This post was first written and published on 8 Jan 2016. I have learned so much more since that time and rather than write a new post, I have decided to revise the existing one.
In late 1898 60-year-old Peter Fassbender returned to Oedekoven, Germany for a visit, traveling with his friend and neighbor, Joseph Tennie. We know his approximate time of departure as it was reported in the newspaper upon his return that “Mr. Fassbender, who has been visiting relatives in Germany since the first of Jan…”1 It must have been hard for Elisabeth to see him go, although she had only been six years old when her family left Oedekoven for America in 1846.
This was his first visit home since emigrating in 1856. It had been 43 years since he had stepped foot in his native land, had much had changed. A fire in 1864 had changed the appearance of his former home, Tempelhof, as the farmyard was gone, and the damaged chapel and been decommissioned. [Blog Post: The Chapel on the Hill]. I wonder if one of his first stops was to the Oedekoven Chapel, St. Mary’s Marriage, to look at the altar and statue of Mary that had once been sheltered in the Tempelhof Chapel?
All that we do know about this trip is that Peter was gone for two months. He traveled from Oedekoven to Bremen to board the Kaiser Wilhelm der Große on February 28, 1899.2 The top-heavy ship known as “Rolling Billy” by her regular passengers could hold 332 First Class passengers, 343 Second Class passengers, and 1.074 in Steerage.
The return trip home started in Bremen, Germany. I believe that Peter and Joseph were traveling 2nd class, as they were not manifested with the 3rd or steerage class passengers who needed to be cleared by a physician who stated that he had “…made a personal examination of each of the passengers named,” before they were allowed to board. The passenger list does not designate the classes, and it appears to me that the even-numbered pages are missing. What would they have paid for this ticket? All I know is that shortly after their return it was announced that the minimum rates for steamships bound for Southampton and Bremen had been reduced by $10.00 to $25.00. First-class cabin rates were reduced $25.00 to $75.00 from April 2 to May 9th, and between Jun 6 to July 7th, the rate was set at $100.00.3 Which is $3,676.01 in today’s [2023] money.4
Traveling from Bremen they stopped on March 1st in Southampton, England, picking up 2 passengers, before heading to Cherbourg, France, and then to New York. I do believe that there are missing pages to this passenger list, which makes me realize how lucky we are that we do have a record of Peter and Joseph’s return trip. The Chicago Daily reported on March 8th on the return of J. P. Morgan “from London on the Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse,”5 yet his name does not appear on the passenger list, and he most likely boarded in Southampton.
The trip was made in record time, the Baltimore Sun reported that they had made “the run of 3,148 knots to Sandy Hook light ship [Sandy Hook, New Jersey Lighthouse] in 5 days 21 hours and 8 minutes, at an average speed of 22.33 knots per hour, lowering her best previous record from Cherbourg by 1 hour and 12 minutes. The trip is remarkable from the fact that it was made in the month of March, in winter weather…”6
I wonder what Peter thought as he sailed into New York Harbor on March 7th. Much had changed since that day 43 years before when, after a trip of one month, two days the Ship Chimborazo entered the harbor. The skyline of New York City was different, much larger. This time the Statue of Liberty was there to greet him, having been dedicated just 12 years earlier. Beyond the statue stood Ellis Island, open for just seven years, he would not be passing through Castle Garden on this trip. And certainly, there was a sense of comfort in knowing that, unlike the passengers who were newly immigrating, he could freely walk off the ship, enter the city, and travel home to his family in Wisconsin.
The passenger list was manifested at Ellis Island. For the manifest Peter states that he is a naturalized citizen, he had been in the U.S. for 43 years, he was in possession of a ticket all the way back to Appleton, Wisconsin, he had paid for his own passage, and that he was currently in possession of more than $30.00.7 The passenger list goes on to ask the following questions: Ever in Prison or Almshouse or supported by Charity: No, Whether a Polygamist: No, Condition of Health, Mental and Physical: Good, Deformed or Crippled, Nature and Cause: No. While I believe his statement of “No” to all of these questions was a true answer, would anyone actually answer these questions with a “Yes?” Well, other than if there was an obvious deformity, that could not be hidden.
