Peter Jan Sterrenberg, 1838-1916

 Family history post:

110 years ago a 2nd Great Grand Uncle passed away.  Peter John Sterrenberg died on February 6, 1916, in Charlotte, Livingston County, Illinois.

Peter was born in Ostfreisland, Germany, on September 23, 1838.  He was one of 8 known children (his obit states that he was the eldest of 10) born to Jan Peter and Fijke Willems (Bleij) Sterrenberg.  His closest sibling in age was a younger sister by two years, Amke Feyke Sterrenberg.  She is my 2nd Great Grandmother.

an old postcard picture

In 1850, at the age of 12, Peter was sent to Holland, to learn the carpenter trade.  He remained there for four years, and returned to his parents’ home at that time.  Two years later, in 1856, his father passed away and Peter took it upon himself to provide for his mother and siblings, at the age of 18.

In 1866, Peter and his brother William left Germany and came to America.  They settled in Minonk, IL.  Peter was a carpenter there.  The following year, he sent for his mother and the rest of his siblings to come to America.  They would arrive sometime in 1868.  

In 1876, Peter went back to Germany to visit with family.  Since I was only able to find 8 children born to JP and Fijke in our US Census records… it’s possible that two siblings remained in Germany…they could be who he went to visit.  Upon his return to America, he married Helena Schmidt in 1877.  They had 6 known children

I was unable to find Peter in the 1870 census.  In the 1880 census, Peter and his family were living in Danforth, IL, and he was still using his carpentry skills.  In 1883, they moved to Charlotte, IL.  Shortly after that, Peter entered into a partnership with Frank Manssen.  They opened a mercantile, which lasted for 20 years.  The business is listed in the Charlotte Business Directory in 1898 as “Sterrenberg & Manssen”, and they sold general merchandise, farm implements and lumber.

map showing location of Charlotte IL

Backing up a little bit… I found a Chatsworth IL Centennial history book from 1967 online.  In it, there is a page about the history of the village of Charlotte.  It mentions that in 1887, the Lutheran Church was built…by Peter Sterrenberg.  I also found a mention elsewhere that its members were mostly German immigrants from the area.

from the Chatsworth IL Centennial book, 1967

In the 1900 census, Frank Manssen was living with the Sterrenberg family.  Frank’s occupation is Grocer, while Peter’s is Grocery Bus. 

According to Google, a grocery bus at that time was exactly what you might think it was…. A wagon someone used to sell/deliver food from. 

Like today’s food truck…but with groceries instead of a kitchen.  🙂

1900 US Census

In 1903, Frank had retired and left town.  The business officially became known as Sterrenberg & Sons.  I tried to find an old ad or something in a newspaper, but was unsuccessful.  After Peter’s death, the store was renamed again to Sterrenberg Bros.

1906, from the Chatsworth Plaindealer paper

In the 1910 census, Peter had retired from the store and is listed as a farmer. 

He died 6 years later and is buried in the Chatsworth-Charlotte Cemetery in Chatsworth, IL.

1916 Chatsworth Plaindealer paper, part 1

1916 Chatsworth Plaindealer paper, part 2

1916 Chatsworth Plaindealer paper, part 3

Rev Harvey Horatio Wallace, 1870-1933

 Rev Harvey Horatio Wallace

16th Pastor of Herrin IL FBC

1910-1912

Born: February 18, 1870… Elva, Marshall County, Kentucky

Died: August 16, 1933… Memphis, Tennessee

His father was Isham Everett Wallace.  At age 18, Isham left home after a quarrel with his father, and settled in Monroe County, IL.  He married Sarah Ann Chenoweth there in 1857, and had three children.  During that time in Monroe County, the Civil War was in progress.  He was recovering from typhoid fever when a group of Union soldiers (on recruiting duty) attempted to draft him into the army.  They believed he was faking his illness, and  when he refused to go with them, they became abusive.  They eventually left him alone.  Isham was sympathetic to the Confederacy, but doubted its ability to win independence.  His first wife died in 1864 after their youngest child was born.  He returned to his father’s home and less than a year later, married Sylvia Baker.  They had two sons, one being our former pastor.  During this time, Isham entered the ministry, and was ordained by the Blood River Baptist Association.  He held numerous pastorates in and around Marshall County, KY.  Sylvia died in 1879, and he soon married for the third and final time to Clara Jane Green.  They had two children.

