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would like to obtain a copy of a photo of Emil Alfred Sprunger. son of Simeon who married Matilda Hirschy, 3.6.1. Helen Fretz Christian (Luginbill) Hirschy met for an informal noon meal at Richard's Restaurant in Decatur, Indiana on October 30. Kenneth made the arrangements when he learned that his cousin Barbara Patrick and her husband John from Sevierville, Tennessee were in the community. A total of eleven first cousins were present with their spouses. Present for the occasion in addition to Kenneth and the Patricks were: Clinton and Genevieve Leightner of Pandora, OH, Mildred Stahley of Berne: Herman and Betty Neuen of Ft. Wayne, Mary (wife of Chalky) Winteregg, Decatur, Christine and Emerson Moser, Elwood; Helen and J. Herbert Fretz, Goshen; Kenneth Hirschy Jr.. Auburn; Helen and Harry Grossnickle. Wabash; and Ruthanna Bubp, Portland. David L. Habegger was in Europe so could not attend. Dec. 7, 1997 at Lima Memorial Hospital, Lima, Ohio. She was born November 29, 1926, Berne, to Ezra and Elata (Winteregg) Wanner. She married Norman S. Kistler, Feb. 5, 1948 who survives. Vera was a pianist with the Living Word Church for 23 years. Her husband was the founding minister. Funeral services were held in the Lima Baptist Temple, Lima, Ohio. Burial was in Memorial Park Mausoleum. 2.6.3.4.1 Connie (Radebaugh) Adleman of Eaton Rapids, Michigan died Aug. 6. 1997 at the |
University of Michigan Hospital, Ann Arbor. She was a Teacher in the Dimondale Elementary School for 24 years. Principal James Cooper said Adleman was a mothering figure in the school. "She was a sensitive,warm person. The kids in her class and the parents loved her" "People would just run up and hug her. She loved getting hugs and giving them." She fought cancer for one and a half years and won, only to be taken by a series of strokes. Surviving her are her husband of five years. Floyd Adleman; two sons. Steven (Lisa) Hilty of Haslett, Michigan, Mark (Leah) Hilty of Dayton, Ohio, and her parents Byron and Mildred Radebaugh of De Kalb. IL. 4.8.4.4 Herman Odel Cook died Thanksgiving Day, Nov. 27, 1997 at home. He was 83 years old. As a cabinet maker he worked at Berne Lumber Co. for 25 years. He also worked for Berne Overall Co. for 52 years. He helped maintain the Church Shut-In Home, the sound system that carried the church services to those unable to attend. His wife Luetta Sprunger died Sept. 14, 1992. Surviving are a daughter, Bonnie Flueckiger of Berne, his oldest sister Frances Bailey, and his youngest sister Elnora Langham, all of Berne. He has three grandchildren and three great-grandchildren. His funeral was held in the First Mennonite Church on Sunday afternoon. He was buried in the M.R.E. Cemetery. "Hello from Arizona! My wife Jennifer and I are newsletter subscribers. We have lived in Arizona since 1975. Our three children are all in their twenties. Our oldest daughter, Serena, started her own business this year--SGH Consulting. She has both her MBA and CPA. Our son Quincy works for Caruso, Turley and Scott in Phoenix as a structural engineer in training. He enjoys fine tuning blueprints for both commercial and residential buildings. Our son Chad just started medical school this fall at New York Medical College in New York." |
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Maplewood Mennonite Church of Fort Wayne, won an award from the Indiana State Religious History Association. The book, edited by David L, Habegger, was chosen as the best book written by a non-professional from 1995 to 1997 among churches with fewer than 500 members. It was written to commemorate Maplewood's 35th anniversary. of Christ as "Saints". his letters paint a picture of very fallible people. They were susceptible to all types of failings. And so are we and our ancestors. It is not easy to tell of the failings of our forebears. There is a temptation to leave that part of the picture covered. Once, when my mother was talking to a sister and brother, I asked a question about some failing of a relative. There was an embarrassing silence for a brief time, then my mother said, "We have a saying, 'Don't talk about the dead.'" So the story was never told. If I had asked them separately, they might have been willing to tell me, But they did not want to do it in front of others - who probably knew all about it. This newsletter begins the story of the various families. It will tell both the brighter and the darker stories for the insight this will give into the lives of our relatives. Hirschy children arrived in Adams County on August 28, 1845. Quite a few Amish and Mennonites had come to this area from Wayne Co., Ohio before he did, and they probably gave a positive report on the forested land that was available for a modest sum. He was the first of the family to come to this area. At 23 years of age he had fulfilled his obligations to his step-father Christian Horn, who would have received a major portion of his wages up until the time he was 21. He thus would have brought with him whatever wages he had been able to save for two and a half years. Julianna, John's mother, had died in March |
