APOSTOLIC HERITAGE

NEWSLETTER

SERVING CISSNA PARK FAIRBURY, AND GRIDLEY

NUMBER 17 / MAY 2002

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THIS ORIGINAL CEMETERY WAS ONCE LOCATED NEAR THE FIRST CISSNA PARK CHURCH, ON THE ELDER JOHN ADAM EISENMANN FARM. THE CEMETERY WAS ABANDONED WHEN A NEW CHURCH WAS BUILT IN A BETTER LOCATION, WHICH WAS ON HIGH GROUND.

ALMOST ALL THE STONES WERE DESTROYED BY THE FLOODING CREEK THAT RUNS ALONG THE CEMETERY. THERE ISN’T EVEN A ROAD LEADING TO THIS FIRST CHURCH CEMETERY, YOU HAVE TO WALK THROUGH A FIELD TO VISIT THE SITE.

THE STONE MARKING THE REMAINS OF THE CEMETERY TODAY READS,

IN MEMORY OF THE FOLLOWING BURIED HERE

BY THE APOSTOLIC CHRISTIAN CHURCH

1881 - 1891

ELDER JOHN ADAM EISENMANN 1832 - 1888

HETTINGER CHILDREN

A FEW INDIVIDUAL STONES REMAIN AS FOLLOWS:

MRS. NETTIE METZ 1862 - 1889

JOHNIE HOER SEPT. 28, 1889 - JULY 21, 1890

MARY BEER JULY 17, 1867 - JAN. 24, 1891

CHRISTIAN EISENMAN JULY 15, 1865 - 1889

THE FIRST PRINCEVILLE CHURCH CEMETERY

THE NEXT CEMETERY AT PRINCEVILLE, CALLED THE CHRIST WOERTZ FARM CEMETERY OR THE OLD STREITMATTER CEMETERY BY OTHERS, IS ALSO LOCATED IN A FIELD, BUT UNLIKE THE CEMETERY AT CISSNA PARK THERE IS A SMALL NARROW BADLY OVERGROWN ROAD BETWEEN TWO FIELDS TO THE CEMETERY. THE MARKER READS.

STREITMATTER

MICHAEL, WAS THE FATHER OF THE FIRST STREITMATTER FAMILY WHICH CAME TO THE NEW WORLD, ABOUT 1847, AND TO CENTRAL, ILLINOIS IN 1849 - 1853.

MICHAEL'S WIFE CATHERINE AND DAUGHTER BARBARA ARE BURIED AT THE ORIGINAL STREITMATTER HOMESTEAD ACROSS THE ROAD SOUTH FROM THIS LOCATION. THEIR GRAVESTONE HAS BEEN MOVED TO STREITMATTER CEMETERY.

THIS FAMILY WAS LARGELY RESPONSIBLE FOR THE ESTABLISHMENT OF THE APOSTOLIC CHRISTIAN CHURCH IN THIS AREA. THE FIRST CHURCH WAS BUILT IN 1880 ABOUT 1/2 MILE WEST OF THIS STONE.

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AS THE MARKERS READS, THE OLD TOMBSTONES WERE MOVED FROM THIS CEMETERY TO THE NEW STREITMATTER CEMETERY, WHICH IS STILL USED TODAY.

THE MARKER AT THE NEW STREITMATTER CEMETERY, WERE THE STONES ARE TODAY, READ:

MICHAEL WAS THE FATHER OF THE FIRST STREITMATTER FAMILY TO COME TO THIS AREA IN 1849 - 1853

THESE STONES WERE MOVED IN 1996 FROM THE ORIGINAL GRAVE SITES 1/4 MILE NORTH AND 1 1/2 MILES EAST.

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THE STONES MOVED FROM THE OLD STREITMATTER CEMETERY

1. MICHAEL STRAITMATTER DIED SEPT. 4, 1868 (68 YEARS OLD)

2. CATHERINE STREITMATTER 1808 - 1850

BARBARA STREIMATTER

3. JOHN STRIETMATTER APR. 28, 1857 - OCT. 8, 1871

4. LOUISA STREITMATTER DIED NOV. 10 ,1865

5. CHRISTINA STREITMATTER DIED SEPT. 15, 1894

6. CHRISTIAN KUHN DIED DEC. 12, 1865 (61 YEARS OLD)

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EVEN THOUGH STONES WERE MOVED THE BODIES STILL REMAIN IN THEIR RESTING PLACE WHERE THEY WERE BURIED SO MANY YEARS AGO.

1. ROANOKES FIRST CEMETERY

THIS LAND WHERE THE OLD CEMETERY IS LOCATED ONCE WAS THE ELDER BENEDICT WEYENETH FARM. NO STONES REMAIN, BUT ELEVEN GRAVES STILL REMAIN.

THE NAMES ON THE CEMETERY MARKER.

2. THE ZIMMERMAN FAMILY CEMETERY

IT’S IN THIS CEMETERY THAT EARLY CONGERVILLE ELDER MICHEAL ZIMMERMAN, AND OTHER FAMILY MEMBERS ARE BURIED. HIS WIFE DID NOT WANT TO BE BURIED THERE, BUT HER HUSBAND DID, SO IN ORDER TO BE BURIED BY HER HUSBAND, SHE TOO WAS BURIED THERE. SHE WANTED TO BE BURIED IN THE CONGERVILLE APOSTOLIC CEMETERY. CATHERINE ZIMMERMAN, MICHAEL'S WIFE, WAS THE LAST PERSON TO BE BURIED IN THE CEMETERY, IN MARCH 9, 1919.

THE CEMETERY IS LOCATED IN SEC. 23, IN THE EAST PART OF MONTGOMERY TOWNSHIP, WHICH IS IN WOODFORD COUNTY, IN A COW PASTURE, UP ON A HILL. WHAT STONES REMAIN, ARE SINKING IN THE GROUND AND IS OVERGROWN WITH TALL GRASS.

THE CEMETERY WAS STARTED WHEN A MEMBER OF THE ZIMMERMAN FAMILY DIED. THEY, OWNING THE FARMLAND IT WAS LOCATED ON, STARTED BURYING FAMILY MEMBERS THERE IT WAS TRADITION AT THAT TIME TO BURY THEIR DEAD ON THE HOME PLACE.

THERE ARE MORE GRAVES HERE, BUT NO MARKERS AND NO KNOWN RECORDS OF THE CEMETERY. THE CEMETERY IS ALSO KNOWN AS THE LANTZ CEMETERY, ALTHOUGH THE PEOPLE IN THE VICINITY KNOW IT BY THE NAME ZIMMERMAN.

3. THE SLABTOWN CEMETERY

THIS IS ANOTHER EARLY CONGERVILLE CEMETERY, WHICH IS THE RESTING PLACE FOR MANY EARLY CHURCH MEMBERS, WHO HAD JUST ARRIVED TO THE NEW WORLD FROM THEIR NATIVE COUNTRIES. DANIEL ZEHR, WHO IS BURIED IN THIS CEMETERY IS A RELATIVE TO MANY IN THE FAIRBURY AND FORREST CHURCH TODAY. ANOTHER, JOHANNES AND PETER KLOPFENSTEIN, HAS MANY RELATIVES IN THE PRESENT DAY GRIDLEY CHURCH.