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John is currently assumed to have been born in Sigmaringen, Baden-Württemberg, Germany in 1824 under the name Justus Betzikofer.
While research is still underway, this is all we know of John's early life at this current moment.
Even less is known on his wife Emily Zimmerman. She was born in the region of Bayern, Germany about 1828 and seems that her birth name was Apolonia even though she frequently went by Emily and Emma.
Born in Binghamton, New York to a disabled veteran of the war of 1812, Sarah was one of 6 children and at least 5 step-children. The family moved to Ohio when she was about 5 years old. They seemed to spend a lot of her childhood living in the care of friends and depending on the next payment from pension. Around the age of 6 her father died. Her mother raised her with the help of the older children and remarried when Sarah was about 14. They moved to Pennsylvania where Sarah married stagecoach driver Rufus Dodge and the couple returned to Ohio. They had 3 daughters and raised them in North Ridgeville, Ohio; always sticking close to Sarah's family. Sarah died in 1897 around the age of 67.
The origins of Rufus H. Dodge are muddied. He was born in 1825 in what is believed to be Harpersfield, Ashtabula, Ohio. Nothing else is known about him until he marries Sarah Bryant in 1844 in Pennsylvania. The couple lived in Parkerburg, Ohio and then moved to North Ridgeville following his wife's family. Rufus was a stagecoach driver and later a teamster, hauling goods instead of people. The couple had 3 daughters together but lost 2 of the to illness. After his wife died in 1897, Rufus moved in with his daughter's family in Cleveland and then followed as they relocated to Medina. Rufus died in Granger, Ohio, not far from the family home in Weymouth in 1907.
Born in the parish Rushen on the Isle of Man, Ed was the youngest son to an agricultural laborer. As a teenager he apprenticed with a tailor and immigrated to Berea, Ohio at the age of 19. He set up a tailoring and furnishing store on the historic Front street section of the Berea "Triangle" which he operated for 56 years. Ed was also a councilman, township treasurer, founding member of the masonic lodge, president of the Board of Education, and held the office of Mayor while somehow finding time to marry and raise 9 children with his wife Maria.
Magdalena "Mattie" Krenger was born on 24 Jun 1853 in Thurnen, Bern, Switzerland to parents Albert Krenger and Barbara Kunzi. Mattie married Johannes Beyeler in 1876 in Switzerland. Supposedly, John left for America ahead of Mattie in 1882 and she followed a year later. The couple changed their last name to Beieler and settled on farmland in Wooster, Ohio. The couple naturalized in 1888 and retired in the nearby village of Smithville where Mattie died in 1924 at the age of 71.
Johannes Beyeler was born on 03 Sep 1854 in Schwarzenberg, Wahlern, Bern, Switzerland1 to parents Christian Beyeler and Magdalena Hostettler.2 Johannes, better known as John, is listed under multiple last names in his lifetime. Originally, John states his last name as "Beyeler", after immigration he changes it to "Beieler", common misspellings have listed "Beiler" & "Beichler", and finally some children adopted "Beeler" and their records applied that spelling to John.
Born and raised in rural Chester Township, Ohio in 1851 to a farmer, Catharine was 1 of 4 children, 1 died in infancy. At the age of 18, Catharine married a civil war veteran from a neighboring farm named John Wesley Winkler in 1870. The couple had 3 sons and 1 daughter that they raised in Chester on property Catharine's father gave them. Husband John passed away in 1913 and after youngest son died in 1922, Catharine moved into Wooster to live with son Thomas' family. She died in 1942 at the age of 90.
Born the son of a farmer in Wayne Township, Ohio, John was a Civil War veteran. He fought along side the Union Army in the 120th, 114th, and 48th divisions of the Ohio Volunteer Infantry over the span of 3 years. John returned home after the war and lived out a quiet life on a farm in Chester Township raising his four children with his wife Catharine.
Born to a saddler and farmer father at Amerton farm, Lizzie, as she was known, was raised on the outskirts of Stowe-by-Chartley. She married Samuel Rogers in Stowe in 1887 and five years later at the age of 30, they immigrated to Columbia Township, Ohio where they would live out the rest of their lives. Lizzie gave birth to 9 children and they were always very poor, struggling to provide for their children. Lizzie died in Berea, Ohio at her daughter's home.
Born to a corn miller father at Newinn Mill, Samuel was raised in Trentham, Staffordshire, England. He married Elizabeth Collier in Stowe-by-Chartley in 1887 and five years later at the age of 35, they immigrated to Columbia Township, Ohio where they would raise their children and live out the rest of their lives. They had 9 children in total and spent the majority of their lives in extreme poverty, constantly struggling to provide for their children. Samuel died in Berea, Ohio at the community hospital in 1930.