1839 so he had his brothers and sisters to think about and they were all working for their livelihood with various families. Joan would not have earned sufficient cash to purchase land. So that had to wait until after he married Barbara Stauffer on April 16. 1847. He purchased 80 acres in Hartford Township on May 5 1847. This land is located 3 miles straight west of Berne. Barbara was Mennonite while John was Amish. It would be interesting to know if he had worked for her father. or just how he became acquainted with her. The differences between the Amish and Mennonites were not very great in those days, and we today would have had a hard time telling the difference. For a time John must have participated in the life of the Mennonite church as Samuel Lehman. who recorded all Mennonite families in the area, had a sheet for this family. John must have felt more closely tied to the Amish church for none of the family united with the Baumgartner Mennonite church, nor the Berne Mennonite church that developed in the 1850s. When the Amish church experienced a division in 1865. John and Barbara and their children followed their Bishop, Henry Egly into what was to become the Defenseless Mennonite Church. (The name is a translation of the German, Wehrlosig Mennoniten Gemeinde. This can be translated the nonresistant Mennonite Church - meaning they would not participate in warfare. The name comes from Jesus' injunction not to resist one who is evil. Matt. 5:39.) Barbara, John's wife, had come to Adams county from Wayne Co., Ohio with her parents arriving in Monroe township, Adams County on March 10, 1827. She was 13 years of age. She had just turned 20 when she married on April 16, 1847. Her obituary reports that ",..with their own hands they cleared the ground of trees and built a home where she lived for 67 years," Their first home would have been a simple log cabin. Then in a few years they erected the home that is still standing on the farm they developed. That house is also built of logs and the windows on the east side of the house have the original glass. The original roof of the house was torn off by a tornado and the present one was then put on. |
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A little over a year and three months after their marriage Barbara gave birth to her first child, Christian. In a period of 25 years she gave birth to 13 children. She was 48 years old when Rebecca was born. She must have been a strong healthy person for she lived 20 years beyond her husband, and died at age 89 years, 7 months and 18 days. John Hirschy lived to the age of 73 years and 8 days. That was a long life for he died in 1894 after a life of hard work as a farmer. Yet of his thirteen children eight lived longer than he. His oldest son. Christian, lived 102 and when he died on Dec. 1. 1910. he was the oldest person in Adams County. This was a hearty, healthy family. Only one of their children died in childhood, That was No. 12 Lovina, who lived just 10 years. We have no information as to the cause of her death. Ephrain Hirschy, the 11th child, died of cancer of the liver at the age of 42. He, with his pregnant wife Lucy Hannah Graber and six children, had gone to the panhandle of Oklahoma in 1906 where they purchased a farm. Only three years later he became ill with the cancer so sold the farm and returned to Adams Co. and died shortly afterwards. He and Lucy had a son and daughter born in Oklahoma. The third child, Barbara Hirschy, only lived to the age of 46. Barbara had no children of her own, but she and her husband, Peter M. Moser raised two children, Salome Stetler and Catherine McBride. I wonder where these children came from. Catherine, the 6th child, lived to the age of 63. She had a sad life in that her marriage broke up and her children had difficult lives. Her first child died at age 9, and her 5th child lived only 8 months. Her second child was raised by her aunt and uncle and her 4th child went west and was killed in a lumber camp when a tree fell on him. The rest of John and Barbara's children all lived more than 70 years. Nov. 9, 1928 has the distinction of living longer than any other Hirschy in our extended family. He reached the age of 102 years. 3 months and 28 days. Though he became quite wealthy, he remained a quiet, simple person. reflecting his conservative. rural upbringing. |
