Elizabeth Grien emigrated to Canada from Germany in the 1850s. She married Ludwig (Lewis) Koneig who was born about 1824 in Germany. We do not know where Elizabeth Koenig's grave is. They had eight kids:
1. Peter KOENIG b: 17 NOV 1860 in Mildmay, Ontario, Canada
2. John KOENIG b: 1858 in Normanby Township, Grey County, Ontario, Canada
3. Lewis KOENIG b: 1860 in Ontario, Canada
4. Helena KOENIG b: 1872 in Ontario, Canada
5. Katharina KOENIG b: 1870 in Ontario, Canada
6. Mary KOENIG b: 1867 in Ontario, Canada
7. Caroline KOENIG b: 1866 in Ontario, Canada
8. William KOENIG b: 1864 in Ontario, Canada
-----
Source (edited): Article from "Sterling Centennial Logan County Family History, 1884-1894" - The Peter Koenig Family - Peter Koenig was born in the village of Mildmay, Ontario, Canada November 17, 1860. Peter grew up speaking German as his parents Ludwig (Lewis) and Elizabeth Koenig had emigrated to Canada from Germany in the 1850s. Always ambitious, Peter apprenticed to a blacksmith at an early age and photos show his powerful chest and shoulders which developed from working the blacksmith bellows. By the time he was twenty, however, his lungs were being badly affected by the smoke of the blacksmith shop and he had to look for another occupation. His physical strength led him to become an apprentice stonemason. Most of the large homes were made of the native grey stone and his work was in great demand. Many of the homes he built in the 1880s are still occupied one hundred years later.
In 1882, he married Magdalena Heist and shortly afterward, purchased his father's farm. Peter's brother John had left Canada and had settled in Nebraska a few miles from the first homestead claim in the US. John asked his aging parents to return with him to Nebraska while he and his family were visiting Canada. When John, his wife and 13 children left in their covered wagon for their new home, the elder Koenigs went with them. Thus Peter purchased his father's farm which was the original Royal land grant. The grant had been filed under Lewis King, the Anglican version of Ludwig Koenig.
In only a few years the Westward Expansion bug bit Peter also and he and Henry Thurkhorn went to Nebraska to look for homestead land.
However, they had arrived too late and all of the land had been claimed. He was advised to look for land around the new town of Greeley, Colorado, but he found the same problem there. The only land available was across the Platte River in the sandhills several miles east of the new town of Sterling. Peter returned to Canada, loaded his belongings including a team of horses in a boxcar and he and his family moved to Colorado. By then, the family included three daughters, Maggie, Lydia, and Emma, and one son, baby Jacob Edward. One can only imagine Magdalena's thoughts as she recalled the plush woods of her Canadian home as she surveyed the endless dry prairie surrounding her new home at LeRoy. This was the third settlement of the area as the rainless summers had driven two earlier sets of homesteaders away.
Peter was businessman enough to realize that the only sure money to be made probably wouldn't be from farming, so he opened a general store.
The Evangelical Church was central in the lives of the Koenigs as it was in those of most of the settlers of German ancestry. Peter was able to put his earlier training as a stone mason to use when the new stone church was to be built.
Although all church services were conducted in German and Peter staunchly read his German Bible, Peter spoke English and he and his brother Will, who had joined the Colorado family, decided to change the pronunciation of the family name from "Kanig" to "Konig," thus making it sound more Anglicanized. The family in Nebraska and in Canada still use the German pronunciation.
Each year seemed to bring another child into the family. In the eleven years between 1889 and 1900, five boys and one girl were born. They were Elizabeth, Erwin Henry ("Fat"), Simon Peter ("Sib"), Elroy ("Short"), Clarence and Percy Milton ("Doc"). Then in 1905, Magdalena, expecting her eleventh child, suddenly died.
Left a widower with ten children, Peter returned to Canada to seek a wife and mother for his children. When he returned to Sterling, he brought his new wife, Margaret, Magdalena's younger sister, and her twin sons, Clinton and Clayton Astell.
In July, 1906, their first son, John Wesley, was born, and eighteen months later in January, 1908, Vergil was born.
In 1936, Margaret died and Peter remarried, he was never able to find another woman as kind as Magdalena and Margaret had been. He died May 12, 1948 leaving many descendants.
------
Source of Grien surname:
We found a marriage record of Peter Koenig and Magdalene Hoist:
3572-82 Peter KOENIG, 22, mason, Normanby, same, s/o Ludwig KOENIG & Elizabeth GRIEN married Magdalene HOIST, 19, Minto, same, d/o Jacob & Elizabeth HOIST, Wtn: Simon HOIST OF Minto & Mary DAMM & Ludwig KOENIG of Normanby October 17, 1882 at Normanby
-------
Source of birth dates (1881 Canadian Census):
One source give us the following:
2176. 1881 Canadian Census; Latter Day Saints Family History Resource File; CD; Intellectual Reserve Inc., 2001 Norm#154-C-3-36-137: Lewis Koenig, 57, GERM, Germ., farmer, Meth.
2177. 1881 Canadian Census; Latter Day Saints Family History Resource File; CD; Intellectual Reserve Inc., 2001 [wife] Mrs. Elizabethe Koenig, 54, GERM, germ., Meth.
The 1881 Canadian Census put a Lewis (born 1824), Elizabethe (born 1827), John (born 1858), Lewis (born 1860), Peter (born 1862), William (born 1864), Caroline (born 1866), Mary (born 1867), Katharina (born 1870) and Helena (born 1872) - all in the same household. We found these records here at www.familysearch.org, and are using them for our birth dates except for Peter's birthdate (we are using his cemetery record).
One source give us the following:
2176. 1881 Canadian Census; Latter Day Saints Family History Resource File; CD; Intellectual Reserve Inc., 2001 Norm#154-C-3-36-137: Lewis Koenig, 57, GERM, Germ., farmer, Meth.
2177. 1881 Canadian Census; Latter Day Saints Family History Resource File; CD; Intellectual Reserve Inc., 2001 [wife] Mrs. Elizabethe Koenig, 54, GERM, germ., Meth.
1881 Canadian Census details:
Lewis KOENIG Household
Male
Other Information:
Birth Year
Birthplace Germany
Age 57
Occupation Farmer
Marital Status M
Ethnic Origin German
Head of Household Lewis KOENIG
Religion Methodist
Source Information:
Census Place Normanby, Grey South, Ontario
Family History Library Film 1375896
NA Film Number C-13260
District 154
Sub-district C
Division 3
Page Number 36
Household Number 137
Elizabethe KOENIG Household
Female
Other Information:
Birth Year
Birthplace Germany
Age 54
Occupation
Marital Status M
Head of Household Lewis KOENIG
Source Information:
Census Place Normanby, Grey South, Ontario
Family History Library Film 1375896
District 154
Sub-district C
Division 3
Page Number 36
Household Number 137
John KOENIG Household
Male
Other Information:
Birth Year
Birthplace Ontario
Age 23
Occupation Farmer
Marital Status
Ethnic Origin German
Head of Household Lewis KOENIG
Religion Methodist
Source Information:
Census Place Normanby, Grey South, Ontario
Family History Library Film 1375896
NA Film Number C-13260
District 154
Sub-district C
Division 3
Page Number 36
Household Number 137
Peter KOENIG Household
Male
Other Information:
Birth Year
Birthplace O
Age 19
Occupation Mason
Marital Status
Ethnic Origin German
Head of Household Lewis KOENIG
Religion Methodist
Source Information:
Census Place Normanby, Grey South, Ontario
Family History Library Film 1375896
NA Film Number C-13260
District 154
Sub-district C
Division 3
Page Number 36
Household Number 137
Lewis KOENIG Household
Male
Other Information:
Birth Year
Birthplace O
Age 21
Occupation Farmer
Marital Status
Ethnic Origin German
Head of Household Lewis KOENIG
Religion Methodist
Source Information:
Census Place Normanby, Grey South, Ontario
Family History Library Film 1375896
NA Film Number C-13260
District 154
Sub-district C
Division 3
Page Number 36
Household Number 137
William KOENIG Household
Male
Other Information:
Birth Year
Birthplace O
Age 17
Occupation Son
Marital Status
Ethnic Origin German
Head of Household Lewis KOENIG
Religion Methodist
Source Information:
Census Place Normanby, Grey South, Ontario
Family History Library Film 1375896
NA Film Number C-13260
District 154
Sub-district C
Division 3
Page Number 36
Household Number 137
Caroline KOENIG Household
Female
Other Information:
Birth Year
Birthplace O
Age 15
Occupation
Marital Status
Ethnic Origin German
Head of Household Lewis KOENIG
Religion Methodist
Source Information:
Census Place Normanby, Grey South, Ontario
Family History Library Film 1375896
NA Film Number C-13260
District 154
Sub-district C
Division 3
Page Number 36
Household Number 137
Mary KOENIG Household
Female
Other Information:
Birth Year
Birthplace Ontario
Age 14
Occupation
Marital Status
Ethnic Origin German
Head of Household Lewis KOENIG
Religion Methodist
Source Information:
Census Place Normanby, Grey South, Ontario
Family History Library Film 1375896
NA Film Number C-13260
District 154
Sub-district C
Division 3
Page Number 37
Household Number 137
Katharina KOENIG Household
Female
Other Information:
Birth Year
Birthplace O
Age 11
Occupation
Marital Status
Ethnic Origin German
Head of Household Lewis KOENIG
Religion Methodist
Source Information:
Census Place Normanby, Grey South, Ontario
Family History Library Film 1375896
NA Film Number C-13260
District 154
Sub-district C
Division 3
Page Number 37
Household Number 137
Helena KOENIG Household
Female
Other Information:
Birth Year
Birthplace O
Age 9
Occupation
Marital Status
Head of Household Lewis KOENIG
Source Information:
Census Place Normanby, Grey South, Ontario
Family History Library Film 1375896
District 154
Sub-district C
Division 3
Page Number 37
Household Number 137
-------
Where the Ludwig (or Lewis) Koenig family lived:
Source: Directory of the County of Grey For 1865-1866:
The Township of Normanby, named after the British nobleman of
that name, lies at the S. W. corner of the County of Grey,
having the Township of Bentinck on the North, Egremont on the
East, the Township of Minto, in Wellington, on the South, the
Township of Howic, in Huron, at the S. W. corner, and Carrick,
in Bruce, on the West. It is one of the best townships in the County,
one of the newest, and by the census of 1861 the most populous.
