Wanted, Imle and Geisert Photo Detectives

 

I’m looking for help from Imles and from Clark Co, Illinois, Geiserts. In 2003 I purchased a photo from a finder of lost photos in Vincennes, Indiana. He had purchased the photo from an antiques store in Terre Haute, Indiana. A very faint inscription in very large handwriting on the back read “Gottlob Imle.” It is likely that this photo belonged at one time to Gottleib (usual spelling) William Imle, son of Christoph Imle of Clark Co Illinois, and was scrapped, sold, or given away. Most of Gottleib’s adult life was living in Terre Haute. Here is a copy of the original photo, followed by an enhanced (MyHeritage) and edited (me) copy to give a sharpened version.

The following identifications are certain or nearly so: Comparison with other photos shows that this photo was taken in front of what was called the “big house,” where my great grandparents Christoph Frederick and Anna Maria (Reichert) Imle lived around the turn of the last century. In later years it became the property of Christoph and Anna’s son Christian Karl Imle (my uncle Chris), and the porch was eventually removed. In the exact center of the picture are my grandparents Olive Rachel Geisert and Adam Conrad Imle, both easily (to me) recognizable. Since they are in the middle of the photo, have no children with them, and Olive appears to be wearing a dress identical to that in her wedding photo, this picture was likely taken on or near their wedding day, 7 Mar 1906. Immediately behind Olive Geisert is her sister Minnie Geisert, who is easily recognizable. At the right of the photo standing on the porch are Anna Maria Reichert (just right of the porch support, with her hair parted exactly down the center) and to her left Christoph Frederick Imle (bulky man with a black beard).

From now on much is guesswork based on other photos and ages and sexes of children. The woman, man, and three children to the right of Olive and Adam could be the Frederick (Fred) Christian and Clara (Coldren) Imle family, who had three children in 1906—7-year old John, 5-year old Susan, and 2-year old Edgar. The woman strongly resembles Clara though the man lacks the mustache seen in some photos of Fred Imle. The man in the large hat and the woman standing at the back on the porch on the left are probably Edward Geisert and his wife, Maria Emmeline Rhoads. The couple is of the right age, the man sports a mustache as did Edward, and the woman bears a very strong resemblance to Maria seen in other photos. The couple to the far left with an infant are probably Gottlieb and Clara (Schroeder) Imle. Both (particularly the woman) bear strong resemblances to Gottlieb and Clara in other photos and, at the date of Adam and Olive’s wedding, they had a single child, Irma, a 7-month old infant. The man standing behind Anna Maria and Christoph strongly resembles Chris Imle.

Perhaps you descendants of Christoph and Anna Maria Imle and/or of Edward and Maria (Rhoads) can confirm some of this. Or, better yet, can identify others. The old man with the white beard at the far right is particularly mysterious. He appears to be of an earlier generation.

Below are four enlarged segments of the photo from left to right. Like a jpg image of the original and enhanced/edited photos? Email me at  retapscott@comcast.net.

Imles Under the Skin

Lines of Christoph Frederick

and Johannes Saul

In the United States all (or nearly all) individuals with the surname “Imle” appear to be descended from Christoph Frederick and Anna Maria (Reichert) Imle, who arrived in the U.S. from Gundelbach, Germany, 15 Apr 1881.

But there are believed to be other U.S. “Imles” with a different surname spelling (see blog of 16 Dec 2015, “What's in a name?”). One family tree shows that on 17 Dec 1812 in Gundelbach was born Johannes Saul Imle, shown by another tree to be the third cousin once removed of our Christoph Frederick. Sometime in the early 1800s Johannes immigrated to the United States (beating Christoph’s arrival by several decades), was married 20 Sep 1835 in Ohio, and settled in Indiana, where he died on 14 Mar 1896. Johannes anglicized his name to “John” with, at various times, surnames  of “Emly,” “Emley,” and “Emily.” (Similar to the German pronunciation of "Imle.") Most of his descendants settled on the name “Emily” though the name “Emly” is also seen.

Gundelbach, birthplace of Christoph
 Frederick Imle & Johannes Saul Imle.

We now have additional evidence supporting this history. Two GG grandsons of Johannes Saul Imle have been in contact with me. The two U.S. first cousins, an “Emily” and an “Emly,” are calculated from still questionable family trees to be my 7^th cousins. Autosomal DNA testing now predicts that my Emly cousin and I are 5^th to 8^th cousins. Thus DNA results give credence to our family trees and show that at least some U.S. Emilys and Emlys are really Imles under the skin.

