| Notes |
- Also note that one source (Adam Barrone) shows that he was born in Rorschach (Rorschachersberg), Switzerland. However, these villages are both located on the south side of the Bodensee.
Johann Heinrich (German)
------------------
Extracted from Kellenberger Family History and Record Book - Revised 1978
Grandfather - Christian David Kellenberger
Born December 12, 1827 in Walzenheusen, Switzerland
Died March 2, 1895 near Sabetha, Kansas
Buried Country Cemetery near Bern, Kansas
Grandmother - Marie Magdalena Tobler
Born April 4, 1828 in Heiden Kt Appenzell, Switzerland
Died February 13, 1901 near Richard, Missouri across
the line from Fort Scott, Kansas and was buried there.
This was written in 1916.
I, H. J. Kellenberger, was born at Rohrsbach Co. St. Gallen, Switzerland on the 10th day of October, 1862. When I was four years old, my father moved to Zurich. Then in 1873 we came to America. On the 1st day of August, we started off at Zurich; quite a lot of my schoolmates were at the station to bid me goodbye. It took us three days to get to LeHarvre via Paris. Then we boarded a new steamer, named Washington, to cross the Atlantic Ocean. It took us just two weeks to come across. We landed at New York. It was quite a city at that time already. They had lots of elevated railroads. Then we started on our trip again by rail; on the 3rd day we arrived at Peoria, Illinois, where we settled down as I had an uncle living there. We only stayed one year at Peoria as it was not the city to suit my father's trade, so we moved to St. Louis, Missouri. When we children grew older, we thought we would like the country life better, so we went to Tremont, Illinois -- close to Peoria again. There we lived on a farm until I was 23 years old. In the spring of 1885, the 27th day of February, I came to Neemaha County, Kansas. On the 15th day of November, I got married and started farming on my own. Then in 1898 we went to try the South -- Eastern Oklahoma and Fort Scott, Kansas.
In 1910, we left Fort Scott and came in our old locality again within a few miles of where we now live.
P. S. My first days of plowing, I done right across the road of where
I now live, 1 mile east of Bern, Kansas, but there was no town
then, as there was no railroad here. The Rock Island built the
road through here in the fall of 1886, then the townsite sprung
up fast.
------------------
Extracted from Kellenberger Family History and Record Book - Revised 1978
JOHN HENRY KELLENBERGER
Son John Henry, in German or Swiss Johan Heinrich
Born at Rohrsback K.T. St. Gallen, Switzerland - October 10, 1862
Came to America with his parents in 1873, 11 years old.
When he was 23 years old, he came to Nemaha County Kansas in February, 1885 in the neighborhood of Sabetha and Bern, Kansas to work on the farm.
November 15, 1885 he was united in marriage to Salome Strahm, daughter of Christian and Kathrina Gerber Strahm in the Apostolic Christian Church near Bern. Salome was born at Bluffton, Indiana, December 21, 1860, and came to Kansas with her parents as a child when the Indians still roamed around.
To this union five children were born:
Martha - November 25, 1886
David John - September 27, 1888
Christian Louis - August 12, 1890
Henry William - December 14, 1892
Nathan Solomon - November 26, 1894
When Henry and Salome were married they lived with her father as the mother had died many years before and Salome was keeping house for her father. The house was built onto a hillside and Martha was born at that place. Some called it a dug out - later they built rooms above.
Then November 14, 1895 the mother Salome died quite suddenly. It must have been a stroke or heart attack, after a two week mild illness.
In August 16, 1896, Henry was married to Anna Blaser, daughter of Ulrich and Magdelena Shenk Blaser. She was born in KT, Bern, Switzerland on July 31, 1865 and came to America in 1889.
Mother Anna died May 2, 1957 at Lester, Iowa.
Some of you may think this marriage was quite soon. The father Henry wanted to keep his children together and housekeepers were not to be had. It would have been a scandal for a girl to keep house for a widower those days, and Anna was kind to come in and help raise the five children, which few girls would consider. Then another five children were born:
Rose Celia - August 18, 1897 - Sabetha, Kansas
Lena Emma - March 14, 1899 - Indian Territory
Hulda - July 26, 1900 - Richards, Missouri
Herman - January 27, 1902 - Hammond, Kansas
Ernest Andrew - June 16, 1906 - Hammond, Kansas
In 1899 Henry and Anna left Kansas and moved to Aften Indian Territory (now Oklahoma) in hopes to have their choice of land to homestead. Then Uncle Sam changed his mind and turned this country into a Indian reservation. This is where Lena was born. It was all prairie and wild country, roads were trails across the prairie every which way. The land lord was part Indian. Then in January, 1900 they moved to Fort Scott, Kansas two years. Lived just across the line in Missouri near Richards. Here Hulda was born and the grandmother died in 1901. Then they bought a farm across the line in Kansas near Hammond or ten miles north of Fort Scott. Here Barman and Ernest were born. In 1910 they moved back to Sabetha, Nemaha County, Kansas.
By 1916 the four older boys had left for Lyon County, Iowa. Their father Henry went to visit them, liked the country, so in February, 1917, the family left for Lester, Iowa to make their home. The father. Henry wanted to keep his family together. In 1917, sons Henry and Nathan were drafted into World War I. In August 1918 son Henry sent word he would be at Ft. Dix, New Jersey, then sent across. Father Henry and Anna left September 3 for Rockville, Connecticut to visit Anna's sister and family and to see son Henry before he left for overseas. The father caught cold on the way and died at the sister's home September 13, 1918. He never saw his son Henry, as he already had left for Europe. (It was two months before Henry heard that his father had passed away). He had a bad case of hayfever for many years before and got worse every year. He was brought home and buried at the Apostolic Church Cemetery south of Lester.
Sons Henry and Nathan both came home from the army.
Later five of the boys left for Winthrop, Minnesota, then to Elgin, Illinois where David, Henry, Nathan and Barman still live at this time, 1967. Ernest worked at the Elgin Watch Factory 19 years, then bought a jewelry store at Morris, Minnesota in 1944.
Son Christian settled in the Lester, Iowa area as a young man and engaged in farming until his retirement. He is still living in Lester. Three daughters, Martha, Rose and Lena, also settled in this area. Presently, Martha is living in Lester, Rose in Larchwood and Lena in Sioux Falls.
Daughter Hulda, moved to Elgin, Illinois in 1928 with her family and passed away July 26, 1932 after giving birth to her third child.
------------------
|
