The Hirschy Newsletter

for descendants of Philip and Julianne (Frey) Hirschy
October 1994 No. 4

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THE 1994
HIRSCHY GATHERING
IN REVIEW

  Nearly 300 persons were
present to enjoy the
opportunity of meeting with
relatives from sixteen
states and four provinces
of Canada. We came from
Indiana, Michigan, Ohio,
California, Pennsylvania,
Kentucky, Tennessee, New
York, Virginia, Florida,
Iowa, Wisconsin, Arizona.
Connecticut, Texas, and
North Carolina and from
Ontario, Manitoba,
Saskatchewan and Alberta,
Canada.
  People met relatives they
had never seen before as
well as some they know
somewhat vaguely. Ruth
Ehle 6.1.8.2 of New Haven
asked me if I knew where
her cousin's son Jack Zehr
6.1.7.2.4 of Mesquite, Texas
was. I had already met him
so pointed him out. She
walked up to him, put her
arm around him and watched
him search his memory an he
tried to figure out who she
might be.
  We certainly appreciate
all the work the Gathering
Committee put into making
this a meaningful occasion.

LETTERS

Here is a sampling of
letters received:
Dear David:
  Congratulations on a
great task done well! The
amount of genealogical
information is outstanding.
Not only in the Hirschy
background detailed, but
other family information is
a great addition to the
Hirschy Genealogy.

  The attendance at the
Reunion dinner and program
was wonderful. To have so
many areas represented
indicated the wide interest
in the Hirschy project.
  Thank you again for all
the effort you have put
into this family history.
Cordially,
    Virgil Sprunger.

Dear David:
  I received the book
today . It is fantastic.
  I an glad you had a good
reunion.

  My oldest brother, Rev.
Charles Odel Hirschy would
have liked to have lived
and be there, but God in
his wisdom saw best to take
him home.
  Perhaps the next reunion
I can be there. My
children were both there
for the one in 1989?
Sincerely,
Ora Leo Rea

  Thanks for the wonderful
family "get-to-gether". We
enjoyed the fellowship very
such.
Sincerely, Mrs. Byron E.
(Ethel) Snell

PLAN FOR 1997

  At the July Gathering we
were asked whether we had
interest in continuing to
have future gatherings.
There was strong affirma-
tion for the idea. The
Gathering committee met
following our July 30 event
to evaluate what had boon
experienced. In consider-
ing plans for the future,
it was decided that we
should begin planning for
another Gathering in three
years. A date has not been
set, so if you have ideas
for such an event, pass
them on to any member of
the committee.

JOIN OTHERS IN A
SWISS HERITAGE TOUR

  1995 is the year to make
a pilgrimage to Switzerland
and France to the places
our ancestors lived. The
tour will begin on June 15
from Chicago and will will
on June 29 with arrival
back in Chicago.
  These two weeks will be
filled with delightful
times as we visit villages,
and farms where our
ancestors lived. We will
enjoy the lovely spring
flowers and fields an we
ride a bus that will take
us to the various places.
  To receive more infor-
mation on the Swiss
Heritage Tour that in
scheduled to begin June 15,
1995, sand your name and
address to Cletus Hirschy,
3923 Hazelhurst Dr., Ft.
Wayne, IN 46804.

The Early Life Story
of Manes Hirschy
(4.8.1)

  Adapted from what was
written by Jim Langham
(4.8.4.6.1), a great-
nephew. He interviewed
Manes on his 100th
birthday, Sept. 4, 1982.

  Manes was the first of
eleven children, eight of
which lived to adulthood.
The last child (Kathryn) was
born two months before
their father's death. Their
parents were Jonathan (4-8)
and Lem (Amstutz) Hirschy.

  I was born (Sept. 4.
1882) and raised four miles
southeast of Berne,
Indiana. everything was
still woods at that time.
The house was built of logs
cleared for the farm. Dad
was just a young man at the
age of forty when he died.
When he commenced to farm
he and his brother Peter
bought 80 acres of forest.
bad took the south forty an
h* wax the younger of the
two. Peter took the
northern 40 which was
valued as better land. But
in the will the south 40 was
worth more money for it was
where four corners of the
roads together.
  But, wow, all those woods
and no place to build a
house or barn! I don't
remember when the house was
built, but it wan built to
house Dad and his
sweetheart (Lem Amstutz)
after they got married
(Nov. 23, 1858). I
remember when the big log
barn was put up. Mom, with
the help of some tramps,
shoved the notched logs up
on skids. The logs were
dragged Into place by
horses. We hadn't even
thought of tractors, yet.
We had just what the Amish
still use today.
  The good timber was what
went Into the barn. They
were 40 feet long and had
to measure IS inches by six
or eight inches at the top.
The barn, as I remember was
20 by 40 feet long. That
meant a lot of logs to make
the barn high enough for a
hay loft. Dad would use
tramps that would come
along in those days and
would want to make some
money. He would have them

