View source for Yoder, Jonathan (1795-1869)

Jonathan Yoder, an outstanding early [[Amish Mennonites|Amish Mennonite]] leader in central [[Illinois (USA)|Illinois]], was born in [[Berks County (Pennsylvania, USA)|Berks County]], [[Pennsylvania (USA)|Pennsylvania]], 2 September 1795, the son of Jacob Yoder and Jacobina Esh. He was a carpenter and farmer but also a teacher in the subscription schools of the day. He lived in a number of places in Pennsylvania (Berks, [[Mifflin County (Pennsylvania, USA)|Mifflin]], and [[Juniata County (Pennsylvania, USA)|Juniata]] counties) and moved to [[McLean County (Illinois, USA)|McLean County]], Illinois, in the spring of 1851. He had been ordained preacher (1825) and bishop in Pennsylvania, and soon became the leader of the Amish Mennonites living in Danvers and Dry Grove townships in McLean County. The congregation he organized here in 1851 became known as the [[Yoder Amish Mennonite Church (Rock Creek, Illinois, USA)|Yoder church]], and later as [[North Danvers Mennonite Church (Danvers, Illinois, USA)|North Danvers]] was the mother church of the [[Central Conference Mennonite Church|Central (Illinois) Conference]]. His successor as bishop here was [[Stuckey, Joseph (1825-1902)|Joseph Stuckey]]. Yoder was also active in the Amish Mennonite General Conference which met annually 1862-1878, and served as moderator of the first conference in 1862. He married Magdalena Wagner in 1816; they had 11 children. He died 28 January 1869, and is buried in the Lantz cemetery southeast of Carlock.
= Bibliography =
Weber, Harry Franklin. <em>Centennial History of the Mennonites of Illinois 1829-1929</em>. Studies in Anabaptist and Mennonite history, 3. Goshen, Ind: Mennonite Historical Society, 1931.
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