Voth, John A. (1878-1962)

Mennonite Weekly Review obituary: 1962 Oct 25 p. 7

Birth date: 1878

text of obituary:

Immigrant of 1881 Dies At Chickasha, Okla.

Chickash [sic Chickasha], Okla. — John A. Voth, who was a member of an immigrant group coming to the U. S. from the Middle East in 1881, died at a nursing home near here on Oct. 4. He was nearly 84 years of age.

Mr. Voth's parents, Mr. and Mrs. Abraham Voth, were members of a small emigrant group who left Polish Russia for Palestine during the Russo-Turkish war and were stranded in Turkey. He was born in or near Constantinople in October 1878.

The parents were among those who died in Turkey due to the intense hardships. Mr. Voth and his sister Susie were cared for by a women [sic] named Schlabach, and were members of a small refugee group which arrived in Philadelphia in December 1881. They came to Halstead, Kan. where he was raised in the homes of Abraham Koehn and Pre. Henry Koehn.

After a number of years' residence in Texas, he came here in 1929 and found his nephews, sons of his sister who had died in 1893. He later became a member of the Plainview congregation of the Church of God in Christ, Mennonite. Funeral services were held at the local church on Oct. 7.