Life History

Other facts

Notes

• Johann George Stoltz was born 17 February 1817 at Niederkutzenhausen, (Bas-Rhin) Alsace, France. Johann George was the son of Johann Adam Stoltz and Maria Eva Jordi. See Number 111162, page 17. Johann was always called 'George'. He joined the Lutheran Church at Kutzenhausen at an early age.
  
  George Stoltz emigrated to America with his parents in 1828 and settled in Moore Township, Northampton County, Pennsylvania. Here George worked at the carpenter trade and perhaps worked in the coal mines. He followed the carpenter trade until 1850 when he purchased his first land in Lick Prairie Precinct (Stoltz Prairie) and began farming.
  
  In 1834 the Stoltz family, including George's sister Eva Maria (Stoltz) Marx and her family, left Pennsylvania for Wabash County, Illinois. Upon arrival, the family 'squatted' on the S.W. 1/4 of the S.E. 1/4 of Section 20, Township 1 North, Range 13 West of the 2nd Principal Meridian, Lick Prairie Precinct, Wabash County, Illinois. At this time, George and his brothers Adam, Fred and Ludwig were still single. Of the boys, George was the first to marry.
  In 1836 George helped his father, his brothers, and others to build the first Lutheran Church, called the Jordan Creek Lutheran Church, in Wabash County, Illinois, about one mile west and one-and-one-half miles south of Lancaster, Illinois. See map page 61. George lived with his parents and followed the carpenter trade. He helped his father on the farm.
  George Stoltz married Margaret Hinkle 14 March 1841 in Edwards County or Wabash County, Illinois. Margaret Hinkle was born 1 February 1821 in Davidson County, North Carolina. She was the daughter of Peter Hinkle III, born 10 September 1796 near Rowan County, North Carolina, and Elizabeth Wilson, born about ' 1800 in Rowan County, North Carolina. Peter Hinkle and Elizabeth Wilson were married 3 February 1820 in Rowan County, North Carolina. A brief ancestral family lineage of Margaret Hinkle, daughter of Peter Hinkle III and Elizabeth Wilson and the wife of George Stoltz follows on page. Shortly after his marriage, George rented a farm in the vicinity of Friendsville, Illinois. He farmed and did carpentry work for the next nine years. In 1850 he purchased his father's homestead 80 acre farm -- the E. 1/2 of the S.E. 1/4 of Section 20, Township 1 North, Range 13 West of the 2nd Principal Meridian, Lick Prairie Precinct, Wabash County, Illinois. George and his family moved in with his father and stepmother and continued to live with them until his stepmother, Susan (Marx) Stoltz's death about 1860. His father continued to live with George and his family and with his daughters, Eva Maria Marx and Dorothea Barnhart.
  Sometime during the late 1870's or early 1880's, George built a new twostory house and a barn from commercially sawed lumber. This house was just south of the old log house which was then used for other purposes. George was a successful farmer and purchased additional acreage. In 1864 he purchased 80 acres for $850 from William Mahon; this acreage lying just across the road west of his farm, described as the S. 1/2 of the S.W. 1/4 of Section 21, Township 1 North, Range 13 West of the 2nd Principal Meridian, Wabash County, Ill. In 1866 he purchased 40 acres for $390 from George Schearer described as the N.E. 1/4 of the N.E. 1/4 of Section 29. This acreage was formerly owned by Henry Boden, whose sister Carolina E. Boden married John Fornoff, Sr. See Branch II, Boden Family, page 356. George purchased another 80 acre tract, the date and price of purchase not actually confirmed, located about two miles south of Lancaster, Illinois, described as the E. 1/2 of the N.E. 1/4 of Section 16. See map on page 61.
  George Stoltz was a civic-minded citizen. He had a strong belief in the education of the children of the community and was a strong supporter of the Jordan Creek Lutheran Church located about two miles north of his home, near Lancaster, Illinois. In September of 1852, George was listed as a subscriber to the Jordan Creek Lutheran Church Club whose function pertained to the church's finances. In 1853 he was elected a trustee of the Jordan Creek Lutheran Church, a position he retained for twelve years.
  In April of 1874 George was elected Trustee of Schools for Township 1 N., Range 13 West, Wabash County, Illinois. He held this position for two consecutive terms. He was instrumental in organizing School District #10 for Stoltz Prairie, the name given the vicinity where the Stoltz's lived. The nearest schools to Stoltz Prairie were Buzzard Roost, Cabbage Corner, Lick Prairie, Armstrong and Long Prairie. See map, page 61. The school district was duly formed and established by general law and was called Stoltz School. Three school trustees or directors were elected. The map on page 61 shows Stoltz School District #10's boundary by dotted lines. On 11 April 1870 George Stoltz and wife Margaret conveyed by warranty deed to trustees of Stoltz School District #10 a 100 foot square off the N.E. corner of the E. 1/2 of the S.E. 1/4 of Section 20, Township 1 North, Range 13 West of the 2nd Principal Meridian, Lick Prairie Precinct, Wabash County, Illinois, for the sum of $5 for said tract of land to be used for school purposes and said property to revert back to the original property when abandoned for school purposes: filed and recorded 24 June 1871, 11 A.M. at the Wabash County Court House, Mt. Carmel, Ill. A log school house was promptly constructed and the first school session was held in the spring of 1872. Several years later the log school house caught fire and burned. A new frame building was constructed about 26' x 42' facing east. School was held in the building until the close of the school year in 1925. My mother and her brother and sisters attended this school. In 1925it was sold to Norman Stoltz whose farm was one-fourth mile south of the school site. A new school building was immediately constructed facing north. In 1939 this building caught tire from an overheated coal furnace and burned, destroying all of the school's records. A new modern school building was erected on the same site with a basement and ventilated heating system. School was held in this building until 1948 when the district became a part of the Consolidated Wabash Community Unit #348, thus ending 75 years of service to the community and youth of Stoltz Prairie. The Stoltz School building after the consolidation was moved to Lancaster and used for the sixth grade. A few years later the building was purchased by the Ruritan Club and moved to its present location in Lancaster, Illinois.
  From the records that were available at the Wabash County Court House, family records, and memory of older natives of Stoltz School District #10, a partial listing of teachers was obtained. Rural schools at this time and until about 1900 conducted a fall term, a winter term, and a spring term, making the school year a total of four to eight months. It is unfortunate that the name of the first teacher and several subsequent teachers of Stoltz School are unknown. It is known, however, that Sam A. Mayne and William Wetzel taught one or more school years, but the dates are unknown. Both of these men later became county superintendent of schools. The first county superintendent of school's office was located at Friendsville, Illinois. Friendsville at this early date was considered a large town, boasting of two doctors, an ice house, a grist mill, a feed store, two general merchandise stores, and a United States post office.
  Following are the names of the teachers and the dates of the school year they taught Stoltz School.
  1872-1873 unknown 1891-1892 Bertha Johnson, 1 month
  1873-1874 unknown Mary Marx & Martin Nelgin
  1874-1875 George Stoltz, Jr. 1892-1893 Bertha Johnson and
  George married Eva Samuel Marx
  Weyl, one of his pupils. 1893-1894 P. J. Kolb
  1875-1876 George Stoltz, Jr. 1894-1895 P. J. Kolb
  1876-1877 Unknown 1895-1896 Harlan Couch
  1877-1878 Mr. Hazelton 1896-1897 Harlan Couch
  1878-1879 Mr. Hazelton 1897-1898 Mae Lucas
  1879-188o William Foster. 1898-1899 Mae Lucas
  William Foster married 1899-1900 Bert Lucas
  Clara Ellen Stoltz, a sis- 1900-1901 Bert Lucas
  ter to George Stoltz, Jr. 1901-1902 Robert Gould
  188o-1881 William Foster 1902-1903 Robert Gould
  1881-1882 Unknown 1903-1904 Unknown
  1882-1883 William Foster 1904-1905 Frank Hochgieger
  1883-1884 Ada Bullard 1905-1906 Frank Hochgieger
  1884-1885 Samuel Stoltz, son of 1906-1907 Alvah Seibert
  Fredrick Stoltz, a 1907-1908 Charles Fisher
  brother to Johann 1908-1909 Ora Woods
  George Stoltz 1909-1910 Laura McQuary
  1885-1886 Samuel Stoltz 1910-1911 Clifford Price
  1886-1887 George Stoltz, Jr. 1911-1912 Clifford Price
  1887-1888 George Stoltz, Jr. 1912-1913 Virgil Stallins
  1888-1889 William A. Hazelton 1913-1914 E. Guy Pixley
  1889-1890 William A. Hazelton 1914-1915 E. Guy Pixley
  1890-1891 Emma McGregor and Lillie 1915-1916 Effie Marx, daughter of
  Hinderliter, mother of John Henry Marx.
  Gladys Kathleen Seibert 1916-1917 Vern Leeds
  who married William 1917-1918 Irwin Stoltz, son of John
  Edward Stoltz. See Hamilton Stoltz, a brother
  Branch II, Number 6256. to George Stoltz, Jr.
  1918-1919 Irwin Stoltz 1932-1933 Paul Deisher
  1919-1920 Virgil Stallins 1933-1934 Paul Deisher
  1920-1921 Virgil Stallins 1934-1935 Paul Deisher
  1921-1922 Irwin Stoltz 1935-1936 Paul Deisher
  1922-1923 Earl F. Liddle 1936-1937 Eurus Stoltz
  1923-1924 Earl F. Liddle 1937-1938 Eurus Stoltz
  1924-1925 Earl F. Liddle 1938-1939 Neva Marx
  1925-1926 Hugo Mayne 1939-1940 Neva Marx
  1926-1927 Hugo Mayne and 1940-1941 Dora Ankenbrandt
  Julia Oaks 1941-1942 Opal (Cunningham) Byram
  1927-1928 Julia Oaks 1942-1943 Opal (Cunningham) Byram
  1928-1929 Neoma Wilcox and James 1943-1944 Edith Rayzor
  Marx for 1 month 1944-1945 Mrs. Leola Treece
  1929-1930 Paul Deisher, grandson of 1945-1946 Marjorie (Tedrick) Camp
  John Deisher and Mary 1946-1947 Edgar Ramsey
  Eliza Stoltz, daughter 1947-1948 Leona Deisher
  of Adam Stoltz and
  Margaret Leipold.
  1930-1931 Paul Deisher
  1931-1932 Paul Deisher
  Stoltz School District #10 was discontinued and dissolved under school consolidation in 1948 and the district became a part of the newly formed Wabash Community Unit District #348. The new District #348 also included the schools at Lancaster, Illinois.
  On the following page is a picture of a Stoltz School class of 1894-1895. This is the oldest picture of a Stoltz School class that could be found among the Stoltz family records. In this picture are my two aunts, Mary and Cora Stoltz. My mother, Blanche
  Stoltz, was absent. Pupils who have an asterisk before their names are recorded in the Stoltz Genealogy.