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saw the trees in six or ton
foot lengths and pile them
in heaps for burning. The
neighbor would plow three
or four furrows around the
field so the fire wouldn't
get out of hand. Then one
still night he set fire to
the whole works. How well
I remember that one evening
after supper when he set
the brush on fire. I was
no wore than three years
old. The sky was as bright
as day so Mom sat on the
porch all evening reading
her Bible without a lamp.
The next day Dad got a
couple of tramps to burn
what was left before the
fire went out. There was
still some brush and chunks
left, however.
  Later Dad built a big
barn away from the log
barn. It had livery
stables with an open tool
shed at one end. In
between the two barns he
had a well dug. I guess it
was 20 feet deep and 10
feet wide, walled with
river rock laid against the
dirt wall. The ground was
clay in this part of Adams
County and the well was dug
down to the first layer of
rock. There was another
layer of rock deeper down
as we found out when Mom
had a well drilled between
the house and the barn.
That one was 144 feet deep.
The water rose to within
seven feet of the top and
stays at that level all the
time.
  Speaking of tramps,
those were hard times with
hardly any work to speak
of. My parents were
Mennonites (members of the
Defenseless Mennonite
Church) and a Mennonite
would never turn one away
hungry. In those days we
usually had milk and mush
with butter for supper.
For breakfast if you had.
fried mush, fatty pork and
plenty of cane molasses,
you were happy. We had not
raised wheat as yet. If
you had plenty of corn, you
traded about 25 pounds for
flour and sugar. We had
brown when we had the
money to buy it. I can
remember when mom put
granulated sugar on the
table as a treat for a
Sunday dinner. Wow, we had
to ask her what the stuff
was!
  We had plenty of
sorghum for we raised that.
How well I remember the
year J.A. Sprunger's saw

mill and lumber yard burned
to the ground. The day
after, Pop and I drove to
town with the wagon. Sure
enough, there were the
ruins of the buildings with
our supply of molasses and
sorghum running all over
the place. Our work for
the winter's supply of
sweets had all gone for
nothing. Some of our good
neighbors shared some of
theirs with us that winter,
which we were very grateful
for. In those days it was
"neighbor help neighbor."
  A man, known as a
huckster, came to our home
with his wagon about once a
week. He always picked up
our eggs and butter in
exchange for groceries.
Sugar was 10 or 12 cents a
pound, eggs were 12 to 15
cents a dozen, and butter
was 12 to 15 cents a pound.
The thing I remember about
the man was that he always
had a stick of candy for
the kids. The children
would look up and down the
road when they expected
that one horse wagon to
come down the road.
  Early one fall we were
running out of corn meal.
Dad went to the field with
a sack on his shoulder to
hunt for ripe ears. He
brought them home, husked
them, and put them in a
pile behind the stove to
dry. When dry, we shelled
them into the wash tub.
Then Dad sent me to Berne,
on horse back, with the bag
of shelled corn to get it
ground into weal so we
would have something to
eat.
  I was allowed to attend
school in the fall after
the harvest was in. I
could attend until the next
spring when it was time to
plant again. I attended
the Baker School in Adams
County. We walked through
the woods to school and
when the snow was deep Dad
went ahead and blazed a
trail so that we had a path
to follow. When I started
school all I could speak
was Swiss. A neighbor
taught ne how to say, "Good
morning" in English to the
teacher. In school we had
double desks and the lower
grades sat on benches.
During bad weather we
played games on the school
porch. We also played
games in the woods going to
and from school, such as
walking on the logs like
frogs. I was allowed to