As elsewhere mentioned, the Garafraxa Road (forming its Eastern
boundary) was run out by John McDonald, P.L.S., of Goderich, in
1841. At that time only one parallel Concession on each side
was laid out, but in 1845, a second and third tier of lots were
laid off on each side. These constitute what may be called the
"Old Survey," in Normanby and other townships. The front lots
were given in 50-acre "grants" to actual settlers, and the road
soon began to be lined with a thin fringe of settlements. In
1851 the survey of the rest of the township was taken hold of by
the late David Gibson., P.L.S., and finished either that or the
following year. The "New Survey" was first held for sale by
the Government in 1856. For a year or two before that date,
however, there had been a great influx of German immigrants,
filling up Carrick, and parts of Normanby, Brant and Bentinck.
These squatters purchased the lots on which they had settled;
and the face of the country soon began to show the hand of
improvement. It is remarked through Canada that not only do
Germans make enterprising and reliable settlers, but that they
seldom locate on poor land. Normanby is no exception. The
Western and South-western half of the township is excellent land,
not troubled with excess of stones, and lying handsomely. The
Saugeen River, in its passage from Mount Forest to Hanover,
divides the township diagonally into rather unequal parts,
the N. E. being the larger. The part S.W. of the river is the
finest part of the town-ship, and is chiefly in the hands of
the Dutch. While there are some beautiful lands at different
points on the Garafraxa Road, the Eastern part of the township
has a considerable amount of swampy and gravelly land. The
prevailing soil in Normanby is clay.
Normanby has two villages entirely within its limits- Ayton
and Neustadt, and Mount Forest and Orchardville partly within
it. It has several Grist and Sawmills, Stores and country
Taverns. A curious system has been in vogue respecting
Assessors and Collectors. An Assessor and a Collector is
appointed annually for each Ward in the Township. The latter
may work satisfactorily; but, with five Assessors, the Court of
Revision must have an unusual amount of business.
Census Reports.-Population in 1861, 3,963; Natives of
England, 151; Natives of Scotland, 365; Natives of Ireland, 708;
Natives of Canada, 1,999 (besides 51 of Fr. Canadian origin);
Natives of the U.S., 45.; Natives of Prussia, Germany and Holland, 628;
Natives of France, 12; Coloured persons, 29.
Total occupiers of lands, 597; holding from 20 to 50 acres
each, 18; holding from 50 to 100 acres each, 212; holding
over 100 acres each, 353.
Fall wheat raised; 1,902 bushels; Spring Wheat, 78,378 bushels;
Barley, 3,448 bushels; Pease, 8,261 bushels; Oats, 39,160 bushels;
Potatoes, 37,905 bushels; Turnips, 171,360 bushels;
Hay, 1,862 tons; Maple Sugar; 14,694 lbs; Wool, 3,921 lbs.;
Butter, 62,062 lbs.; Cheese, 865 lbs.; Pork, 830 brls.
During the four years that have intervened, the annual products
must have risen to nearly double the above figures; but it is
impossible to obtain later statistics.
Municipal Officers.-Reeve, William H. Ryan (Mt. Forest P. O.).;
Dep. Reeve, David Winkler (Neustadt P. O.);
Councillors, J. Robertson, H. A. McMahon, J. McColman.
Clerk, Dr. George Niemeier (Neustadt P. O.);
Treasurer, Robert Watson (Bentinck P. O.).
Magistrates.-William H. Ryan, George Niemeier, John Robertson,
Henry McMahon, David Winkler, Thomas Smith.
Schools-Union No. 1. David Allan, Teacher. House, log.
Furnished with Maps,. &c. Average attendance for 1864 (from Normanby), 21.
Union No.2. Samuel Quinn, Teacher. House, log. Furnished with
Maps, &c. Average attendance for 9 months of 1864, 13 (from Normanby).
No. 1. Nathaniel Grier, Teacher.- House, log. Furnished with Maps, &c.
Average attendance for 1864, 34.
No.2. David Grier, Teacher. House, log. Furnished with Maps, &c.
Average attendance for last 6 months of 1864, 14.
No.3. Annie Corley, Teacher. House, log. Furnished with Maps, &c.
Average attendance for 1864, 19.
No.4. Edwin Riley, Teacher. House, log. Furnished with Maps, &c.
Average attendance for 1864, 31.
No.5. Wm. H. Riddell, Teacher. House, log. Furnished with Maps, &c.
Average attendance for 1864, 48.
No.6. Patrick O'Leary, Teacher. House, log. Furnished with Maps, &c.
Average attendance for 1864, 43.
No.7. Margaret Heterick, Teacher. House, log. Furnished with Maps, &c.
Average attendance for first six months of 1864, 17.
No.8. Henry Muir, Teacher. House, log. Furnished with Maps, &c.
Average attendance for 1864, 30.
No.9. Dominic Zweifel, Teacher. House, log. Furnished with Maps, &c.
Average attendance for 1864, 27.
No.12. Charles Hartlieb, Teacher. House, log. Furnished with Maps, &c.
Average attendance for 1864, 18.
No.13. Henrietta Gardiner, Teacher. House, log. Furnished with Maps, &c.
Average attendance for 1864, 18.
R. C. Separate School, No. 2. Jeremiah O'Sullivan, Teacher. House, log.
R. C. Separate School, No.10. Vacant. House, log.
Union No.4 (Normanby and Egremont; Mt. Forest School). House,
brick. Furnished with Maps, &c. Average attendance, from
Normanby, for 1864, 33.
Union No. 4 (Normanby and Egremont; Mt. Forest Female School).
House, frame. Furnished with Maps, &c. Average attendance,
from Normanby, for 1864, 32.
Union No.3 (Normanby and Egremont). House, frame. Furnished
with Maps, &c. Average attendance for 1864, from Normanby, 18.
NOTE.-The 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Concessions are parallel with the
Garafraxa Road; the Concession lines running N. and S. From the
4th to the 18th Concessions, the lines run E. and W.; Concession 4
being at the S. limit of the township and Con. 18 bounding the
North limit.
Koenig, John, Concession 5, Lot 12
Koenig, Lewis, Concession 6, Lot 10
The above two Koenigs were the only ones listed for Normanby Township. Notice the John Koenig listed is NOT Ludwig (or Lewis) Koenig's son John as he was born in 1858.
1. Peter KOENIG b: 17 NOV 1860 in Mildmay, Ontario, Canada
2. John KOENIG b: 1858 in Normanby Township, Grey County, Ontario, Canada
3. Lewis KOENIG b: 1860 in Ontario, Canada
4. Helena KOENIG b: 1872 in Ontario, Canada
5. Katharina KOENIG b: 1870 in Ontario, Canada
6. Mary KOENIG b: 1867 in Ontario, Canada
7. Caroline KOENIG b: 1866 in Ontario, Canada
8. William KOENIG b: 1864 in Ontario, Canada
-----
Source (edited): Article from "Sterling Centennial Logan County Family History, 1884-1894" - The Peter Koenig Family - Peter Koenig was born in the village of Mildmay, Ontario, Canada November 17, 1860. Peter grew up speaking German as his parents Ludwig (Lewis) and Elizabeth Koenig had emigrated to Canada from Germany in the 1850s. Always ambitious, Peter apprenticed to a blacksmith at an early age and photos show his powerful chest and shoulders which developed from working the blacksmith bellows. By the time he was twenty, however, his lungs were being badly affected by the smoke of the blacksmith shop and he had to look for another occupation. His physical strength led him to become an apprentice stonemason. Most of the large homes were made of the native grey stone and his work was in great demand. Many of the homes he built in the 1880s are still occupied one hundred years later.
In 1882, he married Magdalena Heist and shortly afterward, purchased his father's farm. Peter's brother John had left Canada and had settled in Nebraska a few miles from the first homestead claim in the US. John asked his aging parents to return with him to Nebraska while he and his family were visiting Canada. When John, his wife and 13 children left in their covered wagon for their new home, the elder Koenigs went with them. Thus Peter purchased his father's farm which was the original Royal land grant. The grant had been filed under Lewis King, the Anglican version of Ludwig Koenig.
In only a few years the Westward Expansion bug bit Peter also and he and Henry Thurkhorn went to Nebraska to look for homestead land.
However, they had arrived too late and all of the land had been claimed. He was advised to look for land around the new town of Greeley, Colorado, but he found the same problem there. The only land available was across the Platte River in the sandhills several miles east of the new town of Sterling. Peter returned to Canada, loaded his belongings including a team of horses in a boxcar and he and his family moved to Colorado. By then, the family included three daughters, Maggie, Lydia, and Emma, and one son, baby Jacob Edward. One can only imagine Magdalena's thoughts as she recalled the plush woods of her Canadian home as she surveyed the endless dry prairie surrounding her new home at LeRoy. This was the third settlement of the area as the rainless summers had driven two earlier sets of homesteaders away.
Peter was businessman enough to realize that the only sure money to be made probably wouldn't be from farming, so he opened a general store.
The Evangelical Church was central in the lives of the Koenigs as it was in those of most of the settlers of German ancestry. Peter was able to put his earlier training as a stone mason to use when the new stone church was to be built.
Although all church services were conducted in German and Peter staunchly read his German Bible, Peter spoke English and he and his brother Will, who had joined the Colorado family, decided to change the pronunciation of the family name from "Kanig" to "Konig," thus making it sound more Anglicanized. The family in Nebraska and in Canada still use the German pronunciation.
Each year seemed to bring another child into the family. In the eleven years between 1889 and 1900, five boys and one girl were born. They were Elizabeth, Erwin Henry ("Fat"), Simon Peter ("Sib"), Elroy ("Short"), Clarence and Percy Milton ("Doc"). Then in 1905, Magdalena, expecting her eleventh child, suddenly died.
Left a widower with ten children, Peter returned to Canada to seek a wife and mother for his children. When he returned to Sterling, he brought his new wife, Margaret, Magdalena's younger sister, and her twin sons, Clinton and Clayton Astell.
In July, 1906, their first son, John Wesley, was born, and eighteen months later in January, 1908, Vergil was born.
In 1936, Margaret died and Peter remarried, he was never able to find another woman as kind as Magdalena and Margaret had been. He died May 12, 1948 leaving many descendants.
------
Source of Grien surname:
We found a marriage record of Peter Koenig and Magdalene Hoist:
3572-82 Peter KOENIG, 22, mason, Normanby, same, s/o Ludwig KOENIG & Elizabeth GRIEN married Magdalene HOIST, 19, Minto, same, d/o Jacob & Elizabeth HOIST, Wtn: Simon HOIST OF Minto & Mary DAMM & Ludwig KOENIG of Normanby October 17, 1882 at Normanby
-------
Source of birth dates (1881 Canadian Census):
One source give us the following:
2176. 1881 Canadian Census; Latter Day Saints Family History Resource File; CD; Intellectual Reserve Inc., 2001 Norm#154-C-3-36-137: Lewis Koenig, 57, GERM, Germ., farmer, Meth.
2177. 1881 Canadian Census; Latter Day Saints Family History Resource File; CD; Intellectual Reserve Inc., 2001 [wife] Mrs. Elizabethe Koenig, 54, GERM, germ., Meth.
The 1881 Canadian Census put a Lewis (born 1824), Elizabethe (born 1827), John (born 1858), Lewis (born 1860), Peter (born 1862), William (born 1864), Caroline (born 1866), Mary (born 1867), Katharina (born 1870) and Helena (born 1872) - all in the same household. We found these records here at www.familysearch.org, and are using them for our birth dates except for Peter's birthdate (we are using his cemetery record).
One source give us the following:
2176. 1881 Canadian Census; Latter Day Saints Family History Resource File; CD; Intellectual Reserve Inc., 2001 Norm#154-C-3-36-137: Lewis Koenig, 57, GERM, Germ., farmer, Meth.
2177. 1881 Canadian Census; Latter Day Saints Family History Resource File; CD; Intellectual Reserve Inc., 2001 [wife] Mrs. Elizabethe Koenig, 54, GERM, germ., Meth.
1881 Canadian Census details:
Lewis KOENIG Household
Male
Other Information:
Birth Year
Birthplace Germany
Age 57
Occupation Farmer
Marital Status M
Ethnic Origin German
Head of Household Lewis KOENIG
Religion Methodist
Source Information:
Census Place Normanby, Grey South, Ontario
Family History Library Film 1375896
NA Film Number C-13260
District 154
Sub-district C
Division 3
Page Number 36
Household Number 137
Elizabethe KOENIG Household
Female
Other Information:
Birth Year
Birthplace Germany
Age 54
Occupation
Marital Status M
Head of Household Lewis KOENIG
Source Information:
Census Place Normanby, Grey South, Ontario
Family History Library Film 1375896
District 154
Sub-district C
Division 3
Page Number 36
Household Number 137
John KOENIG Household
Male
Other Information:
Birth Year
Birthplace Ontario
Age 23
Occupation Farmer
Marital Status
Ethnic Origin German
Head of Household Lewis KOENIG
Religion Methodist
Source Information:
Census Place Normanby, Grey South, Ontario
Family History Library Film 1375896
NA Film Number C-13260
District 154
Sub-district C
Division 3
Page Number 36
Household Number 137
Peter KOENIG Household
Male
Other Information:
Birth Year
Birthplace O
Age 19
Occupation Mason
Marital Status
Ethnic Origin German
Head of Household Lewis KOENIG
Religion Methodist
Source Information:
Census Place Normanby, Grey South, Ontario
Family History Library Film 1375896
NA Film Number C-13260
District 154
Sub-district C
Division 3
Page Number 36
Household Number 137
Lewis KOENIG Household
Male
Other Information:
Birth Year
Birthplace O
Age 21
Occupation Farmer
Marital Status
Ethnic Origin German
Head of Household Lewis KOENIG
Religion Methodist
Source Information:
Census Place Normanby, Grey South, Ontario
Family History Library Film 1375896
NA Film Number C-13260
District 154
Sub-district C
Division 3
Page Number 36
Household Number 137
William KOENIG Household
Male
Other Information:
Birth Year
Birthplace O
Age 17
Occupation Son
Marital Status
Ethnic Origin German
Head of Household Lewis KOENIG
Religion Methodist
Source Information:
Census Place Normanby, Grey South, Ontario
Family History Library Film 1375896
NA Film Number C-13260
District 154
Sub-district C
Division 3
Page Number 36
Household Number 137
Caroline KOENIG Household
Female
Other Information:
Birth Year
Birthplace O
Age 15
Occupation
Marital Status
Ethnic Origin German
Head of Household Lewis KOENIG
Religion Methodist
Source Information:
Census Place Normanby, Grey South, Ontario
Family History Library Film 1375896
NA Film Number C-13260
District 154
Sub-district C
Division 3
Page Number 36
Household Number 137
Mary KOENIG Household
Female
Other Information:
Birth Year
Birthplace Ontario
Age 14
Occupation
Marital Status
Ethnic Origin German
Head of Household Lewis KOENIG
Religion Methodist
Source Information:
Census Place Normanby, Grey South, Ontario
Family History Library Film 1375896
NA Film Number C-13260
District 154
Sub-district C
Division 3
Page Number 37
Household Number 137
Katharina KOENIG Household
Female
Other Information:
Birth Year
Birthplace O
Age 11
Occupation
Marital Status
Ethnic Origin German
Head of Household Lewis KOENIG
Religion Methodist
Source Information:
Census Place Normanby, Grey South, Ontario
Family History Library Film 1375896
NA Film Number C-13260
District 154
Sub-district C
Division 3
Page Number 37
Household Number 137
Helena KOENIG Household
Female
Other Information:
Birth Year
Birthplace O
Age 9
Occupation
Marital Status
Head of Household Lewis KOENIG
Source Information:
Census Place Normanby, Grey South, Ontario
Family History Library Film 1375896
District 154
Sub-district C
Division 3
Page Number 37
Household Number 137
-------
Where the Ludwig (or Lewis) Koenig family lived:
Source: Directory of the County of Grey For 1865-1866:
The Township of Normanby, named after the British nobleman of
that name, lies at the S. W. corner of the County of Grey,
having the Township of Bentinck on the North, Egremont on the
East, the Township of Minto, in Wellington, on the South, the
Township of Howic, in Huron, at the S. W. corner, and Carrick,
in Bruce, on the West. It is one of the best townships in the County,
one of the newest, and by the census of 1861 the most populous.
As elsewhere mentioned, the Garafraxa Road (forming its Eastern
boundary) was run out by John McDonald, P.L.S., of Goderich, in
1841. At that time only one parallel Concession on each side
was laid out, but in 1845, a second and third tier of lots were
laid off on each side. These constitute what may be called the
"Old Survey," in Normanby and other townships. The front lots
were given in 50-acre "grants" to actual settlers, and the road
soon began to be lined with a thin fringe of settlements. In
1851 the survey of the rest of the township was taken hold of by
the late David Gibson., P.L.S., and finished either that or the
following year. The "New Survey" was first held for sale by
the Government in 1856. For a year or two before that date,
however, there had been a great influx of German immigrants,
filling up Carrick, and parts of Normanby, Brant and Bentinck.
These squatters purchased the lots on which they had settled;
and the face of the country soon began to show the hand of
improvement. It is remarked through Canada that not only do
Germans make enterprising and reliable settlers, but that they
seldom locate on poor land. Normanby is no exception. The
Western and South-western half of the township is excellent land,
not troubled with excess of stones, and lying handsomely. The
Saugeen River, in its passage from Mount Forest to Hanover,
divides the township diagonally into rather unequal parts,
the N. E. being the larger. The part S.W. of the river is the
finest part of the town-ship, and is chiefly in the hands of
the Dutch. While there are some beautiful lands at different
points on the Garafraxa Road, the Eastern part of the township
has a considerable amount of swampy and gravelly land. The
prevailing soil in Normanby is clay.
Normanby has two villages entirely within its limits- Ayton
and Neustadt, and Mount Forest and Orchardville partly within
it. It has several Grist and Sawmills, Stores and country
Taverns. A curious system has been in vogue respecting
Assessors and Collectors. An Assessor and a Collector is
appointed annually for each Ward in the Township. The latter
may work satisfactorily; but, with five Assessors, the Court of
Revision must have an unusual amount of business.
Census Reports.-Population in 1861, 3,963; Natives of
England, 151; Natives of Scotland, 365; Natives of Ireland, 708;
Natives of Canada, 1,999 (besides 51 of Fr. Canadian origin);
Natives of the U.S., 45.; Natives of Prussia, Germany and Holland, 628;
Natives of France, 12; Coloured persons, 29.
Total occupiers of lands, 597; holding from 20 to 50 acres
each, 18; holding from 50 to 100 acres each, 212; holding
over 100 acres each, 353.
Fall wheat raised; 1,902 bushels; Spring Wheat, 78,378 bushels;
Barley, 3,448 bushels; Pease, 8,261 bushels; Oats, 39,160 bushels;
Potatoes, 37,905 bushels; Turnips, 171,360 bushels;
Hay, 1,862 tons; Maple Sugar; 14,694 lbs; Wool, 3,921 lbs.;
Butter, 62,062 lbs.; Cheese, 865 lbs.; Pork, 830 brls.
During the four years that have intervened, the annual products
must have risen to nearly double the above figures; but it is
impossible to obtain later statistics.
Municipal Officers.-Reeve, William H. Ryan (Mt. Forest P. O.).;
Dep. Reeve, David Winkler (Neustadt P. O.);
Councillors, J. Robertson, H. A. McMahon, J. McColman.
Clerk, Dr. George Niemeier (Neustadt P. O.);
Treasurer, Robert Watson (Bentinck P. O.).
Magistrates.-William H. Ryan, George Niemeier, John Robertson,
Henry McMahon, David Winkler, Thomas Smith.
Schools-Union No. 1. David Allan, Teacher. House, log.
Furnished with Maps,. &c. Average attendance for 1864 (from Normanby), 21.
Union No.2. Samuel Quinn, Teacher. House, log. Furnished with
Maps, &c. Average attendance for 9 months of 1864, 13 (from Normanby).
No. 1. Nathaniel Grier, Teacher.- House, log. Furnished with Maps, &c.
Average attendance for 1864, 34.
No.2. David Grier, Teacher. House, log. Furnished with Maps, &c.
Average attendance for last 6 months of 1864, 14.
No.3. Annie Corley, Teacher. House, log. Furnished with Maps, &c.
Average attendance for 1864, 19.
No.4. Edwin Riley, Teacher. House, log. Furnished with Maps, &c.
Average attendance for 1864, 31.
No.5. Wm. H. Riddell, Teacher. House, log. Furnished with Maps, &c.
Average attendance for 1864, 48.
No.6. Patrick O'Leary, Teacher. House, log. Furnished with Maps, &c.
Average attendance for 1864, 43.
No.7. Margaret Heterick, Teacher. House, log. Furnished with Maps, &c.
Average attendance for first six months of 1864, 17.
No.8. Henry Muir, Teacher. House, log. Furnished with Maps, &c.
Average attendance for 1864, 30.
No.9. Dominic Zweifel, Teacher. House, log. Furnished with Maps, &c.
Average attendance for 1864, 27.
No.12. Charles Hartlieb, Teacher. House, log. Furnished with Maps, &c.
Average attendance for 1864, 18.
No.13. Henrietta Gardiner, Teacher. House, log. Furnished with Maps, &c.
Average attendance for 1864, 18.
R. C. Separate School, No. 2. Jeremiah O'Sullivan, Teacher. House, log.
R. C. Separate School, No.10. Vacant. House, log.
Union No.4 (Normanby and Egremont; Mt. Forest School). House,
brick. Furnished with Maps, &c. Average attendance, from
Normanby, for 1864, 33.
Union No. 4 (Normanby and Egremont; Mt. Forest Female School).
House, frame. Furnished with Maps, &c. Average attendance,
from Normanby, for 1864, 32.
Union No.3 (Normanby and Egremont). House, frame. Furnished
with Maps, &c. Average attendance for 1864, from Normanby, 18.
NOTE.-The 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Concessions are parallel with the
Garafraxa Road; the Concession lines running N. and S. From the
4th to the 18th Concessions, the lines run E. and W.; Concession 4
being at the S. limit of the township and Con. 18 bounding the
North limit.
Koenig, John, Concession 5, Lot 12
Koenig, Lewis, Concession 6, Lot 10
The above two Koenigs were the only ones listed for Normanby Township. Notice the John Koenig listed is NOT Ludwig (or Lewis) Koenig's son John as he was born in 1858.