His exact date of arrival home to the farm in the Town of Ellington is not known. A notice in the Appleton Evening Crescent dated Tuesday, March 21st stated that he had “returned a week ago…” So, it is safe to say he arrived home sometime before March 14th.
What I find most fascinating about this trip, is the ship that he chose to return home on, the Kaiser Wilhelm der Große. The ship was built for Norddeutscher Lloyd by AG Vulcan Shipyards. The ship, named for his grandfather, was launched by Kaiser Wilhelm I, on May 4, 1897. It was the first ship to have a four-funnel design, representing size and safety for the next decade. It consumed 560 tons of coal per day.
In 1898, traveling at 22.5 knots, it was the fastest merchant ship in the world, carrying 24% of the First Class passenger revenue on the North Atlantic to New York.
In 1913 the ship was rebuilt to carry only 3rd class passengers, and when the First World War broke out, she was requisitioned and turned into an armed cruiser. The Kaiser was sunk on August 26, 1914, off of Rio de Oro, Africa.
SOURCES:
“Bungert and Wittlin,” Appleton Evening Crescent, 17 Mar 1899, Friday, p. 4, col. 5; digital images, Newspapers.com (www.newspapers.com : accessed 2 Sep 2018).
National Archives, “New York, U.S., Arriving Passenger and Crew Lists (including Castle Garden and Ellis Island), 1820-1957,” database and images, Ancestry.com Operations, Inc. 2010, Ancestry.com (www.ancestry.com : accessed October 2002). Microfilm serial: T715, 1899, Kaiser Wilhelm der Große, p. 9, line 15, Peter Fassbender; citing The National Archives at Washington, D.C.
“North German Lloyd’s Cut,” Naugatuck Daily News, 7 Mar 1899, Tuesday, p. 1, col. 4; digital images, NewspaperARCHIVE.com, (www.newspaperarchive.com : accessed 1 Jan 2007).
“Coal Interests in Great Pool,” Chicago Daily Tribune, 8 Mar 1899, Wednesday, p. 1, col. 1; digital images Newspapers.com, (www.newspapers.com : accessed 7 Sep 2018).
“Topics in New York,” The Baltimore Sun, 8 Mar 1899, Wednesday Morning, p. 2, col. 7; digital images, Newspapers.com (www.newspapers.com : accessed 8 Sep 2018).
National Archives. ancestry.com, Microfilm serial; T715, 1899, Kaiser Wilhelm der Große, p. 9, Line: 15, Peter Fassbender.
The filing continues. This time I am working through an electronic folder of “paper” from Ripley County, Indiana, and my Francisco and Gray families. When I was putting together one of my “Day in the Life” series in 2014, I remember coming across this newspaper item from January 2, 1890, and laughed out loud. Anyone who has done census research will certainly be able to relate.
The item reads: “It won’t be a great while now until the girls will be hiding the family Bible and dodging the census taker again. How time flies, and how provoking some things are.”
Now if only we could actually LOOK at the 1890 census.
So what was happening in the Francisco family on this day in 1890?
“John A. Francisco is suffering heart trouble at his home. He has been confined to his room several days, and as he is 77 years old, it is quite hard on him, but we hope to see him out soon.” [1]
Sadly, he passed away June 14th of that year. His wife and “life companion,” Sarah Ann Ellison Francisco, had passed away on September 9th the year before, and according to his obituary he had not been the same since that time. He was laid to rest next to her in Perseverance Cemetery as “Hand in hand they lived; side by side they rest in death.” [2]
SOURCES:
The Ripley Journal, 2 Jan 1890, col. 2; digital images, Find My Past (www.findmypast.com : accessed 5 Sep 2014), Historical Newspapers.
