Joseph Rediger, a minister of the Defenseless Mennonite Church, was born in 1826 in Lembach, Baden, Germany, the son of Jakob and Veronica Rediger. Jakob came to America in 1834, living in a log hut near Peoria, Ilinois. Joseph visited him there and returned to Germany to help the rest of the family emigrate. With his mother, two brothers, three sisters, and a number of others he arrived in America and settled near Peoria. Joseph married Veronica Oyer (d. 1872) in 1850. Five sons and eight daughters were born to them. Their youngest son, Benjamin, served long as chairman of the Board of Directors of Salem Children's Home. In 1876 Joseph married Anna Oyer (d. 1897). Joseph Rediger was received into the Mennonite Church at age of sixteen and chosen minister in 1863. After a period of service as minister he joined with Bishop Henry Egly and his newly formed Defenseless Mennonite Church (later Evangelical Mennonites, now Fellowship of Evangelical Churches) in efforts to spread the Gospel. He started the Waldo (now Gridley) church and traveled extensively with Egly in Kansas, Nebraska, and Missouri, also visiting churches in Ohio and Indiana. Rediger was one of the pioneers in the Defenseless Mennonite Church to promote foreign missions. In his later years he lived at Meadows, where he died on 8 March 1904. He was buried in the Waldo cemetery.

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Author(s)	E. E Rupp
Date Published	1959

MLA style

Rupp, E. E. "Rediger, Joseph (1826-1904)." Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. 1959. Web. 21 Nov 2024. https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Rediger,_Joseph_(1826-1904)&oldid=113599.

APA style

Rupp, E. E. (1959). Rediger, Joseph (1826-1904). Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. Retrieved 21 November 2024, from https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Rediger,_Joseph_(1826-1904)&oldid=113599.

Rediger, Joseph (1826-1904)

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