Please contact John C. Engel [email protected] if you have more information, photos, or documents to share relating to ancestor John George Engel.
John George Engel was born Johann Georg Engel in Bahlingen Germany. He came to the U.S. in 1856 with his grandparents, Johann Martin and Katherina (Schmidt) Köhl, and his sister, Emma. His parents, George and Anna (Köhl) followed a year later with the rest of the children.
1878 HISTORY OF LINN COUNTY, IOWA
"Engel, John G., farmer, Sec. 17; P. O. Cedar Rapids; owns 120 acres, probable value $4,200; he was born Oct. 3, 1845, in Baden, Germany, and came to the United States in 1856, with his grandfather (Martin Kohl), arriving in New Orleans about the month of February of that year; came up the Mississippi River to Muscatine, Iowa, with a view of locating in Linn Co., and eventually settled in Clinton Tp., April 9, 1856; he hired out and worked for $4.00 per month for a period of three years; he continued in this way (working for his father between times on a rented farm) until he was in his 23d year. He was married April 2, 1868, to Eva, daughter of Andrew Keller, of Baden, Germany; she was born Sept. 25, 1846; they have three children George, born Jan. 12, 1869; Charles, Aug. 1, 1872, and Ida, Aug. 8, 1875. Mr. Engel is Independent in politics, and is a member of the Lutheran Church, of which denomination Mrs. Engel is also a member.:
MILWAUKEE ROAD LAWSUITS
The 17 March 1887 issue of the Cedar Rapids Evening Gazette reported:
A case for damages against the Milwaukee road is in process in the Superior court brought by G. J. [sic] Engel, a farmer of Clinton township. During the summer he lost a large amount of hay, he alleges, from a Milwaukee locomotive. He asks damages to the amount of $208.35. B. F. Hines and Major Smith are prosecuting, and Mills and Keeler are defending. The case will drag out all day today and perhaps part of tomorrow.
On 20 March 1888, the Cedar Rapids Gazette had an update:
Covington.
Mr. J. G. Engel took the morning train here for Marion to attend the grand jury at that place. The readers of the Gazette will remember that J. G. Engel had a lawsuit with the C, M, & St. P railroad company at Cedar Rapids about a year ago which lasted one week. Mr. Engel came out ahead, but the company appealed to the supreme court where the decision was affirmed last week. The Supreme Court of Iowa had handed down it's decision in Engle v. Chicago, M. & St. P. Ry. Co. on March 9, 1888). It was published in 77 Iowa 661 and 37 Northwestern Reporter 6.
****
The Iowa Supreme Court's decision briefly summarized the event of the fire:
It is alleged in the petition that defendant negligently permitted a large amount of dry grass and herbage to accumulate and remain in its right of way, and that fire was communicated to the same from a locomotive which was being run upon the track, and that the fire set out spread upon plaintiff's premises and destroyed the property in question.
* * * * *
31 JULY 1917 REGISTER OF FARM NAMES: LINN COUNTY IOWA.
State of Iowa,
Linn County, SS.
It is hereby certified that upon the oral request of J. G. Engle the owner of the hereinafter designated lands I have registered the name HILL SIDE by which name the farm composed of the said lands be hereinafter known and designated to wit SE 1/4 and SE 1/4 NE 1/4 Sec. 17838.
Registered this 31 day of July 1917 at 9 A. M. H. H. Hendryx County Recorder.
* * * * *
John Engel's will was probated in Benton County, Iowa.
2 JANUARY 1923 J. G. ENGEL WILL
Vinton Iowa Jan'y 2 – 1923
I, J. G. Engel of Benton County Iowa do hereby make publish and declare this my last will and testament hereby revoking any and all wills heretofore made.
First: It is my wish and will that all just debts be paid including the expenses of my last sickness and funeral. If I am taken sick and my daughter Rosa Schirm must help care for me, then I direct my executors to pay her reasonably and well for same.
Second: I give devise and bequeath to my daughter Rosa Schirm one thousand Dollars.
Third: All the rest residue and remainder of my estate of every kind and character I give devise and bequeath to my three children share and share alike, to wit: George Engel, Ida Leu and Rosa Schirm, to have and to hold in their own and title forever. That is each child shall receive and own one third of the balance of my estate after paying above bequest and after all claims, debts and expenses are paid.
I hereby appoint as Executrix of my Estate my daughter Rosa Schirm, and I exempt her from giving bonds.
Signed this 2nd day of January 1923
J. G. Engel
State of Iowa
Benton County
We the undersigned M J Tobin and Jacob Schirm hereby certify that we saw the above named J. G. Engel sign the foregoing instrument which he declared was his last will. That at his request and in his presence and in the presence of each other we signed same as witnesses.
Signed this 2nd day of January 1923.
M. J. Tobin
Jacob Schirm
* * * * *
RECOLLECTIONS OF THE ENGEL FAMILY, AS TOLD BY GEORGE F. W. SCHIRM TO JOHN C. ENGEL 12-13 JANUARY, 1978.
