The (von)Allmen Family of Vanderburgh Co., Indiana

Christian vonAllmen was born in Unterseen, Bern, Switzerland on 10 Nov 1814.  He was the son of Johannes vonAllmen and Barbara Brunner.  Barbara Steiner was born in Lauterbrunnen, Bern, Switzerland on 19 Feb 1822 to Christian Steiner and Anna Buhler.  Barbara and Christian married in Switzerland, probably around 1840.  Their first daughter, Maria (later Mary) was born in Unterseen on 5 Feb 1842.  After Maria was born the family left Switzerland and came to Olney, Richland, Illinois (an area with many other Swiss immigrants).  Daughter Margaret was born in 1846.  In Olney, on 9 Feb 1849, daughter Susanna was born.  After Susanna came Isaac (b. circa 1851), Abraham (b. May 1854), and lastly, Joseph (b. Nov 1857).  Not long after Joseph's birth the family arrived in Vanderburgh Co., Indiana where they stayed.  Christian established a broom making business on Main Street in Evansville which eventually included his sons.  Christian died on 9 June 1887, Barbara on 24 June 1886.

Christian and Barbara's children, for the most part, stayed in Vanderburgh Co.  Nothing is known about Maria/Mary after 1860, but she did go to Evansville with the family.  Margaret married Andrew Mauer/Maurer on 19 Apr 1867.  They had three children: Emma, Joseph and William.  Margaret died on 17 Oct 1900, Andrew on 18 Apr 1895.

Susanna (my ancestor) married Rev. John W. Berger on 9 Dec 1866 and not long after they left Vanderburgh Co., Indiana.  Because of John's profession in the German Evangelical Association (an offshoot of the Methodist Church), the family moved around a lot.  First, they ened up in Prairie, Shelby, Illinois and had a son, Samuel, who died young. Next they went back to Indiana before going to Germany to do missionary work for several years.  After they came back they settled in South Bend, Indiana before going out west to Los Angeles to help establish the new GEA church there.  The family was only in Los Angeles for a few years before moving up north and ending up in Oakland, California.  John died not long after, in 1891 and Susanna was left to raise their nine surviving children, who were: Otto, John, Albert, Mary Barbara, Garfield, Madeline, Gideon, Jesse and Florence.  Susanna died at the home of her daughter, Mary Barbara (married name Jory) in Stockton, California on 11 June 1932.

Isaac married first Lizzie Grinier on 20 May 1875.  Lizzie died on 4 Mar 1876.  Isaac married secondly on 4 Oct 1877, Mary Walker who died on 2 Apr 1881.  Isaac on 28 Mar 1884.

Abraham never married.  He was involved in the family broom making business before ending up in the Evansville Almshouse for a spell.  He died on 3 June 1912.

Joseph married Missouri "Sizzy" Myrick on 4 May 1887.  They had: Hazel, Joseph, Helen and Alzadia.  The family lived in Evansville and its outlaying areas, mainly Pigeon.  Missouri died in 1936, Joseph on 14 Aug 1918.

Almost all of the family who remained in Vanderburgh Co. were buried in Oak Hill Cemetery in Evansville in Allmen/Allman family plot (or row).  Susanna and John Berger and some of their children are in the Berger plot in Mt. View Cemetery in Oakland.