He married Catharine Schindler on Mar. 23, 1879 when he was 31 years of age. To them were born four children. The first, Lavina, lived only a month. A year after the first child was born, Rosa was born. She lived to age 71 and never married. The third child was Rachel. She lived to be 91 years of age. She married Walter Henry Lugibihl who served as a minister in the Missionary Church for 55 years. They had two children; Robert and Dorothy. Walter wrote a history of The Missionary Church Association. The fourth child was son John C. Hirschy. John C. married Amanda N. Egly, a grand-daughter of Bishop Henry Egly. They had no children. Growing up in the Defenseless Mennonite Church, Christian became a member of The Missionary Church some time after its formation on August 29. 1898. When this church organized the Fort Wayne Bible Institute in 1904, Chris Hirschy (as he was called) was placed on the building committee. His only living grandchild, Dorothy Lugibihl Lehman, wrote the following about her Grandfather. "Every summer, as long as he lived, he attended the Convention of The Missionary Church Association in Fort Wayne. When the offering was taken he delighted in putting in a $100 dollar bill. He got great pleasure in hearing during the next service how wonderful the offering was because of the $100 bill some unknown person had put in. He was a great giver. Though he was wealthy. he lived simply. For breakfast he ate chicken feet with a sauce he made, potatoes and soft boiled eggs." His obituary states. "Mr. Hirschy had been bedfast five weeks after a very active life. He was in a coma the last 24 hours before his death and had failed rapidly the last few days. He fell from a chair a number of weeks ago and this seemed to take much of the vigor out of him. He had been unable to come to the table for several weeks and had taken little nourishment for some time. Until a few weeks ago he came uptown. walking unaided. He spent considerable time in his garden the past summer and was never as happy as when he was engaged in work. His eyesight was surprisingly good for a person his age up to two years ago and he spent much time in reading. He was always interested in current events." Granddaughter Dorothy wrote. "All my holidays |
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and vacations until I was married in 1941 were spent with my grandparents in Berne. (Grandma died when I was eight.) My life has been blessed by my godly heritage and my only desire is to serve our Lord Jesus Christ as my ancestors did." She married Gaylord Lehman and they have three children: Joy, Rebeque and Jon (Not Jonathan as given in the Genealogy). These three children are the only great grandchildren of Christian. Dorothy has been teaching music at Midwestern Baptist College in Bloomfield Hills. MI for 26 years. Dorothy possesses the New Testament that belonged to her Great Great Grandmother, Julianna Frey Hirschy. The inscription in this Testament is shown on page 23 of the Hirschy Genealogy. and Barbara Hirschy, was born Sept. 5, 1849. At age 19 she married John Biberstein on Mar 5, 1868. John, the son of Abraham Biberstein and Catherine Klophenstein, was the oldest of eleven children. Born in Wayne County, Ohio Jun. 26, 1847 the family came to Adams County around August of that year. To Mary and John were born six children: Amos, Levi, Emma, Adam, Samuel and Lavina. Little is known of the first two children as they moved away from Adams County. Emma's children are widely scattered as well. Adam lived in Adams Co., and fathered eleven children. Their descendants continue to live in the area. Eva lived in Pontiac. Illinois and had a family. Samuel remained single, and Lavina though married had no children. While Christian Hirschy's life was relatively serene, his sister Mary's was turbulent by contrast. Both she and her husband were members of the Defenseless Mennonite Church led by Bishop Henry Egly, but their marriage was troubled. We do not know just when it began but the story begins to unfold. The records kept by Minister Egly give us basic information. He began a history of his life on April 27, 1887. Then for two years, 1888-1889 Egly kept a diary that was translated by his grand- daughter, Amanda (Mrs. Ben) Sprunger. A third source is a Church Record kept by Christian Egly, Henry's son, that covers the years 1881-1891. |
In 1881 Minister Egly wrote "This year until July 1887 we had the deepest awakenings that we have had in 20 years. In all my experiences in these 30 years the prayer meetings that we together as brothers and sisters had was a help to us. We were very much troubled over a heavy temptation that came over us through the rebellious Biberstine family." Egly had just written about a problem with John's brother Jacob, and then wrote that John Biberstein had been set back from the church in 1883. To be "set back" means to be placed under the discipline of the church and to be refused communion. Within the Amish church this also meant that members of the family were not to eat at the same table with the person under discipline. We do not know what was happening in the Biberstein family but Christian Egly (a son of Henry and later a minister) wrote on July 26, 1886 "We had a meeting to take