“Sleep Comrade. Sleep,” The Ripley Journal, 19 Jun 1890, col. 4; digital images, Find My Past (www.findmypast.com : accessed 5 Sep 2014), Historical Newspapers.
At the turn of the century, (yikes!) I spent a lot of time in the Kaukauna Public Library snooping on the lives of the Fassbenders living a century ago. As I moved through the years scanning the Kaukauna Times, a weekly newspaper, I not only followed the lives of my Hollandtown ancestors, but would often print items that were about Outagamie County that interested me. It’s always about the background information to flesh out the two dimensional look at the people I am researching.
Kaukauna Times, 20 Apr 1917
This past weekend I spent some time filing. Paper filing, electronic filing, it all needs to be done. While going through a file of paper, I found this item. The paper was dated April 20, 1917. What caught my eye, then, and now, was the headline: “No More Mail to Germany. Letters From United States to Germany Have Been Stopped.” No letters would be received or delivered until this “unpleasantness is over.” I can only imagine the fear, sadness, even heartbreak over this news. Although my Germany ancestors had been in this country for many decades by this time, they still had family and friends back in their homeland. Letters brought news of births, deaths, moves, and even the occasional plea for financial help. The sense of loss, and being cut off had to be acute. There was no longer any way to learn how family was faring during this awful war. How long would it be before the “president and the kaiser are again in a mood to shake hands?”
Germany formally surrendered on November 11, 1918, and the Treaty of Versailles, which formally ended the war, was not signed until June 28, 1919. Over two years would go by with no news from home, or any way to get news to family. I wonder if the letters put into the “dead letter office” were ever delivered.
We live in such an age of instant news through 24 hour television, the internet, and telephones, both land line and cell, that allow us to keep in touch, with each other, and with what is going on in the world. Imagine waiting over two years for news from home.
My great-great grandmother must have had to muster tremendous strength each year at Christmas time. Her name was Gretje Folkerts Mùller, and she was born October 15, 1835, in Bangstede, Hannover, Germany.1 She moved from this small community to the “big city” of Emden, Hannover, Germany in her early teens, to work for her eldest uncle as a maid.2 It was while living in the seaport of Emden, that she met and married, Albert Heinrich Klöfkorn, born June 4, 1833,3 a ships captain. Albert came from a long line of seagoing men, and he owned and captained a ship he had named Drei Schwestern, or Three Sisters. The couple married in Emden, on March 5, 1865, he was 31, Gretje was 29.4 Albert and Gretje would have four boys, all born in Emden. Johannes Warnerus, born May 18, 1865,5 Folkert, born July 22, 1866,6 Anton Herman, born February 14, 1868,7 and Heinrich Albertus, born March 11, 1870.8 I would like to think that they had a good marriage and a happy family life, although family legend, and some knowledge of the times, there was friction from the Klöfkorn family as this Lutheran woman married into their Catholic family.
December 1870, and Christmas was just around the corner. Albert was out at sea with load of grain. On December 20th, his ship went missing when it reached the point where the river Weser flows into the North Sea.9 Five days before Christmas, Gretje and her four boys, ages five to just six months old, were preparing their home for the birth of Christ, when word came that her husband’s ship was lost at sea. He was 37 years old. I can only imagine what that Christmas must have been like. The devastation. The despair.
