Johann Ulrich Minger1

(June 15, 1800 - October 22, 1863)
Johann Ulrich Minger|b. Jun 15, 1800\nd. Oct 22, 1863|p597.htm|Bendicht Minger|b. Jul 6, 1770\nd. May 15, 1829|p676.htm|Barbara Wanner|b. Jan 21, 1776\nd. Nov 16, 1811|p677.htm|Bendicht Minger|b. Oct 23, 1740\nd. Sep 18, 1814|p692.htm|Elizabeth Suri|b. about 1749\nd. in 1785 or after|p693.htm|Jacob Wanner||p678.htm|Magdalena Andres||p679.htm|

Relationship=2nd great-grandfather of Rev. Don Emmet (Sr.) Smith.
Charts on which this person appears:
Rev. Don E. Smith, Sr. Family Tree
      Johann Ulrich's name was also spelledas Johannes.3 He was born on Sunday, June 15, 1800 in Messen, Mulchi, Canton Berne, Switzerland, son of Bendicht Minger and Barbara Wanner.2

Johann married Anna Maria Hofer, daughter of Jakob Hofer and Barbara Kassermann, on June 25, 1825, in Switzerland.2 His biographical sketch as submitted by Mae Brown Siemers, reads -

Johann and Anna Hofer Minger

Johann Ulrich Minger, baptized 15 June 1800, Messsen Switzerland, and Anna Maria Hofer, baptized 22 Oct. 1797, Limpach, Switzerland, were married 25 June 1825 in Switzerland. Johann became a farmer, carpenter, and blacksmith. Despite his short stature, he was strong; at one time, on a wager, he carried 200 pounds of milk for 12 miles. He was also considered quite a wrestler. The family lived in Mulchi, Switzerland for 20 years and 9 children were born to them. one of whom, Elizabeth, born 1839, died in infancy. All children were baptized in Messen and the two oldest confirmed there. In America the family followed the Lutheran faith.

When Johann was a young man he saved his money so that he could go to America and in the spring of 1845, his plans materialized. The Minger family traveled across the country of France to LaHarve on the Atlantic seacoast. With them they took their cattle and also their household furnishings which were piled on oxcarts and pulled by oxen. Anna Maria and her younger children rode on the oxcarts while Johann and the older boys walked and drove the cattle. Their trip across the ocean took 45 days by sailing ship, depending on the wind for power. At one point they were stranded for three days in a dead calm before a breeze came to their rescue.

Their journey from New York to New Philadelphia, Ohio, took another 21 days and was made nearly all by water-ways. Among the Minger's family possessions which survived the long difficult journey from Switzerland to Ohio were a lovely sugar bowl and a large wooden trunk; these prized heirlooms are today in the homes of two of Johann and Anna Maria's descendants.

While Johann and Anna Maria were living in Ohio, a fire destroyed their farmhome along with family records dating back 300 years. By spring of 1856 all of the Minger family were living in Millville or Jefferson Twp., Clayton Co., IA., with the exception of a son, Jakob, born 1829, and a daughter, Anna Maria, born 1835, whose names had vanished from the records. (Records of Jacob, and a tombstone for Maria were found in Tuscarawas Co. after this was written) Johann and Anna Maria's farmhome was in Sec. 32 in Jefferson Twp., and it was here they lived for the rest of their lives. Johann died at age 63 on 22 Oct. 1863; Anna Maria died at age 84 on 4 Oct. 1881. Both are interred at St. John's country cemetery on Jolly Ridge near their farmhome.

Their children's marriages were:
Anna Magdalena Minger (1825-1884) m. John Anderegg (1823-1910);
Johann Minger (1827-1908) m. Elizabeth Hassig (1834-1922);
Anna Barbara Minger (1837-1873) m. Johann Yaberg (1826-1898)
Friedrich Minger (1833-1906 m. Maria Beer (1836-1911);
Bendicht Minger (1837-1915) m. Elizabeth Albright (1839-1898);
and Rudolph Minger (1847-1897) m. Elisabeth Anna Walker (1844-1917).4

Johann in 1845.2

On August 26, 1845, his daughter, Anna, married Johann A. Anderegg.5

On April 27, 1854, his son, John, married Elizabeth Hassig.

