BLOOMING GROVE COLONY
BLOOMING GROVE COLONY
Ferdinand Frederick Scheel
Ferdinand Frederick Scheel was a man of superior education and
usefulness among the colonists. His grandparents died in 1804, at
an advanced age, just before the colony left Germany. His parents
came with him to America and died in Blooming Grove; his father
Joseph Ferdinand Scheel, on August 29, 1834, aged 83 years, and his
mother, Christina Margaret Staiger, in 1816, at the age of 65.
Ferdinand Frederick Scheel was born in Pfullingen, Kingdom of
Wuerttemberg, Germany, on December 14, 1775, and was found dead in
the public road in Blooming Grove, on the morning of August 27,
1846. He was a very portly man, ans is supposed to have tripped and
fallen to his death while walking down a steep hill. He lies buried
in a private plot on his farm, now the property of Ezra Heim. The
grave is without a sign of identification, and the entire space is a
corner patch of thicket of brush and briars. One little marble
headstone, of a child, mutely appeals for a decent respect for this
sacred spot.
The subject of this sketch was educated in the Lutheran creed, and
learned the trade of stone mason with his grandfather, Christian
Staiger. He married Mary Agnes Losch, November 25, 1800, who died
on July 13, 1820, leaving eight living children, the babe but four
weeks old. They left Pfullingen to join the colony May 1, 1804.
Their oldest child died on the way and was buried near
Frankfurt-on-the-Main.
During the controversy on board ship Scheel inclined to the Raap
party, but upon taking the test of adopting celibacy, he declared
that "he would rather risk the salvation of his soul than be parted
from his wife and children." Upon landing he cast his lot with
Doctor Haller.
Children:
John Frederick, born January 29, 1804, in Pfullingen, died May 7,
1804 in Sachsheim. Gottlieb, born June 5, 1805, in Blooming Grove,
died July 27, 1823 Margaret, born July 15, 1806, died February 17,
1824. Charlotte, born November 4, 1807, died October 10, 1876.
Married John G. Heishely. Frederick, born December 6, 1810, died
March 4, 1878, Married Barbara Hyde. John, born April 12, 1813, died
March 27, 1824. Catherine, born December 3, 1815, died _____,
Married Frederick Heishely. Christian, born November 13, 1817, died
1880. Married Margaret Baringer. Joseph, born June 17, 1820, died
July 20, 1820.
After the death of his wife, Agnes, he married for his second wife,
Anna Mary Heinlin, who died February 2, 1874, aged 86 years.
Children:
John, born January 2, 1827, killed in battle in Arkansas, July 4,
1863, during the rebellion. Mary, born August 28, 1829, now living
in Lock Haven, Pa. She married George Seybold who returned from
the army sick, and died March 11, 1862.
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