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1880 Census - Strington, Marshall, Kentucky

**Harvey is listed as being "lame" in the Sick column

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"In early boyhood, he gave evidence of public speaking ability.  He declared his intention early, to become a minister, and was ordained by the New Harmony Baptist Church (Marshall County, KY) about 1888.  He held pastorates in Benton IL, Herrin IL, Sturgis KY, Ewing IL, Tyler TX, and various other places.  He also served a term in the Texas Legislature, representing Smith County."

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Married Lucy Adair Frizzell, March 29, 1891

Marshall County, Kentucky

H.H. Wallace and Lucy Frizzell marriage record, 1891

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1900 census - Jonesboro, Union, Illinois

*Minister

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He and Lucy had four children… Howell Urban, Sylvia, Dwight Spencer, Marion Throgmorton, and Fount Adair.

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1910 census - Marion, Williamson, Illinois

*Gospel Minister, lived at 402 South Duncan, Marion

We know that he was the pastor at Herrin's First Baptist church from 1910-1912.

Rev. H.H. Wallace

”He was kindly, jovial, generous and unpretentious.  He had an excellent speaking voice and considerable eloquence.  He had a ready wit and humor, which he often employed in his sermons, which, however, were never lacking in dignity.”

This is the church building that Wallace served in

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In 1912, he was preaching in Sullivan, Illinois... and left there to go to DuQuoin, Illinois.

The Saturday Herald, Sullivan IL... Nov. 23, 1912

The Saturday Herald, Sullivan IL... May 17, 1913

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1920 census - Ewing, Franklin, Illinois

*Minister of village church, lived on East Street

Marion Semi-Weekly Leader, Marion IL... Sept. 2, 1921

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1925 - Pastor of North Baptist Church in Tyler, Texas... lived at 908 N. Bois D'Arc Ave.

The Tyler Courier-Times, Tyler TX... May 1, 1925

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Marion Evening Post - Marion IL... July 8, 1925, part 1

The Marion Evening Post - Marion IL... July 8, 1925, part 2

The Marion Evening Post - Marion IL... July 8, 1925, part 3

The Marion Evening Post - Marion IL, July 8, 1925, part 4

Marion Evening Post - Marion IL, July 8, 1925, part 5

Marion Evening Post - Marion IL, July 8, 1925, part 6

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In January 1927, he was elected to serve on the Texas State Preservation Board.

1927

San Antonio Express - San Antonio TX, May 17, 1927

The Tyler Courier-Times - Tyler TX, Oct. 30, 1928

Austin American-Statesman - Austin TX, Jan. 7, 1929

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1930 census - Ellis Grove, Randolph, Illinois

*Minister, lived on Main Street

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Rev. Wallace passed away in Memphis, on August 16, 1933... He is buried in the Herrin City Cemetery, in Herrin IL.

Harvey Horatio Wallace's death certificate, 1933

The Paducah Sun - Paducah KY, Aug. 18, 1933

Marion Weekly Leader - Marion IL, Aug. 24, 1933

Marion Weekly Leader - Marion IL, Aug. 24, 1933

Martin Thomas Russell, 1820-1910

 Family history post:

116 years ago last week, one of my 3rd Great GrandUncle’s passed away.  Martin Thomas Russell was born in May of 1820, in Boyle or Lincoln County, Kentucky… and was one of nine known children born to Edmund and Malinda (Rousey) Russell.  One of his younger sisters is my 3rd Great Grandmother.

