Kornthal Church and Apollonia Duerckheimer Scharf

Feb 11, 2011



This is a photo of Saint Paul's Church, located at Kornthal, two miles south of Jonesboro, Illinois. Many of Leon Bernhard's boyhood stories involved the Kornthal Church. 

Kornthal Church

His Aunt Bertha lived about 200 yards northeast of the church and he would often play there as she had no children of her own and doted upon her nephews and nieces. Kornthal was the cultural and spiritual center for the Austrian/German immigrants who settled in Misenheimer Precinct in tthe 1850's and 1860's.                                                              Peter Bernhard and Mary Scharf farmed a 17-acre field just north of the church. The church today is not used for regular services, but is maintained by contributions from private indivuals. The church grounds are lushly shaded and bring to mind the socials and activities that were held here in the past. When Leara and I visited here in 2009, we were able to go inside and enjoys the quiet and peace inside. There is an old pump organ inside and Leara played several hymns from old hymnal we found on the top of the organ. When we visited, we were visited by the adjacent farm owner, a descendant of Michael Hehenberger, one of the founders of the church, who took a personal interest in our visit.  Checking the internet lead me to find a listing for The Kornthal Union County Memorial, Inc., Kornthal Church Road, Jonesboro, IL 62952

Apollonia Duerkheimer

One of our ancestors, Apollonia Duerkheimer, takes center spotlight today. She worshipped at the Kornthal Church and her children attended Sunday School there. Records of her life and relatives in Germany were difficult to locate. Daddy always said her name was Durkheimer and that she came from Weingarten. I have found her maiden name spelled a number of different ways in the records, including Berkheimer, Darkheimer, Dearkheimer, Derkheimer, Deustchheimer, Dierkheimer, Duerckheimer, Duerkheimer, Duerscheimer, Durckheimer, Dirkheimer, Dunkheimer, Dürkheimer, Durkheimer, and Durkhimer.

Her obituary was published in the "The Jonesboro Gazette" 25 Feb 1916: 

"Appolonia (Duerckheimer) Scharf died 23 Feb 1916, at the home of her son, Philip Scharf, in Jonesboro, aged 90 years, 11 months, 13 days, and was buried in Ebenezer Cemetery. Her funeral was at the Methodist church. She was born 10 May 1825, in Weingarden (sic), Germany. She was confirmed in the Lutheran Church as a girl. In 1853 she moved to Chilicothe, Ohio, and married there in 1854 John Bauscher. They had one son, John Bauscher, deceased. She married in 1857 August Scharf, who died in 1867. They had six children, five of whom were living, Philip Scharf, Frank Scharf, August Scharf, Mrs. Mary Bernhard, and Mrs. Emma Goss. She also left 30 grandchildren and five great-grandchildren."

Recently a number of parish register records from the Weingarten area have been published on the internet. While searching through the register for the Evangelische Kirche Weingarten (BA. Germersheim) I found documentation that answered a number of questions raised by previous research in American records. Weingarten, Rheinland-Pfalz, Germany). The original records are held in Protestantischen Landeskirchenarchiv der Pfalz, Speyer, Bayern, Deutschland.

I have not found her emigration records, but 1880 census records in Union County showed Daniel

Duerkheimer and Apollonia Duerkheimer Scharf living next door to each other on farms in Misenheimer Precinct, Union County, Illinois. This Daniel had arrived in the United States aboard the same ship as Peter Bernhard, Jacob Sauerbrunn, Freidrich Föhr, and Valentin Sauerbrunn. The ship Nuremberg had sailed from Le Havre, France and arrived at New Orleans 23 Mar 1861.

Just yesterday I found the birth records linking Apollonia and Daniel Duerkheimer. Daniel Duerkheimer was born 2 Nov 1823 in Weingarten to Johann Phillip Duerkheimer and Maria Catharina Deubel. Appollonia was their last child, born 10 Mar 1826 in Weingarten. I was also able to locate reords for a total of six children born to this couple. Apollonia was named after an older sister Apollonia who was born 26 May 1816 and died 17 Jun 1816. One of our Apollonia's sons was named Phillip after his grandfather.