Shelby County (Illinois, USA)
Shelby County, Illinois, is located in the southern half of the state, approximately 50 miles southeast of Springfield. In 1872 a small Old Order Amish settlement was established in the county by settlers from Elkhart and Lagrange counties, Indiana, and Holmes County, Ohio. Among them were Jacob Miller, a minister, and Christian Borntreger, later ordained minister. Because of a disagreement among the organizers, most of the settlers moved away in 1883, principally to Reno County, Kansas.
In 1907 John D. Kauffman and his followers established another Amish Mennonite settlement in the county near Shelbyville. Their church, named Mt. Hermon, was built in 1912. The membership had declined to 41 by 1957. Joseph D. Reber was bishop.
Bibliography
Weber, Harry F. Centennial History of the Mennonites of Illinois. Goshen, 1931: 550, 558.
| Author(s) | Melvin Gingerich |
|---|---|
| Date Published | 1959 |
Cite This Article
MLA style
Gingerich, Melvin. "Shelby County (Illinois, USA)." Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. 1959. Web. 21 Nov 2024. https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Shelby_County_(Illinois,_USA)&oldid=170532.
APA style
Gingerich, Melvin. (1959). Shelby County (Illinois, USA). Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. Retrieved 21 November 2024, from https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Shelby_County_(Illinois,_USA)&oldid=170532.
Adapted by permission of Herald Press, Harrisonburg, Virginia, from Mennonite Encyclopedia, Vol. 4, pp. 512-513. All rights reserved.
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