attend school until the
seventh grade and then I
had to quit to take care of
the family.
  The worship of God on
Sunday was very important
to my parents. We went to
church in an open spring
wagon pulled by our horses
in their work harness.. We
went to church every Sunday
it was fit to be out for
Sunday was God's day with
them, and it stayed with us
kids. Praise the Lord! I
was saved when I was seven
years old.
  Around 1896 Rev. Joseph
Egly, a minister in the
Defenseless Mennonite
Church and a Rev. Joseph E.
Ramseyer from Elkton,
Michigan, put up a tent and
led a revival that lasted
three weeks. The tent was
put up in Schindler's
grove, about a mile south
of where the West
Missionary Church is
located. The tent could
seat up to 700 and it was
filled every night. Some
who arrived late had to
stand on the outside. Many
folk thought the world was
milling then because there
were many falling stars
during that time. Some
nights they were so bright
and close that they would
scare the horses. The moon
also appeared red at times.
  The altar was full every
night with people seeking
salvation and the baptism
of the Holy Spirit. My
folks would got up early
every morning to got a good
start on the farm work.
They let us children feed
the pigs and chickens and
put water in their trough.
We finished milking the
cows and got ready by 5
p.m. to drive the seven
miles by wagon to the camp
meeting for an evening of
spiritual food.
  We took a big umbrella
with us in the wagon in
case it would rain, but the
weather was nice the whole
time. Dad was able to have
all five acres of corn laid
by in shocks because the
weather was so nice.
Praise the Lord! God gave
the farmers good weather so
that they could get that
work done and still get to
the meetings. After the
camp meenting is when the
Missionary Church was born
(in 1898), so it had a big
following right away.
  I received water baptism
in 1896 along with 17
others. I was baptized in

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the nob ditch on March 26,
a beautiful and warm day.
After changing from our wet
clothes at Grandma Amatutz
Zurcher's, we all went to
the south drive in back of
the barn. There the
ministers laid their hands
on our heads and prayed for
the Holy Spirit. That was
really a happy day for
I wish that I could
remember the names of the
young folk that knelt there
in that driveway. I can't,
but I hope to meet them all
in heaven. No doubt they
are enjoying seeing Jesus.
  I will never forget the
day of Dad's accident. It
was spring and I wan just
ton years old (1893). He
had been exercising a horse
hitched to a race cart in
which he was riding. The
horse reared up and fell
back on his before he could
get his feet out of the
stirrups. When we found
his, he was sitting in a
fence corner holding the
horse by his bridle strap.
Dad was severely injured
and was crippled for the
rest of his life. He
lingered on for six years
but kept getting thinner
and thinner.
  We were poor folks so
there wasn't much we could
do about Dad's condition.
The nearest hospital was in
Fort Wayne. There was no
way to get there but by
train as there were no
automobiles in those days
and it was too far to take
his by buggy. So when you
got something that a local
doctor couldn't cure, you
just didn't get well. Dad
died June 5, 1899 (Samuel
Lehman the undertaker gives
the date as July 7). He
didn't weigh over 127
pounds at the time. I was
left as the "man of the
house" when I was still 16.
My brother Jonathan was
ten. We had six sisters,
three older and three
younger than Jonathan.
  After the accident I
had to do such of the fare
work. A week or two after
the accident, Dad could get
around a little with a
walking stick. We had five
acres of ground to plow and
plant to corn. The fields
still had many large stumps
of trees that had been cut
down and we had to plow and
plant around them. We had
only a double shovel plow
to work the ground. Dad
had to bore some new holes
in the handles of the plow

to lower them to my height
so I could do the field
work. To harness the horse
he told me to get in the
manger to put on the bridle
and to fasten the collar
around its neck. I got a
box about IS inches high to
stand on to put the harness
over the horses' back.
Then we were ready to hitch
the horse to the single
tree of the plow. We led
the horse to a stump and
Dad crawled onto the stump
and onto the hordes' back
and off to the field we
went. Needless to say, one
cultivating is all that
five acres got that year.
  Dad did the best he
could for us after he got
hurt, but it was really
hard for his. He always
walked with a cane. ne was
able to haul logs for the
saw mill in Berne by
mastering his pain. At
least we had wood burning
stoves, and did not have to
buy gas.
  Dad always kept and rode
a ware that rained his a
colt that brought us $100
every year. The mare's
name was Sal. When she was
twelve she laid right down
and died following the
birth. We rained the colt
with a bottle. That was
the only time I ever saw
Dad cry. He sat right down
on a stump and sobbed.
  In those days there were
no paved highways, and they
were not even graveled.
My, but Adams County needed
something for the mud got
so deep when it thawed in
spring. You could hardly
pull an empty wagon during
a thaw when it was still
cold enough for the mud to
freeze to the wheels. I
remember when the townships
scooped side ditches and
pulled the dirt up in the
middle of the road. The
dirt road bed was then
leveled. All this was done
with horses. Whenever big
rains came the road would
soon run off into the
ditches and the work had to
be redone.
  A mn by the name of
Schindler had the first
stone crusher near Linn
Grove. River rock was
crushed and the crushed
stone was used to build the
Berne Pike. Such roads
were hard on the horses'
feet.
  In the fall of 1899
after Dad died, after the
corn was in, I went to the
Bible School that J.A.

