Carrie Mae Oesch

Other Events:

• Eby ID Number: Waterloo-99523

Other Events:

• Eby ID Number: Waterloo-99521

Notes:

Oesch, John, son of Christian and Catherine Zehr Oesch, was born May 14, 1846, near Baden, Ont.; died Sept. 10, 1940, at his Garden City farm home, which he owned for the past 45 years. When 14 years of age his parents moved to Davis Co., Iowa, and later to Hickory Co., Mo. When 25 years old he was married to Mary Amanda Smith. They moved to the Garden City, Mo., community where they continued to live for the past sixty years. They were the parents of 5 boys and 5 girls. Two daughters (Carrie Mae and Ida Catherine) died in infancy. His wife died Sept. 12, 1931, and his eldest son (John W.) died Sept. 23, 1936. His 4 sons and 3 daughters surviving are: Joseph C., Spartanburg, Pa.; Samuel and Jacob of the home; William W., Bristol, Ind. Mrs. S. D. Kenagy, Kansas City; Mrs. Melvin Yoder, Shipshewana, Ind.; and Anna S. Oesch, Kansas City. One sister (Mrs. Barbara Moore) preceded him in death by 3 months, being 86 years of age. He is also survived by 1 sister (Mrs. Anna V. Cape, Spokane, Wash.), 1 half-brother (Christian Oesch, Sedalia). There are 22 grandchildren, and 25 great-grandchildren. Soon after he became of age he took out citizenship papers and became a citizen of the United States. He was actively engaged in farming and stock raising until his health began to fail about eleven years ago. As a stockman he had business dealings throughout the central states, and had a rare faculty for remembering people and incidents until the end. In his youth he confessed Christ and united with the church of his choice, and remained faithful until death. Funeral services were held Saturday at the home by John A. Kauffman, and at the Sycamore Grove Church by Raymond Hershberger and I. G. Hartzler. Burial in Clearfork cemetery.

Gospel Herald - Vol. XXXIII, No 28 - October 10, 1940 --- page 607

John married Amanda Smith 15 Feb 1872. Amanda was born 20 Jan 1855, , Hamilton Co., Ohio; died 12 Sep 1931, Kansas City, Jackson, Missouri, USA; was buried , Clearfork Cemetery Garden City, Cass, Missouri. [Group Sheet]

Other Events:

• Name: Amanda Oesch
• Eby ID Number: Waterloo-99522

Notes:

Oesch, Mary Amanda Smith Oesch, daughter of Jacob P. And Frances Smith was born in Hamilton Co., O., Jan. 20, 1855; departed this life Sept. 12, 1931 at the home of her daughter in Kansas City, Mo.; aged 76 y. 7 m. 22 d. At the age of fourteen she moved with her parents to Missouri. When she was fifteen years old she was baptized and united with the A. M. Church in Hickory Co., Mo. On Feb. 15, 1872, she was married to John Oesch. She is survived by her husband, 3 daughters, 5 sons, 21 grandchildren, 13 great-grandchildren, a stepmother, 2 sisters, 1 brother, and many other relatives and friends. Sister Oesch was a loving mother and a consistent, faithful member of the Sycamore Grove Church. For many years she was a teacher in the primary department of the Sunday school. She departed in peace with a living hope for the future. Funeral services were held at the home and at the Sycamore church by Bros. L. J. Miller, I. G. Hartzler, and S. S. Hershberger. Text, II Tim. 4: 6-8. Interment in Clearfork Cemetery

Gospel Herald Newspaper October 8, 1931 - Vol. XXIII, No.28 - page 622, 623, 624

Other Events:

• Eby ID Number: Waterloo-76685
• Residence: 1842, Wilmot Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada
• Immigration: 1861, , Davis Co, Iowa

Notes:

Christian, the oldest of the children was born at Rothsee and was three years old when the family crossed the Atlantic. He grew up in what is now Baden. He married Catherine Zehr, daughter of Joseph Zehr and Barbara Kennel. Her family lived in Woolwich Township, but after the death of Joseph, the widow and her children went to live in Wilmot where most of the Amish Mennonites had settled. In 1849, Christian leased Lot 6, Concession XIII in Stanley Township, a short distance north of the land which his father leased in Hay Township. After the death of John, Christian was issued the deed for the 150 acres still owned by the University of Toronto in 1855. The Christian Wagler family, who had been residing there since the Oesch family moved to Huron County, then purchased both the 150 acres from Christian and the front 50 acres from John's executors in 1856. In 1858, Christian gave up his lease to the property in Stanley Township, and it was transferred to C. H. Bushey.

It was probably in 1858 or shortly thereafter that Christian and Catherine left for Davis County, Iowa. Several other Amish Mennonite families were leaving Canada for this distant state. After living there a few years, they moved to Hickory County, Missouri. Catherine's brother Christian settled there also, but it is not known whether he was living there before the Oesches arrived or whether he came later. Christian Zehr probably served as a minister in this Amish Mennonite Community. It was while in Hickory County that Catherine died. Various records give different dates--from 1867 to 1871.

Between 1880 and 1885, Christian and his family--several of them already married--moved to Cass County, Missouri, northwest of Hickory County where the land was considered better. Christian and many of his children were members of the Sycamore Grove Amish Mennonite Church at Garden City. Christian and several family members are buried in the Clearfork Cemetery. The Christian Oesch family has spread all over the North American continent.


Esch/Oesch Family by Lorraine Roth 2003

Christian married Catharina Zehr 2 Mar 1842, Wilmot Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada. Catharina (daughter of Joseph Zehr and Barbara Kennel) was born 29 Mar 1820, of, Woolwich Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; died 5 Mar 1867, Hickson, Oxford Co., Ontario. [Group Sheet]

Other Events:

• Name: Catharina Oesch
• Eby ID Number: Waterloo-76844
• Residence: 1842, Woolwich Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada

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:

• Eby ID Number: Waterloo-144412

Joseph — Barbara Kennel. Barbara was born 1788, , Germany; died Yes, date unknown. [Group Sheet]

Other Events:

• Name: Barbara Zehr
• Eby ID Number: Waterloo-144413
• Residence: 1851, Woolwich Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; Mennonist
• Residence: 1871, Wilmot Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; Mennonite