Elizabeth Grien emigrated to Canada from Germany in the 1850s. She married Ludwig (Lewis) Koneig who was born about 1824 in Germany. We do not know where Elizabeth Koenig's grave is. They had eight kids:
1. Peter KOENIG b: 17 NOV 1860 in Mildmay, Ontario, Canada
2. John KOENIG b: 1858 in Normanby Township, Grey County, Ontario, Canada
3. Lewis KOENIG b: 1860 in Ontario, Canada
4. Helena KOENIG b: 1872 in Ontario, Canada
5. Katharina KOENIG b: 1870 in Ontario, Canada
6. Mary KOENIG b: 1867 in Ontario, Canada
7. Caroline KOENIG b: 1866 in Ontario, Canada
8. William KOENIG b: 1864 in Ontario, Canada
-----
Source (edited): Article from "Sterling Centennial Logan County Family History, 1884-1894" - The Peter Koenig Family - Peter Koenig was born in the village of Mildmay, Ontario, Canada November 17, 1860. Peter grew up speaking German as his parents Ludwig (Lewis) and Elizabeth Koenig had emigrated to Canada from Germany in the 1850s. Always ambitious, Peter apprenticed to a blacksmith at an early age and photos show his powerful chest and shoulders which developed from working the blacksmith bellows. By the time he was twenty, however, his lungs were being badly affected by the smoke of the blacksmith shop and he had to look for another occupation. His physical strength led him to become an apprentice stonemason. Most of the large homes were made of the native grey stone and his work was in great demand. Many of the homes he built in the 1880s are still occupied one hundred years later.
In 1882, he married Magdalena Heist and shortly afterward, purchased his father's farm. Peter's brother John had left Canada and had settled in Nebraska a few miles from the first homestead claim in the US. John asked his aging parents to return with him to Nebraska while he and his family were visiting Canada. When John, his wife and 13 children left in their covered wagon for their new home, the elder Koenigs went with them. Thus Peter purchased his father's farm which was the original Royal land grant. The grant had been filed under Lewis King, the Anglican version of Ludwig Koenig.
In only a few years the Westward Expansion bug bit Peter also and he and Henry Thurkhorn went to Nebraska to look for homestead land.
However, they had arrived too late and all of the land had been claimed. He was advised to look for land around the new town of Greeley, Colorado, but he found the same problem there. The only land available was across the Platte River in the sandhills several miles east of the new town of Sterling. Peter returned to Canada, loaded his belongings including a team of horses in a boxcar and he and his family moved to Colorado. By then, the family included three daughters, Maggie, Lydia, and Emma, and one son, baby Jacob Edward. One can only imagine Magdalena's thoughts as she recalled the plush woods of her Canadian home as she surveyed the endless dry prairie surrounding her new home at LeRoy. This was the third settlement of the area as the rainless summers had driven two earlier sets of homesteaders away.
Peter was businessman enough to realize that the only sure money to be made probably wouldn't be from farming, so he opened a general store.
The Evangelical Church was central in the lives of the Koenigs as it was in those of most of the settlers of German ancestry. Peter was able to put his earlier training as a stone mason to use when the new stone church was to be built.
Although all church services were conducted in German and Peter staunchly read his German Bible, Peter spoke English and he and his brother Will, who had joined the Colorado family, decided to change the pronunciation of the family name from "Kanig" to "Konig," thus making it sound more Anglicanized. The family in Nebraska and in Canada still use the German pronunciation.
Each year seemed to bring another child into the family. In the eleven years between 1889 and 1900, five boys and one girl were born. They were Elizabeth, Erwin Henry ("Fat"), Simon Peter ("Sib"), Elroy ("Short"), Clarence and Percy Milton ("Doc"). Then in 1905, Magdalena, expecting her eleventh child, suddenly died.
Left a widower with ten children, Peter returned to Canada to seek a wife and mother for his children. When he returned to Sterling, he brought his new wife, Margaret, Magdalena's younger sister, and her twin sons, Clinton and Clayton Astell.
In July, 1906, their first son, John Wesley, was born, and eighteen months later in January, 1908, Vergil was born.
In 1936, Margaret died and Peter remarried, he was never able to find another woman as kind as Magdalena and Margaret had been. He died May 12, 1948 leaving many descendants.
------
Source of Grien surname:
We found a marriage record of Peter Koenig and Magdalene Hoist:
3572-82 Peter KOENIG, 22, mason, Normanby, same, s/o Ludwig KOENIG & Elizabeth GRIEN married Magdalene HOIST, 19, Minto, same, d/o Jacob & Elizabeth HOIST, Wtn: Simon HOIST OF Minto & Mary DAMM & Ludwig KOENIG of Normanby October 17, 1882 at Normanby
-------
Source of birth dates (1881 Canadian Census):
One source give us the following:
2176. 1881 Canadian Census; Latter Day Saints Family History Resource File; CD; Intellectual Reserve Inc., 2001 Norm#154-C-3-36-137: Lewis Koenig, 57, GERM, Germ., farmer, Meth.
2177. 1881 Canadian Census; Latter Day Saints Family History Resource File; CD; Intellectual Reserve Inc., 2001 [wife] Mrs. Elizabethe Koenig, 54, GERM, germ., Meth.
The 1881 Canadian Census put a Lewis (born 1824), Elizabethe (born 1827), John (born 1858), Lewis (born 1860), Peter (born 1862), William (born 1864), Caroline (born 1866), Mary (born 1867), Katharina (born 1870) and Helena (born 1872) - all in the same household. We found these records here at www.familysearch.org, and are using them for our birth dates except for Peter's birthdate (we are using his cemetery record).
One source give us the following:
2176. 1881 Canadian Census; Latter Day Saints Family History Resource File; CD; Intellectual Reserve Inc., 2001 Norm#154-C-3-36-137: Lewis Koenig, 57, GERM, Germ., farmer, Meth.
2177. 1881 Canadian Census; Latter Day Saints Family History Resource File; CD; Intellectual Reserve Inc., 2001 [wife] Mrs. Elizabethe Koenig, 54, GERM, germ., Meth.
1881 Canadian Census details:
Lewis KOENIG Household
Male
Other Information:
Birth Year
Birthplace Germany
Age 57
Occupation Farmer
Marital Status M
Ethnic Origin German
Head of Household Lewis KOENIG
Religion Methodist
Source Information:
Census Place Normanby, Grey South, Ontario
Family History Library Film 1375896
NA Film Number C-13260
District 154
Sub-district C
Division 3
Page Number 36
Household Number 137
Elizabethe KOENIG Household
Female
Other Information:
Birth Year
Birthplace Germany
Age 54
Occupation
Marital Status M
Head of Household Lewis KOENIG
Source Information:
Census Place Normanby, Grey South, Ontario
Family History Library Film 1375896
District 154
Sub-district C
Division 3
Page Number 36
Household Number 137
John KOENIG Household
Male
Other Information:
Birth Year
Birthplace Ontario
Age 23
Occupation Farmer
Marital Status
Ethnic Origin German
Head of Household Lewis KOENIG
Religion Methodist
Source Information:
Census Place Normanby, Grey South, Ontario
Family History Library Film 1375896
NA Film Number C-13260
District 154
Sub-district C
Division 3
Page Number 36
Household Number 137
Peter KOENIG Household
Male
Other Information:
Birth Year
Birthplace O
Age 19
Occupation Mason
Marital Status
Ethnic Origin German
Head of Household Lewis KOENIG
Religion Methodist
Source Information:
Census Place Normanby, Grey South, Ontario
Family History Library Film 1375896
NA Film Number C-13260
District 154
Sub-district C
Division 3
Page Number 36
Household Number 137
Lewis KOENIG Household
Male
Other Information:
Birth Year
Birthplace O
Age 21
Occupation Farmer
Marital Status
Ethnic Origin German
Head of Household Lewis KOENIG
Religion Methodist
Source Information:
Census Place Normanby, Grey South, Ontario
Family History Library Film 1375896
NA Film Number C-13260
District 154
Sub-district C
Division 3
Page Number 36
Household Number 137
William KOENIG Household
Male
Other Information:
Birth Year
Birthplace O
Age 17
Occupation Son
Marital Status
Ethnic Origin German
Head of Household Lewis KOENIG
Religion Methodist
Source Information:
Census Place Normanby, Grey South, Ontario
Family History Library Film 1375896
NA Film Number C-13260
District 154
Sub-district C
Division 3
Page Number 36
Household Number 137
Caroline KOENIG Household
Female
Other Information:
Birth Year
Birthplace O
Age 15
Occupation
Marital Status
Ethnic Origin German
Head of Household Lewis KOENIG
Religion Methodist
Source Information:
Census Place Normanby, Grey South, Ontario
Family History Library Film 1375896
NA Film Number C-13260
District 154
Sub-district C
Division 3
Page Number 36
Household Number 137
Mary KOENIG Household
Female
Other Information:
Birth Year
Birthplace Ontario
Age 14
Occupation
Marital Status
Ethnic Origin German
Head of Household Lewis KOENIG
Religion Methodist
Source Information:
Census Place Normanby, Grey South, Ontario
Family History Library Film 1375896
NA Film Number C-13260
District 154
Sub-district C
Division 3
Page Number 37
Household Number 137
Katharina KOENIG Household
Female
Other Information:
Birth Year
Birthplace O
Age 11
Occupation
Marital Status
Ethnic Origin German
Head of Household Lewis KOENIG
Religion Methodist
Source Information:
Census Place Normanby, Grey South, Ontario
Family History Library Film 1375896
NA Film Number C-13260
District 154
Sub-district C
Division 3
Page Number 37
Household Number 137
Helena KOENIG Household
Female
Other Information:
Birth Year
Birthplace O
Age 9
Occupation
Marital Status
Head of Household Lewis KOENIG
Source Information:
Census Place Normanby, Grey South, Ontario
Family History Library Film 1375896
District 154
Sub-district C
Division 3
Page Number 37
Household Number 137
-------
Where the Ludwig (or Lewis) Koenig family lived:
Source: Directory of the County of Grey For 1865-1866:
The Township of Normanby, named after the British nobleman of
that name, lies at the S. W. corner of the County of Grey,
having the Township of Bentinck on the North, Egremont on the
East, the Township of Minto, in Wellington, on the South, the
Township of Howic, in Huron, at the S. W. corner, and Carrick,
in Bruce, on the West. It is one of the best townships in the County,
one of the newest, and by the census of 1861 the most populous.