Sprunger had organized. I
was expecting to study for
the Lord's work. A little
later my cousin Don
finished his second term
with the army and asked Mom
if he could make his hose
with us. She consented.
That was not really good
for me. He helped with the
work, which gave me more
leisure time. Ben had
bought a horse and buggy
and asked me at times to
ride with him on a double
date. I went with him and
learned lots about the
world that I hadn't known
before he came.
  After riding with Ben I
felt I needed a horse and
buggy and so talked to Mom
about it. The oil fields
east of Berne were in need
of workers. So I asked
if I could go to work in
them after the corn was in
and she consented. We
struck a bargain. If I
would give her half of what
I earned, I could save the
rest for a horse and buggy.
My sisters helped me put
the corn in the crib and by
December I got a job
helping pull and clean oil
wells. What a job that
was. It was wet and greasy
and the mud froze to my
clothes all day. But I was
raking good money.
  When I began to date I
went with a girl by the
name of Hilda McClain. I
gave her a bounce.
Then I started going with a
girl by the name of Stella
Gates. While working in
the oil fields that winter
we would take little sips
of whiskey to keep us
while we ware working. One
Monday morning X went to
Decatur, the county seat,
and decided to got m a
drink of whiskey in the
saloon. Before going in I
looked around and didn't
see a soul that I knew.
  The next Saturday night
when I went to see my
sweetheart the first thing
she asked me was if I had
been in the saloon. I
said, "What for?" And she
said, "To drink, of course.
I can't marry a man that
drinks." That was the
reason she had left home
when she was 19, to got
away from her dad. He was
hard on her, but those were
rough times.
  Miss. Gates was a Sunday
school teacher of a host of
little girls at the
Methodist Protestant Church
called Pleasant Valley. In

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1903 a three-week revival was being held in her church. I promised her I would go for I was tired of my sinning ways. I was saved when I was seven or eight years old and had been attending the Missionary Church. Shortly after the meetings Stella told me she would marry me if I didn't drink any wore. We were married on November 25, 1903 at the home of George W. Cates, Stella's parents, by Rev. William H. Flag. So the Lord reclaimed me and gave me the woman that I loved. (To be continued.) WITH THIS ISSUE the newsletter is being sent to those of you who have subscribed. You can tell by the address label on the envelope when your subscription ends. The first number behind your name is your number in The Hirschy Genealogy. If the last number is 7-95 this means your subscription ends with the July 1995 issue. To subscribe send $3.00 for four issues to the editor. The Hirschy Newsletter will be published four times a year. The editor is David L. Habegger, 6929 Hillsboro Ct., Fort Wayne, IN. 46835 If you have material you would like to submit for publication, send it to the editor. Articles about any of the Hirschy descendants in welcome.	Updated information on descendants that did not got into the Hirschy Genealogy will also be included from time to time. `Copies of The Hirschy Genealogy are still available. Hard bound are $35.50 and the soft bound are $30.00. Include $3.50 to cover cost of mailing.` Some persons have purchased copies for all their children. one ordered seven copies! These make a great Christmas present for your children or grandchildren as well as your sisters and brothers and parents. There are a limited number available. To be sure of a copy, order soon. HISTORY BOOKS Since you have interest in the Hirschy history, you might want to explore other histories that deal with our heritage. more are some you might want to purchase or chock out through your public library. On our Swiss background, the beet information can be obtained from Gratz, Delbert. Bernese Anabaptists and Their Amerlcan Descendants. There is a 1994 reprint of the 1953 edition. Obtain this excellent reproduction by Olde Springfield Shoppe, P.O. Box 171, Elverson, PA 19520-171. Cost $18.96 plus $2.50 for mailing.	For a general book on the Mennonites and Amish try the recently revised: Dyck, C.J. An Introduction to Mennonite History. Herald Press, Scottdale, PA. 15683 For a book on the Amish history road: Nolt, Steven M. A History of the Amish. 1992, Good Books, Intercourse, PA 17534. NEW INFORMATION Since the publication of The Hirschy Genealogy contact has been made with a descendant of Joseph Klopfenstein (5.7) and Arminta Barnes. They are Russ and Sherry (Klopfanatein) Clair of Rochester Hills, MI. They ordered a copy of the book as soon as they learned about it and then wrote: "Just a note to say how wonderful this book is. We received it today. in your newsletter #3 you mentioned missing data on Joseph, Jacob, Samuel, and Seth Klopfenstein. My husband's branch is Joseph and I have found Jacob's family. I will get updates for you. I'll try for find Samuel. There is no Seth. Joseph, Jacob and Samuel have a sister Emma who married Seth Wyse. However, I will compare the data in the book and see if I can help fill in some gaps. The Jacob descendants were shocked to got my call and will be excited to hear about the book. You have done a "wonderful" job. Noah and your other ancestors would be so proud of you." Thank you, Sherry, for your kind words.

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