Anna Maria Litwiller

Other Events:

• FindAGrave: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/44910387
• Name: Anna Maria Erb
• Name: Maria Litwiller
• Name: Mary Litwiller
• Eby ID Number: Waterloo-51627
• Residence: 1852, Wilmot Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; Amish
• Residence: 1871, Wellesley Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; Lot 10 Con. 2 Wellesley Township
• Residence: 1871, Wellesley Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; Mennonite
• Residence: 1881, Wellesley Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; Mennonite
• Residence: 1911, Wellesley Village, Wellesley Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; Mennonite

Anna — Christian S. Erb. Christian (son of John H. Erb, Sr. and Veronica S. Schwartzentruber) was born 14 Feb 1833, Wilmot Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; died 17 Oct 1909, Wellesley Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; was buried , Maple View Amish Mennonite Cemetery, Wellesley Township, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada. [Group Sheet]

1. Menno L. Erb was born 3 Dec 1857, , Ontario, Canada; died 25 Oct 1915, , Holt County, Nebraska; was buried , Mennonite Cemetery, O' Neill, Holt, Nebraska, United States.
2. Veronica Erb was born 6 Jan 1860; died 26 Jan 1861.
3. John Litwiller Erb was born 16 Mar 1862, Wellesley Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; died 16 Jul 1929, Wellesley Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; was buried , Cedar Grove Amish Mennonite Cemetery [Formerly 3rd Line], Wellesley Township, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada.
4. Peter L. Erb was born 28 Feb 1864, , Ontario, Canada; died Yes, date unknown; was buried , Poole West Amish Mennonite Cemetery, Poole, Perth County, Ontario, Canada.
5. Christian L. Erb was born 1865, Wellesley Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; died Yes, date unknown; was buried , Mapleview Mennonite Cemetery, Wellesley Twp., Ontario, Canada.
6. Elizabeth Erb was born May 1868, , Ontario, Canada; died 5 Apr 1955, RR2, Petersburg, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; was buried , Mapleview Mennonite Cemetery, Wellesley Twp., Ontario, Canada.
7. Martha Erb was born 1869, , Ontario, Canada; died Yes, date unknown.
8. Magdalina "Mattie" Erb was born 27 Mar 1870, , Ontario, Canada; died Yes, date unknown.
9. Barbara Erb was born 26 Oct 1871, Wellesley Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; died 8 Oct 1922, Petersburg, Wilmot Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; was buried , Saint Agatha Mennonite Cemetery, St. Agatha, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada.

Other Events:

• Eby ID Number: Waterloo-24854
• Occupation: 1852, Wilmot Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; Yeoman
• Residence: 1852, Wilmot Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; Amish
• Occupation: 1861, Wilmot Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; Yeoman
• Residence: 1861, Wilmot Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; Mennonite
• Hall of Fame - Waterloo Region: Bef 2012, , Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; Religious leader

Notes:

Litwiller, Peter (1809-1878)

Peter Litwiller was born 8 January 1809, in Illfurth, Upper Alsace. His parents were Anna Maria (the name she went by) Maurer and Jacob Litwiller. Jacob died in 1814. Widow Maria, three married daughters and their families, two single daughters and Peter left France and arrived in New York on 12 July 1827.

On their arrival in Waterloo, they selected lots in the newly-surveyed centre block in Wilmot Township and set to work. Young Peter selected Lot 7, on the north side of Erb's Road, but did little work on his own lot until after his marriage to Elizabeth Lichti in 1830. By 1835, however, he had completed his settlement duties and received his patent for the front fifty acres from the Crown.

In 1838 Peter bought a little notebook which he called his "Notizbuch." It illustrates the settlers' system of bartering goods and services. Litwiller frequently hired persons by the day or to do certain tasks. This may have been the labourer's only way to get a little needed cash as much as Litwiller's need for assistance. Goods supplied in exchange for work might be yarn for stockings, material for a coat, a pound of "dubock" (tobacco), or postage for a letter. A study of the names appearing in Litwiller's notebook is a veritable "who's who" of new Amish-Mennonite arrivals in Canada. Litwiller also had dealings with his non-Amish neighbours, most of whom were Roman Catholic.

Peter's compassionate business acumen won for himself the respect of his co-religionists and, at the age of 28, he was chosen for the ministry in the Wilmot Amish Mennonite congregation in 1845. That was also the year that he served as one of the trustees who purchased the school site which the Amish had established at the site of the present St. Agatha Mennonite Church.

Peter's brother-in-law, Rudolph Roth, a gifted preacher, had been ordained minister in 1835 and bishop in 1843. Family relationships during the next few years must have been very trying for Peter and his sisters and in-laws when Rudolph Roth, his wife Maria (nee Litwiller), Jacob and Barbara (Litwiller) Gardner, and Veronica (Litwiller) Gingerich (but not her husband) joined the Reformed Mennonites . Rudolph's early demise in 1853 removed him from any conflict which Peter might have had with him.

Rudolph's leaving the Amish-Mennonite fold and the deaths of both Bishop John Oesch in Hay and Bishop Christian Miller in Wilmot, left the aged Bishop Christian Wagler, recent immigrant from Alsace, as the only bishop for the whole Amish-Mennonite constituency. It must have been Bishop Wagler who ordained Peter Litwiller that same year, and after Wagler's death the following year, Peter was left with bishop oversight over the whole Amish-Mennonite community from Wilmot to Lake Huron.

Joseph Ruby was ordained bishop for the South Easthope-East Zorra congregation in 1853 and John Jantzi for the North Wilmot-Wellesley congregation in 1859. The Hay congregation, however, did not ordain a bishop, and were served by those in East Zorra or Wilmot for the next 100 years.

Peter Litwiller's farm buildings were across the street and up the road a short distance from the Catholic Church. In 1857, a dedicated young man by the name of Eugene Funcken arrived in St. Agatha to serve in the Congregation of the Resurrection. Father Funcken was full of zeal and energy. These two men might have had good reasons to ignore each other, at best, or engage in a running feud, at worst, but they did neither. According to family tradition, they met with each other regularly to discuss topics of a religious nature. They set the stage for a peaceful community, rather than one where various factions are in conflict.

Peter Litwiller died 7 July 1878. It is said that when the funeral cortege passed the Catholic church on its way to the Amish cemetery, Father Funcken had the bells tolled. A broadside printed at the time of his death is also attributed to Father Funcken. In it he extolled the bishop's character and his ministry.<sup>1

1</sup>Roth, Lorraine. "Litwiller, Peter (1809-1878)." Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. October 2004. Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. Retrieved 13 Nov 2005

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Herald of Truth - Volume XV, Number 8 - August 1878, pages 141, 143 and 144

LITZWILER.-July 8th, of long suffering with rheumatism, PETER LITZWILER, bishop of the Amish Mennonite church, at the age of 69 years, 5 months and 27 days. He was beloved by all who knew him.

Peter married Elizabeth Lichti 1830. Elizabeth (daughter of Johannes F. "John" Lichti and Magdalena Joder) was born 2 Oct 1808, , France; died 25 Feb 1882; was buried , Saint Agatha Mennonite Cemetery, St. Agatha, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada. [Group Sheet]

Other Events:

• Name: Elizabeth Litwiller
• Name: Lizzie Lichty
• Eby ID Number: Waterloo-24855
• Immigration: 9 Jul 1825, New York City, New York, USA.
• Residence: 1852, Wilmot Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; Amish
• Residence: 1881, Wilmot Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; Mennonite

Notes:

Immigration:
Departed Le Harve, France on the passenger ship "Elizabeth" arrived New York City 9 Jul 1825"
John Leichy, age 67, farmer, from France
Madelina Leichty, age 52
Joseph Leichty,, age 26
Maria Leichty, age 18
Elizabeth Leichty, age 16
Nicholas Leichty, 1

Other Events:

• Eby ID Number: Waterloo-24856

Jacob — Anna Maria Maurer. Anna was born 3 May 1767, Of, Illfurth, , Alsace, France; died 22 Sep 1836, Wilmot Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada. [Group Sheet]

Other Events:

• Name: Anna Maria Litwiller
• Eby ID Number: Waterloo-29656

Other Events:

• Eby ID Number: Waterloo-35484
• Immigration: 9 Jul 1825, New York City, New York, USA.
• Land: 1830, Wilmot Township - Concession South of Bleam's Road Lot 08, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada

Notes:

Johannes and his wife Magdalena were probably buried at the north-west corner of the family which is now part of the St. Agatha Mennonite Cemetery.

Immigration:
Departed Le Harve, France on the passenger ship "Elizabeth" arrived New York City 9 Jul 1825"
John Leichy, age 67, farmer, from France
Madelina Leichty, age 52
Joseph Leichty,, age 26
Maria Leichty, age 18
Elizabeth Leichty, age 16
Nicholas Leichty, 1

Johannes — Magdalena Joder. Magdalena was born 1772, Morvillars, Morvillars, , Franche-Comté, France; died 1851, Wilmot Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada. [Group Sheet]

Other Events:

• Name: Magdalena Lichti
• Eby ID Number: Waterloo-111796
• Immigration: 9 Jul 1825, New York City, New York, USA.
• Land: 1830, Wilmot Township - Concession South of Bleam's Road Lot 08, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada
• Residence: 1852, Wilmot Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; Amish

Notes:

Immigration:
Departed Le Harve, France on the passenger ship "Elizabeth" arrived New York City 9 Jul 1825"
John Leichy, age 67, farmer, from France
Madelina Leichty, age 52
Joseph Leichty,, age 26
Maria Leichty, age 18
Elizabeth Leichty, age 16
Nicholas Leichty, 1