counsel about what to do about members that were indifferent whether to keep them in church or not. Aug. 2 we had another meeting, then Jacob Sprunger, Abraham Biberstein and Katie Biberstein were put out of church." There were serious problems between John and Mary - serious enough for the marriage to end in divorce in 1887. John was under discipline so had been out of the church for nearly three years, but Mary was kept in the church. Divorce at that time was very rare among the Amish and Mennonites, and in Egly's congregation this may have been the first divorce among the membership. So it was a very serious problem for the leadership. Egly saw it as involving more than just the couple. He wrote about it as follows: "Another matter came up about John Hirschy's. It was hard for them to realize how far they had gone wrong in giving their children in marriage. We learned that in such difficult matters between man and wife, or between families, or between members where they are hard against each other that both parties should be set back that they should not have Communion with the Church until those parties can have peace together. We missed what we should have done with D. Kaufman's and John Hirschy's, and John Biberstein and his wife. If we had treated them all the same and not kept one side in communion with the church in these cases we would not now have the trouble in the |
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church with that law suit and maybe the children of brother D. Kaufman's would not have gone so far out of the way." He was, of course, speaking from hind sight. When John and Mary were married they were both members of the church. So why should Mary's parents have protested? The Daniel Kauffman family had brought charges against John Hirschy in 1883 and were subsequently disciplined - but not the Hirschys. Henry Egly refers to a suit brought by John Biberstein. This occurred in June 1887. about the time of John's divorce action. John hired attorney Frances Merryman and lodged his complaint. The records of Adams Circuit Court for August 1887 has the lengthy complaint in which one sentence takes up a page and a half with the following spellings, John Biberstine, the Plaintiff complained that Henry Egly, John Hirschi, Barbara Hirschi, Peter M. Moser and Barbara Moser, on the 1st day of June 1886 and for a long time prior had "unlawfully, wrongfully, and secretly conspired together to injure and destroy his happiness." He charged they had sought "to injure him and to deprive him of the comfort, society, and assistance of his wife" by inducing her "to cease eating at the same table with him" and "to cease sleeping with him in the same bed" and "to cease cohabiting with him as his wife". John charged that Mary Biberstine. as a member of the same Church as the Defendants, was very devoted to the Church teachings. And being a person who was very easily influenced by the Minister and by the members, especially those members who were her near relatives. "on the said day of June 1886 and at divers other times both before and after said date while the Plaintiff and said Mary were living happily together" did then and there wrongfully and maliciously "talk to her and tell her that her said Husband the Plaintiff herein was not a Christian man, and that he was not a member of the Church and was therefore a child of the Devil and that she was a christian woman and belonged to the Church and that she was therefore a child of the Lord, and that she was not doing the part of a Christian woman if she continued to live and sleep with and cohabit with her husband and eat with him at the same table, and that it was against the rules of the church so to do." |
He acknowledged that he "was not now and was not at the time of the grievances" a member of the Church to which his wife Mary and the Defendants belonged. Thus. he charged, they took "advantage of her weaknesses" by " frequently, unlawfully and maliciously" talking, with and persuading her to do as they said. From that time on Mary refused "to either eat at the same table and to sleep with him". She refused "to cohabit with him as husband and wife, and to reason thereof these Defendants have won from him the love and affection of his said wife, and have destroyed the comfort and happiness of the Plaintiff. and have deprived him of the society and assistance of his said wife Mary, all without the privity or consent of this Plaintiff and all to his damage in the sum of Three Thousand Dollars." John Biberstine in his complaint says he was not a member of the church when placed under discipline. So he must not have been attending for some time prior to his divorce and prior to the time he was put out of the church. The Defendants in the case placed the following Demurrer to the Complaint, "Comes now the defendants and demur, separately and severally to plaintiffs complaint and say that the complaint does not state facts sufficient to constitute a cause of action against them, or either of them." Christian Egly did not record anything about the suit in his diary. The trial was heard on the second Monday of August, 1887. There are no records of this meeting but it appears the Judge decided against John. So John asked for a new trial in which he dropped the charge of conspiracy. The trial before a Jury was held Jan. 30, 31, and Feb. 1. 