Riepe RiepeAlbert Heinrich Riepe Sr.'s first wife died in about 1813. He married a second time. His wife was Anne Catherine Ilsabein Goessling. They had six children: Johann Christian Riepe, who died young; Anna Margaretha Ilsabein Riepe, who died young; Johann Heinrich Riepe b. 3 April 1818; Herman Heinrich Riepe b. 1819 and remained in Germany; Peter Heinrich Riepe b. 15 April 1924 and Herman Riepe b. 8 August 1828. Johnann Heinrich, Peter Heinrich and Herman also immigrated to the United States.
I thank Anne Stewart Riepe (The Official Riepe Home Page) for her efforts. She has provided information on the earliest generations of the Riepes.
The rest of this page is devoted to the family of Herman and Anna Maria (Englebrecht) Riepe.
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Jacob RIEPE |
Jessie June RIEPE |
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| Front, l. to r., Anna, Florence, Nellie, Frederick; Back, l. to r., Margaret Paul, Velma, Carl, Anna, Dewey, and Esther. |
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Friday, Jan. 4, 1980,
Dear Joan,
Your letter came today, so I'll answer it befor I put it away and forget to answer.
We survived the Holidays. Spent Christmas with Velma in the P.M. and had dinner with the Housmans. Stopped to call the Care Center to get the latest on Velma...
Now for the information you want: If J.F. Riepe was born in 1862, his wife Anna, was born in August 1864 as she was 2 years younger than Dad. I have no way of checking it but to go to the cemetery and check th grave stones. That is out of the question. I think they have all the dates late as I, Margaret, was born Dec. 4, 1893 and Here is the list the way I have them figured out knowing their birthdays and figuring down the line:
Esther Anna, Apr. 9, 1888A girl, Louisa, is in between Dewey and Velma. Died when she was a few days old. I know it was a rainy day in March when she was buried. I was told that Carl was born when Mother was home by herself. Father had gone to Burlington. Mother herself never filled in the details. The other arrivals I remember are Velma and Florence. It was a dark rainy night for Velma and a cold one for Florence.
Dad and mother were married Feb. 22, 1887 at Grandpa Heitmeiers. I never knew Grandma Heitmeier as she died suddenly on Christmas Day while sitting at the Christmas dinner.
Now to tell about what I know of their traits or personalities. Esther, the oldest, was a glutton for hard work. No job was too hard. She had a firey temper to match her red hair and was inclined to be moody. I also recall the bad headaches she had. She was also treated for goiter in her teens.
Carl was also a hard worker, even disposition, and could succeed at anything he worked at.
Paul was a slow talker, easy to get angry but cooled off quickly.
I'm the lazy one in some respects. What I liked to do I would stick to it until the job was done, but would try to sneak out of unpleasant jobs.
I guess you know Nellie. I might say she was the sickly one of the outfit. My mother said she was slow to walk. Learned to stand by using a hammer to play with and standing up after she was able to make the hammer stand. Walked right away after that.
Anna was easily insulted. It would take her a time to get over it. Dewey whistled and sang a lot when he was young. Could always hear when he got home.
Velma has been a cripple since she was 2 1/2 years old, a victim of polio. But she was always kind to everyone and never complained. She is so positive with all she has gone through.
Florence, the baby of the family, was spoiled rotten by all us older kids. But she grew up and became a good mother and wife. She was a red head. The rest of us had light brown hair and or blond. Nellie had the lightest hair. Our eyes were blue or gray. Dad had the prettiest blue eyes and mother's were a gray shaded with blue according to what color she was wearing.
All of us had average intellience or above. Learning was not a hard job and we all developed a great love for reading. Mother never had the time to enjoy reading, but dad surely took time for it. Just a little thing I remember. He said he never got to go to English school very much but had to go to German school to get confirmed. He always took a weekly German paper, "The Lincoln Free Presse", which he read from cover to cover. While he still wanted to read more in it he'd put it up behind a mirror in the kitchen. Woe to any of us if we ever took it down before he had finished it.
