Pioneer Mennonite Communities / 61

before 1834 was a John or Christian Kauffman (the first name is uncertain).

Important in the planting of this community was Peter Imhoff whose name was to become associated with it as a leader for a longer period than any other.'' Coming from Germany in 1824 he worked in Pennsylvania for three years at $6.00 a month. He removed to Ashland County, Ohio (where his brothers John and Theodore were living as well as his cousins John and Peter Nusbaum), and purchased eighty acres of virgin timberland with maple, beech, hickory, oak, poplar, and walnut trees. In 1835 he married Elizabeth Pletcher, the daughter of Samuel Pletcher who pioneered in the Crawford County Mennonite settlement. On his cleared land he erected a barn and a house, the latter standing as late as 1926.

Peter Imhoff became known for his integrity and industry. He was ordained as a minister and later as a bishop. His role in these formative years of the Ashland County community must have been important though the decline of the congregation took place within his long lifetime. He died in 1893.

In 1832 two more Mennonite preachers came to the settlement. John Risser and Peter Beutler. Both were German immigrants from the Bavarian Palatinate. They purchased timberland in Vermillion Township and looked forward to settling permanently in the community. Future events were to show that Beutler had little difficulty to become one with the community and to find his place among his American brethren. Not so with John Risser who "assumed an attitude of superiority, complained about their narrow views, withdrew after having been virtually forced out, and soon founded a separate Mennonite congregation."

That these two German immigrants should settle in Vermillion Township is understandable when one recalls that the German language was chiefly used by many citizens in this area. That one could adjust to the church life of the community and the other could not is a topic that interests the historian. Risser apparently had other viewpoints and outlooks. He favored an educated, salaried ministry, had no compunctions against serving in political offices, and was accustomed to seeing Mennonites accept military service.

Another link in the westward movement of Mennonite people was that of a settlement near Galion in 1820."' Besides Pletcher and his family of five children there were others of his faith, among them a Kilmer family. Joseph Freed of Columbiana County was the