DNA testing is poor at determining that one's grandfather was a blue-eyed fisherman from Ireland, as suggested in some advertisements, or that one should exchange lederhosen for kilts, as claimed in others. But it can be excellent for confirming relationships and boosting the reliability of family trees. Welcome aboard Emilys and Emlys.

Last of a Generation

Mary Frances and I just returned from a family history research trip to the Midwest – Illinois, Indiana, Missouri. The major purpose was to research Tapscotts for a book now being written, but we also did a little research in preparation for the Imle book I still plan to write.

While there we attended Sunday services at Emmanuel, the Imle (Grand Turn) church, which will celebrate its 175^th anniversary next year. But like many old country churches, attendance is decreasing. I remember congregations of well over a hundred when I was a child. Only forty or so people were present for the service Mary Frances and I attended.

Marguerite, 19 Sep 1918 - 6 Oct 2017.

After church we had lunch at the Lincoln Trail State Park Restaurant with Millers and Schaefers, long-time Grand Turn families related to the Imles by marriage. It was at lunch that we learned of the recent death of Marguerite Gard (Imle) Irwin, the last of the thirty-two grandchildren of Christoph Frederick and Anna Maria (Reichert) Imle, founders of the Wabash Valley Imles.

Marguerite, daughter of William and Fairy (Gard) Imle, passed away 6 Oct 2017 in Florida. Earlier this year, on 27 Apr, we saw the passing of Marguerite’s cousin Dorothea Rose Maria (Imle) Dunlap, daughter of Herman and Eva Ann (Manhart) Imle. These were the last Christoph and Anna Maria descendants of my mother’s, Mary (Imle) Tapscott’s, generation.

Dottie, 8 Aug 1927 - 27 Apr 2017.

I did not really get to know Dorothea (“Dottie Rose”) well until I was an adult. Dottie and Marguerite were “much too old” for me to consider them close acquaintances when I was a child. In later years Dottie played a key role (along with her cousins Paul Harry Imle and John Frederick Imle) in collecting family history data for the 12 Jun 1981 Imle reunion at Lincoln Trail State Park. Once I developed an interest in family history, Dottie suggested that I combine and expand the family group sheets into one unified volume.

Dottie, I still hope to accomplish that task.

Back to the Imles?

I promise

It’s been a year since I last posted anything on this site. Am I losing interest in family history? No. In fact, that’s the problem. I keep getting sidetracked on other projects. But I will get back the Imle book. I promise.

Wedding of Gottlieb Imle and Clara Schroeder (center), 15

June 1904. Left: Eugene Miller and Anna Imle (not yet married).

Right: Adam Imle and an unknown woman, possibly Clara's

sister Ella, but not Adam's wife to be, Olive Geisert.

Today I got an email from a great granddaughter of Anna T. Imle. (Does anyone know what the “T’ stands for?) Anna was the youngest daughter of Christoph Frederick Imle, who founded the Wabash Valley Imles. Anna was born 28 Aug 1884, after Christoph and Anna Maria (Reichert) Imle had arrived in America. I always called her and her husband Julius Eugene Miller, “Aunt Anna and Uncle Eugene,” even though they were really my great aunt and uncle. Aunt Anna died when I was only twelve. Eugene, a quarter century later.

"Imle" Women, 1916, L to R: Kneeling: Clara Schroeder Imle,
Anna Imle Miller, Alta Finkbeiner Imle. Standing: Fairy Gard
Imle, Clara Coldren Imle, Ida Coldren Sockler, Olive Geisert
Imle, Maria Reichert Imle (Grandma), Emma Schroeder Kern.

I have two group photographs showing Anna Imle. One is a photo of the bride, groom, and attendants at the wedding of Gottlieb Imle and Clara Schroeder on 15 June 1904 in Terre Haute, Indiana. (Gotlieb was Anna’s brother). The other is a photo of primarily daughters and daughters-in-law of Christoph Imle taken at a family reunion on 18 Nov 1916 at the family home near Ernst. Ida Coldren is neither a daughter or daughter-in-law and Emma Schroeder was the second wife of Christian William Kern, who married Maria Christina Imle, a daughter of Christoph Imle. Maria had died well before this photo as taken.

The able Abels

An earlier post [17 Nov 2015] noted that Adam Pantle was unlikely to have been involved in sponsoring the Imle family immigrants or helping them once they arrived. The dates are all wrong and Adam had come from Grossbottwar, not Gundelbach. He would have been unlikely to have known the Imles in Germany. But there was an early Clark County resident from Gündelbach, Mathew Abel, who was born there on 22 Apr 1848, probably with the German name “Mathaus,” the name on his marriage record. Mathew and Christoph, who was six years older, had grown up in the same small town. In 1866, at the young age of 18, Matthew traveled to the Wabash Valley. He was likely a source of information about Clark County, Illinois, for the village of Gündelbach.