None of us were very bold as a child, not painfully bashful but never pushy. We had our ups and downs growing up, but never held a grudge. If we got too noisy all we had to see was dad look over the top of his paper. Didn't say a word, but we hushed. A favorite form of punishment for mother was to put us behind a door that lapped across the corner with just enough space for one to stand up until we could cool off. I never knew dad to lay a hand on any of us except when he got out of chawing tobacco. He was patience personified. Mother wasn't so easy going. I think we all felt the sting of the flat of her hand quite often. I could go on and on but the light shines on the paper so I can't follow the lines too well.
I forgot to say anything about why our grandfolks came over from Germany except one of the grandpa's came to escape serving in the army.
If this is of any interest, dad and mother were distantly related, but I'd have to do too much research to give you the way they are.
I don't know if you are interested in dad's and mother's families or not. I can list their names. No other details.
Dad's
Father: Herman Riepe
Mother: Anna Engelbrecht Riepe
Brothers and sisters:
Anna Roedel Breuer, married twice.
Hannah Bresur, died quite young, left 4 children
Herman, married late in his 50's to Mary Krueger
Henry, married twice, 2 boys first and 3 boys and girl by second
Frederick (dad), 10 children, 7 girls and 3 boys
Martha Hunger, 3 boys and 3 girls
Edward Riepe, 2 boys and 2 girls
Julius, bachelor, died in San Francisco earthquake so we think as he was not heard from after it and he was out there.
August, never married, died on farm where he was born
William, 1 boy and 1 girl
Albert, never married, ran over by a train. He was living with his sister Anna.
Mother's
Father: Henry Heitmeier
Mother: Hannah Gesling - had three boys and 5 girls
Brothers and sister
Louisa Vandemark, one girl
Anna, mother, 7 girls, 3 boys
Edward, 3 boys, 2 girls
Charlie, 2 boys, 2 girls
Margaret Suttcliff, 6 boys, 2 girls
Kate Riepe, 2 boys, 3 girls
Laura Berlin, 2 boys, 1 girl
I don't know if you can find through this. I could give part of my cousins names, but it would take too long right now. If you want them I can name most of them, but not for sure if I'd be able to account for all of them. There is an awful string of them. Hope you can decipher most of it. If not you know my address and I'll try to help you out.
Love,
Aunt Margaret
8 April 1982
...Would like to write and see if I can find out anymore on E. Herman nd Anna (Englebrecht) Riepe. So far I haven't found them on a ships passenger list - there are so many lists! His obit says he came to this country in 1855 - and her obit says she came to this county in 1854. I had always assumed they married in Germany and came to this country later. Guess the oldest child Anna was born in N.Y.
Last summer you were telling my sister Lucile & I about Anna Riepe marrying a man named Rodel - my Dad thought she married a minister in Posey Co., Ind. Think you are both right & that is how my Grandpa Henry H. Riepe happened to go to Posey Co., Ind. Anna (Riepe) Rodel's husband got sick and Henry went there to help them out. He met my Grandma Wilhelmina Oschman and they were married in Ind. When my Papa was less than four years old and his brother Willie was about 2 years old their mother died. After a while Henry sold out and brought his two little boys to Iowa & lived with E. Herman & Anna Riepe till he remarried - to Emmy Korf. I wonder if when Henry came back to Iowa, if that wasn't when Anna (Riepe) Rodel and her four children came back to Iowa! Her husband had died.
You told my sister and I that Bill (?) Bruer had wanted to marry her but she married a man named Rodel. So then he married her sister Hannah & they had four children. Then Hannah died. Do you know where she is buried?
Then this Bill (?) Bruer and Anna (Riepe) Rodel married and they had 3 more children. Are they the ones who lived in Wellington, Missouri?...
Frances (Riepe) Glantz
Davis, Calif.
