292 – Gridley 1860s

Mark Jarvis

By late 1864, Val was back in Woodford County, home from the war. But Val didn’t stay in Farnisville and Woodford County. Why?

Val Maninger was discharged from federal service in October 1864. He had just turned 29. Soon after he returned home, Val moved to Gridley, Illinois. Let’s see why.

Waldo Township in Livingston County

In 1860, the area that would become Waldo Township was mostly unbroken prairie. The technology of the self-scouring steel plow made the prairie land desirable, so more tracts were acquired.

Many of those who acquired land in Waldo Township were Amish who moved from Woodford and Tazewell Counties. These were Val’s friends and neighbors from before the war.

German Mennonites in Waldo Township – History of Livingston County
Map – Waldo Township, Livingston County and Gridley, McLean County.
Val Maninger’s neighborhood for the next two decades

Several settlers who had come to central Illinois during the 1830s and 1840s and had previously settled near the Mackinaw River began to move out on the prairie areas, such as at Gridley and Waldo Townships. Gridley benefited, particularly, from farmers who moved here from the Congerville (Slabtown) area.

Marching to Zion: A History of the Apostolic Christian Church of America

Gridley, Illinois

Waldo Township was in Livingston County. The nearest shops and trades and post office were in the village of Gridley, just across the county line in McLean County.

Gridley was an up-and-coming village. It was laid out in 1856 along the Toledo Peoria and Western Railroad line that crossed Illinois east and west.

Gridley, Illinois – c 1890

A shop of his own

In early 1865, Val had opened a boot and shoe business in Gridley. On April 2, 1866, Val Maninger bought a building and lot in Gridley from Abram and Sidda Hart. He paid $350. Perhaps it was the building he’d been renting.

Deed – Valentine Maninger from Abram and Sidda Hart – Lot 11 Block 21 Gridley – 1866

Val’s building was adjacent to other shops and trades, we might say “downtown” if Gridley were a larger town. Perhaps Val had been renting the same space earlier for his boot and shoe shop. Whatever the case, he now owned a residence and shop for his business.

Lot 11, Block 21, Gridley, Illinois
Gridley – McLean County Gazetteer – 1865

The shoe maker was Valentine Maninger!

Store interior, Gridley, Illinois – c 1890

OK, Val was all set. He had a residence and a business in Gridley. But why Gridley?

We’ll have to make some assumptions…

Let’s look again at the shops in Gridley.

By 1865, Gridley hosted “three general stores, two lumber yards, one coal dealer, two grain dealers, one hotel, one harness shop, one shoe maker, one carriage and wagon shop, one meat market, two physicians.”

The harness shop was run by Fred Fellrath, who was Val’s old neighbor in Farnisville before the war. Fred’s wife was Mary Smith, older sister of Magdalena Smith Neuhauser.

The wagon shop was run by C.H. Neuhauser, a relative of Magdalena Smith Neuhauser’s husband Peter.

Magdalena Smith Neuhauser’s older brother Peter had married Barbara Neuhauser, Peter Neuhauser’s sister. Peter and Barbara Smith lived on a nearby farm.

These connections are more than coincidence.

Magdalena Smith Neuhauser (3G)

Magdalena Smith had married Peter Neuhauser in October 1860.

Recall the family lore that Magdalena Smith and Val Maninger courted, but that Lena chose Peter Neuhauser because Val wasn’t Amish. True? Who knows?

Peter Neuhauser died

Peter Neuhauser died in 1864, perhaps from lockjaw.

Magdalena had given birth to three children during their four-year marriage. Samuel Neuhauser was born September 16, 1861. Then followed a daughter, Mary Ann, and a son Peter. Sam was the only surviving child by 1866.

I assume after Peter Neuhauser died, Lena and her children were living in Gridley or Waldo Township, perhaps in the household of her brother Peter Smith or sister Mary Fellrath.

Val and Lena marry

Val was home from the war, and single at age 30. Lena was a 25-year-old widow with a 5-year-old son.

Val and Lena decided to marry. They tied the knot at the McLean County Courthouse on Thursday, October 11, 1866, Justice of the Peace Benjamin Gray presiding.

Marriage – Valentine Maninger and Magdalena Smith Neuhauser – McLean County Illinois – 1866

It’s significant that the marriage was performed by the Justice of the Peace at the McLean County courthouse. Lena was Amish, Val wasn’t. Lena was supposed to get married in the church. These were violations of Amish doctrine.

Val and Lena weren’t leaving the Amish community. Conversely, they were soon to change congregations and join the Apostolic Christian Church. It’s another division in Amish history. We’ll talk about that in the next story.

Val and Lena have kids

Magdalena’s son Samuel Neuhauser was in their household. Sam was born in 1861.

John Lewis Maninger

Nine months after Val and Lena married, their first child was born. John Lewis Maninger was born on Sunday, June 2, 1867.

The name John may have been to honor Magdalena’s brother John that died from Cholera at age 7. Val didn’t have any sibling or uncle or grandfather named John or Johann. Lena had an Uncle Johannes Schrock.

I don’t know the origin of the middle name Lewis.  I don’t find an ancestor on either side with that name. It’s possible the name honors the first “New Amish” congregation in Lewis, New York, founded by Benedict Weyeneth.  More about that later.

Frank Adolph Maninger

Frank Adolph Maninger was born on Sunday, July 4, 1869, in Gridley, Illinois.

I don’t know the origin of either forename or middle name. Some possibilities are Valentine’s eldest brother or uncle, both named Franz. I can’t find Adolph in Maninger or Smith grandparents.

A U.S. Citizen

The decade of the 60s was a big deal in Val Maninger’s life. Serving in the Civil War was a big deal. Getting married and having children was a big deal. So was opening and running a boot and shoe business.

To top it off, Valentine Maninger became a U.S. citizen on October 30, 1868.

Naturalization – Valentine Maninger – October 30, 1868

The family in 1870

By 1870, the Maninger household consisted of Val, 35, Lena, 31, Samuel Neuhauser, 8, John 3, and Frank, 1. Remember that U.S. Censuses were full of errors – spelling, age, place of birth, etc.

Census – Val and Lena Maninger – Gridley, Illinois – 1870

Nibbles Extra Credit – The steel plow

Early settlers had selected land along creeks and wooded areas, so they would have easy access to water and building materials. They didn’t need large expanses of farmland because they couldn’t farm large tracts. They had heavy cast iron or wooden plows that clogged with sticky prairie mud.

John Deere’s second steel plow (the first is lost to history) – National Museum of American History

Some blacksmiths began making steel plows in the 1840s. They were expensive and were made one at a time, but they were a wondrous improvement. They turned the prairie, cutting through the tough web of roots, and reduced clogging with mud.

John Deere was a blacksmith in Moline, Illinois. He did for the steel plow what Henry Ford did for the automobile. Deere began to produce plows in quantity. In 1848, he sold 2,000 plows. In 1856, 13,000.

Farmers were able to break native prairie and cultivate much larger tracts of land. The steel plow helped attract Amish settlers to the native prairies of Waldo Township in Livingston County, Illinois.

John Deere plows – 1882

Timeline

Sources:

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