As elsewhere mentioned, the Garafraxa Road (forming its Eastern
boundary) was run out by John McDonald, P.L.S., of Goderich, in
1841. At that time only one parallel Concession on each side
was laid out, but in 1845, a second and third tier of lots were
laid off on each side. These constitute what may be called the
"Old Survey," in Normanby and other townships. The front lots
were given in 50-acre "grants" to actual settlers, and the road
soon began to be lined with a thin fringe of settlements. In
1851 the survey of the rest of the township was taken hold of by
the late David Gibson., P.L.S., and finished either that or the
following year. The "New Survey" was first held for sale by
the Government in 1856. For a year or two before that date,
however, there had been a great influx of German immigrants,
filling up Carrick, and parts of Normanby, Brant and Bentinck.
These squatters purchased the lots on which they had settled;
and the face of the country soon began to show the hand of
improvement. It is remarked through Canada that not only do
Germans make enterprising and reliable settlers, but that they
seldom locate on poor land. Normanby is no exception. The
Western and South-western half of the township is excellent land,
not troubled with excess of stones, and lying handsomely. The
Saugeen River, in its passage from Mount Forest to Hanover,
divides the township diagonally into rather unequal parts,
the N. E. being the larger. The part S.W. of the river is the
finest part of the town-ship, and is chiefly in the hands of
the Dutch. While there are some beautiful lands at different
points on the Garafraxa Road, the Eastern part of the township
has a considerable amount of swampy and gravelly land. The
prevailing soil in Normanby is clay.
Normanby has two villages entirely within its limits- Ayton
and Neustadt, and Mount Forest and Orchardville partly within
it. It has several Grist and Sawmills, Stores and country
Taverns. A curious system has been in vogue respecting
Assessors and Collectors. An Assessor and a Collector is
appointed annually for each Ward in the Township. The latter
may work satisfactorily; but, with five Assessors, the Court of
Revision must have an unusual amount of business.
Census Reports.-Population in 1861, 3,963; Natives of
England, 151; Natives of Scotland, 365; Natives of Ireland, 708;
Natives of Canada, 1,999 (besides 51 of Fr. Canadian origin);
Natives of the U.S., 45.; Natives of Prussia, Germany and Holland, 628;
Natives of France, 12; Coloured persons, 29.
Total occupiers of lands, 597; holding from 20 to 50 acres
each, 18; holding from 50 to 100 acres each, 212; holding
over 100 acres each, 353.
Fall wheat raised; 1,902 bushels; Spring Wheat, 78,378 bushels;
Barley, 3,448 bushels; Pease, 8,261 bushels; Oats, 39,160 bushels;
Potatoes, 37,905 bushels; Turnips, 171,360 bushels;
Hay, 1,862 tons; Maple Sugar; 14,694 lbs; Wool, 3,921 lbs.;
Butter, 62,062 lbs.; Cheese, 865 lbs.; Pork, 830 brls.
During the four years that have intervened, the annual products
must have risen to nearly double the above figures; but it is
impossible to obtain later statistics.
Municipal Officers.-Reeve, William H. Ryan (Mt. Forest P. O.).;
Dep. Reeve, David Winkler (Neustadt P. O.);
Councillors, J. Robertson, H. A. McMahon, J. McColman.
Clerk, Dr. George Niemeier (Neustadt P. O.);
Treasurer, Robert Watson (Bentinck P. O.).
Magistrates.-William H. Ryan, George Niemeier, John Robertson,
Henry McMahon, David Winkler, Thomas Smith.
Schools-Union No. 1. David Allan, Teacher. House, log.
Furnished with Maps,. &c. Average attendance for 1864 (from Normanby), 21.
Union No.2. Samuel Quinn, Teacher. House, log. Furnished with
Maps, &c. Average attendance for 9 months of 1864, 13 (from Normanby).
No. 1. Nathaniel Grier, Teacher.- House, log. Furnished with Maps, &c.
Average attendance for 1864, 34.
No.2. David Grier, Teacher. House, log. Furnished with Maps, &c.
Average attendance for last 6 months of 1864, 14.
No.3. Annie Corley, Teacher. House, log. Furnished with Maps, &c.
Average attendance for 1864, 19.
No.4. Edwin Riley, Teacher. House, log. Furnished with Maps, &c.
Average attendance for 1864, 31.
No.5. Wm. H. Riddell, Teacher. House, log. Furnished with Maps, &c.
Average attendance for 1864, 48.
No.6. Patrick O'Leary, Teacher. House, log. Furnished with Maps, &c.
Average attendance for 1864, 43.
No.7. Margaret Heterick, Teacher. House, log. Furnished with Maps, &c.
Average attendance for first six months of 1864, 17.
No.8. Henry Muir, Teacher. House, log. Furnished with Maps, &c.
Average attendance for 1864, 30.
No.9. Dominic Zweifel, Teacher. House, log. Furnished with Maps, &c.
Average attendance for 1864, 27.
No.12. Charles Hartlieb, Teacher. House, log. Furnished with Maps, &c.
Average attendance for 1864, 18.
No.13. Henrietta Gardiner, Teacher. House, log. Furnished with Maps, &c.
Average attendance for 1864, 18.
R. C. Separate School, No. 2. Jeremiah O'Sullivan, Teacher. House, log.
R. C. Separate School, No.10. Vacant. House, log.
Union No.4 (Normanby and Egremont; Mt. Forest School). House,
brick. Furnished with Maps, &c. Average attendance, from
Normanby, for 1864, 33.
Union No. 4 (Normanby and Egremont; Mt. Forest Female School).
House, frame. Furnished with Maps, &c. Average attendance,
from Normanby, for 1864, 32.
Union No.3 (Normanby and Egremont). House, frame. Furnished
with Maps, &c. Average attendance for 1864, from Normanby, 18.
NOTE.-The 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Concessions are parallel with the
Garafraxa Road; the Concession lines running N. and S. From the
4th to the 18th Concessions, the lines run E. and W.; Concession 4
being at the S. limit of the township and Con. 18 bounding the
North limit.
Koenig, John, Concession 5, Lot 12
Koenig, Lewis, Concession 6, Lot 10
The above two Koenigs were the only ones listed for Normanby Township. Notice the John Koenig listed is NOT Ludwig (or Lewis) Koenig's son John as he was born in 1858.