From a letter given to Frances Riepe Glanz by her father Jacob Riepe. Used with permission.
"The origin of the Ober, Pfeifer, Oschmann and Riepe families. The origin of the Ober, Pfeifer, Oschmann, Riepe families who came from Germany and settled in the U.S.A. Gottfried Pfeifer Born June 11, 1795, died Nov. 1, 1873. Gottfried Pfeifer was a husband to Eva Elizabeth Ober. Eva was born July 4, 1795 and died Oct. 24, 1873. She was born in or near Sembach, Weipenburg Alace Germany. They came to America when their daughter Marie-Magdalena was about 15 years old or about 1836, no record of how many children they had, they settled on some land in Posy county, near the present site of the Zion Evangelical and Reformed Church, or about 8 and 1/2 miles west and a little north of Evansville, Indiana.
"Grandfather Wilhelm Oschmann was born July 4, 1821 and died March 17, 1889 in Rleinen Waldeik, Germany, came to America in 1848 and settled in Posy County, Indiana.
"Wilhelm Oschmann and Marie Magdalena Pfeifer, who was born Jan. 15, 1821, and died April 1, 1909 were married, (date lost). They established their home in Posy County near the present site of the Zion Evangelical and Reformed Church, it is described in a land transfer as northwest quarter of the northwest section 17. To them were born eight children William Henry, Louise, who married William Boseckker, George, Louis, Jacob, Wilhelmine and twin brother August, who was an invalid. He had brain fever when he was 4 years old, so Grandma Oschmann had to take care of him all his life, he died when he was 21 years old. Grandfather Oschmann was a blacksmith and farmer, he had an unusual knowledge of animals and became the local vetinary just through experience, he studied medical books as he could spare the money to buy them. His skill was great enough that in the frontier he was asked to suggest for a person, one time after such a service a grateful family handed him the family purse and said Help Your Self.
"Doctors were about as scarce as hen teeth in those days, especially during the Civil War years. When a new baby was to be born, the family would make arrangement with a neighborhood woman who was known as a midwife, to help deliver the baby.
"The Civil War was brewing hot about that time, the famers usually had to do their business by barter or if cash, gold or silver and paper money was used. Very few checks were used in those days.
"After Grandfather Wilhelm Oschmann's death, March 27, 1889, the estate had to be settled (he died without leaving a will). Uncle Jake bought the farm, Wilhelmina (Minnie), my Mother got two lots in Evansville for her share, Uncle Jake built a small house for Grandma to live in, and of course she helped take care of Uncle Jake and Aunt Johanna's children when they were small. Uncle Jake took good care of his Mother until she died April 1, 1909.
"I was fortunate to have a visit with her in 1907, J.F. Riepe. I can remember my Brother Willie and I sittin in the doorway and Grandma giving us cookies.
"Uncle Jacob Oschmann married Johanna Horstman, to them were born five children, one died at birth, Philip died when two years old, Charles died in 1936, a few days before his 45th birthday, Orena and Alfred are two of my favorite cousins, also Andrew Bosecker, son of Aunt Louise and William Bosecker, they had 4 boys and 3 girls, and were quite wealthy, we have corresponded through the years.
"Cousin Alfred Oschmann bought the farm when his folks died, and sold it soon thereafter, there was a nice large home, two large tobacco barns and a blacksmith shop that were built out of hand-hewn oak logs, nearly all gone now. 1961. Jacob F. Riepe]
"Wilhelmina Oschmann and Henry Riepe were married in Posy County Indiana about 1884, they built a home on one of the two lots Mother inherited in Evansville, to them were born two sons, Jacob Fredrick, Born June 7, 1886 and William Henry, Born May 2, 1888 and died October 25, 1910. He is buried in the Old Stone Cemetery west of Sperry, Iowa. Willie died at home.