John George Engel (1845-1926) was commonly known as "Joe" Engel. This had evolved from Johann to "Yo" to "Joe".
John lived with his grandparents, Martin and Katharina Kohl for a while after they first came to America. The name Kohl was pronounced "Kale" which accounts for the occasions when that spelling is found. John caught grief from Grandfather Kohl one time when he had gone to get water from a spring to the north with a stoneboat being pulled by oxen. Something scared the oxen and they took off, stoneboat and all.
When a neighbor family made a return trip to Scotland, young J. G. Engel did chores on their farm. When the family returned they presented John with a muzzle loading shotgun that they brought back with them. Years later when J.G.E. was an old man, George Schirm would cut his hair and trim his mustache and long white beard. After he had his first stroke, one corner of John's mouth would droop down a little bit, so George learned to trim the mustache at an angle so that it came out looking even. In appreciation for it he gave George the old shotgun, which George still had at the time of the interview.
John could speak English well and could read it but not write it. His wife, Eva, had some difficulty speaking English, although she could read and write it.
John made his own wine. He made some from tame grapes, but his favorite was rhubarb.
One his farm in Clinton Township, Linn County, John lived in a large old house. A part of it is visible in the picture of Geo. J. Engel's children with ponies. Around 1902 John retired and moved with Eva to a house in nearby Atkins. His son, George, took over the farm. In Atkins it became a common sight to see John with his long white bear and brown high-crowned hat in his waon being pulled by a team of Shetland ponies. John's farming friends would bring straw or hay into ton for the ponies and in return John would save the manure for them.
When he got old, John got ornery and didn't get along with the young people in Atkins. Each Halloween pranksters would tip over John's outhouse. One year he prepared for them by moving the outhouse forward a few feet and covering the hole with hay. That night he caught the son of the local banker. Another year he decided to sit in the outhouse with a shotgun to catch any trespassers. George figures that John must have fallen asleep and started to snore, because the kids could hear him inside. They quietly got a board and braced it over the door and then tipped the outhouse over with John still in it.
When Eva's health began to fail, John had a little house built in the orchard to the south of the old farmhouse where George J.'s family was living, in Clinton Townshp. When Eva got too sick for "Aunt Hannah" (Johanna A. Engel) to take care of her, because of the time Hannah had to devote to her own family, John and Eva moved in with daughter Rosie Schirm's family near Vinton.
Please contact John C. Engel [email protected] if you have more information, photos, or documents to share relating to ancestor John George Engel.
John George Engel was born Johann Georg Engel in Bahlingen Germany. He came to the U.S. in 1856 with his grandparents, Johann Martin and Katherina (Schmidt) Köhl, and his sister, Emma. His parents, George and Anna (Köhl) followed a year later with the rest of the children.
1878 HISTORY OF LINN COUNTY, IOWA
"Engel, John G., farmer, Sec. 17; P. O. Cedar Rapids; owns 120 acres, probable value $4,200; he was born Oct. 3, 1845, in Baden, Germany, and came to the United States in 1856, with his grandfather (Martin Kohl), arriving in New Orleans about the month of February of that year; came up the Mississippi River to Muscatine, Iowa, with a view of locating in Linn Co., and eventually settled in Clinton Tp., April 9, 1856; he hired out and worked for $4.00 per month for a period of three years; he continued in this way (working for his father between times on a rented farm) until he was in his 23d year. He was married April 2, 1868, to Eva, daughter of Andrew Keller, of Baden, Germany; she was born Sept. 25, 1846; they have three children George, born Jan. 12, 1869; Charles, Aug. 1, 1872, and Ida, Aug. 8, 1875. Mr. Engel is Independent in politics, and is a member of the Lutheran Church, of which denomination Mrs. Engel is also a member.:
MILWAUKEE ROAD LAWSUITS
The 17 March 1887 issue of the Cedar Rapids Evening Gazette reported:
A case for damages against the Milwaukee road is in process in the Superior court brought by G. J. [sic] Engel, a farmer of Clinton township. During the summer he lost a large amount of hay, he alleges, from a Milwaukee locomotive. He asks damages to the amount of $208.35. B. F. Hines and Major Smith are prosecuting, and Mills and Keeler are defending. The case will drag out all day today and perhaps part of tomorrow.
On 20 March 1888, the Cedar Rapids Gazette had an update:
Covington.
Mr. J. G. Engel took the morning train here for Marion to attend the grand jury at that place. The readers of the Gazette will remember that J. G. Engel had a lawsuit with the C, M, & St. P railroad company at Cedar Rapids about a year ago which lasted one week. Mr. Engel came out ahead, but the company appealed to the supreme court where the decision was affirmed last week. The Supreme Court of Iowa had handed down it's decision in Engle v. Chicago, M. & St. P. Ry. Co. on March 9, 1888). It was published in 77 Iowa 661 and 37 Northwestern Reporter 6.
