrel of crackers and a whole wheel of Swiss cheese, if our own supply of homemade cheese was consumed. Father built a two room house near our family home. Here lived my maternal grandmother for several years. There was a lot of work to be done on the farm. As quickly as one assigned job was done, I would take a book and hide to read. In school there was time to read, and I read every book that was in our county school library. I wanted to take music lessons on our organ, so father got me a teacher. Invariably while practicing my time was cut short by mother calling me to get some work done. When I attended first grade in the Berne town school, my teacher was Mrs. Mary Baumgartner. Up till then I knew only the Swiss dialect |
which we spoke at home. On the first day, at noon, I did not know where to go so I sat down and cried. From the second through the seventh grade I attended the country school to get a good education, it was too costly to pay tuition for a large family because we lived outside of Berne. For the eighth grade and all of high school I was a pupil in the town of Berne. Of great importance in our family were the church and school. We children would not miss one day of school. If we were sick, we did not complain to our parents, but went to school as usual. Only on one occasion did we want to stay home. it was our oldest sister's wedding day on October 13, 1904. Lucinda was married in our home. When I was a sophomore in high school my parents told me I would need to stay out of school to take care of mother after her teeth were extracted. She was bedfast for a time. I was told I would need to prepare the meals and take care of the household. I loved school too much to drop out. This was told to me on a Sunday. I cried all afternoon and went upstairs to my room. Since Sunday school was held in the afternoons, I broke my perfect attendance record that day. Special arrangements were made with my teachers. I walked to school after hours to recite my previous day's assignments. My sister Dora took over the household duties when she returned home from school. [Dora was a senior in high school and it was felt she should complete her education instead of staying home. Barbara was younger so it was felt she could miss part of a year, but she was able to do the work and complete high school near the top of her class.) We children attended Sunday school very faithfully. It was then held on Sunday afternoon. For a few years father taught the English Sunday school class. He was the first teacher in our church to teach Sunday school in English. I missed two Sundays because a school mate was ill with tuberculosis, and we wanted to visit her. Father let us take the surrey and team of horses. My parents attended morning worship services with us children. All of us children took our turn to attend catechetical instruction on Saturday mornings in our church. We all accepted baptism and membership in the |
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First Mennonite Church. Mother was baptized by Rev. S.F. Sprunger, and father by Rev. Egly of the Defenseless Mennonite Church. My husband, Alfred, and I knew each other many years because we attended and were baptized in the same church on May 19, 1908. Our birthdays were in the same month and year. We attended the same high school. Before we were seniors in high school Alfred and I started dating. We became engaged at Christmas time in 1912. Many factors contributed to Alfred's and my interest in missions. Our own church, the First Mennonite Church in Berne, Ind., stressed missions. Also our pastor, the Rev. S.F. Sprunger, was president of the General Conference Mennonite Foreign mission Board. His successor, the Rev. J.W. Kliewer, was equally interested. Our church publications gave information with stories from foreign mission fields. Our personal life decisions were made after Alfred attended an Evangelism Crusade in Richmond, Ind. He was there as a member of the Men's Choir which was asked to sing at the programs. The speaker, Rev. John R. Mott, made strong appeals for missionaries to evangelize the world in his day. At that time, Alfred made his decision to devote his life to being a missionary. During our engagement we planned together how we could best accomplish our goal of getting the necessary training and funds. After graduation from high school in 1912, we both attended college in Angola, Indiana for the Normal course in preparation for teaching school. This was a twelve week course which was the only state requirement to teach school. In the fall I was hired to teach the Muensterberg School, District No. 9, located northwest of Berne. I agreed to the salary of $46.00 a month, and to teach 64 pupils within eight grades, When signing my contract, I was bewildered. how do you spell $40.00, is it forty or fourty? I was an ignorant teacher. As long as I was unmarried, all my earnings were turned over to father. [Until she was 21.] Meanwhile, Alfred taught in Wabash Township, School District No. I of Berne. He succeeded Mr. Bricker who had been teaching but died. |
