Settlement of the Peplow Family in Central Illinois

Just about any Peplow from central Illinois is probably a descendant of Christopher and Charlotte (Hamlow) Peplow of Pommern (Pomerania), a former Prussian Empire province now part of present-day Germany.  More specifically, Christopher and Charlotte were from a small island called Rügen, which lies in the Baltic Sea near Sweden and Denmark.  They had eight children (see table below).  Charlotte and seven of the children came to America in at least 4 distinct groupings over a span of about 20 years; all initially settled in or near Bloomington, McLean County.

Little is known of our earliest identified Peplow ancestor, starting with his name. Various sources indicate a first name of Christopher, Gottlieb, John, or any combination of these.  Common custom in Germany included the use of two middle names, so it is likely that his given name was in fact composed of all three.

Christopher is rumored to have died in Germany around 1877.  Soon after, Charlotte departed for America with at least two if not three of their sons (John, Herman, and probably Frederick).  Charlotte, John and Herman, aboard the Wieland, arrived in New York on June 19, 1877.  A Friedrich Paplow of about the right age appears later in the passenger manifest, but for reasons unknown, is not listed with Charlotte and his brothers.  In at least a couple census returns in Illinois, Frederick reports 1877 as his year of arrival in the United States.  For this reason, we'll assume Frederick was on the same boat as his mother and brothers.

In 1878, only a little over a year after her arrival in the United States, Charlotte died in Bloomington and was buried in the Old City Cemetery there.

Two other children, Alvina and August, immigrated to the United States several years before Charlotte.  They came aboard the America, arriving in New York on December 31, 1872.  Alvina and August are buried in the same cemetery as their mother. 

Another child, Wilhelm, who fought for Germany in the Franco-Prussian War, brought his wife and four daughters aboard the Main, arriving in Baltimore on November 5, 1889.  The last arrival in the family was Albert with his wife and their first six children into New York on June 3, 1893, aboard the Wieland.  One other brother, Charles, apparently stayed in Germany. 

Alvina, Wilhelm and August stayed in McLean County, but for the others, Bloomington served as a springboard for eventual settlement to other areas, including Tazewell County for John and Herman; Mason County for Frederick; and Peoria County for Albert.  Of the six brothers that came to America, all were farmers except Albert, who was a carpenter.  

1880 marked the first time members of this family appeared in the federal census.  Herman Peplow was living with his sister Alvina Burwitz and her family in Bloomington, and Fred and August were working as farmhands for other families in McLean and Livingston counties, respectively.  So far, John goes unaccounted for that year.

Other Peplow families getting their start in the 19th-century Midwest include those in Kane and Cook counties in Illinois and Detroit, Wayne County, Michigan.  Although a relationship between these families to ours has not yet been confirmed, we do know that they come from the same German island (Rügen).  The name Peplow is actually English in origin, and there were many migrations of English Peplow families to America earlier than ours.  Today, most but not all of those families are concentrated on the east coast.  The name is still quite prevalent in England.  Whether our German ancestors can be traced to England or whether our name evolved independently from some other form is unknown.   

Many thanks to Ruth Gottschalk, LaVerne Logsdon, and Ron Peplow for discussions which contributed to this report.

© 2003-2007 by Andrew W. Peplow.

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