I have no idea what Gretje did to survive the next years, how did she support her family? But I do know she was still in Emden in January 1872, when her eldest son Johannes tragically died a the age of six.10 She stayed in Emden for another year, before packing up her three sons and making the trip to the United States. Her younger brother, Johann (John) Folkert Müller was already residing in Lake County, Indiana, USA at this point in time, and letters had been going back and forth between them. It was on April 20, 1873 that she, along with her three sons boarded the S.S. America in Bremen, with a stop in Southhampton on May 3rd, before finally entering the New York harbor on May 16th. It was not an easy journey, as they had “experienced westerly winds with high seas the entire passage.” They traveled steerage, and numbered four of the 737 other passengers. It must have been a miserable trip.11 Reaching Castle Garden, they were noted on the manifest, dated May 16th, that entering the country were Aug H. Klöfkorn, age 38, Volkert Klöfkorn, age 7, Anton Klöfkorn, age 5, and Hinrich Klöfkorn, age 1.12
There is not only the question as to why did she travel using her husband’s name, but she gave the ages for herself, and two of her children incorrectly. At the time that she sailed for America, Gretje was 37 years old, her son Folkert was 6, Anton 5, (correctly stated for the manifest), and Heinrich was 3. Family legend states that Heinrich died at sea. He is not noted on the manifest taken at Castle Garden as having died at sea, but if Gretje could pass him off as a one year old, he must have been a small, possibly sickly little boy. We lose all sight of him after his arrival in the United States.
Gretje and her sons headed across the country, most likely first stopping to rest at the home of her brother John in Indiana, before moving to Chicago, Cook Co., Illinois. It was here on January 4, 1875, that she married Edzard Heinrich Tapper.13 Edzard was also from Ostriesland, Germany. Born about 1841, his roots, and actual age are a bit of a mystery. Edzard had emigrated in 1869, and was a general merchant. The couple first resided in Lansing, Cook Co., Illinois, before moving the family to Hammond, Lake Co., Indiana in 1879, where they set up a general merchandise store on two acres of land, at the corner of Hohman and Sibley Street.14
Fast forward to Christmas 1881. On December 20th, 40 year old Edzard headed into Chicago to attend to some “law business.”15 While he was in the city, he decided to stop in to see a dentist, the Sovereign Brothers, who were located at 107 Clark Street, and have his teeth extracted. (??!!) It was noted by the dentist that he appeared to be “under the influence of liquor,” so he at first declined to administer chloroform. Edzard insisted, a doctor was called to administer the drug and to monitor the patient during the extractions.16 Soon after the dentist began extracting the teeth, Edzard did not look “right,” and so he stopped. But unfortunately, it was too late, Edzard passed away from the effects of the chloroform. [17]
Two Christmases, eleven years apart. December 20th. Two husbands. Two tragic, unexplained deaths.
I cannot imagine what she must have been thinking, feeling, that December 20, 1881, when news came from Chicago that her husband was dead. She must have had vivid flashbacks of another December 20th, when news came that her husband was lost at sea.
But she carried on (well what else could she do?), creating a sort of empire with her son Anton (Tony), my great-grandfather, out of the business she had started with Edzard, and later through real estate dealings.She passed away February 24, 1900, at the age of 64, and we believe that she is buried in Oak Hill Cemetery, Hammond, at the Tapper monument.
SOURCES
Ludwig Janssen Hans-Rudolf Manger and Harm Harms, editors, Die Familien der Kirchengemeinde Bangstede (1724-1900) (Aurich, Germany: n.p., 1987, 2nd edition 1994),number 1353. Cit. Date: 20 Jul 2001. ↩︎
Compiled by the Miller Family, The Miller Family (Canada: Self Published, ca. 1970s),froma “Copy of paper written by John F. Miller in German.” Cit. Date: 20 Jul 2001.↩︎
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, “Pedigree Resource File,” database, FamilySearch (http://www.familysearch.org : accessed 5 Apr 2009), entry for Johannes Warnerus Kloefkorn (PIN 3642478, Disk 126); submitted by Reiner Gerda Schuchardt, Emden, Germany. Cit. Date: 5 Apr 2009.↩︎