1. Peter KOENIG b: 17 NOV 1860 in Mildmay, Ontario, Canada
2. John KOENIG b: 1858 in Normanby Township, Grey County, Ontario, Canada
3. Lewis KOENIG b: 1860 in Ontario, Canada
4. Helena KOENIG b: 1872 in Ontario, Canada
5. Katharina KOENIG b: 1870 in Ontario, Canada
6. Mary KOENIG b: 1867 in Ontario, Canada
7. Caroline KOENIG b: 1866 in Ontario, Canada
8. William KOENIG b: 1864 in Ontario, Canada
-----
Source (edited): Article from "Sterling Centennial Logan County Family History, 1884-1894" - The Peter Koenig Family - Peter Koenig was born in the village of Mildmay, Ontario, Canada November 17, 1860. Peter grew up speaking German as his parents Ludwig (Lewis) and Elizabeth Koenig had emigrated to Canada from Germany in the 1850s. Always ambitious, Peter apprenticed to a blacksmith at an early age and photos show his powerful chest and shoulders which developed from working the blacksmith bellows. By the time he was twenty, however, his lungs were being badly affected by the smoke of the blacksmith shop and he had to look for another occupation. His physical strength led him to become an apprentice stonemason. Most of the large homes were made of the native grey stone and his work was in great demand. Many of the homes he built in the 1880s are still occupied one hundred years later.
In 1882, he married Magdalena Heist and shortly afterward, purchased his father's farm. Peter's brother John had left Canada and had settled in Nebraska a few miles from the first homestead claim in the US. John asked his aging parents to return with him to Nebraska while he and his family were visiting Canada. When John, his wife and 13 children left in their covered wagon for their new home, the elder Koenigs went with them. Thus Peter purchased his father's farm which was the original Royal land grant. The grant had been filed under Lewis King, the Anglican version of Ludwig Koenig.
In only a few years the Westward Expansion bug bit Peter also and he and Henry Thurkhorn went to Nebraska to look for homestead land.
However, they had arrived too late and all of the land had been claimed. He was advised to look for land around the new town of Greeley, Colorado, but he found the same problem there. The only land available was across the Platte River in the sandhills several miles east of the new town of Sterling. Peter returned to Canada, loaded his belongings including a team of horses in a boxcar and he and his family moved to Colorado. By then, the family included three daughters, Maggie, Lydia, and Emma, and one son, baby Jacob Edward. One can only imagine Magdalena's thoughts as she recalled the plush woods of her Canadian home as she surveyed the endless dry prairie surrounding her new home at LeRoy. This was the third settlement of the area as the rainless summers had driven two earlier sets of homesteaders away.
Peter was businessman enough to realize that the only sure money to be made probably wouldn't be from farming, so he opened a general store.
The Evangelical Church was central in the lives of the Koenigs as it was in those of most of the settlers of German ancestry. Peter was able to put his earlier training as a stone mason to use when the new stone church was to be built.
Although all church services were conducted in German and Peter staunchly read his German Bible, Peter spoke English and he and his brother Will, who had joined the Colorado family, decided to change the pronunciation of the family name from "Kanig" to "Konig," thus making it sound more Anglicanized. The family in Nebraska and in Canada still use the German pronunciation.
Each year seemed to bring another child into the family. In the eleven years between 1889 and 1900, five boys and one girl were born. They were Elizabeth, Erwin Henry ("Fat"), Simon Peter ("Sib"), Elroy ("Short"), Clarence and Percy Milton ("Doc"). Then in 1905, Magdalena, expecting her eleventh child, suddenly died.
Left a widower with ten children, Peter returned to Canada to seek a wife and mother for his children. When he returned to Sterling, he brought his new wife, Margaret, Magdalena's younger sister, and her twin sons, Clinton and Clayton Astell.
In July, 1906, their first son, John Wesley, was born, and eighteen months later in January, 1908, Vergil was born.
In 1936, Margaret died and Peter remarried, he was never able to find another woman as kind as Magdalena and Margaret had been. He died May 12, 1948 leaving many descendants.
------
Source of Grien surname:
We found a marriage record of Peter Koenig and Magdalene Hoist:
3572-82 Peter KOENIG, 22, mason, Normanby, same, s/o Ludwig KOENIG & Elizabeth GRIEN married Magdalene HOIST, 19, Minto, same, d/o Jacob & Elizabeth HOIST, Wtn: Simon HOIST OF Minto & Mary DAMM & Ludwig KOENIG of Normanby October 17, 1882 at Normanby
-------
Source of birth dates (1881 Canadian Census):
One source give us the following:
2176. 1881 Canadian Census; Latter Day Saints Family History Resource File; CD; Intellectual Reserve Inc., 2001 Norm#154-C-3-36-137: Lewis Koenig, 57, GERM, Germ., farmer, Meth.
2177. 1881 Canadian Census; Latter Day Saints Family History Resource File; CD; Intellectual Reserve Inc., 2001 [wife] Mrs. Elizabethe Koenig, 54, GERM, germ., Meth.
The 1881 Canadian Census put a Lewis (born 1824), Elizabethe (born 1827), John (born 1858), Lewis (born 1860), Peter (born 1862), William (born 1864), Caroline (born 1866), Mary (born 1867), Katharina (born 1870) and Helena (born 1872) - all in the same household. We found these records here at www.familysearch.org, and are using them for our birth dates except for Peter's birthdate (we are using his cemetery record).
One source give us the following:
2176. 1881 Canadian Census; Latter Day Saints Family History Resource File; CD; Intellectual Reserve Inc., 2001 Norm#154-C-3-36-137: Lewis Koenig, 57, GERM, Germ., farmer, Meth.
2177. 1881 Canadian Census; Latter Day Saints Family History Resource File; CD; Intellectual Reserve Inc., 2001 [wife] Mrs. Elizabethe Koenig, 54, GERM, germ., Meth.
1881 Canadian Census details:
Lewis KOENIG Household
Male
Other Information:
Birth Year
Birthplace Germany
Age 57
Occupation Farmer
Marital Status M
Ethnic Origin German
Head of Household Lewis KOENIG
Religion Methodist
Source Information:
Census Place Normanby, Grey South, Ontario
Family History Library Film 1375896
NA Film Number C-13260
District 154
Sub-district C
Division 3
Page Number 36
Household Number 137
Elizabethe KOENIG Household
Female
Other Information:
Birth Year
Birthplace Germany
Age 54
Occupation
Marital Status M
Head of Household Lewis KOENIG
Source Information:
Census Place Normanby, Grey South, Ontario
Family History Library Film 1375896
District 154
Sub-district C
Division 3
Page Number 36
Household Number 137
John KOENIG Household
Male
Other Information:
Birth Year
Birthplace Ontario
Age 23
Occupation Farmer
Marital Status
Ethnic Origin German
Head of Household Lewis KOENIG
Religion Methodist
Source Information:
Census Place Normanby, Grey South, Ontario
Family History Library Film 1375896
NA Film Number C-13260
District 154
Sub-district C
Division 3
Page Number 36
Household Number 137
Peter KOENIG Household
Male
Other Information:
Birth Year
Birthplace O
Age 19
Occupation Mason
Marital Status
Ethnic Origin German
Head of Household Lewis KOENIG
Religion Methodist
Source Information:
Census Place Normanby, Grey South, Ontario
Family History Library Film 1375896
NA Film Number C-13260
District 154
Sub-district C
Division 3
Page Number 36
Household Number 137
Lewis KOENIG Household
Male
Other Information:
Birth Year
Birthplace O
Age 21
Occupation Farmer
Marital Status
Ethnic Origin German
Head of Household Lewis KOENIG
Religion Methodist
Source Information:
Census Place Normanby, Grey South, Ontario
Family History Library Film 1375896
NA Film Number C-13260
District 154
Sub-district C
Division 3
Page Number 36
Household Number 137
William KOENIG Household
Male
Other Information:
Birth Year
Birthplace O
Age 17
Occupation Son
Marital Status
Ethnic Origin German
Head of Household Lewis KOENIG
Religion Methodist
Source Information:
Census Place Normanby, Grey South, Ontario
Family History Library Film 1375896
NA Film Number C-13260
District 154
Sub-district C
Division 3
Page Number 36
Household Number 137
Caroline KOENIG Household
Female
Other Information:
Birth Year
Birthplace O
Age 15
Occupation
Marital Status
Ethnic Origin German
Head of Household Lewis KOENIG
Religion Methodist
Source Information:
Census Place Normanby, Grey South, Ontario
Family History Library Film 1375896
NA Film Number C-13260
District 154
Sub-district C
Division 3
Page Number 36
Household Number 137
Mary KOENIG Household
Female
Other Information:
Birth Year
Birthplace Ontario
Age 14
Occupation
Marital Status
Ethnic Origin German
Head of Household Lewis KOENIG
Religion Methodist
Source Information:
Census Place Normanby, Grey South, Ontario
Family History Library Film 1375896
NA Film Number C-13260
District 154
Sub-district C
Division 3
Page Number 37
Household Number 137
Katharina KOENIG Household
Female
Other Information:
Birth Year
Birthplace O
Age 11
Occupation
Marital Status
Ethnic Origin German
Head of Household Lewis KOENIG
Religion Methodist
Source Information:
Census Place Normanby, Grey South, Ontario
Family History Library Film 1375896
NA Film Number C-13260
District 154
Sub-district C
Division 3
Page Number 37
Household Number 137
Helena KOENIG Household
Female
Other Information:
Birth Year
Birthplace O
Age 9
Occupation
Marital Status
Head of Household Lewis KOENIG
Source Information:
Census Place Normanby, Grey South, Ontario
Family History Library Film 1375896
District 154
Sub-district C
Division 3
Page Number 37
Household Number 137
-------
Where the Ludwig (or Lewis) Koenig family lived:
Source: Directory of the County of Grey For 1865-1866:
The Township of Normanby, named after the British nobleman of
that name, lies at the S. W. corner of the County of Grey,
having the Township of Bentinck on the North, Egremont on the
East, the Township of Minto, in Wellington, on the South, the
Township of Howic, in Huron, at the S. W. corner, and Carrick,
in Bruce, on the West. It is one of the best townships in the County,
one of the newest, and by the census of 1861 the most populous.
