John Christlieb's Second Marriage
A widower with two sons, John Christlieb resided near his parents and other family members in Mifflin Township, Cumberland County. Ca. 1816, he married Elizabeth “Betsey” Whistler, daughter of Jacob Whisler/Whistler, a Christlieb neighbor. This marriage would last 35 years and produce five more sons for John Christlieb.
John and Elizabeth were listed – along with John’s brother, Solomon – among the persons who were confirmed on 5 October 1817. At the time, John would have been 35 years old and Solomon, 20. These adult confirmations seem somewhat unusual, as they usually took place during the teen years. John and Elizabeth’s confirmation having occurred shortly after their marriage suggests that Elizabeth may have not been of the Lutheran Faith. Perhaps John took the classes with her as an act of renewal. Inasmuch as Solomon was also a part of the class, it possible that neither of the brothers had been confirmed in their teen years.
The large 1817 class of confirmands at St. Peter’s Lutheran, which totaled 53 individuals, suggests that the instruction may have included other persons from Ziegler’s Church. It may be that the St. Peters and Ziegler’s shared in the instruction, perhaps alternating from year to year.
John’s confirmation entry for St. Peter’s Lutheran Church, Upper Frankford Township in Cumberland County, dated 5 October 1817, shows him as Johannes Christlieb. Following are John's and Elizabeth’s names as they appear in the record, written in Gothic German script. Upper Frankford Township Parish Records, 1796-1951.
Johannes Christlieb
Elizabeth Christlieb
Following their confirmation at St. Peter’s Lutheran Church, John and Elizabeth were communicants at Ziegler’s Log Church, where their first-born child, Samuel, was baptized in 1817. No baptismal record survives for John and Elizabeth’s second child, John Charles, who was born in 1819, a suggestion, perhaps, that they resided elsewhere before removing to Stark County, Ohio in 1823.
The Whisler/Wissler/Whistler Family
The Wisler/Wissler/Whistler Family in America begins with Jacob Wissler, a German Mennonite, who came from Switzerland, circa 1720, via the Rhine River and Rotterdam to Philadelphia. With him was his new bride Magdalena. The family name is spelled Wisler in the Swiss language, Wiesler in German, and Whistler in English. Persecution in Europe caused many Mennonites to seek refuge in America. The first group settled in Germantown, Pennsylvania, in 1683. Jacob and Magdalena Wissler settled in Philadelphia County, in the area that became Montgomery County in 1784. The family grew to include ten children. Of particular interest are Isaac Wisler (1732-1813) and his brother Christian Wisler (1742-1827). These brothers were both Elizabeth Christlieb’s grandfathers. Christian’s son, Jacob Whisler (ca. 1764-1835) was Elizabeth’s father. He had become a Mifflin Township resident in Cumberland County. Elizabeth’s mother was Anna “Nancy” Whisler, a first cousin of Jacob and daughter of Isaac Wisler, who had settled in Philadelphia/Montgomery County.
John and Elizabeth Christlieb moved their family to a farm in Pike Township, Stark County, Ohio, in 1823. This area is just south of Canton. Elizabeth, who had been born on 10 November 1791, in Pennsylvania, died at the family’s Ohio home on 30 June 1851. She is buried in the Melsheimer Church Cemetery in Pike Township, alongside her husband John and other family members. Wendell F. Lauth, Bristolville, Ohio.
Back to TopChildren of John Christlieb and Elizabeth Whistler
Samuel Christlieb (Friedrich Carl Christlieb1, Carl Christlieb2, John Christlieb3) [877], born 10 January 1817; died ca. 1816; married 30 December 1847, in Stark County, Ohio, Malinda Albaugh; born 8 July 1824; died 7 November 1894.
John Charles Christlieb (Friedrich Carl Christlieb1, Carl Christlieb2, John Christlieb3) [886], born June 6, 1819, Cumberland County, Pennsylvania; died 10 July 1890, Wells County, Indiana; married, 27 March 1845, Stark County, Ohio, Catharine Niesz (Niess/Nees), born 16 September 1824, in Pennsylvania; died 27 February 1900, Wells County, Indiana.
Solomon Christlieb (Friedrich Carl Christlieb1, Carl Christlieb2, John Christlieb3) [899], born 1823, in Stark County, Ohio. According to Report of Secretary of State, Ohio Statistics, in which deaf and dumb, blind, insane, and idiotic persons were submitted from eighty-two of eighty-eight Ohio counties, Solomon Christlieb’s condition was classified as “idiotic.” The enumeration shows that 31-year-old Solomon was living with his parents, John and Elizabeth Christlieb, in Stark County and that he had been inflicted for 29 years, as a result of “teething at age two.” Solomon’s death date is unknown. Wendell F. Lauth, Bristolville, Ohio.
Isaac Christlieb (Friedrich Carl Christlieb1, Carl Christlieb2, John Christlieb3) [899], born 3 March 1825, Stark County, Ohio; died 29 October 1875; married Catherine Albaugh (sister of Samuel Christlieb’s wife, Malinda), born May 7, 1826. Catherine died 7 June 1888. Isaac and Catherine are buried in the Swan Cemetery in Swan Township, Noble County, Indiana.
Abraham Christlieb (Friedrich Carl Christlieb1, Carl Christlieb2, John Christlieb3) [904], born January 1828, in Pike Township, Stark County, Ohio; died 1857, in Indiana; married, 6 February 1851, Lydia Horner (1833-1907).