In April of 1847, Martin married Elizabeth Jane Benedict in Lincoln County, KY.  They were farmers in the 1850 census, but by 1860, they were operating the Hustonville Hotel.  In 1860, their real estate value was $5,000… with a personal estate value of $2,000.  In 1870, the real estate value had gone up to $8,000… and personal estate value was up to $3,525.

In 1852, there’s a mention in the Interior Journal newspaper in Lincoln County, stating that Martin had stabbed a man.  It says that it was thought the man wouldn’t recover… and that all reports agreed that Martin was unjustified.  I was unable to find any follow up on the event.

There’s an ad in 1872, for the Hustonville Hotel being available for sale or rent, and then a notice that it was sold in 1873.  After that, it seems that Martin became a man of many trades, trying his hand at lots of different things, trying to provide for his family.  He was a beekeeper, a salesman for farm plows and pumps, a horse breeder, and made his own whiskey.  This was likely all due to his debts from previous years.  At the end of 1874, there was an ad for a public sale of “15 barrels of spirits” located at the distillery warehouse… due to unpaid taxes and penalties.  Then in 1878, it was printed in the newspaper that his debts had been wiped out by the “Bankrupt Law”, but Martin was such an honest man, he paid his debts anyway.

1873 beekeeper

1873 salesman

1874 public sale

1878 An Honest Man

1880 horse Waterloo

In 1885, he was hurt by a “vicious Jersey bull”.  He’s quoted to say, he had “fought my way all over the United States and was never whipped before.”  

1885 injured by bull

Apparently, Martin was quite the collector of things.  In 1897, an article was published about all the things he had collected over the years.  Some of the things he says he had were…

• Deer skins from soldiers who had camped nearby during the Civil War

• An ancient Poland Angus hide

• A mill stone used at Stanford’s Mill in the 1810’s

• A wagon owned by a Tom Baker, that was used to haul produce to merchants in Louisville

• Carpenter tools from the 1840’s

• A petrified hornet’s nest from the 1820’s

• A looking glass from 1850

• A gold toothpick from the 1840’s

• A brass kettle from 1792

• Shoemaker tools from 1817

• A grease lamp from the 1770’s

Then there are things that he was in possession of that were family items…

• His father’s coat buttons from the 1850’s

• His father’s clock from the 1800’s

• A quilt made by his mother in 1822

• His grandfather’s dog irons (a fireplace tool) from 1815

• A family plate from 1782

• His grandfather Absolom Russell’s gun from the Revolutionary War

 

And while I wish I could snuggle up in a quilt my 4th Great Grandmother had made 200 years ago… the main item of interest on his list… is Daniel Boone’s gun that he (Boone) started to Kentucky with in May of 1769.  He states that he had purchased it in 1847, from a William Wrecks (not sure if the writer got the spelling of the surname correct).  Martin describes the barrel of the gun as being 4 feet 1 inch long, and with the length of the stock added, it was “as tall as Harvey Helm or French Tipton.”  I looked these men up… Helm was a KY State Rep from 1894-96, and Tipton was a lawyer and editor, who had kept track of local history at that time.  Martin is quoted to say that he “has tried to miss targets and game with it, but couldn’t.”  Now… was that really Boone’s gun from the first trip into Kentucky?  Was it really Boone’s gun at all?  Who knows.  But it’s a neat story.  My only other question is… WHAT HAPPENED TO ALL THAT STUFF???  

A year after that article ran, I found Martin in the newspaper again… they thought he had found a penguin.  It was a “very peculiar bird, killed in the reservoir near his place by John Dishon, that comes nearer the description of a penguin than anything we can find.”  The bird reportedly weighed 18 pounds and was “beautifully marked with white specks on black.”  Wonder what it was?

1898 a penguin?

In 1906 he was in the paper again… this time, someone had broken into his house.  The burglar had stolen copper and sold it.

circa 1901, Martin and some family members

Martin Thomas Russell passed away on January 20, 1910, at his home in Milledgeville KY.  He is buried in the Hustonville Cemetery, in Lincoln County KY.  From all of the above info about this man… he must have been a real character to know!

1910 obituary