The third Clark County Courthouse, built in Marshall in 1839
 and torn down in 1887, was the site of the 1863 military arrest
 of Judge Charles H. Constable during the Civil War. (Historical
 Encyclopedia of Illinois and History of Clark County, 1907.)

Mathew arrived just one year after the end of the Civil War, and ill feelings were undoubtedly still present. Clark County had sent over one-tenth of its population, 1,560 men, to serve with the Union forces. Illinois had become a free state with the adoption of the Constitution of 1848. The final decision was made only after a prolonged struggle even though there had been few slaves in the state — only 331 in 1840. Although a free state, Illinois loyalties had been split. In 1863 in Marshall a group of Clark County Copperheads opposing the War, tried to safeguard soldiers deserting from the Union Army. In March of that year, an Indiana army detail arrested several of the deserters. A local judge, Charles H. Constable, freed the fugitives and ordered two Union sergeants arrested on kidnapping charges. Under the command of Col. Henry B. Carrington, 250 soldiers arrived by special train from Indianapolis, surrounded the courthouse, freed the two sergeants, and arrested Judge Constable.

Mathew Abel first worked as a farmhand in Clark County before moving to Terre Haute, where he met Rebecca Mayer. The two were wedded on 7 Nov 1875 in Clark County, but lived in Terre Haute for two years before moving back to Clark. where he and Rebecca farmed in Wabash Twp near Zion church.

In 1881, Mathew’s younger brother Gottlieb, who had also been born in Gündelbach (on 29 Jun 1851) left Germany to join his brother in Clark County. Gottlieb arrived on the on the W. A. Scholten. Accompanying Gottlieb on his trip was Christoph Imle and his family.

Does this prove that the Abels induced the Imles to come to Clark County? No. But it certainly makes it likely.

The Abel family and their descendants generally attended Zion Church, but some were members of Grand Turn, the Imle church. Mathew died 17 Jan 1931, after losing both his first and second wives. Gottlieb died 2 Feb 1933 and rests with his wife, Wilhelmina (“Minnie”), in Marshall Cemetery.

Clark County

U.S. Census Bureau

It was to Illinois that Christoph and his family headed when they landed in 1881, specifically to Clark County, on the east side of the state, just across the Wabash River from Terre Haute, Indiana. Rail travel was the only practical transportation, and at the time the Pittsburgh, Cincinnati and St. Louis Railroad, the “Panhandle Route,“ ran all the way from New York to St. Louis, passing through Terre Haute and Marshall.

The Wabash had been a major steamboat and flatboat route. Vessels went to the Ohio River and then the Mississippi to reach New Orleans. In the middle 1800s, the riverside Clark County towns of Darwin and York had thrived, with a slaughterhouse in each. In the fall and winter hogs were slaughtered and the meat and lard was shipped downriver by flatboat. Other freight was corn, flour, poultry, hoop poles, lumber, and whisky.

First Clark County Courthouse, Aurora. (Historical
Encyclopedia of Illinois and History of Clark County, 1907.)

The county courthouse, first established in the now-defunct village of Aurora, had been moved in 1823 to Darwin, named after the English polymath Erasmus Darwin (though some wrongly ascribe the name’s source to Erasmus’s nephew, Charles). In 1839, a second move had taken the seat to Marshall, at the time a collection of a dozen houses on the great Cumberland road, now the National Road, sixteen miles west of Terre-Haute, and nine miles northwest of Darwin. The Cumberland Road was the primary reason for moving the county seat.

Clark County, Union Atlas Co., Chicago. 1876. (David Rumsey Map Collection.)

Between 1828 and 1832 Clark County had only three post office: Bachelorsville; Clark Courthouse (at Darwin), and Morton’s Store, and an amazingly small number of towns. By 1856 the number of post offices had grown to fifteen and Marshall was now included. In 1862, the list of Clark County post offices was not longer, but included some more familiar names with the addition of Clark Center and York. By 1893, Clark County boasted 27 post offices, many of them with now unfamiliar names — Allright, Beltz, Cleone, Cohn, Moonshine, Neadmore, State Line, Tom. The Imle post office was at Ernst.

Christoph Frederick and Anna Maria Imle, Germany

Born in Gündelbach, on 30 Sep 1842, Christoph was one of ten known children (Magdalene Friederike, Jane, Christina, Christoph, Frederike Catherine, John Karl, Maria Beata, Jakob Christ, and two unnamed infants) of Christoph and Maria Beata (Sommer) Imle. Probably named “Christoph Friedrich,” he eventually dropped the “Christoph” and in America changed “Friedrich” to “Frederich” and then to “Frederick,” but usually going by “Fred” or “Fred Sr.” (to distinguish him from his son Fred). In this book, the name “Christoph” is often used to avoid ambiguities.

On 17 May 1869, in Weissach, a town 16 miles south of Gündelbach, Christoph wedded Anna Maria Reichert (often called “Marie” or “Mary” in the U.S.). Born in Weissach, Maria had six known siblings—Christiana (chr 4 Oct 1838), Christina Magdalena (chr 31 Mar 1841), Johann Friederich (chr 2 Feb 1845), Johann Adam (b 21 Nov 1851), Johann Martin (b 2 Jul 1854), and Abraham (chr 28 Oct 1855), all born in Weissach—children of Johann Martin and Christiana (Hahn) Reichert. Johann Martin is named as a surviving sibling in Maria’s obituary.

Over the years, Maria has been given a variety of birthdates. Two different, relatively reliable, secondary sources, the Imle Family Tree and a Family Group Sheet for Cristoph Frederick and Maria Imle, both prepared by close relatives, give Anna Maria's birth date as 12 Nov 1849, as does Maria’s obituary. But these do not agree with her cemetery marker’s birth year of 1848. A letter dated 1 Apr 1980 from officials at the City of Vaihingen an der Enz in Germany concerning the family’s immigration gives a birthdate of 30 Sep 1848, and the 1900 U.S. census gives April 1848. The last source is particularly significant since Maria’s birthdate was presumably recorded by the census taker in her presence and birthdates for all other family members in the 1900 census agree with other records. But the most likely birthdate is none of these. Most reliable is 12 Nov 1848, the date given in a transcription of an official Weissach birth and christening record.

Vineyards of Gündelbach (2011).

In Gündelbach. Christoph and Maria resided in a still-standing house, lived on the proceeds from a 12-acre vineyard, and parented five children. And in that town they made a momentous decision, to go to America to avoid required service by their sons in the German military. It is said that Christoph sold his 12 acres to pay for the trip, traveled to Rotterdam with his wife and five children, and on 23 Mar 1881 started across the Atlantic for America.

Gündelbach

Laurentiuskirche (2011).

Around 1700 Endriss Imlin’s great great grandson Tobias Imle moved from Horrheim to Gündelbach, which became the home town of most of Tobias’s known descendants, until his great great great grandson, Christoph traveled to America. Christoph’s home still stands in Gundelbach.

Until the end of WW II, Gündelbach consisted of only a few houses between two parallel roads. Even today the population is only about 1300. The hamlet is mentioned for the first time in 1120 AD and in the earliest documents is called “Ginterbach,”

Christoph Frederick Imle house, Gundelbach
(c1967, courtesy of George Irwin).

Built in the 15^th century the local protestant church, Laurentiuskirche, is named after Saint Laurentius, an early Christian martyr, shown in the coat of arms for the town. The church lies just down the street from the Imle house.

Württemberg

The progenitors of the Clark County Imles, Christoph Frederick and Anna Maria came from the German state of Württemberg, today part of Baden-Württemberg, created in 1952 by merging three states formed after the second world war. It was once a duchy in the Holy Roman Empire, but became a kingdom when the empire was dissolved in 1806. Christoph’s ancestors had lived in the area for centuries, for at least eight generations of Imles. Württemberg, an agricultural area with orchards, grains, hops, and vineyards, had a long history of producing red wines, and Christoph Frederick was one of the many inhabitants tending vineyards.

Die Gleichen Haus?

Over the years, Imle descendants have traveled to Gündelbach, Germany, where it all began, and have taken photos of the original Christoph Frederich and Anna Maria (Reichert) Imle house. Unfortunately, I have several conflicting photos of the house. The two which I believe to be most likely correct, were taken in 1967 and in 2010. But I question whether these two photos are of the same house. Perhaps it is just a difference in date or view. What do you think? Do any of you have other photos?

1967

2010

The Immigrants

In 1874, the SS W. A Scholten was put into service by the Netherlands American Steamship Company (later, the Holland-America Line) for regular mail and passenger service between Rotterdam and New York. The ship was a three-masted steamer, capable of traveling at 40 knots and carrying about 700 steerage passengers and 50 first and second-class passengers. The Scholten boasted the most modern conveniences—compartmentalized steerage, providing a little privacy, and two hospital wards, one for men and one for women.

