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Michael and Catherine Hildebrand
Garber | |||
Michael Garber was likely born in Augusta County, Virginia, although a birth certificate was not found. He was the first child of Samuel Garber and Lydia Arnold and is thought to have moved with his family to Washington County, Tennessee, when he was about 4 years old. Michael's mother and seven of his eight siblings died between 1836 and 1844. His father soon married Mary Long, and in a few vears Michael had seven half siblings. Michael moved with his family to Ogle County, Illinois, in 1846 and lived near the Maryland Settlement between Haldane and Mount Morris. This community was made up of many Brethren families who moved to Illinois from Maryland in the early 1840s. Believing in Jesus as his Savior, Michael was baptized by the German Baptist Brethren in 1848, in the West Branch District in Ogle County.
When Michael's grandfather, Daniel Arnold, wrote his will in 1848. he included Michael and his sister Catherine in it because their mother, Lydia, was deceased. Catherine, age 18, died (February 1849) before her grandfather (June 1849). Perhaps Michael received his sister's share of the will. On November 12, 1855, Michael Garber, age 26. married Catherine Hildebrand. Their marriage record is in Eureka, Woodford County, Illinois. Michael and Catherine lived near Roanoke, Illinois, an area that had been settled by Brethren families from Roanoke, Virginia. The Panther Creek District of the Brethren was organized in Woodford County in 1852. Catherines family lived nearby, as well as James Rufus Gish and others of the Gish family. Michael Garber is listed in Illinois Public Land Purchase Records on September 26, 1865, with 80 acres in Woodford County. These records show that he purchased property in Township 27N. Section 12-S2SE, for $13 an acre. On December 27, 1868, Michael, Catherine, and their seven children moved to Polk County, Iowa, the same year his parents and siblings also moved to Iowa. They bought land from Charles DuBois in Beaver Township, Section 8, northeast of Altoona. The Chicago-Rock Island-Pacific Railway went through their property. Michael and Catherine remained in Polk County when his parents and siblings moved to Marshall County. Iowa. Michael was a farmer and a minister in the German Baptist Brethren, Des Moines Valley congregation, near Altoona. (He is included in the ministers' list in the Brethren encyclopedia, page 1629.) Michael Garber died on May 1, 1879, at age 50, leaving his wife with ten children. Catherine continued to live in the old Garber home until all her children were married. She sold her 152 acres of land to Ella Weston on January 22, 1902, and lived with her daughter, Grace Avise, until she died on July 20, 1903, at the age of 67. Michael and Catherine Garber are buried in the Old Altoona Cemetery, Polk County, Iowa. |
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