My wedding date was set for August 17, 1913. Father gave me $50.00 for wedding expenses. Alfred and I were married in my parent's home in Berne. The ceremony took place on a Sunday evening at six o'clock, with only our immediate families present. Since J.W. Kliewer baptized us, and we planned to attend Bethel College where he was the president, we asked him to marry US. Ten days later we left for Newton, Kansas by train and stayed there for three years without going home. With the 12 weeks of training at Angola, and one summer school of six weeks at Bethel College, we could both graduate in 1916. [After attending just three years.) Our sole support came from father Habegger who gave us his tithe money because we were missionary candidates. During the first two years this was $250.00 and for the senior year, $500. This was our total college expense. After college graduation Alfred wanted more Bible training. he decided to go to Witmarsum Seminary at Bluffton, Ohio. Again father Habegger supplied the funds and Alfred put full time to his studies and accepted few work jobs. On Feb. 21, 1917, Marden was born at the Bluffton hospital. We returned to Berne after Alfred received his Master of Arts degree, and we lived with my mother for a year while Alfred was superintendent of the Hartford Township high school near Linn Grove. His income enabled us to pay our way to Montana and buy equipment. [Her father, Sam Hirschy was in California for several years.] The General Conference Mennonite Foreign mission Board scheduled us to go to India, but because my health was poor after Marden was born, we were asked to go to the Northern Cheyenne Indians living on the Tongue River Indian Reservation in southeast Montana. We accepted the offer. [Her doctor advised against going to India, fearing she would not survive.] My parents' farm, south of Berne, was sold to John Rohrer in 1910 for $8,8090.00. As part payment, Mr. Rohrer gave my parents his residence on Water Street in Berne. Our family lived in this home until 1930. my sister, Helena, and I were marred and our daughter Jeanne had her birthplace in this house. Later my parents built a farm house in Bluecreek Township and lived there until 1938. |
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During their retirement, my parents lived with my sister Dora and her husband Elmer Winteregg, Sr., at 577 Baltimore St., in Berne. They lived in a one room apartment until they both died. When our old farm, south of Berne was for sale in 1920's, Alfred and I could have purchased it for $12,000. We declined buying the property because it would have been difficult to supervise renters while we lived in Montana. In recent years, changes took place on our former farm land. On the east ten acres is a large motel, the Missionary Church and parsonage, and many new homes. on the west side, a new 566 apartment unit, Park Village, is under construction. The south 64.15 acres were sold to the Adams County school board for $53,605.00 by Dr. Norman Beaver, the present owner of the farm. It sold for about $835.62 per acre. The South Adams High School is an elaborate building, including swimming facilities. My old home, and the barn which father built are still standing. They are across the road, facing the front of the new high school. [The barn burned Aug. 5, 1977 by a fire of unknown origin.] (To be continued) Cleveland, TN. In Feb. I visited with Bill and learned to know more about him. He has lived in Cleveland since 1970 when he completed graduate school. In addition to being History professor in Lee College, he writes a weekly article in the Sunday edition of the Cleveland Daily Banner. As the city's historian he has written about all elected officials since 1865. The town was started in 1842. In 1986 he wrote "Cleveland The Beauti- ful", a book of about 500 pages on the history of the city. The city's population was 30,354 in 1993. He is also the historian of Bradley Co since 1991. Then in 1996 he was asked to chose an outstanding woman to honor the women of the state. Bill is currently writing a history of the Ku Klux Klan of Alabama. He attended the previous Hirschy Gathering and plans to attend this year. Because of his interest in the family's history he was particularly helpful in gathering the data about his extended family. |
The Hirschy Newsletter is published four times a year. Cost is $5.00 for four issues. The editor is David L. Habegger, 6929 Hillsboro Ct., Fort Wayne, IN 46835-1818. If you have material you would like to submit for publication, send it to the editor. In correspondence please use the number behind your name to identify yourself. Ask the former generations and find out what their fathers learned, for we were born only yesterday and know nothing, and our days on earth are but a shadow. |