As elsewhere mentioned, the Garafraxa Road (forming its Eastern
boundary) was run out by John McDonald, P.L.S., of Goderich, in
1841. At that time only one parallel Concession on each side
was laid out, but in 1845, a second and third tier of lots were
laid off on each side. These constitute what may be called the
"Old Survey," in Normanby and other townships. The front lots
were given in 50-acre "grants" to actual settlers, and the road
soon began to be lined with a thin fringe of settlements. In
1851 the survey of the rest of the township was taken hold of by
the late David Gibson., P.L.S., and finished either that or the
following year. The "New Survey" was first held for sale by
the Government in 1856. For a year or two before that date,
however, there had been a great influx of German immigrants,
filling up Carrick, and parts of Normanby, Brant and Bentinck.
These squatters purchased the lots on which they had settled;
and the face of the country soon began to show the hand of
improvement. It is remarked through Canada that not only do
Germans make enterprising and reliable settlers, but that they
seldom locate on poor land. Normanby is no exception. The
Western and South-western half of the township is excellent land,
not troubled with excess of stones, and lying handsomely. The
Saugeen River, in its passage from Mount Forest to Hanover,
divides the township diagonally into rather unequal parts,
the N. E. being the larger. The part S.W. of the river is the
finest part of the town-ship, and is chiefly in the hands of
the Dutch. While there are some beautiful lands at different
points on the Garafraxa Road, the Eastern part of the township
has a considerable amount of swampy and gravelly land. The
prevailing soil in Normanby is clay.
Normanby has two villages entirely within its limits- Ayton
and Neustadt, and Mount Forest and Orchardville partly within
it. It has several Grist and Sawmills, Stores and country
Taverns. A curious system has been in vogue respecting
Assessors and Collectors. An Assessor and a Collector is
appointed annually for each Ward in the Township. The latter
may work satisfactorily; but, with five Assessors, the Court of
Revision must have an unusual amount of business.
Census Reports.-Population in 1861, 3,963; Natives of
England, 151; Natives of Scotland, 365; Natives of Ireland, 708;
Natives of Canada, 1,999 (besides 51 of Fr. Canadian origin);
Natives of the U.S., 45.; Natives of Prussia, Germany and Holland, 628;
Natives of France, 12; Coloured persons, 29.
Total occupiers of lands, 597; holding from 20 to 50 acres
each, 18; holding from 50 to 100 acres each, 212; holding
over 100 acres each, 353.
Fall wheat raised; 1,902 bushels; Spring Wheat, 78,378 bushels;
Barley, 3,448 bushels; Pease, 8,261 bushels; Oats, 39,160 bushels;
Potatoes, 37,905 bushels; Turnips, 171,360 bushels;
Hay, 1,862 tons; Maple Sugar; 14,694 lbs; Wool, 3,921 lbs.;
Butter, 62,062 lbs.; Cheese, 865 lbs.; Pork, 830 brls.
During the four years that have intervened, the annual products
must have risen to nearly double the above figures; but it is
impossible to obtain later statistics.
Municipal Officers.-Reeve, William H. Ryan (Mt. Forest P. O.).;
Dep. Reeve, David Winkler (Neustadt P. O.);
Councillors, J. Robertson, H. A. McMahon, J. McColman.
Clerk, Dr. George Niemeier (Neustadt P. O.);
Treasurer, Robert Watson (Bentinck P. O.).
Magistrates.-William H. Ryan, George Niemeier, John Robertson,
Henry McMahon, David Winkler, Thomas Smith.
Schools-Union No. 1. David Allan, Teacher. House, log.
Furnished with Maps,. &c. Average attendance for 1864 (from Normanby), 21.
Union No.2. Samuel Quinn, Teacher. House, log. Furnished with
Maps, &c. Average attendance for 9 months of 1864, 13 (from Normanby).
No. 1. Nathaniel Grier, Teacher.- House, log. Furnished with Maps, &c.
Average attendance for 1864, 34.
No.2. David Grier, Teacher. House, log. Furnished with Maps, &c.
Average attendance for last 6 months of 1864, 14.
No.3. Annie Corley, Teacher. House, log. Furnished with Maps, &c.
Average attendance for 1864, 19.
No.4. Edwin Riley, Teacher. House, log. Furnished with Maps, &c.
Average attendance for 1864, 31.
No.5. Wm. H. Riddell, Teacher. House, log. Furnished with Maps, &c.
Average attendance for 1864, 48.
No.6. Patrick O'Leary, Teacher. House, log. Furnished with Maps, &c.
Average attendance for 1864, 43.
No.7. Margaret Heterick, Teacher. House, log. Furnished with Maps, &c.
Average attendance for first six months of 1864, 17.
No.8. Henry Muir, Teacher. House, log. Furnished with Maps, &c.
Average attendance for 1864, 30.
No.9. Dominic Zweifel, Teacher. House, log. Furnished with Maps, &c.
Average attendance for 1864, 27.
No.12. Charles Hartlieb, Teacher. House, log. Furnished with Maps, &c.
Average attendance for 1864, 18.
No.13. Henrietta Gardiner, Teacher. House, log. Furnished with Maps, &c.
Average attendance for 1864, 18.
R. C. Separate School, No. 2. Jeremiah O'Sullivan, Teacher. House, log.
R. C. Separate School, No.10. Vacant. House, log.
Union No.4 (Normanby and Egremont; Mt. Forest School). House,
brick. Furnished with Maps, &c. Average attendance, from
Normanby, for 1864, 33.
Union No. 4 (Normanby and Egremont; Mt. Forest Female School).
House, frame. Furnished with Maps, &c. Average attendance,
from Normanby, for 1864, 32.
Union No.3 (Normanby and Egremont). House, frame. Furnished
with Maps, &c. Average attendance for 1864, from Normanby, 18.
NOTE.-The 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Concessions are parallel with the
Garafraxa Road; the Concession lines running N. and S. From the
4th to the 18th Concessions, the lines run E. and W.; Concession 4
being at the S. limit of the township and Con. 18 bounding the
North limit.
Koenig, John, Concession 5, Lot 12
Koenig, Lewis, Concession 6, Lot 10
The above two Koenigs were the only ones listed for Normanby Township. Notice the John Koenig listed is NOT Ludwig (or Lewis) Koenig's son John as he was born in 1858.
Inscription
Wife of Ludwig
Family Members
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