For thirteen years, the Scholten transported (primarily) German emigrants to America. Then, on 19 Nov 1887, the ship left Rotterdam, heading for New York with 230 passengers and crew. At 11 pm that night, in a dense fog, the ship struck the English steamer Rosa Maria, ten miles off Dover. The Scholten sank within an hour with the loss of 150 lives. Many of the dead were German. No lives were lost on the Rosa Maria.

Six years earlier, the SS Scholten had sailed from Rotterdam, docking in New York on 15 Apr 1881. (16 Apr 1881, the date that the passenger list was signed, is often given as the arrival date; however, newspaper articles show that Apr 15 was the actual date.) Among the 707 passengers were a family of seven from Gündelbach, Frederick and Marie Imle and their five children (at that time), Marie, Fredrick, Christian, Gotllieb, and Adam. Had they been part of the 1887 voyage, this posting would likely not exist, nor would we.

 Imles on list of passengers docking in New York City, 16 Apr 1881 on the SS W. A. Scholten.

Ein Imle Familie Geschichte

I’m back on track with the Imle book, although I am trying to write two books simultaneously (the other on the Tapscotts of Clark County). I hope this works out. Tentatively the Imle book will be titled It Started in Gündelbach, Ein Imle Familie Geschichte—probably far too long, but C’est la vie (or should it be So ist das Leben?).

In 1881, Frederick and Anna Marie Imle lived in Gündelbach, Württemberg, Germany with their five children Maria, Fred, Chris, Adam, and Gottlieb, where they managed vinyards. Not wishing their sons to be drafted into the compulsory German Army they decided to move to America, with the Adam Pantle family as sponsors. (Pantle descendants still live in Marshall and Paris.) The Imle family left Rotterdam, Holland on 26 Mar 1881, landed on in New York on 15 Apr 1881, and made their way west to settle on a farm a few miles south of Marshall.

Frederick bought the farm and he and his sons spent their time tending crops, while Maria tended children, house, and gardens. In time, four more children—Bertha, Anna, William, and Herman—were added to the family.

No one knows for certain how many descendants there are from the nine children. Attending a reunion in honor of the 100^th anniversary of the arrival of the Imles in the United States were 150 people from a dozen states. A recent count from my incomplete database shows 304 descendants plus 176 spouses.

Imle Family Reunion, 12 Jul 1981, Lincoln Trail State Park, Clark County, Illinois.

 My interest in family history was sparked by my mother’s passing around Christmas, 2000, but it was encouragement from Dorothea Maria (Imle) Dunlap, “Dottie Rose,” my mother’s cousin, that that got me going on the Imles. Dottie Rose and several other Imles (in particular, Edgar, author of a magnus opus), had already written large portions of Imle family history. I was asked only to expand their work.

The expansion has turned out to be much more difficult than I had envisioned. First, it has taken on a life of its own to include Imle relatives, history, and geography. Second, Imle descendants have increased geometrically, possibly exponentially. Third, Imles have spread across the United States and outside the country. For over 300 years, the Imles had lived in the same small region of Germany, most of this time in the same town, much of that time in the same house. Then, for 40 years or so after arriving, most remained in and around Clark County. But then the small dispersion became a diaspora and since the 1981 reunion a DIASPORA! The reason is affluence. H. B. Guppy (Homes of Family Names in Great Britain) wrote a passage about the dispersion of affluent Englishmen. It applies equally well to Germans:

“It was the boast of a wealthy old Devonshire yeoman, 150 years ago, that he had never crossed the borders of his native county, and I cannot believe that in this respect he differed greatly from his fellows. From the stationary conditions of their lives, and from the nature of their pursuits and surroundings, they acquired a solid mediocrity of character, to which the long persistence of families in the same locality and in the same station is mainly due. England, in truth, owes much to their lack of aspiration and to their home-loving ways. It is, however, remarkable that the rise of a family into a condition of opulence is, as a rule, shortly followed by its dispersal, until within a generation or two, the home of the name for centuries knows it no more.”

Tracking down the multiplied and dispersed descendants has proven almost, but not quite impossible. These postings will describe this venture and what I find along the way.

All genealogical data are from primary or reputable secondary sources and never from unsourced online trees. Contact the author to request sources, omitted here to improve readability. Readers may use any posted material for any purpose as long as this source is cited. Most important, I need your help. Please tell me of errors, suggested additions, and photos you can contribute. I need your criticisms, comments, complaints.