Katherine Erb

Other Events:

• Name: Katherine Boshart
• Name: Katie Erb
• Eby ID Number: Waterloo-8759
• Residence: 1921, Wellesley Village, Wellesley Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; Mennonite

Notes:

Boshart, Katherine, daughter of Christian L. and Elizabeth (Oesch) Erb, was born in Perth Co., Ont., Aug. 29, 1904; died of a heart ailment at the St. Mary's Hospital, Kitchener, Ont., March 24, 1964; aged 59 y. 6 m. 24 d. In 1925 she was married to Michael Boshart, who survives. Also surviving are 5 sons and 10 daughters, 22 grandchildren, one brother, and 4 sisters. One daughter, 2 brothers, and one sister preceded her in death. Funeral services were held at the Maple View Church, near Wellesley, Ont., March 27, in charge of Chris Streicher and Alvin Leis.

Gospel Herald - Volume LVII, Number 21 - June 2, 1964, Page 478, 479, 480

Katherine married Michael Jacob Boshart 1925, Wellesley Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada. Michael (son of Jacob R. Boshart and Maria Barbara Jantzi) was born 12 Sep 1900, Crosshill, Wellesley Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; died 1974, Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; was buried , Mapleview Mennonite Cemetery, Wellesley Twp., Ontario, Canada. [Group Sheet]

1. Eldon Roy Boshart was born 1926; died 1990.
2. William Ralph Boshart was born 1927; died 1998.
3. Shirley Marie Boshart was born 1931; died 1954; was buried , Poole West Amish Mennonite Cemetery, Poole, Perth County, Ontario, Canada.
4. Erma Joan "Joan" Boshart was born 1942; died 4 Sep 2011, Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; was buried , Memory Gardens Cemetery, Breslau, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada.

Other Events:

• Eby ID Number: Waterloo-108864
• 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
• Occupation: 1890, Wellesley Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; farmer
• Occupation: CA 1910, Wellesley Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; blacksmith
• Occupation: 1921, Wellesley Village, Wellesley Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; Blacksmith, Shop
• Residence: 1921, Wellesley Village, Wellesley Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; Mennonite

Christian married Elisabeth Oesch 22 Apr 1890, Wellesley Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada. Elisabeth (daughter of Rudolph "Rudy" Oesch and Magdalena "Mattie" Schwartzentruber) was born 1870, Wellesley Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; died Yes, date unknown; was buried , Mapleview Mennonite Cemetery, Wellesley Twp., Ontario, Canada. [Group Sheet]

Other Events:

• Name: Elisabeth Erb
• Eby ID Number: Waterloo-109096
• Residence: 1881, Wellesley Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; Mennonite
• Residence: 1890, Wellesley Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada
• Residence: 1921, Wellesley Village, Wellesley Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; Mennonite

Other Events:

• FindAGrave: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/44910299
• Eby ID Number: Waterloo-51626
• Occupation: 1871, Wellesley Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; Farmer
• Residence: 1871, Wellesley Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; Lot 19 Con. 2 Wellesley Township
• Residence: 1871, Wellesley Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; Mennonite
• Occupation: 1881, Wellesley Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; Farmer
• Residence: 1881, Wellesley Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; Mennonite
• Retired: 1901, Wellesley Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada

Christian — Anna Maria Litwiller. Anna (daughter of Rev. Peter Litwiller and Elizabeth Lichti) was born 16 Aug 1833, , Ontario, Canada; died 1 Aug 1911, Wellesley Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; was buried , Maple View Amish Mennonite Cemetery, Wellesley Township, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada. [Group Sheet]

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

Other Events:

• FindAGrave: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/64914235
• Name: Rudy Oesch
• Eby ID Number: Waterloo-51505
• Residence: 1865, Hay Twp., Huron Co., Ontario, Canada

Rudolph married Magdalena "Mattie" Schwartzentruber 26 Dec 1865, , Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada. Magdalena (daughter of Johannes "John" Schwartzentruber and Barbara Birkley) was born 30 Jul 1847, , Ontario, Canada; died 8 Jul 1919, Wellesley Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; was buried , Maple View Mennonite Cemetery, Wellesley Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada. [Group Sheet]

Other Events:

• FindAGrave: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/37566708
• Name: Magdalena "Mattie" Leis
• Name: Magdalena "Mattie" Oesch
• Name: Martha Schwartzentruber
• Name: Mattie Schwartzentruber
• Eby ID Number: Waterloo-164703
• Residence: 1865, Hay Twp., Huron Co., Ontario, Canada
• Residence: 1881, Wellesley Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; Mennonite
• Residence: 1911, Wellesley Village, Wellesley Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; Mennonite

