THE FIRST BREMEN APOSTOLIC CHRISTIAN CHURCH WAS BUILT IN 1911 ON A PIECE OF LAND FOUR MILES NORTH OF BREMEN ON THE DOGWOOD ROAD, DONATED BY BRO. JOHN GERBER, WHO WAS THE FIRST BREMEN MINISTER.

BREMEN, INDIANA, MINISTERS AS THEY SERVED

JOHN GERBER WAS BORN IN WAYNE COUNTY, OHIO, MARCH 7, 1849, TO JOHN AND MATHILDA (ZIMMERMAN) GERBER.

JOHN GERBER SR. ???? - 1853

(WIFE) MATHILDA (ZIMMERMAN) GERBER 1810 - 1894

(SON) CHRISTIAN GERBER 1848 - 1910

(SON) JOHN GERBER JR. 1849 - 1912

(DAUGHTER) MARIA (GERBER) ACKERMAN 1850 - 1908

(DAUGHTER) LYDIA (GERBER) BELSLEY 1852 - 1942

(DAUGHTER) ANNA GERBER 1853 - ????

WHEN JOHN WAS 5 YEARS OLD HIS FAMILY MOVED TO WEST BEND IOWA, WERE GRANDFATHER AND UNCLES LIVED; IT TOOK THEM THREE WEEKS TO GET THERE. DURING THIS TRIP JOHN’S FATHER BECAME VERY SICK AND DIED.

FROM WEST BEND, THE FAMILY MOVED TO MORTON, ILLINOIS, WHERE MOST OF THE FAMILY WOULD REMAIN, EXCEPT FOR CHRISTIAN, WHO MOVED NEAR CROPSEY, ILLINOIS, AND JOHN, WHO WOULD RETURN TO WEST BEND, IOWA. WHILE IN IOWA JOHN WOULD MARRY AND START A FAMILY.

IN THE SPRING OF 1889 HE MOVED TO THIS AREA FROM WEST BEND, IOWA. HE HAD BEEN A MINISTER THERE AND CONTINUED THAT AVOCATION AT THE "SOUTH SIDE" CHURCH.
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REV. JOHN GERBER DEAD

NEWS WAS RECEIVED IN THIS CITY ON SATURDAY OF THE DEATH OF REV. JOHN GERBER AT BREMEN, IND., HIS HOME. THE NEWS CAUSED A SHOCK OF SURPRISE AND SORROW AMONG THE MANY OLD FRIENDS OF REV. GERBER IN THIS CITY WHO SUPPOSED HE WAS IN THE BEST OF HEALTH. REV. GERBER WAS IN GOOD HEALTH UNTIL A FEW HOURS BEFORE HIS DEATH, WHICH WAS THOUGHT TO HAVE BEEN CAUSED BY RHEUMATISM OF THE HEART. JOSEPH UNSICKER, NORTH-EAST OF TOWN, HAD BEEN VISITING REV. GERBER AND OTHER FRIENDS IN THAT LOCALITY AND WAS PRESENT DURING HIS LAST MOMENTS. HE SAID THAT MR. GERBER COMPLAINED OF A PAIN IN HIS LEFT SHOULDER AND BREAST FOR TWO DAYS PREVIOUS, BUT IT WAS LIGHT AND HE DID NOT THINK IT AMOUNTED TO MUCH. A FEW HOURS BEFORE HIS DEATH HE WAS TAKEN VERY SEVERELY AND SANK RAPIDLY UNTIL THE END.

REV. JOHN GERBER WAS WIDELY KNOWN NOT ONLY IN THIS IMMEDIATE LOCALITY BUT IN THIS SECTION OF THE STATE. HE LIVED SOUTHEAST OF FAIRBURY FOR A NUMBER OF YEARS AND WAS HIGHLY ESTEEMED BY HIS NEIGHBORS AND THE CITIZENS OF FAIRBURY. HE WAS A MINISTER OF THE GERMAN APOSTOLIC CHURCH AND TWO YEARS AGO HE PURCHASED A FARM AND MOVED TO BREMEN, IND., WHERE HE FARMED HIS LAND AND ON SUNDAYS PREACHED FOR HIS PEOPLE.