Database and images (www.vorfahrensuche.de : accessed 24 Jul 2001); 5 Sep 2008: no longer online. Cit. Date: 5 Sep 2008.↩︎
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, “Pedigree Resource File,” database, FamilySearch (http://www.familysearch.org : accessed 5 Apr 2009),entry for Antonius Hermannus Kloefkorn (PIN 444161, Disk 90); submitted by Reiner Gerda Schuchardt, Emden, Germany. Cit. Date: 5 Apr 2009.↩︎
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, “Pedigree Resource File,” database, FamilySearch (http://www.familysearch.org : accessed 5 Apr 2009), entry for Hinrich Albertus Kloefkorn (PIN 3642585, Disk 126); submitted by Reiner Gerda Schuchardt, Emden, Germany.↩︎
Karl-Heinz Wiechers, Und fuhren weit übers Meer. Volume 2: Die Häfen der Ems [And Drove Over the Sea. Vol. 2: Harbours of the river Ems] (ISBN: 3922365434), transcribed copy, received fromGerriet Backer.Cit. Date: 28 Feb 2000.↩︎
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, “Pedigree Resource File,” database, FamilySearch, entry for Johannes Warnerus Kloefkorn (PIN 3642478, Disk 126). Cit. Date: 5 Apr 2009.↩︎
“Marine Intelligence. New York…Friday, May 16. Arrived.,” The New York Times, 17 May 1873, p. 12, col. 5-6; digital images, ProQuest Historical Newspapers (www.proquest.com : accessed 17 Feb 2006).↩︎
Records of the U.S. Customs Service, Record Group 36; National Archives, Washington, D.C., “New York Passenger Lists, 1820-1957,” database, Ancestry.com (www.ancestry.com : accessed 22 Oct 2004), Anton Klöfkorn; manifest for S.S. America, dated 16 May 1873.↩︎
Illinois. Cook County, Vital Record: Illinois Certificate of Marriage, Volume 91, license number 19890.Cit. Date: 11 Oct 1999.↩︎
The Hammond Daily News, editor, Hammond Indiana, Industrial Edition of The Hammond Daily News (Hammond, Indiana: The Hammond Daily News, December 1904),21. Cit. Date: 27 Feb 2002.↩︎
“THE CITY ~ The Chloroform Victim,” (Chicago)The Chicago Tribune, 24 Dec 1881, Saturday, p. 8. Cit. Date: 30 Nov 2004.↩︎
F. J. S. Gorgas M.D., D.D.S. and James B. Hodgkins D.D.S., editors, The American Journal of Dental Science (Baltimore, Maryland: Snowden & Cowman, 1882), Vol. 15, Third Series: 409-416. Cit. Date: 2 Sep 2009.↩︎
Last week while doing some research on an old home, I turned to the 1884-5 Appleton city directory, which is online at Ancestry.com. As I was formatting the source for the entry that I had found, I turned to the title page and introductory pages. I expected to learn a little about the city in these early years, I did not expect to find that this city directory for Appleton, also included a city directory for Neenah! “We have pleasure in presenting to the citizens of Appleton our initial Directory of their City, including a City Directory of Neenah, which will be found in the rear portion of the work.” [1] Writes the publisher, Wright & Hogg of Milwaukee, Wisconsin. I would love to understand the reason they included Neenah in the Appleton directory. They are in two different counties, Appleton in Outagamie, and Neenah in Winnebago, although (according to Google Maps) they are only about 6 1/2 miles apart, Neenah is usually associated with Oshkosh, which is the county seat.
Photograph courtesy of the Neenah Public Library
Knowing that S. A. Cook was living in Neenah in 1884, I quickly looked in the back of the book. And added to my research to-do list. According to other sources that I have come across over the years, S. A. had moved to Neenah in 1881, and at that time purchased home on Commercial Street. But the directory lists him residing on the “n. e. cor. 1st and Forest av.” which is a block away from Commercial. Guess it is time to add a trip to the courthouse land records to my list.
One other mystery resides between the covers of this directory. Listed as living with the Cook’s is “Cook, Christie Miss.” My best guess at this moment is that this entry is for Margaret Christie, the sister-in-law of S. A. Margaret (Maggie) was living with S. A. and his family when the 1880 census was enumerated, [2] and her obituary states that she “came to Neenah with Mr. and Mrs. Cook and lived with them for many years.” [3] I am wondering if it was stated, when asked if there were other adults living in the home, “Yes, Miss Christie.” And so it was written down as Miss Christie Cook.