Other Events:

• FindAGrave: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/59514170
• Eby ID Number: Waterloo-239561
• 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; Not given
• Residence: 1861, Wilmot Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; Mennonite

John — Veronica S. Schwartzentruber. Veronica (daughter of Jacob Schwartzentruber and Catherine Schmucker) was born 12 Dec 1805, , Lancaster Co., Pennsylvania; died 27 Jul 1863, , Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; was buried , Kropf/Baden Cemetery, Baden, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada. [Group Sheet]

Other Events:

• FindAGrave: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/59514239
• Name: Veronica S. Erb
• Eby ID Number: Waterloo-239562
• Residence: 1852, Wilmot Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; Amish
• Residence: 1861, Wilmot Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; Mennonite

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

______________

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:

• Residence: Hay Twp., Huron Co., Ontario, Canada
• Eby ID Number: Waterloo-127086

Notes:

Oesch, John (1791-1850)

John Oesch (as he became known in Canada) was born in 1791 to Hannes Esch and Freni Heres (spelling uncertain). There is evidence that "Freni" was of Dutch origin. At that time, the Esch family was living on the Barbelsteinerhof at the foot of the Berwartstein Castle near the village of Erlenbach some distance east of Zweibrücken. The spirit of the French Revolution had crossed the border into the German states, and the local residents were giving Hannes, the farmer at Barbelstein, a great deal of trouble.

When King Maximillian of Bavaria issued an invitation to residents of the Palatinate and Alsace to settle the farming cloisters which he had confiscated from the Catholic Church and to develop the Danube Marsh in the area between Neuburg and Ingolstadt in the early 1800s, Hannes was among those who responded.

John married Barbara Schultz in 1820 at Rothsee, a former cloister farm, southeast of Munich. In 1823 a passport was issued to John at Weilheim, a town south of Munich, allowing him to visit Zweibrücken and the place of his birth.

Later in 1823 John and Barbara were at Probfeld on the Danube Marsh where their third child was born. Shortly after the death of this child the following spring, they were on their way to Canada, leaving Neuburg on the Danube on 1 June 1824. The traveling group consisted of John and Barbara Oesch, their two children, Barbara's widowed father, several unmarried Schultz young people, and Jacob Steinman. They made their way to Amsterdam where they boarded the Brig Ospray, arriving in New York on 2 September.

Some of the travelers may have remained in Pennsylvania for a while, but John and Barbara acquired oxen and a wagon and continued their journey to Upper Canada. When they got to Waterloo, the survey in Wilmot Township had just been completed. They settled in Waterloo Township for a few years until John was able to establish a home on Lot 15, North Snyder's Road, the southern end of which would eventually be part of Baden and Castle Kilbride would be built on land he had cleared.

In February 1829 John was ordained to the ministry in the Wilmot Amish Mennonite congregation and in September of the same year he was ordained to the office of "full minister" (bishop) to take the place of Peter Nafziger who was leaving for Butler County, Ohio. Joseph Goldschmidt and John Brenneman were the first Amish Mennonite ordained ministers in Wilmot in 1824. Nafziger was already an ordained bishop when he arrived from Germany in 1826, making John the first Amish-Mennonite bishop ordained in Canada.

For the next 20 years John served the growing Amish Mennonite community as a bishop. A congregation was organized in South Easthope and East Zorra townships, but no bishop was ordained until several years later, making them dependent on the services of the Wilmot bishop.

By the late 1840s, John and Barbara had 14 living children, eight of them sons. John's 200- acre farm was beginning to look very small. So, one day John set out on foot on the Huron Road and discovered that in Hay township the unoccupied land was unlimited. When a large contingent of Waglers arrived in Wilmot in late 1848 or early 1849, John left his claim to Lot 15 to the new immigrants and contracted with the Canada Company for 600 acres in Hay Township. He moved the family to Bayfield where he and his unmarried sons set to work building their second home in Canada.

In March of 1850, John became ill with what was probably a ruptured appendix and did not survive. He had the time to compose a will in which he was careful to look after the needs of his wife and young children. Several family members became owners of some of the lots John had contracted for in Hay, and the Waglers bought the farm in Wilmot.