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SUDDEN SUMMONS

REV. JOHN GERBER, WHO MOVED HERE A YEAR OR SO AGO FROM FAIRBURY, ILL., DIED SUDDENLY SATURDAY FORENOON AT HIS HOME SOME FIVE MILES NORTHEAST OF BREMEN OF NEURALGIA OF THE HEART. HE HAD SUFFERED NO SERIOUS ILLNESS AND ONLY THE NIGHT BEFORE WAS AT THE HOME OF HIS DAUGHTER NEAR BY UNTIL 10 O’CLOCK. SATURDAY MORNING HE WAS TAKEN WITH SEVERE PAINS IN THE REGION OF THE HEART AND THEY RESULTED FATALLY IN A FEW HOURS.

MR. GERBER WAS 63 YEARS OLD ON MARCH 6. HE WAS BORN IN OHIO, HIS FATHER DYING WHEN HE WAS FOUR YEARS OLD. HE LIVED FOR A TIME IN IOWA, GOING FROM THERE TO FAIRBURY, ILLINOIS, WHERE HE LIVED FOR 22 YEARS. HE MOVED TO BREMEN, IND., MARCH 1911. HE WAS A MAN OF KINDLY, GENIAL DISPOSITION, HAD BEEN A MINISTER OF THE GERMAN APOSTOLIC FAITH FOR MANY YEARS AND ENJOYED THE RESPECT AND ESTEEM OF ALL WHO KNEW HIM. WAS THE FATHER OF ELEVEN CHILDREN, MRS. EDWARD GETZ, WILLIAM, MRS. EDWARD HIRSTEIN, MRS. WILLIAM LEMAN, MISS. LEAH, SAM, LOUIS, JEPTHA, OF BREMEN; JOHN, OF NEW BOSTON, ILL.; MRS. JOSEPH NUSSBAUM AND JOSEPH, OF FAIRBURY, ILL. THERE WERE ALSO 32 GRANDCHILDREN, AND THESE WITH THE BEREAVED WIFE AND NUMEROUS FRIENDS MOURN HIS DEATH.

FUNERAL SERVICES WERE CONDUCTED TUESDAY AFTERNOON IN GRACE U. B. CHURCH, WHICH WAS SECURED FOR THE OCCASION, FOLLOWED BY INTERMENT IN THE BREMEN CEMETERY.

IT WAS ONE OF THE LARGEST FUNERALS EVER HELD IN BREMEN. MORE THAN 700 PEOPLE CROWDED ONTO GRACE U. B. CHURCH, WHILE MANY WERE UNABLE TO GAIN ADMISSION. REV. MICHEAL MANGOLD, OF ROANOKE, ILL., PREACHED THE SERMON AND HALF A DOZEN OTHER MINISTERS WERE PRESENT. MORE THAN 400 FRIENDS WERE HERE FROM DISTANCE, COMING FROM PEORIA, FAIRBURY, EUREKA, ROANOKE, GRIDLEY, FORREST AND CISSNA PARK, ILL.; CROGHAN, N. Y.; WOLCOTT, REMINGTON AND MILFORD, INDIANA, AND OTHER POINTS. A HIGHER TRIBUTE TO THE WORTH OF A GOOD MAN COULD SCARCELY HAVE BEEN PAID. REV. GERBER WAS ESTEEMED ONE OF THE ABLEST PREACHERS OF HIS FAITH AND WAS AN OBJECT OF REGARD AMOUNTING TO VENERATION. - BREMEN ENQUIRER.

MRS. MARY GERBER DIES IN INDIANA

MRS. MARY GERBER, AGED 90, PASSED AWAY AT HER HOME AT BREMEN, IND., MONDAY NIGHT. MR. AND MRS. GERBER LIVED SOUTHEAST OF FAIRBURY UNTIL 33 YEARS AGO WHEN THEY MOVED TO BREMEN. MR. GERBER PASSED AWAY A YEAR AFTER MOVING THERE.

AMONG THE SURVIVING RELATIVES ARE A SON, DAUGHTER, JOE GERBER AND MRS. JOE NUSSBAUM, OF THIS CITY. OTHER CHILDREN OF THE DECEASED ARE: MRS. MARY HIRSTEIN, OF MORTON; MRS. LEAH SOUDER AND MRS. ANNA LEMAN, OF BREMEN; L. W. GERBER, OF WYATT, IND.; S. E. GERBER, OF SOUTH BEND, IND.

AMONG THOSE ATTENDING THE FUNERAL SERVICES HELD YESTERDAY AT THE APOSTOLIC CHRISTIAN CHURCH AT BREMEN WERE MR. AND MRS. JOE GERBER, MR. AND MRS. JOE NUSSBAUM, JOHN GERBER AND MISS GLADYS GERBER.

JOHN GERBER, JR. 1849 - 1912

(WIFE) MARY (FALB) GERBER 1854 - 1945

(DAUGHTER) LYDIA (GERBER) GETZ 1874 - 1943

(SON) WILLIAM GERBER 1875 - 1929

(DAUGHTER) IDA (GERBER) NUSSBAUM 1876 - 1957

(SON) JOHN GERBER 1880 - 1951

(DAUGHTER) MARY (GERBER) HIRSTEIN 1880 - 1953

(DAUGHTER) SARAH GERBER 1881 -1892

(SON) JOSEPH GERBER 1883 - 1955

(DAUGHTER) ANNE (GERBER) LEMAN 1886 - 1974

(SON) CHRISTIAN GERBER 1889 - 1892

(DAUGHTER) LEAH (GERBER) SOUDER 1890 - 1981

(SON) JOSHUA GERBER 1891 - 1892

(DAUGHTER) RACHAEL GERBER 1893 - 1893

(SON) SAMUEL GERBER 1894 - 1957

(SON) LOUIS GERBER 1895 - 1982

(SON) JEPTHA GERBER 1897 - 1936

HOLD SERVICES FOR MRS. IDA NUSSBAUM

SERVICES WERE HELD YESTERDAY FOR MRS. JOE NUSSBAUM, 80, WHO DIED AT HER HOME AT 10:25 A. M. MONDAY. SHE HAD BEEN IN FAILING HEALTH FOR SEVERAL YEARS.

BURIAL WAS AT GRACELAND CEMETERY. SERVICES WERE HELD AT 10 A. M. AT THE COOK FUNERAL HOME AND AT 10:30 A. M. AT THE APOSTOLIC CHRISTIAN CHURCH.

SHE WAS BORN SEPT. 1, 1876, IN BELLE PRAIRIE TOWNSHIP, A DAUGHTER OF JOHN AND MARY FALB GERBER. SHE WAS MARRIED TO JOSEPH NUSSBAUM IN PONTIAC ON FEB. 12, 1901. THEY LIVED ON A FARM FOR SEVERAL YEARS AND CAME TO FAIRBURY 13 YEARS AGO.

SURVIVING ARE HER HUSBAND; TWO DAUGHTERS, MRS. BEULAH LONGHRAM, FAIRBURY; MISS ALDINE NUSSBAUM, AT HOME; THREE SONS, CLIFFORD, 107 E. OLIVE ST., BLOOMINGTON; JOSEPH, BLOOMINGTON; JEFF, FAIRBURY; A BROTHER, LOUIS GERBER, WYATT, IND.; TWO SISTERS, MRS. HENRY SOUDER, MRS. WILLIAM LEMAN, BREMEN, IND.; 10 GRANDCHILDREN AND THREE GREAT GRANDCHILDREN.

SHE WAS PRECEDED IN DEATH BY A SON AND NINE BROTHERS AND SISTERS.

SHE WAS A MEMBER OF THE APOSTOLIC CHRISTIAN CHURCH.

FINAL RITES HELD FOR JOE GERBER, CIVIC LEADER

JOSEPH GERBER, PROMINENT BANKER AND CIVIC LEADER, DIED OF A HEART ATTACK IN HIS HOME AT 2:45 P. M. SUNDAY. HE HAD BEEN ILL FOR ABOUT TWO WEEKS. DEATH CAME SUDDENLY AS HE WAS SITTING IN A CHAIR.

PRESIDENT OF THE FARMERS NATIONAL BANK, MR. GERBER HAD SERVED AS MAYOR OF FAIRBURY AND PRESIDENT OF THE FAIRBURY HIGH SCHOOL BOARD OF EDUCATION.

FUNERAL SERVICES WERE HELD AT THE COOK FUNERAL HOME AT 2 P. M. TUESDAY, WITH THE REV. DONALD L. VAUPEL IN CHARGE OF THE SERVICES. BURIAL WAS IN GRACELAND CEMETERY.

ABOUT TWO YEARS AGO MR. GERBER HAD BEEN ILL. HE HAD RECOVERED SUFFICIENTLY TO RETURN TO HIS BANKING DUTIES HOWEVER.

HE WAS BORN AT WEST BEND, IOWA, JAN. 21, 1884, A SON OF JOHN AND MARY FALB GERBER. HE CAME WITH HIS FAMILY AT THE AGE OF FIVE TO A FARM THREE MILES SOUTH AND A MILE WEST OF FORREST. HE ATTENDED RURAL SCHOOLS.

ON NOV. 14, 1907, HE MARRIED IRENE YODER. THEY SETTLED IN FAIRBURY, WHERE MR. GERBER WAS IN THE REAL ESTATE AND INSURANCE BUSINESS. FOR TWO YEARS THEY LIVED IN EUREKA, WHERE MR. GERBER WAS ALSO ENGAGED IN THE SAME BUSINESS, SHORTLY BEFORE THE TURN OF THE CENTURY.

IN 1918 HE HELPED FOUND THE FARMERS STATE BANK, WHICH IS NOW THE FARMERS NATIONAL BANK.

SURVIVING ARE HIS WIDOW, A SON, JOHN, FAIRBURY; TWO DAUGHTERS, MISS GLADYS, FAIRBURY, AND MRS. WILLIAM REDLICH, DECATUR; FOUR GRANDCHILDREN; THREE SISTERS, MRS. JOSEPH NUSSBAUM, OF FAIRBURY, MRS. WILLIAM LEMAN, MRS. HENRY SOUDER, BREMAN, IND.; TWO BROTHERS, SAM, SOUTH BEND, IND., AND LOUIS, WYATT, INDIANA.

HE WAS PRECEDED IN DEATH BY TWO BROTHERS AND FOUR SISTERS. TWO SISTERS AND BROTHERS DIED IN INFANCY. OTHER BROTHERS PRECEDING HIM IN DEATH WERE JEPTHA, WYATT, IND.; WILLIAM, BREMEN, IND. AND JOHN, MUSCATINE, IOWA. SISTERS PRECEDING HIM IN DEATH WERE MRS. MARY HIRSTEIN, MORTON AND MRS. LYDIA GETZ, BREMEN, IND.

WHILE HE WAS SERVING AS MAYOR OF FAIRBURY FROM APRIL 18, 1923, TO 1925. MR. GERBER’S ADMINISTRATION BUILT MOST OF THE PAVED STREETS AND INSTALLED MUCH OF THE DRAINAGE SYSTEM. PREVIOUSLY, HE SERVED AS ALDERMAN. HE SERVED 18 YEARS ON THE FAIRBURY HIGH SCHOOL BOARD OF EDUCATION, MANY YEARS AS ITS PRESIDENT.

MR. GERBER HAD SERVED ON THE EXECUTIVE BOARD OF THE CORN BELT COUNCIL OF THE BOY SCOUTS AND WAS A CHARTER MEMBER OF THE ROTARY CLUB. HE WAS A MEMBER OF THE FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH, THE I.O.O.F. AND REBEKAH LODGES.

VILLAGE PRESIDENTS

MAYORS

WHEN OUR LORD AND SAVIOUR WAS HERE ON EARTH, OFTEN IN WONDERFUL WAYS DID HE TEACH THE PEOPLE AND TRIED TO SHOW THEM HOW THEY COULD BE REDEEMED AND SAVED FROM SIN AND

DEATH. JESUS TRIED TO SHOW MAN THE TRUE CONDITIONS OF HIS HEART.

WE READ OF A YOUNG MAN WHO CAME TO THE LORD AND ASKED HIM: WHAT MUST I DO TO BE SAVED?

THE SAVIOUR TOLD HIM: ONE THING IS NEEDFUL; SELL EVERYTHING THAT YOU HAVE AND GIVE IT TO THE POOR AND THEN COME AND FOLLOW ME, THEN YOU WILL HAVE A TREASURE IN HEAVEN...

THEREFORE, IT IS WELL FOR EVERYONE OF US TO BECOME LOOSE FROM THE THINGS OF THIS WORLD, NOT TO FASTEN OUR HEARTS AND SOULS ON THAT WHICH IS EARTHLY AND WORLDLY. FOR THE TIME MAY COME FOR EACH ONE OF US, WHEN THE LORD WILL TRY AND TEST US IF WE CAN LEAVE EVERYTHING AND ALL FOR HIM. THEN, IF OUR HEARTS ARE LOOSE FROM THE WORLD, AND WE LOVE GOD ABOVE ALL, WE CAN LAY DOWN EVERYTHING FOR HIM AND HIS SAKE, EVEN THAT WHICH MAY SEEM DEAREST TO US IN THIS LIFE. BUT, SHOULD WE BE CARNAL MINDED, AND OUR HEARTS AND MINDS BOUND TO THAT WHICH IS EARTHLY AND WORLDLY, THEN WE WOULD BE LIKE THIS YOUNG MAN.

REV. CHRISTIAN GERBER DEAD.

PASSES AWAY SUDDENLY THURSDAY AFTERNOON AT HIS HOME.

REV. CHRISTIAN GERBER, ONE OF THE BEST KNOWN OF THE GERMAN RESIDENTS OF THIS LOCALITY AND A PREACHER OF THE GERMAN APOSTOLIC CHURCH, DIED SUDDENLY AT HIS HOME SOUTH OF FAIRBURY THURSDAY AFTERNOON ABOUT THREE O'CLOCK WHILE AT WORK IN THE HAY FIELD. HE WAS STRICKEN WITH APPOLEXY, AND ALTHO MEDICAL AID WAS AT ONCE SUMMONED HE HAD PASSED AWAY BEFORE THE PHYSICIAN ARRIVED.

REV. GERBER HAS LIVED ON HIS FARM SOUTH OF FAIRBURY FOR MANY YEARS. HE WAS A MAN WHO STOOD HIGH IN THE ESTIMATION OF ALL WHO KNEW HIM AND ONE OF THE CHIEF CONSELERS OF THE GERMAN APOSTOLIC CHURCH. HIS DEATH IS A GREAT SHOCK TO HIS MANY FRIENDS AS HE WAS APPARENTLY IN THE BEST OF HEALTH.

THE FUNERAL SERVICES WILL BE HELD SUNDAY, JULY 17, AT 12 O'CLOCK, AT THE SOUTH GERMAN APOSTOLIC CHURCH

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DEATH OF REV. CHRISTIAN GERBER.

THE FURTHER DETAILS OF THE DEATH OF REV. CHRISTIAN GERBER ADD BUT LITTLE TO THAT PUBLISHED IN THE BLADE LAST WEEK. REV. GERBER WAS WORKING IN HIS HAY FIELD AND WAS WALKING AND DRIVING THE HEAD TEAM HITCHED TO A HAY LOADER. JOHN HOERR, WHO WAS WORKING WITH THE LOADER WAS FIRST TO NOTICE REV. GERBER'S ABSENCE. THE TEAM WENT BY AND MR. HOERR NOTICED THE LINES WERE DRAGGING. HE LOOKED BACK AND SAW THAT MR. GERBER HAD FALLEN IN THE TRACKS OF THE LOADER. HE HAD EVIDENTIALLY BEEN STRICKEN AND STOOD UP FOR A MOMENT OR TWO BEFORE FALLING. WHEN MR. HOERR AND THE OTHERS REACHED HIS SIDE HE WAS STILL ALIVE AND BREATHING HEAVILY. DEATH OCCURRED IN ABOUT FIVE MINUTES.

OBITUARY

CHRISTIAN GERBER WAS BORN IN WAYNE COUNTY, OHIO, DEC. 12 1848. WHEN A BOY OF 11 YEARS HIS PARENTS MOVED TO IOWA AND THE FAMILY RESIDED THERE FOR FIVE YEARS AND THEN THEY MOVED TO TAZEWELL COUNTY NEAR MORTON ILL. ON JANUARY 20 1870, HE WAS UNITED IN MARRIAGE TO MISS. BARBARA ROTH AND TO THIS UNION SEVEN CHILDREN WERE BORN, THREE DYING WHILE YOUNG DURING AN EPIDEMIC OF SCARLET FEVER. THE CHILDREN LIVING ARE ANNA, LYDIA, KATIE AND CHRISTIAN, ALL AT HOME.

MR. GERBER WITH HIS FAMILY CAME TO LIVINGSTON COUNTY TO LIVE IN 1875, SETTLING ON THE PRESENT HOME FARM, WHERE HE HAS LIVED CONTINUOUSLY SINCE THAT TIME, LOVED AND RESPECTED BY ALL HIS NEIGHBORS AND ALL WHO KNEW HIM.

THERE ARE FEW MEN WHO RISE TO THAT PLACE IN THE HEARTS OF THE PEOPLE WHO KNOW THEM, THAT MR. GERBER HAD RISEN, AND FEW MEN WHO KNOW TESTED BY THE TRIALS OF LIFE PROVE SO WORTHY. FOR OVER TWENTY YEARS REV. GERBER HAD BEEN AN ELDER OF THE GERMAN APOSTOLIC CHURCH AND HE NOT ONLY STOOD HIGH IN THE COUNCILS OF HIS CHURCH, BUT WAS LOVED AND REVERED FOR HIS RUGGED HONESTY, HIS HIGH MORAL CHARACTER AND THE EARNEST CHRISTIAN PRINCIPLES HE SET FORTH IN HIS SERMONS AND IN HIS LIFE. HE TAUGHT HIS PEOPLE TO SHUN THE VANITIES OF THE WORLD AND AS HE TAUGHT SO HE LIVED. HE TRAVELED FROM COAST TO COAST AND CROSSED THE OCEAN TWICE ON MISSIONARY WORK. HE WAS A MAN OF PLEASANT DISPOSITION, AND ONE WHOM IT WAS A PLEASURE TO MEET AT ANY TIME. HE WAS WIDELY KNOWN AMONG HIS CHURCH PEOPLE, MANY OF WHOM HAD BEEN MARRIED BY HIM, AND HE HAD PREACHED AT FUNERALS IN MANY FAMILIES. HE WAS ONE OF THE LEADING MEN IN THE GERMAN APOSTOLIC CHURCH AND FOR YEARS HELD THIS POSITION OF GREAT HONOR. HIS LIFE WAS ONE THAT MIGHT BE EMULATED BY ALL.

THE FUNERAL SERVICES WERE HELD SUNDAY AT NOON AT THE SOUTH CHURCH AND WERE PERHAPS THE MOST LARGELY ATTENDED OF ANY EVER HELD IN THIS SECTION OF THE STATE. IT IS ESTIMATED THAT THERE WERE FULLY 2500 PEOPLE WHO ASSEMBLED TO PAY THEIR LAST RESPECTS TO THE MEMORY OF THE DECEASED. AMONG THE TOWNS AND CITIES REPRESENTED BY VISITING DELEGATES WERE THE FOLLOWING:

MORTON, EUREKA, PRINCEVILLE, ROANOKE, PEORIA, ELGIN, MACKINAW, EUREKA, GRIDLEY, MEADOWS, FORREST, CISSNA PARK, WOLCOTT AND REMINGTON IND., AND OTHER POINTS. A SPECIAL TRAIN WAS RUN FROM BLOOMINGTON TO CROPSEY AND A SPECIAL TRAIN CARRIED THE PEOPLE WEST FROM FAIRBURY IN THE EVENING. REV. ENGWEILER, OF MANSFIELD OHIO, PREACHED THE FUNERAL SERMON, TAKING FOR HIS TEXT THE WORDS, "IN MY FATHER'S HOUSE THERE ARE MANY MANSIONS, IF IT WERE NOT SO I WOULD HAVE TOLD YOU." HE PREACHED AN ELOQUENT SERMON, DEALING WITH THE LIFE AND CHARACTER OF THE DECEASED. THE EXPRESSIONS OF SORROW OVER THE DEATH OF THE DECEASED WAS UNIVERSAL AMONG THOSE ASSEMBLED. THERE WERE SAID - TO HAVE BEEN ALMOST 500 CARRIAGES TO CONVEY THE PEOPLE TO THE CEMETERY WHERE THE REMAINS WERE LAID TO REST.