S. A. has popped into my research a lot lately, it is almost as if he is prodding me – Hey! Pay attention! The time has come to finish your dad’s project!
SOURCES:
Wright & Hogg, Appleton City Directory 1884-5, preface; digital images, Ancestry.com (www.ancestry.com : accessed 11 Dec 2015).
1880 U.S. census, Marathon County, Wisconsin, population schedule, Town of Brighton, JH Cook Enumerator, enumeration district (ED) 83, p. 6 (penned), 302 (stamped), dwelling 15, family 16-17, Samuel A. Cook household; digital images, Ancestry.com (www.ancestry.com : accessed 6 Sep 2001); citing National Archives and Records Administration microfilm T9, roll 1433.
“Resident of Neenah for Many Years Dies at Hotel in Florida,” (Oshkosh) Oshkosh Daily Northwestern, 28 Feb 1938, p. 9. Cit. Date: 12 Aug 2004.
As I continue to document my ancestors lives, I am amazed at how many were ready and willing to get involved in politics, and how many were appointed Postmasters.
This short post is about the Cooks, as they are the most recent discovery. Samuel Andrew Cook, or S. A. as he was known, was the first of the Cook family to move to Unity, Wisconsin, choosing to live in Brighton Township, Marathon County. From all accounts, it appears as though he moved some time in 1873. Settled in Unity, he set up shop as a Merchant of general goods and merchandise. A newspaper description of Unity published in June 1874 states: “Mr. S. A. Cook, formerly of Fond du Lac, has a large Grocery & Dry Good Store, and gets a good trade from settlers who are flocking here very fast…” [1]
Jacob H. Cook
At the time that S. A. moved to Unity, the post office was located on the Clark County side of the village of Unity. Amazingly this small village of 633 acres, is located in both Clark County and Marathon County. The decision to move the office to the Marathon County side (where it remains to this day) was made sometime in 1874, and the move coincided with twenty-five-year-old S. A. being appointed Postmaster, on April 20, 1874. S. A. was Postmaster until September 27, 1881, when his brother Jacob took over the position, and S. A. moved with his family to Neenah, Winnebago Co., Wisconsin. Jacob was forty-years-old when he was appointed postmaster, and he remained in the position until May 21, 1883, when he moved his family to Appleton, Outagamie Co., Wisconsin. Jacob was not the last Cook to be Postmaster for this small community, as his younger brother, Alfred, who was then thirty-eight, was appointed April 22, 1889, and held the post until September 12, 1892. [2]
Alfred Cook
Lewis H. Cook
My great-grandfather, Lewis Herman/Louis Herman Cook, the son of Alfred, was very involved in village politics, serving as County Supervisor. and he was editor and publisher of the village newspaper the Marathon County Register, but he was never appointed Postmaster for Unity. In 1910, Lewis moved his family to Wausau, Marathon County, Wisconsin, where he was the Supervisor of Assessments, Marathon County Clerk, a real estate agent, and finally appointed as Postmaster of Wausau. He served Wausau as postmaster from June 30, 1923, until his death on September 4, 1934.
Four men of the Cook family were appointed by presidents, approved by the senate, and served their communities as postmaster. Pretty incredible.
SOURCES:
“‘Up the Line:’ A Few Brief Sketches from Our Reporter’s Note Book,” The Stevens Point Journal, 27 Jun 1874, col. 3; digital images, NewspaperARCHIVE (www.newspaperarchive.com : accessed 30 Jul 2006).
“U.S., Appointments of U.S. Postmasters, 1832-1971,” database and images, Ancestry.com (www.ancestry.com : accessed 3 Dec 2015); Marathon County, Wis., Unity, vol 57, p. 778-779; NARA microfilm publication, M841, Records of the Post Office Department Record Group Number 28. Washington, D.C.: National Archives.