The Amish community in Hay grew and prospered, but the congregation did not ordain another bishop to succeed John. Not until 100 years later was Ephraim Gingerich ordained to that office. In the interim, the congregation was always dependent on the services of the bishops from "down east", usually Wilmot or East Zorra.

[Source: Roth, Lorraine. "Oesch, John (1791-1850)." Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. November 2005. Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. Retrieved 27 October 2007 ]

Johannes — Barbara Schultz. Barbara (daughter of Heinrich Schultz) was born 1803, , Alsace Lorraine, France; died 1881, Hay Twp., Huron Co., Ontario, Canada. [Group Sheet]

Other Events:

• Name: Barbara Oesch
• Eby ID Number: Waterloo-127087

Notes:

Oesch, Barbara Schultz (1803-1881)

Barbara Schultz likely was born in 1803 in Alsace. Her father was Henry Schultz. Her mother's name is not known. By 1820, the family was probably living in Bavaria and perhaps on the cloister farm Rothsee, southeast of Weilheim, because in February of that year she was married there at the age of seventeen to John Oesch. Barbara and John and two children were still living at Rothsee when John obtained an inland pass to travel to Zweibrücken, Germany in February, 1823.

The trip to Zweibrücken was likely made in preparation for a more extended one to America. By December 1823, the family was at Probfeld on the Danube Marsh between Neuburg and Ingolstadt. Barbara gave birth there to her third child in December, and they named him John. He died May 2 the following year.

By 1 June 1824 the Oesch family, along with Barbara's widowed father and several of her unmarried siblings left from Neuburg on the Danube en route to Amsterdam. There they boarded the Brig Ospray, arriving in New York on 2 September 1824.

John and Barbara stopped in Pennsylvania to procure a yoke of oxen and a wagon to make the trip to Upper Canada. They lived in Waterloo Township for a few years until John was able to prepare a cabin and clearing on Snyder's Road where the village of Baden would eventually be founded.

Barbara gave birth to two children in Waterloo (1825 and 1827). By that time they were assessed for two cows besides the oxen they had brought from Pennsylvania. The cows provided much needed nourishment for her growing family. By 1828 Barbara and John and their four children were settled in Wilmot Township.

For the next two decades, Barbara's time and energy was consumed in bearing children and feeding and taking care of them. In February 1829, John was ordained a minister in the small but growing Amish Mennonite settlement in Wilmot, and in September of the same year he was ordained to the office of "full ministry" (bishop) to succeed Peter Nafziger who leaving for Butler County, Ohio. Thus, the responsibilities of a minister's wife were added to Barbara's life.

By 1847 Barbara had given birth to 17 children, three of whom did not survive childhood. John was anxious to find more land for his growing family which included eight sons. Once more the frontier was beckoning and John set out on foot along the Huron Road which passed through the southern part of Wilmot and went all the way to Goderich on Lake Huron. Canada Company lands were still available, and John found what was needed in Hay Township.

Early in 1849 the family (except the children already married) moved to Bayfield on Lake Huron, from where John and the older boys began clearing and building a homestead on what is now the Bronson Line, a short distance south of the hamlet of Blake. In March Barbara gave birth to her 18th child in Bayfield.

In March of 1850, life for Barbara and her family changed drastically with John's death. The older children continued to build up the homestead and arranged for several of them - sons and daughters - to procure lands for which their father had signed contracts. The children found marriage partners. Six of them chose to leave Canada for the western states. Two died premature deaths, leaving spouses and children. One daughter and her husband took over the homestead farm and Barbara continued to live with them.

In January of 1881 Barbara died rather suddenly at the age of 77 years. She had given birth to 18 children, raised 15 of them to adulthood and outlived her husband by at least 30 years. The obituary in the Herald of Truth stated, "The Amish church has lost a shining light." It will be up to our imaginations to interpret her "shining light."<sup>1

1</sup>[Source: Roth, Lorraine. "Oesch, Barbara Schultz (1803-1881)." Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. November 2005. Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. Retrieved 27 October 2007 ]

Other Events:

• Name: John Schwartzentruber
• Eby ID Number: Waterloo-59702
• Residence: 1838, Wilmot Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada

Johannes married Barbara Birkley 21 Jan 1838, Wilmot Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada. Barbara (daughter of Jacob Birkley) was born Abt 1808, Of, Wilmot Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; died Yes, date unknown. [Group Sheet]

Other Events:

• Name: Barbara Buercky
• Name: Barbara Schwartzentruber
• Eby ID Number: Waterloo-59704
• Residence: 1838, Wilmot Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada