Ackerman Family Reunion
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2026 Ackerman Family Reunion invitation
Family • History • Heritage

Ackerman
Family Reunion

Christian Ackerman Sr. (1813–1903)
& Anna Belsley (1820–1903)

Celebrating more than two centuries of family history, stories, photographs and the descendants of Christian Ackerman Sr. and Anna Belsley.

View 2026 Reunion Photos Explore the Family Tree Hymns We Sing
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Our Family

Welcome to the Ackerman Family

This page celebrates Christian Ackerman Sr. and Anna (Belsley) Ackerman, their lives, their family, and the generations that followed.

No, you can't send Christian and Anna an email. Technology still has its limits.

What we can do is help keep their memories alive, keep their descendants in touch, and preserve the rich heritage of the Ackerman and Belsley families.

Anna and Christian were born in the early 1800s and today have more than 2,000 descendants*, counting marriages, stretching across eight generations.
(*based on that big long scroll we update at the reunion every 2 years)
Anna Belsley and Christian Ackerman
Our Founders (aka "The 1s")**
Anna Belsley & Christian Ackerman
Best photograph we can find taken around 1890
with a little touch-up via AI :)
Christian was born on Christmas Day, 1813. Anna was born in May of 1820. Christian migrated from Bavaria in 1838, and married Anna a year later. Both passed away just over a month apart in 1903, leaving a legacy of families to follow.

** We call Christian & Anna "The 1s" because they were the first generation. The following generations "The 2s","The 3s" and "The 4s" have mostly passed. Currently at the bi-annual Ackerman reunion we will have the "The 5s", through "The 8s" attending (Maybe one of "The 9s" will show up soon). We take pictures of each group. So when you come to the reunion, we'll figure out which generation you're in, and the number on your nametag will reflect that. When we call that generation up for a photo, you "gotta" know what group you are in, or it adds to the confusion (and fun).
Eight Generations

The Family Tree

Keeping track of all those Ackermans used to require poster board, markers and considerable patience.

At family reunions we once kept track of descendants using large color poster-board charts like this:

Old Ackerman family descendant chart

We've become a little more sophisticated since then.

Explore the Linkable Family Chart
Stories & Records

Ackerman Family History

Historical articles, family documents, photographs, school records and stories collected through the years.

Ackerman: What Does It Mean? & Ackerman History
By Eliza Ackerman
The Ackerman Centennial Farm
By George Ackerman
Christian Ackerman Sr.
By Sam Ackerman
1903 Obituaries of Christian Ackerman Sr. & Anna Belsley Ackerman
Contributed by Roberta Beutel from copies of newspaper articles.
The 1884 Cider & Sorghum Mill Explosion where Christian Jr passed away.
Author unknown
1908 Funeral Notice of Mrs. Mary Gerber Ackerman
Author unknown
Anna Belsley & Christian Ackerman's in Marriage Register from 1839
Christian's Older Brother's Citizenship Papers — 1890
Evans Corner & the Beginning of Morton
Author unknown
Crandall School History and Classes, 1885–1948
LOTSA LOTSA of our ancestors went there. Mel Ackerman, Gib Bruell and a few others pulled this together.
Ackerman Anabaptist History
Chris Ackerman, with extensive unashamed plagiarism from the Belsley research.
Early Ackerman and Illinois History
Chris Ackerman, with extensive unashamed plagiarism from the Belsley research.
Challenge of Tracking Early Ackermans
Relatives, relationships, names and dates.
Belsley Connection from Anna's Side
Takes us back to 1747.
Rassi Connection from Mary Ackerman Rassi's Side
By Gary Rassi
Jacob Side of the Family
Showing the Jacob side from Christian, third generation.
Marching to Zion
Marching To Zion Morton Apostolic Christian Church history:

Pages 158-164 |
Elected Ackermans
To show we are politically... er... represented?
Oral History of Illinois
Ray Ackerman & John Ackerman interviewed. New as of 2010, but disappeared by 2026. If anyone has a copy, let us know and we'll load it here.
1977 Morton Centennial Farm Stories
1977 Morton Centennial School Stories
Amish Mennonite in Tazewell County
Story about Christian Ackerman being called Christian O'Conner.
Understanding Family Terms
When are you my second cousin and when are you my first cousin once removed? Charts and videos that will fascinate even the most uninterested cousin!
Searchable Lookup of Names to find how you and your family are listed.
This is from 2004, so we'll get it updated shortly. Get on that Quent! :)
Mysterious German Language notebook journals from late 1800s
We're getting closer to figuring these out
Minutes & signups from the Ackerman reunion dating back to 1940s
We should keep them all here, well...Ithink our parents were better organized.
Reunion Archive

Reunion Photos

Browse photographs from more than two decades of Ackerman family reunions.

2004 2006 2008 2010 2012 2014 2016 2018 2020 2022 2024 2026
Get In Touch

Questions or Comments?

Send them to:

a.c.kerman75@gmail.com

Please put AckermanReunion in the subject line.

A Question Nobody Asked

Why is this at Hallan.com?

Why is this website at hallan.com/ackermanreunion instead of just ackermanreunion.com?

Short answer: Because we Ackermans are cheap... errr... frugal... and proud of it!

Longer answer: Same as the short answer, but add that we can do it for free at Chris' website.

HALLAN is an internet development company Chris keeps other things at for free. The HALLAN name is a combination of LeAnn & Chris' three kids: HAnnah, hoLLy and christiAN.

There ya' go!