****
The Iowa Supreme Court's decision briefly summarized the event of the fire:
It is alleged in the petition that defendant negligently permitted a large amount of dry grass and herbage to accumulate and remain in its right of way, and that fire was communicated to the same from a locomotive which was being run upon the track, and that the fire set out spread upon plaintiff's premises and destroyed the property in question.
* * * * *
31 JULY 1917 REGISTER OF FARM NAMES: LINN COUNTY IOWA.
State of Iowa,
Linn County, SS.
It is hereby certified that upon the oral request of J. G. Engle the owner of the hereinafter designated lands I have registered the name HILL SIDE by which name the farm composed of the said lands be hereinafter known and designated to wit SE 1/4 and SE 1/4 NE 1/4 Sec. 17838.
Registered this 31 day of July 1917 at 9 A. M. H. H. Hendryx County Recorder.
* * * * *
John Engel's will was probated in Benton County, Iowa.
2 JANUARY 1923 J. G. ENGEL WILL
Vinton Iowa Jan'y 2 – 1923
I, J. G. Engel of Benton County Iowa do hereby make publish and declare this my last will and testament hereby revoking any and all wills heretofore made.
First: It is my wish and will that all just debts be paid including the expenses of my last sickness and funeral. If I am taken sick and my daughter Rosa Schirm must help care for me, then I direct my executors to pay her reasonably and well for same.
Second: I give devise and bequeath to my daughter Rosa Schirm one thousand Dollars.
Third: All the rest residue and remainder of my estate of every kind and character I give devise and bequeath to my three children share and share alike, to wit: George Engel, Ida Leu and Rosa Schirm, to have and to hold in their own and title forever. That is each child shall receive and own one third of the balance of my estate after paying above bequest and after all claims, debts and expenses are paid.
I hereby appoint as Executrix of my Estate my daughter Rosa Schirm, and I exempt her from giving bonds.
Signed this 2nd day of January 1923
J. G. Engel
State of Iowa
Benton County
We the undersigned M J Tobin and Jacob Schirm hereby certify that we saw the above named J. G. Engel sign the foregoing instrument which he declared was his last will. That at his request and in his presence and in the presence of each other we signed same as witnesses.
Signed this 2nd day of January 1923.
M. J. Tobin
Jacob Schirm
* * * * *
RECOLLECTIONS OF THE ENGEL FAMILY, AS TOLD BY GEORGE F. W. SCHIRM TO JOHN C. ENGEL 12-13 JANUARY, 1978.
John George Engel (1845-1926) was commonly known as "Joe" Engel. This had evolved from Johann to "Yo" to "Joe".
John lived with his grandparents, Martin and Katharina Kohl for a while after they first came to America. The name Kohl was pronounced "Kale" which accounts for the occasions when that spelling is found. John caught grief from Grandfather Kohl one time when he had gone to get water from a spring to the north with a stoneboat being pulled by oxen. Something scared the oxen and they took off, stoneboat and all.
When a neighbor family made a return trip to Scotland, young J. G. Engel did chores on their farm. When the family returned they presented John with a muzzle loading shotgun that they brought back with them. Years later when J.G.E. was an old man, George Schirm would cut his hair and trim his mustache and long white beard. After he had his first stroke, one corner of John's mouth would droop down a little bit, so George learned to trim the mustache at an angle so that it came out looking even. In appreciation for it he gave George the old shotgun, which George still had at the time of the interview.
John could speak English well and could read it but not write it. His wife, Eva, had some difficulty speaking English, although she could read and write it.
John made his own wine. He made some from tame grapes, but his favorite was rhubarb.
One his farm in Clinton Township, Linn County, John lived in a large old house. A part of it is visible in the picture of Geo. J. Engel's children with ponies. Around 1902 John retired and moved with Eva to a house in nearby Atkins. His son, George, took over the farm. In Atkins it became a common sight to see John with his long white bear and brown high-crowned hat in his waon being pulled by a team of Shetland ponies. John's farming friends would bring straw or hay into ton for the ponies and in return John would save the manure for them.
When he got old, John got ornery and didn't get along with the young people in Atkins. Each Halloween pranksters would tip over John's outhouse. One year he prepared for them by moving the outhouse forward a few feet and covering the hole with hay. That night he caught the son of the local banker. Another year he decided to sit in the outhouse with a shotgun to catch any trespassers. George figures that John must have fallen asleep and started to snore, because the kids could hear him inside. They quietly got a board and braced it over the door and then tipped the outhouse over with John still in it.
When Eva's health began to fail, John had a little house built in the orchard to the south of the old farmhouse where George J.'s family was living, in Clinton Townshp. When Eva got too sick for "Aunt Hannah" (Johanna A. Engel) to take care of her, because of the time Hannah had to devote to her own family, John and Eva moved in with daughter Rosie Schirm's family near Vinton.
