George Rippe had settled a short time in New York before coming west. (1851)
1870 Census: Washington Twp., Will Co., IL. 1862 Militia Roll.
1873 landowner of Washington Twp., Will Co., IL.
In Sep. 1878 the family came to Belle Prairie Twp., Fillmore Co., NE NW 1/4 Section 24, Township 5, Range 2. Purchased from Mr. Sidney Hill. Sold the farm to his son Louis in 1886.

Georg and Caroline Rippe were not baptized in the churches of Stolzenau or Schinna. It is probable that they came from some other settlement. There apparently is no church at Anemolter. George and Caroline came to US separately. Georg thought to have emigrated in 1851 to NY then on to Will County, IL. Caroline came in 1856 via NY then to Will Co., IL with son Ernst and Dorothea Rippe.

Moved to Nebraska in September of 1878 and purchased NW1/4 Sec, 24 T5 R2 Belle Prairie Township, Fillmore County, NE from Sidney H. Hill. They lived in a dugout until they could build a house. They sold farm to son Louis in March 1886. Louis sold farm to his son Herman Rippe. Herman farmed the family farm until December 1961. Herman's son Willard then bought the farm and were living their in 1998.

Heinrich Rippe Sr. came to Beecher, IL in 1866 with his parents. He was confirmed at St. Johns Lutheran Church Eagle Lake at Beecher. In 1870 he was counted in the census of Washington Twp., Will Co., IL coming to Nebraska in 1881 after his marriage. In 1910 & 1920 per the census the family lived in Belle Prairie Township, Fillmore Co., NE.

OBITUARY NEBRAKSA SIGNAL, GENEVA, NE JAN. 1, 1914
Henry Rippe was born in Washington, Will County, IL Sept. 27, 1857. In 1880 he was united in marriage to Miss Katherine Roetter. In 1881 they moved to Nebraska and located on a farm SW of Ohiowa, where they resided until his death on Dec. 23, 1913. He died after a long illness and a series of operations, aged 56 years, 2 months and 23 days.

To Mr. and Mrs. Rippe were born eleven children, two preceding him in death. He is survived by his wife, two daughters, Miss Sophia Rippe and Mrs. Mary Pfinston, seven sons, Will, Frank, John, Henry, August, Theodore and Emil Rippe; three sisters, Mrs. William Meyer Sr., Mrs. H. Kappmeier Sr. and Mrs. Thomas Jicha; two brothers, Lew and Ernest Rippe and ten grandchildren. The funeral services were held by Rev. G. Klatt in the South German church Dec. 27, after which the remains were laid to rest in the cemetery of that church in a vault constructed by F. Eppler. Henry died of cancer of the stomach.

Note: The Ohiowa Book says that Henry Rippe was born in Cook County, IL. Other references say Will County, IL. The Ohiowa book says he moved to Will County when he was 6 years old.

Married by Pastor Emil B.R. Keuchen.
Confirmation 17 MAR 1872 St. Johns UCC, Beecher, Will Co., IL.

Lena (Rippe) Kappmeyer lived with her son Herman and daughter Emma in the 1920 Census Belle Prairie Twp., Fillmore Co., NE.

She was baptized and confirmed at the Evangelical Lutheran Church at Beecher, Will Co., IL where she spent her childhood. After the death of her husband she lived with her children. Her health was very poor for quite some time. The funeral services were held Tuesday afternoon first at the home of her daughter Mrs. Fred Eppler and then continued at the Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church south of Ohiowa. The service was conducted by Rev. Harder. Interment was at the church cemetery. Pallbearers were Conrad Wedeking, Wilhelm Schweer, Lou Eppler, Lou Sanders,Fred Wolfteich and Will Haak of Bruning. (from Obituary )

1910 & 1920 Census: Belle Prairie Twp., Fillmore Co., NE. Of Geneva, NE in 1933.
In 1878 Lou Rippe came to Franklin Twp, Fillmore Co. NE with his parents. After his marriage to Minnie Sieckmann, the family lived on a farm west of the South Lutheran Church (Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church) until their retirement in November of 1919. After retiring Lou and Minnie moved to Geneva, NE. After the death of his wife Lou returned to the farm to live with his son Herman and his family.

Lou Rippe was one of the charter members of the South Lutheran Church. He was very devoted to the church. He was very industrious and lived economically throughout his life. Services were held at the Herman Rippe home and at the South Lutheran Church. The officiating pastor was Rev. William Harder. The casketbearers were his four sons and two son-in-laws, Edward and Fred Dittmer. Interment was at the church cemetery.

Wilhelm Meyer known as William came to America in approximately 1867 at the age of 6 years old with his parents. They settled near Kankakee, IL By the time he was 14 years old he had studied the Lutheran faith and was confirmed at the Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Church at Crete, IL on 21 Mar 1875.

In the spring of 1884, William came to Fillmore Co. NE and that same year on October 31 he married Emma Rippe. Mr. and Mrs. Rippe continued to farm until 1926 when they moved into Ohiowa. They were members of the South Lutheran Church also known as the Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church.

Not too long before his death William mentioned to his wife that at any time their end could be expected. Nobody thought that his end would come as suddenly as it did. Heart trouble was the cause of his death.

Children Caroline, Sophia, Dorothea, Jeannie and Adolf were baptized on 20 Oct. 1892. Herman Wilhelm, and Ernst were baptized on 26 Nov 1893. Birthdates were given as 01 Oct 1892 for the first group and 18 Sep 1893 for the second group. They are listed as children of Wilhelm and Emma Meier.

If you have come to my website via Ancestry: Several years ago the genealogy giant Ancestry absorbed the genealogy websites of Rootsweb along with personal databases posted at Rootsweb's WorldConnect Project that included a large database of my own family information. I started using Rootsweb in 2000 and they gave us the capability to add, remove, and update our information at anytime and I used these options frequently to post correct and current data. Presently (2006) I am told by Ancestry that we cannot maintain our own databases, we cannot even remove them. If you find information at Ancestry with my name attached please search my website for current information, the databases posted at Ancestry contain inaccurate information. - Karen Rowe.