"My Dad Henry Riepe was born near the present site of the St. John Evangelical and Reformed Church about 6 miles northwest of Burlington, Iowa. He was born Sept. 5, 1858 and died Feb. 11, 1944. He is buried in the family plot west of Sperry, Iowa. After Mother died, Dad sold out, then we stayed with Grandma Oschmann and Aunt Louise Bosecker for about two years, then Dad brought us to stay with Grandpa and Grandma Riepe about 8 and 1/2 miles northwest of Burlington, Iowa, on Flint Creek.
"When I was about ten years old in 1896, Dad bought 100 acre farm at $50.00 an acre, about 3 miles northwest of Sperry, Iowa. Dad married Emma Korf, Feb. 12, 1896, and to them were born 3 children, Blanche, Born Aug. 29, 1898, and died Oct. 5, 1964, Clarence, Silas and Iva, Born Oct. 26, 1904, and died Jan. 23, 1958.
"Dad took Willie and I home, so that ended our living with our Grandparents. The inscription on my Mother's gravestone is in German, Cousin Alfred Oschmann translated it for us, Here rests, in peace (God) Wilhelmina, wife of Herman Riepe. Born May 16, 1864, died July 20, 1889, resting is now your destiny until the day of resurrection we shall me gain. Jessie and I saw the marker (stone) in 1961, is keeping in good shape.
"Those early German settlers were a very energetic and fairly religious people with an eye to beauty, I think they bought an acreage of 40 or 80 acres to build their Church of Zion Evangelical and Reformed Church. The Pastor got free use of the land, but had to have some horses, cows and farm machinery to supplement his salary as Pastor.
"Dad learned the carpenter trade when quite young, and it seems to me, that his older sister, Anna, was married to the pastor of the Church. She, Anna, coaxed Dad to come over there and while there, her husband took sick and died, so she had to sell out, and then she came back to Iowa.
"I imagine that was how Dad met my Mother. Grandma told me that my Mother had a nice voice, and that she sang in the choir of this Church. I sure did not inherit any of it.
"He drew a picture of the church. He says, "this is one of the most beautiful church sites I have ever seen."
"Jacob Frederick Riepe, born June 7, 1886. Jessie June Marin was born June 9, 1888, on her farm about 1 and 3/4 miles northwest of Olds, Iowa. We were married on November 15, 1911 in Jessie's Father and step mother's home in Olds, Iowa. From there we moved to a 404 acre farm 8 and 1/2 miles southeast of Chillicothe, Missouri, Livingston County.
"To us were born 5 children, Delbert Martin, Born Sept. 11, 1912 at home on the farm, Esther Lucile, born April 3, 1914, Dr. D.D. Yates at home on the farm, Wayne Andrew, born Dec. 24, 1916, Dr. D.D. Yates, at home on the farm, Faye Louise, born August 22, 1922, Dr. Grace, in Chillicothe Hospital. Frances Evelyn, Born Jan. 8, 1924, Dr. Jones, at home on the farm, 2 miles west of Marceline, Linn County, Missouri.
"About 1909 or 1910, Jessie's father and step-mother, Mary Anderson Martin were influenced by Mrs. Martin's brother, Francis and Joe Arthaud to sell their farms. They were lawyers at Chillicothe, Missouri. This they did and bought the 404 acre farm 8 and 1/2 miles southeast of Chillicothe for $70.00 an acre. Jessie's father told me he sold his 80 acre farm for $175.00 an acre. He said he thought land was getting too high. Now in 1962, this farm would sell for around $400.00 an acre.
"At the start of World War I, 1918, I had bought two 100 lb. sacks of sugar at $30.00 a sack. We had a lot of wild boysen berries that year. After that one could not buy hardly any thing, flour was mixed with corn.
"The first two years of World War I we had a terrible epidemic of influenza, thousands of soldiers and civilians died, I think. Lucile was about 8 or 9 years old, and was the only one of the family that did not take it, so Lucile was the family nurse, BLESS HER HEART.