On June 27, 1862, his son, Bendicht, married Elisabeth A. Albrecht.2

Johann died on Thursday, October 22, 1863 in Jefferson Township, Guttenberg, Clayton County, Iowa, at age 63.1,2 He was laid to rest in the St. John's Cemetery (formerly the Dittmer Cemetery southwest of Guttenberg) in Jefferson Township, Clayton County, Iowa.6

Children of Johann Ulrich Minger and Anna Maria Hofer

Citations

  1. [S11] "John Minger Pedigree on WorldConnect.com by Thomas Lisco" , Thomas Lisco; . Hereinafter cited as "Online RWDB :775982; Thomas Lisco". Note: Unverified information, added here only as a suggestion as I continue researching this family line. Please conduct your own research before quoting it as fact.
  2. [S25] Mae (Brown) Siemers, Edith (Brown) Lenarz and Ruth (Brown) Rohrwsser, The Minger Family History, A Book of Memory (Publish Date: March 1984). Hereinafter cited as Minger Family Book.
  3. [S12] Family History Library, Online: FamilySearch.org, LDS Research Center . Source Information: Film Number: 537166 Page Number: 79 Reference number: 65367. Note: Unverified information, added here only as a suggestion as I continue researching this family line. Please conduct your own research before quoting it as fact.
  4. [S71] Clayton County Genealogical Society / Box 866 Elkader - Iowa 52043, 1984 History of Clayton County Iowa (Elkader, Iowa 52043: Griffith Press, 1984), pgs. 516-517. Hereinafter cited as 1984 History of Clayton Co.
  5. [S25] Mae (Brown) Siemers, Edith (Brown) Lenarz and Ruth (Brown) Rohrwsser, The Minger Family History, A Book of Memory (Publish Date: March 1984), Also see: Tuscarawas County, Ohio, Marriage Records, Book 1, page 37. Hereinafter cited as Minger Family Book.
  6. [S23] List of Burials in Clayton Co. & Guttenberg Iowa Area ( Guttenberg, Iowa: Guttenberg Public Library), Minger, Johann. Hereinafter cited as Clayton Co. Cem List, Guttenberg IA.
 


  • A family history
    leads to the satisfaction in really knowing who you are
    and from when you came.


  • "Nor long shall any name resound
    Beyond the grave, unless't be found
    In some clerk's book; it is the pen
    Gives immortality to men."


  • A good life lasts for several generations.

  • In all of us there is a hunger, marrow-deep,
    to know our heritage, to know who we are
    and where we come from.


    — Alex Haley
  • To forget one's ancestors
    is to be a brook without a source,
    a tree without a root.


    — Chinese Proverb
  • Family faces are magic mirrors.
    Looking at people who belong to us,
    we see the past, present, and future.
    We make discoveries about ourselves.


    — Gail Lumet Buckley
  • In every conceivable manner,
    the family is a link to our past,
    a bridge to our future.


    — Alex Haley
  • What greater thing is there for human souls
    than to feel that they are joined for life – to be with each other
    in silent unspeakable memories.


    — George Eliot
  • Some people come and go in our lives.
    Some stay forever.


  • We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors,
    we borrow it from our children.


    — Native American Proverb
  • The memories we give may a lifetime live in the heart
    of those we hold so close.


    — Unknown
  • Families are like fudge . . .
    mostly sweet with a few nuts.


    — Unknown
  • The family is one of Nature's masterpieces.

    — George Santayana
  • Having a place to go – is a home.
    Having someone to love – is a family.
    Having both – is a blessing.


    — Donna Hedges
  • Every man is his own ancestor,
    and every man is his own heir.
    He devises his own future,
    and he inherits his own past.


    — Fredrick Henry Hedge