1888. In his diary Henry Egly simply wrote, "Jan. 30 I was at Decatur. We were called by court to appear because of John Biberstein. Jan. 31. Jacob Schenbeck, I, and others were called for the same cause. We stayed overnight two times. Lodging and board $2.00, Feb. 1 Was in Decatur. Feb. 2 Was home again.' John Biberstein asked the judge to give written instructions to the jury and these are part of the record. In these instructions Judge J.R. Bobo said there |
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is a difference in what can be charged against parents from other persons. He wrote. "If the interference of the Parents of the wife is wholly without cause and is a mere voluntary intrusion they ought to be held to liability by the same rule of law that another person is. If however the interference is by the parents of the wife on an assumption that the wife is ill treated to an extent that justifies her in withdrawing from her husbands society and control it may reasonably be presumed that they have acted with commendable motives and a clear case of want of justification may be justly required to be shown before they should be held responsible." He went on to say, "So far as the other three Defendants are concerned if they or either of them wrongfully interfered in the affairs of the Plaintiffs family and by persuasion or arguments of any kind wrongfully induced the wife to withdraw her society and her marital duties from her husband they are liable to him in damages and for the injuries done, So also are the father and mother if they also without cause wantonly interfered in his affairs and took part in so inducing the wife to act to the injury of her husband contrary to her marital duties." At the end of the trial the jury brought this verdict: "We the jury find for the Defendants - Henry Egly, John Hirschi, Barbara Hirschi. Peter M. Moser. Barbara Moser, Not Guilty. William T. Waggoner, Foreman." Henry Egly records, "The law suit cost the church, our defender, $175, the court $173; Rudolph Lehman $57. John Biberstine would have to pay $250." To settle the costs, "The Hirschy family paid $175 and John Biberstine paid $250 and $21 witness money. Sister Maria Biberstine paid $200 and John Biberstine $73, besides the ride to Decatur and our board cost which was about $21." Following the trial it appears the persons who won the suit decided to go the second mile. In a document signed by John Biberstein we read the following: "In consideration of the sum of Two Hundred and fifty, dollars to me in hand paid by John Hirschy, Henry Egly Sr., and Peter M. Moser. I John Biberstein hereby release them from all demands, claims, damages and actions which I now have or ever had on account of having the affection of my wife alienated by the above named John Hirschy, Henry Egly Sr., and Peter Moser as was alleged by me in a |
complaint filed in the Adams Circuit Court. In Witness Whereof I hereonto set my hand this 27th day of February, 1888. Johannes Biberstein. Signed and acknowledged in our presence, Rudolph Lehman. Joel Welty." In Egly's diary he records several visits with John. Then on June 10, 1898 he wrote. "John Biberstein asked to be accepted as a member in church again." How was the church to deal with a person who was divorced? If he was repentant, should he not be received? Egly does not record what action was taken. Part of the reason for wanting to be be back in the church may have been John's interest in Sarah Moser. He was married to her on Feb. 9. 1889. 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. relief worker wrote the following in a devotional for January 31, 1998. "It used to bother me that Exodus 20:5 talks about children suffering for the sins of their parents, even 'to the third and fourth generation.' Today I realize this refers to what can happen to the unfortunate children and the childrens children of dysfunctional families. Without God's grace it seems almost impossible to break out of that destructive downward trend. "The good news Is that the reverse is also true. The facts are well know that among the many descendants of frontier preacher Jonathan Edwards and his wife Sara, there were 13 college presidents, 65 college professors, 100 lawyers, 30 judges, 66 physicians, 80 holders of public offices such as United States senators, state governors, vice-presidents. and others. So many of them turned out to be what one author calls 'nation builders."' Taken from Rejoice a Mennonite publication. |