About Me

My name is Susan Fassbender, and I began my journey into the historical past of Outagamie County in 1998 as I put together a Christmas present for my father-in-law. With his encouragement and questions, I began to research his grandfather, Peter Joseph Hubert Fassbender. A librarian at heart, having started working as a Children’s Library Page at the age of 15, I started not with looking for dates, but scanning the stacks in the Appleton Public Library’s Local History section. I quickly hit pay dirt (beginner’s luck I assure you) in locating autobiographical material in The History of Outagamie County  [page 766. For some reason he was not indexed in this database] and also in The Commemorative Biographical Record of the Fox River ValleySo I was off and running,  putting together the wonderful story of emigration and cheese making. I am now in the third revision of my book which I have entitled A Snapshot: Peter Joseph Hubert Fassbender, His Ancestors and Descendants. My passion for this family has not diminished over these many years.

I also started a blog in memory of my mother and father-in-law. They had a profound impact on their four sons and nine grandchildren. So to honor and preserve their memory I created “The Aroma of Bread.” I have since worked to archive this blog here, with the intention of deleting the original blog located on the Blogger platform. You will find the posts here, they are tagged “Aroma of Bread.” 

You will also find tucked into this website my research on my Cook line, specifically looking at Samuel Andrew Cook. It seems that everyone has a Cook favorite, and S.A. was my father’s. So in his honor, I am continuing and expanding on his research.

Families in my database:

Blood, Campbell, Cook, DuCate, Fassbender, Francisco, Goerling, Gray, Nettekovon, Normann, Ruffing, Schultz, Sternitzky, Tapper

Recent and/or Upcoming Speaking Engagements:

I enjoy teaching about subjects that I am passionate about, and so can occasionally be found speaking at conferences and meetings. I would love to speak for your society, or genealogy group, contact me for a full list of topics.

As you can see it has been a while since I last gave a talk, moving across the country, becoming a full-time caregiver for my mother, COVID lockdown just six months after moving…and a slow build back to normal. I have not yet found my niche here in Rhode Island, but would love to start sharing my passion through speaking here in my local community.

October 2020 – Minnesota Northstar Virtual Conference, October 8-10, 2020. Featured speaker: Judy G. Russell and David McDonald. I presented: Using Maps in Genealogy – Another Layer to the Story. If the conference had not been virtual, I would also have given the talk: The History of a Block: How Your House Fits into the Family Block.

3 November 2018 – Appleton Public Library: Using Maps in Genealogy – Another Layer to the Story.

April 2019 – Wisconsin State Genealogical Society Gene-A-Rama, April 29-30, 2019. Featured speaker: Amy Johnson Crow. I presented: Using the Power of the Google Toolbox to Further Your Genealogy Research.

April 2018 – Wisconsin State Genealogical Society Gene-A-Rama, April 13-14, 2018. Featured speaker: Tony Burroughs, FUGA. I presented: Every House Has a History: The Genealogy of Your House.

Memberships:

Wisconsin Historical Society

Bay Area Genealogical Society, Inc. (B.A.G.S.) Green Bay, Wisconsin

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