"In 1929, the stock market broke, thousands of people were thrown out of work, Banks closed, cattle sold for $17.00 a head, nice weaned pigs for 20 cents head, corn - 17 cents a bushel. I had to trade 17 bushels of corn for a 50 pound sack of flour.
"At the start of World War I, people were urged to be patriotic, and buy $100.00 Government bonds, after the war ended people could not get over $95.00 for them, depending on how badly they needed the money. Things just kept going from bad to worse, until World War II.
"1962. Where do we stnd now? Jacob Frederick Riepe, son of Henry H. and Wilhelmine Oschmann Riepe. P.S. I wish each family would carry on from here."
This is the other paper written by Jacob Riepe, about my great-grandparents - Suzanne Riepe Olson
Herman Riepe (Grandpa) born Aug. 8, 1828. Died June 8, 1904.
Anna Englebrecht (Grandma) Born Nov. 13, 1830, died Oct. 14, 1908
married in Germany, and came to this country when quite young. They first settled in New York State where their first child, Anna, was born. Margaret, Daughter of Fred Riepe, said Anna was born in Germany. This was later written by Frances Riepe Glantz, daughter of Jacob F. Riepe.
From there they came to Iowa and settled on a farm about 6 miles northwest of Burlington, Iowa, or about 2 miles south of the St. John's Evangelical and Reformed Church. To them were born 9 more children, Albert, Henry, Frederick, Edward, Julius, Herman, August, William.
At the start of the Civil War Grandpa made a deal with a 19 year-old boy to take his place, (my Dad was just a little tot then). The deal was that Grandpa gave the young man $100.00 before he left, the young man survived the war, and was paid the other $100.00. But there is a little irony in this story, the young fellow went to Missouri and got himself hung for stealing horses. Horses were quite valuable, and scarce in those days.
Grandpa and Grandma moved from this farm when their youngest son William was about 12 or 14 years old to a farm about 1 and 1/2 miles northwest of the present St. John's Evangelical and Reformed Church, now called St. John's United Church of Christ. They are buried in the Cemetery of this church. Grandpa and Grandma built their home on a hill on the west side of Flint Creek. My brother Willie and I had a lot of fun wading in this creek.
Grandfather had 2 or 3 brothers that came and settled in and around Burlington. I have forgotten their names. No wonder there are so many Riepes in this country now.
Those early settlers would buy land along creeks first with timber on it. In the winter they would cut cordwood - a cord is 8 feet long, 4 ft. wide, 4 ft. high. They had to make a special rack for their wagon gears to haul it on to market. It took a good team of horses to handle it. There was no coal around here then.
As the settlers increased, they had to dig wells, usually a cistern was dug by the house. It was about 6 ft. across by 20 feet deep and then was lined with brick or stone. Deep wells were dug down to a sand bed. Those early well diggers sure were dare devils. Back in 1908-09 and 10, I was working for my step-Uncle, Silas and Carrie Korf. They lived about 2 and 1/2 miles northwest of Old, Iowa. I got $275.00 year plus board and washing, and a horse kept, how times have changed.
1909 was a rather dry year, so one day in August, Mr. Korf told me he would give me $3.00 extra, if I would go down in the well and clean it out. I said sure, the well was 90 feet deep, and $3.00 was $3.00 in those days. We rigged a stout pole across the windmill frame with a pulley on it, and then used the hay rope from the hay barn with a large bucket on it. When Mr. Korf lowered me down into the well, I looked up and was surprised to see the stars in the heavens.
The Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad finished building the present bridge over the Mississippi river at Burlington, Iowa in 1868. Well, my reminiscencing is just about dragged out.
Love and best wishes to you all in the years to come.
Dad, Grandpa Riepe, Jacob F. Son of Henry H. and Wilhelmine Barbra Oschmnn Riepe, Born June 1886. Written in 1965, West Burlington, Des Moines County, Iowa.
Riepe census and birth information.
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