Peoria Democrat Press

Peoria Morning Star, Sunday, August 10, 1924

Largest Family Reunion in Central Illinois

Illinois Branch of Lingenfelter Family Holds Annual Reunion: 5,000 Attend!

Canton, August 9

     The annual meeting of members of the Lingenfelter family has become known as the largest family reunion in Illinois. Fifteen years ago, the Illinois branch of this large family held a reunion. Since then it has been an annual affair and when on the day of celebrating, if the weather was good, the attendance has always been large.
     The family originated in Pennsylvania where many of the descendants of the original Lingenfelters still reside. The Pennsylvania branch held its reunion Saturday, July 26, and letters exchanged between the Illinois and the eastern branch indicate that several thousand attended this gathering in the East.
     The man who was principally responsible for the organization of the Illinois group of this family was Reverend Fred C. Dively, who is President of the Pennsylvania group. Rev. Mr. Dively came to Illinois fifteen years ago as a representative of the family and after much correspondence and discussions, the members called the first reunion. This meeting was a distinct success and other reunions followed.

Boys Sold as Slaves!

     The history of the family reads like a book, according to the oldest records. The first family came from Holland in 1765, sailing from Germany. This family consisted of the father, mother, one son and one daughter. The sturdy little band wanted to find the "land of promise". On the ocean trip, the parents died and were buried at sea. The boat docked at Philadelphia and the orphans were sold as slaves to the British. The children never saw each other after the day they were sold.
     The boy was Simon Lingenfelter and when he was 21, he cast his lot with the American patriots in their struggle fro independence. He served the entire period of the war. Records do not disclose what Simon did immediately after the war, but in 1800 he was known to be living in Bedford County, Pennsylvania. Family records of these early days show that Frederick Claar married Christina Walters and their daughter, Sarah, married Jacob Lingenfelter on May 1, 1830, in Bedford County, Pa. It was this Jacob Lingenfelter who came to Illinois in April, 1848, and started the Illinois branch.
     With Jacob were his wife and eight children when the trip was made to Illinois. The landing was made at Copperas Creek Lock. The graves of Jacob and his wife are in High Bridge cemetery, near the farm on which they lived.
     The twelve children were:
Margaret, deceased who married Henry Lewis. Three children were born to this union.
Mathias, deceased, who married Rebecca Evans. The following children were born to this union: Joseph E., Jacob A., Mathias S., Richard E., Lizzie M., Clyde D., Luella I., Annie M., Ida E., Sarah S., Barbara E. Of the twelve, eight are living. The father lived to a ripe old age and the mother died at age 66.
Josiah Lingenfelter, deceased, who had eight children.
Moses Lingenfelter, who had nine children.
Christiana Lingenfelter Mann who had six children.
Aaron Lingenfelter who had three children.
David Lingenfelter who remained a bachelor.
John who died during the Civil War and remained a bachelor.

The eight children listed above were all born in Pennsylvania and moved to Illinois with their parents. The four children who were born in Illinois were:
Frederick who died while still a young man
Jacob who had seven children and died in 1876
Alexander who had three children
Sarah Johnson who had three children and is deceased.

Kentucky Branch

     Aside from the Pennsylvania and Illinois branches, the family has another branch of considerable size in Kentucky. Although at this time, the Kentucky branch is not organized for reunion purposes like the other two are. Each year there are representatives of both the branches at the Illinois reunion.
     The officers of the family reunion association for this year are:
     J. P. Lingenfelter, President.
     Arthur Johnson, Secretary
     J. P. Lingenfelter, chairman of the program committee.
     The reunions are not only a family affair, but are also community affairs on account of the prominence of the people represented and on account of the size of the picnic.
     Seven years ago, the picnic attended by a great throng of people and 1400 sat down to dinner which was served by the women of the family. Three years ago there were 5,000 people at the picnic.
     Older members of the family recall the early days of the Lingenfelter pioneers with privation and sacrifice. Log cabins, such as those used in the early days of the family in Pennsylvania were far from being comfortable. Trees were cut down from the forest to clear the fields for crops and the logs were then hauled or drug to the place where the house was to be built.
     The logs were notched carefully at each end to form the four walls, while still more logs served as rafters. The roof was usually of hand hewn wooden shingles, but occasionally thatch was used temporarily. The space between the logs were filled with mud or an improvised mortar and hand hewn boards or plain dirt served as a floor. A fireplace was built in one end of the cabin and was used to cook with as well as to heat the room in the winter. Iron stoves gradually came into use by the time the family had emigrated to Illinois. They were almost in general use.

The following was taken from a caption from a picture of Mathis Lingenfelter: The late Mathis Lingenfelter, honored pioneer who moved to Fulton County in 1848, was buried today. [He died on July 11, 1916.] His funeral was one of the largest ever held in the county. There were over 138 motor driven and horse drawn vehicles in the procession and well over a thousand people at the graveside.

(This newspaper article was submitted by Roy Girard...thank you, Roy!)