| Mary McCormick's Personal Immigration
Website |
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| Links for Site
Navigation: Swiss Emigration Family Tree The Wildy Family Book |
All the information I have found
for this project, I found in "The Wildy Family: 1500-1955; Their
Ancestral Tree". For lack of
other available information, I have traced back my maternal grandfather's lineage. The oldest ancestor I can trace back to (who is related to me by blood) is Rudolf Steiner, born circa 1610. He was a landlord and farmer in Duerrenaesch, Canton Argau, Switzerland. |
| The first of
my ancestors to immigrate to the United States was Bernard Steiner
(great-great-great grandson of Rudolf Steiner), born July 8, 1781. He was a successful merchant. From 1800 to 1810 he traveled between Switzerland, America, and France a number of times for buying merchandise. On his last trip to Switzerland in 1817, he brought three of his sisters (including Barbara) and their families along with him to the United States. They all arrived at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on January 7, 1818. From Philadelphia, they traveled across Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois until they reached the Kaskaskia (Okaw) River. Bernard bought 2560 acres of land from the Land Office of the District of Kaskaskia. This area of land is where they established their home, near Dutch Hill Prairie, Lenzburg Township, St. Clair County, Illinois. |
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| Bernard's
sister Barbara (nee Steiner) Haerdi was married to Jacob Haerdi. Upon
immigrating, their last name's spelling was changed to "Hardy". Jacob and Barbara were farmers, and lived in a log cabin for the rest of their lives. |
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| Their son John Hardy and his
wife Catherine (daughter of French parents but born in Germany, who
immigrated to America in 1827 and traveled up the Mississippi River to live in St. Louis, Missouri for a time) donated and conveyed the land for the Zion Methodist Episcopal Church and the Dutch Hill Cemetery (now called the Zion Church Cemetery) in Dutch Hill, Section 10, Lenzburg Township. They also "furnished a room for the convenience of the pioneer ministers who traveled by foot and by horse, preaching the gospel in the homes of interested Christian pioneer families, and built an addition to their barn to shelter the minister's horse and buggy, during their stay on Dutch Hill." The church they helped build is near New Athens, about thirty miles southeast of St. Louis. Once, it was known as the "Smallest Methodist Church in the U.S." when the congregation dropped to two - a brother and sister pair. However, the church membership grew again afterwards and the church still thrives today. |
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| John's son, Henry Hardy, married
Rosina Nettie (nee Schultz) Hardy in the church his parents helped
found, and their marriage was presided over by Rev. William C. Schultz, brother of the bride. They had ten children who, since 1947, have held biennial family reunions. These reunions have been held in many different states and last 5-7 days each. The ten children also instituted a round robin: a packet mailed to every family member in turn, and being continuously added to and updated. This round robin has been carried on by their descendants and is still being mailed today. |
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| Henry Hardy's grandson, Dr. John
(Jack) Wesley Hardy, was my grandfather on my mother's side. He was a
lieutenant and served aboard the U.S.S. triumph - a minesweeper - in the Pacific during 1945. After the war he became a successful dentist in Hoopeston, Ill. Of his three children, two followed in his footsteps and became dentists as well, practicing in Decatur, Ill and Danville, Ill respectively. His eldest child is a psychiatrist living in Wisconsin. |
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