Tombstone Tuesday– John Emerich

John Emerich, Kessler/Liberty Cemetery, Mercer County, Ohio. (2014 photo by Karen)

John Emerich, Kessler/Liberty Cemetery, Mercer County, Ohio. (2014 photo by Karen)

This is the tombstone of John Emerich, located in row 8 of Kessler/Liberty Cemetery, Mercer County, Ohio. The marker is inscribed:

EMERICH
John
Emerich
Died
July 10, 1910
Aged
22y, 5m, 1d

John Friedrich Emerich was born 9 February 1888 in Liberty Township, Mercer County, Ohio, the third child born to Philip and Philimina (Fickert) Emerich. There is no record of John’s baptism at Zion Chatt but he was confirmed there in 1903.

He was about eight years old when his father Philip died in 1896.

In 1900, at the age of twelve, he lived at home with his mother and five of his siblings on the family farm south of Chatt . [1]

In 1910 he worked as a farm laborer on the farm of Fred and Esther Kesler in Blackford County, Indiana, not far from Dunkirk. [2] A few months later he drowned near there.

John died 10 July 1910 near Dunkirk, Indiana. According to a local newspaper account:

Word was received here Sunday night of the drowning of John Emerick aged 22, who was drowned in a gravel pit at Dunkirk, while in swimming. He had been working at Dunkirk for some time. John Feigert and Fred Schott went to Dunkirk and brought the body home. Funeral was held from the Lutheran church at Two o’clock Tuesday afternoon, conducted by Rev. Haas. [3]

Zion Chatt’s death and burial records also indicate that John died by drowning on 10 July 1910 and that he was buried on the 12th. He was 21 years, 10 months, and 25 days old, according to the church record.

His age as inscribed on his tombstone differs from that on his church burial record. After calculating his date of birth from these records, he was born 9 February 1888 according to his tombstone and 15 August 1888 according to the church record. According to his church confirmation record and Mercer County, Ohio, birth records, John was born 9 February 1888. [4]

John was laid to rest next to his grandparents and three plots from his parents. A plot with no marker is between him and his sister Catharina.

Emerich family, row 8, Kessler Cemetery, right to left: Philip & Maretha; John, Catherina, Philip & Philipina. (2014 photo by Karen)

Emerich family, row 8, Kessler Cemetery, right to left: Philip & Maretha; John, Catherina, Philip & Philipina. (2014 photo by Karen)

 

[1] 1900 U.S. Census, Liberty Township, Mercer County, Ohio, ED 85, p.9B, dwelling 178, family 183, Ben Emerick; digital image by Ancestry.com (www.ancestry.com : accessed 2 November 2014); from FHL microfilm 1241304, from NARA microfilm T623 roll 1304.

[2] 1910 U.S. Census, Jackson Township, Blackford County, Indiana, ED 5, p.4A, dwelling 69, family 69, Fred Kesler; digital image by subscription Ancestry.com (www.ancestry.com : accessed 8 November 2014); from FHL microfilm 1374353, from NARA microfilm T624, roll 340.

[3] The Willshire Herald, Willshire, Ohio, 14 July 1910, p.5.

[4] “Ohio, County Births, 1841-2003,” index and images, FamilySearch (www.familysearch.org : accessed 9 November 2014), John Frederick Emerich, 9 February 1888, citing Liberty, Mercer Co., OH births; from FHL microfilm 2367095.

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